abstainer or moderation

WifeofPJ
WifeofPJ Posts: 312
in Health and Weight Loss
I read an article in Good House Keeping today about how although many people beleive that Moderation is key and it is for many people but it may not be so for some people. The women who wrote this said that she does much better when she abstains from certain foods. This past weekend I was in the wedding the wedding was someone in my imediate family so I did not concern myself with what I was eating that day. This sent me in a tail spin of craving sugars carbs and being constently hungry and having constent cravings. After reading this I thought exactly I am not one who can have a few french fries no I have to have the entire plate of them. I realized it's ok to be an abstainer that some of us have to abstain from things in order to be successfull. In fact I have tried to loose weight by eating things in moderation and have never been successfull but when ever I abstain I am able to loose weight. Of course since I am insulin resistant that has a big play in why abstaining works better for me because my body craves those "bad" things and when I get a taste for them my body craves them and sometimes I can eat them uncontrolably.

So what do you think is best for you? Are you able to eat things in moderation or are you like me and need to abstain from the "bad" foods?
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Replies

  • Pearsquared
    Pearsquared Posts: 1,656 Member
    While I agree that people have to do what works for them...were you abstaining from those foods before the wedding?
  • freemystery
    freemystery Posts: 184 Member
    I completely agree here! I posted on a community thread about the things I'd "resisted" that day and a commenter mentioned it might be easier to moderate than abstain. So I really thought about it and realised I don't have the willpower for it. It's like one little nudge and the whole house of cards falls over.

    Don't get me wrong, I appreciated the comment and it was food for thought (as opposed to food for hips, tee hee)

    I'm better at moderation when the limit is clear... like say for example if I had a big bag of potato chips I will eat and eat till the bag is gone. But if I buy one mini candy bar and walk away I can deal with that. Never buy a bag of mini candy bars. It's the same principle as the potato chips.

    Abstain:
    Chocolate/ candy
    Potato chips
    Mayonnaise (god I could eat it on everything...)
    Cakes/ patisserie desserts
    Cheese

    Moderate
    Pasta
    Bread
    Lattes/ drinking my calories
    Alcohol... weirdly I can stop after one or two and switch to lime and club soda or diet coke. I know. Surprised me too!

    Actually looking at this, it seems I can't moderate fat but I do better at complex carbs!
  • ksuetorres
    ksuetorres Posts: 139 Member
    I've just convinced myself I don't LIKE rich, greasy, sugary things! That way I can eat around people having chicken fried steak, donuts, ice cream. . . Nothing tastes as good as being a size 6!!!
  • glovepuppet
    glovepuppet Posts: 1,710 Member
    's like booze, no? some people can do moderation. for others, one drink is one drink too many.
  • WifeofPJ
    WifeofPJ Posts: 312
    A few weeks ago I had a regular instead of small pizza from Solo's and was going to take half of it home. Well I didnt' take 1/2 of it home but I ate the rest when I got home. But it seems that since it was whole wheat crust it didn't send me into the tail spin that this weekend did. This weekend I had Cake, cookie, croissant, white bread stick, and kisses. And that sent me into a tail spin for a few days afterwards. I need to abstain from the Simple Carbs which makes sence being that I am Insulin resistant.

    I posted this so other abstainers knew it was ok at other people are the same way.
  • galenofedgewood
    galenofedgewood Posts: 146 Member
    's like booze, no? some people can do moderation. for others, one drink is one drink too many.

    This is true.

    You do what you need to do. I can moderate, mostly, or at least substitute. If I cut something out completely, I'm more likely to over induldge later. If I get a bit of it now and then, the craving just isn't that strong and easier to resist or ignore.
  • JustPeachy044
    JustPeachy044 Posts: 770 Member
    For me its abit of both. Thre are days when i know even one bite will not satisfy and i cant fford the calories to eat more than that so i abstain. When i do decide to eat something calorie rich and nutrient poor, i try to serve myself my allotted amount then put away the rest before i even take one bite. Sometimea i still have weak moments and go back for more but less oftwn when i work it that waty.
  • shar140
    shar140 Posts: 1,158 Member
    Some of both, as well as a mindset change.

    Instead of telling myself I CAN'T have something (and in turn, making myself want it, as someone else mentioned), I just choose not to eat stuff like cake, donuts, pasta, bread, etc. I'm gluten-intolerant - it won't kill me (as perhaps an allergy, which I have to shellfish), but it's not worth feeling like crap after partaking. I do some gluten-free cookies, but that's where I exercise moderation - every few months.
  • herblackwings39
    herblackwings39 Posts: 3,930 Member
    Moderation for me. I'd snap and eat all the cookies or french fries if I forced myself to abstain from them.
  • kganc001
    kganc001 Posts: 317
    It's a combination of both...I eat my favorite things EVER in moderation (I have a cookie every day. Only one...it's enough!). But I completely abstain from liquor (I used to binge a lot on weekends...it was really unhealthy), take out breakfast foods (Hardee's was my favorite), and fried food. But I abstain from them because when I used to consume that stuff it made me feel crappy.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    If you can abstain for the rest of your life, then by all means...

    Otherwise, how are you ever going to learn how to actually eat and not yo yo up and down if you don't learn moderation. IMHO, moderation is practiced an learned...MFP is a training ground
  • Hexahedra
    Hexahedra Posts: 894 Member
    Moderation doesn't always mean small portion, it can also mean large portion infrequently. If I only eat it once a month, I don't mind taking a 2000-calorie item. It's okay to pig out once in a while, as long as you make sure your weekly average looks good.
  • melindasuefritz
    melindasuefritz Posts: 3,509 Member
    Moderation and abstaining both lead to bingeing
    i eat what i want and exercise it off
    it w orks ggod for me- 27 pounds gone., 10 percent of body w eight a nd 2 inches off waist
  • meredith1123
    meredith1123 Posts: 843 Member
    I am fine with moderation.
    I know some people have to abstain though.
  • KANGOOJUMPS
    KANGOOJUMPS Posts: 6,474 Member
    can we drink yet?
  • etoiles_argentees
    etoiles_argentees Posts: 2,827 Member
    d. none of the above.
  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
    Moderation and abstaining both lead to bingeing
    i eat what i want and exercise it off
    it w orks ggod for me- 27 pounds gone., 10 percent of body w eight a nd 2 inches off waist

    Not a very good mindset of having to burn off everything you eat. And both moderation and abstaining lead to binging?
  • DVaughan1975
    DVaughan1975 Posts: 158 Member
    's like booze, no? some people can do moderation. for others, one drink is one drink too many.
    QFT and experience.
  • theCarlton
    theCarlton Posts: 1,344 Member
    I had to abstain in the beginning from my triggers because it was too much for me to manage the change to my lifestyle AND not go overboard. After I lost a lot of the weight, I learned what it means to just have a single small serving of something or to work for something larger.
  • Ang108
    Ang108 Posts: 1,711 Member
    [

    So what do you think is best for you? Are you able to eat things in moderation or are you like me and need to abstain from the "bad" foods?
    [/quote]

    I have some things like pasta, all baked good from white processed flour and white rice I have abstained from since April 10th and feel good physically as well as mentally and have seen results. The rest of all food I treat with moderation.
    In my case it is knowing my trigger foods ( I could easily eat two cups of rice with every meal every day ) and knowing what I can handle.
  • schaapj2
    schaapj2 Posts: 320 Member
    Was a fan of everything in moderation. After giving up diet pop and wheat, I've seen greater progress. For me, abstaining from these 2 things is the way to go....so I say BOTH!
  • The_Enginerd
    The_Enginerd Posts: 3,982 Member
    I'm all about the moderation. I have a little (or a lot sometime!) of a treat every single day.
  • mjh1959
    mjh1959 Posts: 11 Member
    I have found that I do better when I completely abstain from a few things - sugar and dairy. With the dairy, it is just because I like cheese so much and tend to overeat it. I am using soy cheese alternative and really like it. With the sugar, I have terrible cravings that others have described. If I have it, I want more and more.
  • ndowns22
    ndowns22 Posts: 20
    The more you eat "crap" foods and sugar, the more you crave them! Once you cut them out of your diet you will be amazed at how you don't crave them any more. Moderation is key and portion control is more important but if you binge eat these bad foods I would stay away 100%. Weight loss is all about eating clean - 70% kitchen 30% exercise. Abs are made in the kitchen.
    Everyone is different and metabolism, age, activity level are all factors.
    I have been taking a super food, nutrient dense shake called Shakeology that helped me curb my cravings. I was one that NEVER thought I could give up soda, I tried SO MANY times. Not to mention, chips, candy, chocolate, cookies...you name it. I KNOW they are bad for me but my cravings or more like "habits" needed to be changed.
    Well my shake is chocolate flavor so I get my sweet fix from that and I am proud to say I don't crave that "crap" any more :) It's all natural 100% healthy meal replacement shake JAM packed with nutrients. I am still in shock at how fast my pounds fell off once I made the change and started eating clean! You can feed your body with crap food or FUEL your body with healthy nutrient dense food. THATS what we all need to wrap out heads around. Our body processes healthy food as fuel to give us energy and processed crap food as sugar to be stored as a fat reserve. BLAH gross, yuck, ick...its poison really.
    The food we eat either feeds disease or fights disease...... its as simple as that.

    Feel free to add me if you want more support <3 xo
  • ash8184
    ash8184 Posts: 701 Member
    I'm the EXACT same way as you are. Once I moderate with certain things, I crave them. When I totally abstain, I feel better and have very limited cravings - maybe it's a lack of willpower. I find I look and feel my best when I stick mostly to lean proteins and veggies.

    At the end of the day, I think you have to do what works for you.
  • Beckboo0912
    Beckboo0912 Posts: 447 Member
    I have to abstain...if I have a little I have a lot! I will give myself a day to be indulgent once in a while knowing that it's back to work the next day and I've started feeling crappy after those days. However, I can drink a beer or two and stop usually. I plan my indulgent days around the nights I'm going to go out. Since it doesn't happen often at all I feel it's ok for me and I know the next day it's back to real life of being a mom, having responsibility and everything and be accountable.
  • ihammen
    ihammen Posts: 55 Member
    I've just convinced myself I don't LIKE rich, greasy, sugary things! That way I can eat around people having chicken fried steak, donuts, ice cream. . . Nothing tastes as good as being a size 6!!!

    This. I started telling myself "I don't like that" about some of my favorite foods. Works on a lot of things if I tell myself often enough. Sadly I still want a piece of carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. I will treat myself when I get to goal. Another 20 pounds or so. I also tell myself nothing tastes as good as thin feels. I went from 12's and 14's to 6's and 8's. Want to get to 4's and some 2's, which is where I was last time I weighed around 130-135.

    Some things, like a glass of wine or a cocktail, I will have one when we go out.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    So what do you think is best for you? Are you able to eat things in moderation or are you like me and need to abstain from the "bad" foods?

    I abstain from many foods. I don't think there is anything that I like that I would say "I'll never eat that again", but there things that I eat very, very, rarely.
  • iLoveMyPitbull1225
    iLoveMyPitbull1225 Posts: 1,690 Member
    It is all up to what works for the individual of course, but me personally, I do better with moderation. I felt tortured when I attempted to give up things I really love. I was cranky.
  • BrendaLee
    BrendaLee Posts: 4,463 Member
    I do both. I don't bring anything too tempting into the house unless I plan on eating it that night. I know better. On the other hand, nothing is off limits. If I want it, I make it work. I'll buy a big cookie for junk-food night, but I would never bring home a bag of cookies thinking I could moderate myself.

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