New Years Resolution

that sounds pretty cool...cutting the unhealthy items out month by month. Processed foods is a great one (lots of sodium).

just curious, did you give each item up for that month only...or was it cummulative?

Hmmm... what if you tried a different eating style each month (as long as you research each one and know how to do them healthily and in a well-balanced manner). You could do vegetarian, vegan, paleo, organic, clean eating, etc...

What's the point of cutting out a crap food for a month if you're going to go back to eating it? I like the idea of making a healthy choice but it has to be a lifestyle to be sustainable.

just curious, did you give each item up for that month only...or was it cummulative?

Gave them up JUST for that month. I didn't feel it was realistic of me to give them up forever. A girl I work with used to eat McDonalds for breakfast EVERY morning and for lunch about 2 times a week. (It is right next door to where we work). She vowed she was giving up McDonalds forever. Yeah---it lasted, like, 2 weeks. Giving up something forever is unrealistic to me. Or even giving it up for a year. So, I just give it up for a month. I'm more excited to do it this year because I'm also counting my calories. Anxious to see how giving up certain things does to my body!!!!!

I like this idea ... i get what the other person is saying about giving it up and going back too ... I think if you try to give up small things it wont seem as though you are going to die without them! I love beer, if i gave it up for 30 days I might not have that yerning for it when i dont have it ... help my binges ... I will have to think of something for December ...

I think you could also work on ADDING things ... spinach everyday, more water ... etc.

My NY resolution is to sign up for a 5k ... thats all

What's the point of cutting out a crap food for a month if you're going to go back to eating it? I like the idea of making a healthy choice but it has to be a lifestyle to be sustainable.

By cutting it out for a month you are on the path to cutting it out for good if that is what you choose to do. I don't see me drinking lots of coffee again, why because I know I do not have to now that I have given myself a small challenge......no one said on day 31 they were going to stuff their face with everything they couldn't have.

I don't have enough willpower to give up this or that "bad" food. I use all my willpower on staying within my calorie range. But if deprivation is your thing, go for it. :drinker:

What's the point of cutting out a crap food for a month if you're going to go back to eating it? I like the idea of making a healthy choice but it has to be a lifestyle to be sustainable.

By cutting it out for a month you are on the path to cutting it out for good if that is what you choose to do. I don't see me drinking lots of coffee again, why because I know I do not have to now that I have given myself a small challenge......no one said on day 31 they were going to stuff their face with everything they couldn't have.

Resolutions Don't Work. But hey, the gym and diet industry loves you guys

I like this idea! Good for you! Keeps it interesting, health focused and sustainable! I also like the idea of adding something. Perhaps alternate months of giving something up and adding something? For adds, adding more veg, more fruit, a walk at lunch, a new work out routine (or even just a month where you did sit ups or push ups after work), increase fiber. Give ups, you seemed to have covered well...I like a month without processed foods, maybe a month without eating out?

Ohhhh, I like this one better!! Even months adding something and odd months giving something up!! Very cool!! :drinker: It doesn't have to be food related. It can be ANYTHING in your life!! NICE!!

Food doesn't make you fat, eating too much food makes you fat. Giving up things you like for any period of time is really pointless if you're looking at it from a weight loss perspective. It's much healthier to learn to have a good relationship with food all the time. There aren't demon foods that need to be cut out unless you have a health issue with them. There are lots of people here who eat ice cream, fast food, drink coffee, alcohol, sweets, etc all the time but they've learned how to make it work in their life. Bouncing around from one thing to another is just a set up for failure.

Honestly--I'm not trying to talk anyone into doing this with me. This is something I'm doing. Millions of people give things up for Lent. I just figured this is something that I can do for myself. I love candy. I really do. So, by giving up sweets JUST for one month--I can work in OTHER foods. Just to see what my body does/doesn't do. I'm not giving up anything I love forever. I understand the whole "you can eat anything within your calorie goals". I get it. I'm somebody that builds confidence by setting/achieving goals. I think a weightloss goal is good, but I think these mini goals are good too. I was just interested in getting some ideas--and I think some people on here understand that and have giving me good ideas to add things. Love it! Thank you

^^^ Yes, I noticed that I have been replacing my usual multiple cups of coffee with water YAY
And I do not feel like a failure, in fact I feel wonderful and pretty damn happy something is working for me.

Resolutions Don't Work. But hey, the gym and diet industry loves you guys

yeah but i dont.
takin up all the space in the gym til like february. ugh.

What's the point of cutting out a crap food for a month if you're going to go back to eating it? I like the idea of making a healthy choice but it has to be a lifestyle to be sustainable.

I guess I don't look at it as negatively as you. I look at it as "Hey, look how awesome you are for giving up a guilty pleasure". It takes discipline to give up something you love. Sure, I've been good the last 4 months about eating whatever I want and staying within my calorie goal. That too takes discipline. I'm excited to combine the two! I'm actually VERY happy about it. Sorry it isn't for you.

I have a little "theory" on this one that I formulated a plan out of, and it worked great for me.

I thought back over the 10 or so years that I'd been obese and struggled with the yo-yo diet of bingeing, then restricting, then falling off the wagon, then feeling guilty about that, then eating my negative feelings about myself, then bingeing, then dieting....etc. etc. etc. I tried to identify the times I did really great for awhile and then fell off the wagon, and tried to pinpoint what happened. Turned out there were most definitely particular foods that "triggered" me into overeating and I'd almost always fall off the wagon after consuming them. These were foods that made me think to myself, "I've been abstaining from this for a couple months now, but I couldn't possibly give this up permanently so I'm just gonna have a little bit today". And then a couple days after eating those things "in moderation" it turned into a raging fire of violent consumption, lol.

THOSE were the foods I decided were not safe for me to eat and I decided to give them up *permanently*. But they were specific to me and my triggers and issues - I would NEVER tell another person "these foods are bad". They're not bad. They're simply unsafe for ME. After 10 years of lying to myself that I could "handle just a little" of those particular foods, I finally gave them up. Kinda like an alcoholic would alcohol.

Best decision I ever made and I've never missed them. Not once. You know why? Because it STOPPED the cycle of weight gain/loss/binge/restrict. In it's tracks.

There are hundreds and hundreds of delicious foods I CAN eat. Some of them would be on the "no-no" list of most diets, like french fries, fried chicken, chips, etc. But for me? They're perfectly safe. I can handle them in moderation. I focus on what I CAN eat, and I don't even consider the things I've decided not to eat as an option. Thus, I do not crave nor desire them. They are simply off the table, period. I now care too much about myself to play with fire. I am now too honest with myself to believe the fairy tale that I can "handle" them.

And my size Four jeans and teeny tiny tight dresses bear witness to that fact!! I'm 3 billion times happier WITHOUT those foods. The very foods I thought I could "NEVER" give up. Ironically, it was the best thing I ever did.

Just my two cents.

Making a New Years Resolution is similar to the mindset of "I'll start on Monday". Failure waiting to happen.

I resolve to not eat squash. I don't care if my baby eats it and loves it, I will not cave in just because it's in my pantry! :laugh:

I'll join you on this one! :drinker: