I Haven't Eaten...

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  • hopscotchery
    hopscotchery Posts: 6 Member
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    My aunt and I had a bit of a dispute on a group text message this morning. I told her I had ice cream yesterday. She responded with, "Imagine if you didn't have that ice cream how many more pounds you would've lost". My response was, "I probably would've been upset being the only person in the office not getting free ice cream, and I would've felt bad about myself. Besides, I read the nutrition label and I measured out one serving of the ice cream. Even though it was reduced-fat, I didn't eat the whole container. That way, I got the satisfaction I needed from eating what I wanted to eat, without spending all my calories on it."

    My aunt was an extreme grapefruit dieter back when I was a kid and cut everything fun out of her daily diet. She was my second mom growing up, and it pained me to know she would stop visiting and hanging out with me because we were surrounded by "bad foods" that would tempt her. Throughout my childhood she was a yo-yo dieter, and I was always like, "Why does it have to be like this?" Now I know thanks to MFP and other resources this does not have to be the case.

    Fast forward 15 years, and I am on my first "diet". But rather than focus on deprivation, I work on making better choices throughout my day. I love meat and sweets, so why stop them completely? Craving them in the long run just makes me more suceptible to binge on them when I'm feeling weak. I walk 3-5 miles a day, eat way less than I used to, more importantly, eat BETTER than I used to. I pay attention to portion sizes and how they fit into my daily routine. This week, I have had barbequed pork, ice cream, and beer, and I have not felt hungry once while eating on a deficit. The vast majority of my days include lean protein and are mostly vegetarian. Today though, I wanted a delicious sausage, egg and cheese on a brioche, and you know what I did? I ate half of it and saved the rest, and now I'm munching on green beans. That way, even impulsive-me can do my best to not fall off the wagon, get the nutrients I need, but eat what I want in moderation.
  • Ohnoes
    Ohnoes Posts: 98 Member
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    single serving treats are the key for me. also, i like to make cookies. my family loves cookies. i freeze the dough and make just the right amount for everybody. desert is possible. i loooooove desert. i fit three chocolate chip cookies into my calories yesterday. if i had to give that up this would not be happening.
  • Kelley528
    Kelley528 Posts: 319 Member
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    I eat sweets 7 days a week and havent gained a pound in 4 months. (Technically, I havent gained a pound in over a year and a half but 4 months has been how long sine I increased my calorie intake.) There is no reason to give them up. You just need to control what you put in your mouth. Just dont pig out or binge.

    If a serving size of cake or pie says something like a 6th of pie or 2oz then thats all I eat. If chips say 28grams then I eat 28grams. If ice cream is a 1/2 cup serving...etc...When I have the extra calories I will double up the serving size. On the rare occasion I have the urge to consume more than that but since I know its not because I am actually hungry I just resist it. It would be a lot harder to resist pigging out if I wasnt allowed to eat it at all.
  • hopscotchery
    hopscotchery Posts: 6 Member
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    I eat sweets 7 days a week and havent gained a pound in 4 months. (Technically, I havent gained a pound in over a year and a half but 4 months has been how long sine I increased my calorie intake.) There is no reason to give them up. You just need to control what you put in your mouth. Just dont pig out or binge.

    If a serving size of cake or pie says something like a 6th of pie or 2oz then thats all I eat. If chips say 28grams then I eat 28grams. If ice cream is a 1/2 cup serving...etc...When I have the extra calories I will double up the serving size. On the rare occasion I have the urge to consume more than that but since I know its not because I am actually hungry I just resist it. It would be a lot harder to resist pigging out if I wasnt allowed to eat it at all.

    For the first time in my entire life last Saturday, I found out what 1 serving of Doritos looked like and that I have been doing it wrong for 27 years.

    Also, I realized that 1 serving was totally enough. And very delicious.
  • dwalt15110
    dwalt15110 Posts: 246 Member
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    Have you ever gone to a bakery and the smell of baked good smells so good when you approach and when you walk through the door. However, after you have been there a few minutes, you don't even notice the smell anymore. The same is true for taste. The first few bites, you really can taste the flavor. As you eat, the flavor is less dominant and you are just finishing what is on your plate.

    With that first bite of cake, or a good steak, or pasta, you get that look on your face and you say, "Ah this is sooooo good!" (If you are having a conversation with someone, you don't register that thought again.) After the last bite, you say "I am so full," usually not "That was soooo good."

    As obese people or former obese people, we practically "inhale" our desserts because we want them gone from the plate as quickly as possible so no one looks to see this overweight person having a piece of cheesecake. We never actually savor the flavor.

    It takes a few minutes for a Hershey Kiss to dissolve in your mouth and many more minutes before the flavor dissipates. The key is to let it slowly dissolve and savor every bit of that flavor. This is true with anything, especially sweets. Don't eat the second one, or take a second bite until the flavor from the first is gone. It takes time to get into the habit, because we want to bite and chew everything, but learning to savor is well worth it. You will noticce how much less of something you eat.
  • MG_Fit
    MG_Fit Posts: 1,143 Member
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    If it's so hard to stay on the wagon, what's the point of being so restrictive?

    Why not just do "everything in moderation"?

    logic

    Sometimes that's the hardest conclusion to accept.
  • KatAdele
    KatAdele Posts: 290 Member
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    I found footsie rolls help when I need a little something sweet - 15 calories each and they take awhile to chew. 'Real' chocolate is too much of a trigger for me. I also make fruit based desserts at home for my family so I can control the ingredients but still get the sweet.
  • mish24canada
    mish24canada Posts: 152 Member
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    Hi I still in chocolate and sweets and but i have found low calorie verisons that taste good. I have found recipes in the following cookbooks one is called hungry girl and the other is looneyspoons
  • Buff2022
    Buff2022 Posts: 373 Member
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    Yea, not everyone can do "everything in moderation". For some of us, one small piece of cake turns into the whole flippin thing. No offence, but that logic just doesn't work for everyone.

    EXACTLY!!!! That is why when I want chips I have to find a 50 cent bag. Because I am eating the whole thing. I don't do well if I buy say "Special K" chips. I will eat the whole box.

    That is just the way I am!
  • rowanwood
    rowanwood Posts: 510 Member
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    Yea, not everyone can do "everything in moderation". For some of us, one small piece of cake turns into the whole flippin thing. No offence, but that logic just doesn't work for everyone.

    EXACTLY!!!! That is why when I want chips I have to find a 50 cent bag. Because I am eating the whole thing. I don't do well if I buy say "Special K" chips. I will eat the whole box.

    That is just the way I am!

    That's a sign of an eating disorder that you probably could use treatment for. Binge eating isn't normal, even though society says it is. If you honestly cannot stop, you need to seek professional help...or you need to put your serving in a bowl and leave the rest in the kitchen so you don't give yourself the excuse that you can't stop...because short of a mental illness you need to have treated, unless someone is holding a gun to your head, you CAN stop.

    Having all or nothing mentality is what made a lot of us fat in the first place. I know I don't want to be the one encouraging that mind set.
  • Achrya
    Achrya Posts: 16,913 Member
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    I eat sweets 7 days a week and havent gained a pound in 4 months. (Technically, I havent gained a pound in over a year and a half but 4 months has been how long sine I increased my calorie intake.) There is no reason to give them up. You just need to control what you put in your mouth. Just dont pig out or binge.

    If a serving size of cake or pie says something like a 6th of pie or 2oz then thats all I eat. If chips say 28grams then I eat 28grams. If ice cream is a 1/2 cup serving...etc...When I have the extra calories I will double up the serving size. On the rare occasion I have the urge to consume more than that but since I know its not because I am actually hungry I just resist it. It would be a lot harder to resist pigging out if I wasnt allowed to eat it at all.

    For the first time in my entire life last Saturday, I found out what 1 serving of Doritos looked like and that I have been doing it wrong for 27 years.

    Also, I realized that 1 serving was totally enough. And very delicious.

    This. I had chips for the first time in months and weighed those bad boys out very carefully, thinking I'd want ever since bit of the 2ozs I could have and...well, as it turns out 2ozs is a lot. Like more than a handful. I didn't manage to eat them all.
  • Fitnin6280
    Fitnin6280 Posts: 618 Member
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    Having all or nothing mentality is what made a lot of us fat in the first place. I know I don't want to be the one encouraging that mind set.

    Well for me having an "all" mentality is what made me fat... Cutting out trigger foods entirely doesn't work for everyone, but it does work for me. If it doesn't work for the OP, then yes, I think she should try something els. To each their own. :flowerforyou:
  • belgerian
    belgerian Posts: 1,059 Member
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    Ill have ice cream several times I week I normally have plenty of caloires and fat to spare at the end of the day the trick for me is not to hit that 2nd bowl.
  • Kristy7418
    Kristy7418 Posts: 85
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    I've been using better alternates for chocolate to have when i want chocolate. I have found suger free fudge popsicles aren't too bad and some low fat chocolate frozen yogurt is pretty damn good! When i eat the frozen yogurt I use these tiny bowls I bought for my toddler. So it only fits a couple scoops and that is all i eat.
  • mizzie1980
    mizzie1980 Posts: 379 Member
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    She responded with, "Imagine if you didn't have that ice cream how many more pounds you would've lost".

    Dear lord, how much ice cream did she think you ate?!? In order for you have lost more "pounds" (plural) without it, you would have had to have eaten at least 7000 calories (2 pounds) worth. Since your average full fat ice cream tends to be around 140 calories for a half cup serving, you would have had to have eaten at least 25 cups (1.5 gallons!!!) of ice cream to cancel out two pounds lost. As you stand, if you eat one serving of ice cream, you are only cancelling out 0.04 pounds, or 4% of one pound.

    Think I can live with that! :wink:

    Going back to the OP, if you don't feel you can eat the sweets in moderation, without binging, then keep going as you are. But if you can stop at one serving and you have the calories left for it, there is no reason at all to completely stop all sweets. I eat chips, chocolate, ice cream, pizza, etc and I've lost 66 pounds. I just keep them to occasional, small treats.
  • LoraF83
    LoraF83 Posts: 15,694 Member
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    Yea, not everyone can do "everything in moderation". For some of us, one small piece of cake turns into the whole flippin thing. No offence, but that logic just doesn't work for everyone.

    But if the goal is to be "normal" and normal people eat in moderation, shouldn't we be practicing? I'm not saying I'm always perfect. There are days when I eat too much. But, it's gotten better the more I've worked at it. And I'm to the point where I can say "No Thanks" to anything that I don't really want or to a second serving. Isn't that the goal?

    You only get good at something by working at it, not by avoiding it.
  • rose228822
    rose228822 Posts: 186 Member
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    Have you tried eating fruits like mango or kiwi for their sweetness? I will treat myself to jello sugar free chocolate pudding once in a while since it has only 60 calories. What about 100% real fruit bars...I absolutely love those!
  • Espressocycle
    Espressocycle Posts: 2,245 Member
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    If it's so hard to stay on the wagon, what's the point of being so restrictive?

    Why not just do "everything in moderation"?

    Some people are like addicts, they can't stop once they start. No such thing as one piece of cake...
  • alibambolina
    alibambolina Posts: 2 Member
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    It's 'cause white sugar's like straight up CRACK.

    If you stay off of it for a few days, the cravings subside. The hardest part are those first couple days. When it is me and I imbibe again, it's like I can't stop thinking about more carbs and more sugar (even when eaten in moderation). It is a dangerous spiral:{
  • Ashshell
    Ashshell Posts: 185
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    Yea, not everyone can do "everything in moderation". For some of us, one small piece of cake turns into the whole flippin thing. No offence, but that logic just doesn't work for everyone.

    EXACTLY!!!! That is why when I want chips I have to find a 50 cent bag. Because I am eating the whole thing. I don't do well if I buy say "Special K" chips. I will eat the whole box.

    That is just the way I am!

    I do agree that everyone is different, but I used to be like you. It is a habit that you can break and I think it's important to face the issue and conquer it instead of just avoiding the foods that cause you to binge.

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