Why can't I stick to healthy eating?

Reinventi0n
Reinventi0n Posts: 71 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi,

I will start by saying that I have been following a calorie restricted program for the past 2 months and I have seen some weight loss. However, I am struggling to stick to my plan and eat healthfully. I will have several good days where I am doing well and then I will get extra hungry or have added stress and will deviate. This deviation usually lasts for a few days before I finally get back on track. I think part of this may happen because I am generally hungry even when I try to make the best possible food choices (i.e. lower carb, higher protein ect). Regardless these deviations are really slowing down my weight loss progress and I would really like to stop this vicious cycle. Do you have any advice for me and what I can do to become consistent with eating healthy. Open to any and all of your opinions or other resources or books you may recommend.

Thank you!

Replies

  • wheird
    wheird Posts: 7,963 Member
    I do not eat what most would consider "healthily" and I feel that it has been instrumental in my ability to adhere.
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
    Hi,

    I will start by saying that I have been following a calorie restricted program for the past 2 months and I have seen some weight loss. However, I am struggling to stick to my plan and eat healthfully. I will have several good days where I am doing well and then I will get extra hungry or have added stress and will deviate. This deviation usually lasts for a few days before I finally get back on track. I think part of this may happen because I am generally hungry even when I try to make the best possible food choices (i.e. lower carb, higher protein ect). Regardless these deviations are really slowing down my weight loss progress and I would really like to stop this vicious cycle. Do you have any advice for me and what I can do to become consistent with eating healthy. Open to any and all of your opinions or other resources or books you may recommend.

    Thank you!

    Because you're not eating food you like. Get away from the good food/bad food mentality. Eat food you like and make sure it fits into your nutrition goals.

    "Eating healthy" just means getting the nutrients you need. Denying yourself stuff you love to eat is not the path to success.
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
    How restrictive is your plan? Your diary is closed so we can't see what you're eating, but it's possible that your body is trying to tell you something. It might be worth reevaluating your calorie goal to make sure it's appropriate for your size and activity level.

    Also, I second what everyone else said about eating foods you like in moderation. I never would have lasted on this if I couldn't have some ice cream most nights.
  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
    Eat "good" or "clean" or "healthy" (whatever those words mean to you) 80% of the time. Fit yummy, portion-controlled snacks into your macros.

    Read this: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants
  • margaretturk
    margaretturk Posts: 5,294 Member
    I just read in The Book What Are You Hungry For. "That in changing your eating habits it is a marathon not a spirit ." From your post I can tell you are determined to eat in a way that makes you feel healthier and helps you lose weight. You smart to be doing this.. The book What Are You Hungry For deals with some of the emotional issues for eating and has good suggestions for healthy eating. It does not discuss the digestive issues that might be affecting your eating choices. I thought the book Digestive Wellness tackled some of those issues well. It is a bit text book. I am following her advice in slowing down my eating and increasing my fiber. I was already doing many of her other suggestions and lost 25 pounds. I was happy with my weight loss. I find adding these suggestions I am starting to take off a bit more. Good luck to you.
  • mmipanda
    mmipanda Posts: 351 Member
    Hi,

    I will start by saying that I have been following a calorie restricted program for the past 2 months and I have seen some weight loss. However, I am struggling to stick to my plan and eat healthfully. I will have several good days where I am doing well and then I will get extra hungry or have added stress and will deviate. This deviation usually lasts for a few days before I finally get back on track. I think part of this may happen because I am generally hungry even when I try to make the best possible food choices (i.e. lower carb, higher protein ect). Regardless these deviations are really slowing down my weight loss progress and I would really like to stop this vicious cycle. Do you have any advice for me and what I can do to become consistent with eating healthy. Open to any and all of your opinions or other resources or books you may recommend.

    Thank you!
    Its hard to say when your diary is closed, but if you're starving then you're doing something wrong.

    i'm a big paleo advocate. Given the choice between restricting WHAT you eat, or restricting HOW MUCH you eat, I find the former much easier and had much more success with it.
  • lynleeg88
    lynleeg88 Posts: 104 Member
    Hi,

    I will start by saying that I have been following a calorie restricted program for the past 2 months and I have seen some weight loss. However, I am struggling to stick to my plan and eat healthfully. I will have several good days where I am doing well and then I will get extra hungry or have added stress and will deviate. This deviation usually lasts for a few days before I finally get back on track. I think part of this may happen because I am generally hungry even when I try to make the best possible food choices (i.e. lower carb, higher protein ect). Regardless these deviations are really slowing down my weight loss progress and I would really like to stop this vicious cycle. Do you have any advice for me and what I can do to become consistent with eating healthy. Open to any and all of your opinions or other resources or books you may recommend.

    Thank you!

    I don't know if this is possible for you, but at the moment the best thing I do to help is to simply not have it available.

    I have no junk in my house, nothing full of carbs or sugar or calories. Fruit as snacks, etc. It works, because even in my weak moments at night there is nothing for me to actually indulge in. It has made it easier, and just knowing in the back of my mind seems to help.

    Try this too, seems to work for me, eat a big breakfast. And when I have that torment I get something like a boiled egg for the protein. Or something small but spicy.
  • prattiger65
    prattiger65 Posts: 1,657 Member
    Eat "good" or "clean" or "healthy" (whatever those words mean to you) 80% of the time. Fit yummy, portion-controlled snacks into your macros.

    Read this: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants


    THIS......THIS......THIS......READ THIS LINK!!!!!!!
  • RllyGudTweetr
    RllyGudTweetr Posts: 2,019 Member
    Hi,

    I will start by saying that I have been following a calorie restricted program for the past 2 months and I have seen some weight loss. However, I am struggling to stick to my plan and eat healthfully. I will have several good days where I am doing well and then I will get extra hungry or have added stress and will deviate. This deviation usually lasts for a few days before I finally get back on track. I think part of this may happen because I am generally hungry even when I try to make the best possible food choices (i.e. lower carb, higher protein ect). Regardless these deviations are really slowing down my weight loss progress and I would really like to stop this vicious cycle. Do you have any advice for me and what I can do to become consistent with eating healthy. Open to any and all of your opinions or other resources or books you may recommend.

    Thank you!

    Because you're not eating food you like. Get away from the good food/bad food mentality. Eat food you like and make sure it fits into your nutrition goals.

    "Eating healthy" just means getting the nutrients you need. Denying yourself stuff you love to eat is not the path to success.
    DING DING! We have a winner.
  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,487 Member
    If you're being too restrictive and not eating foods you like you're just asking for failure.
  • Dugleik
    Dugleik Posts: 125
    What is your tdee and what deficit are you eating at? If you open your diary so we can see what you eat that might help. Personally, low-carb doesn't work with me, I feel hungry all the time.

    Use mfp to experience. Note everything you eat as your eating it and that way you can adjust your diet to something that keeps you full, satisfied, and on your calorie goals.
  • Hybrice
    Hybrice Posts: 117 Member
    1. Find some healthy foods you like! Broccoli, poached eggs, soups, all good!
    2. Willpower
    3. WIllpower
  • jetlag
    jetlag Posts: 800 Member
    Hi,

    I will start by saying that I have been following a calorie restricted program for the past 2 months and I have seen some weight loss. However, I am struggling to stick to my plan and eat healthfully. I will have several good days where I am doing well and then I will get extra hungry or have added stress and will deviate. This deviation usually lasts for a few days before I finally get back on track. I think part of this may happen because I am generally hungry even when I try to make the best possible food choices (i.e. lower carb, higher protein ect). Regardless these deviations are really slowing down my weight loss progress and I would really like to stop this vicious cycle. Do you have any advice for me and what I can do to become consistent with eating healthy. Open to any and all of your opinions or other resources or books you may recommend.

    Thank you!

    Because you're not eating food you like. Get away from the good food/bad food mentality. Eat food you like and make sure it fits into your nutrition goals.

    "Eating healthy" just means getting the nutrients you need. Denying yourself stuff you love to eat is not the path to success.

    This. Eating foods you like should not be a "deviation" but built into your plan. I would rather be fat than never eat the foods I love. Seriously. So, I eat in a way that allows me to lose weight yet still enjoy what I eat.

    I once read a post by someone lambasting people for eating junk and saying that they had just been to the movies and had eaten rice cakes and how virtuous they felt and you were kidding yourself if you thought you could ever eat popcorn again or words to that effect.

    I would rather not go to the movies, quite frankly. But I love going to the movies and I love popcorn (fortunately, you can't get buttered popcorn in UK cinemas and the biggest size is a US medium), so I fit it into my plan.

    I would love to work out how not to get completely derailed by Christmas, though lol
  • honeylissabee
    honeylissabee Posts: 217 Member
    I think the problem is not in whether you eat the foods you like or not. It's finding balance.

    I love chips, pepperoni, crackers, cheese, and sweets, but if I base my diet around those foods I'll either be starving, or I will gain about 100 pounds.

    Now, I also feel that there is a fine line between "not denying yourself" and "changing your eating habits."

    I stopped drinking soda in 2008. I loved certain flavors, but I gave it up entirely. Maybe, at some time, I could have been depriving myself, but I almost never miss it nowadays. Truthfully, I probably wouldn't even like it much if I did have a can now.

    I think you need to figure out what boundaries will work for you. If you have trouble stopping at one piece of chocolate, buy the smallest containers you can find. You can even go to a craft store and buy single Lindor truffles for about 40 cents. Don't buy large bags. I love the Kashi GoLean Crunchy bars (especially the hazelnut coffee cake one) but I also know that I can't buy a big Costco box of them because I will binge on them. I have to buy them one at a time.

    And with treats, I'd try swapping things out on occasion. Go with dried fruit or a ThatsIt bar as a little sweet treat instead of gummy worms. I know it isn't exactly the same, but having a healthier alternative does help.

    I also allow myself one meal a week (Monday nights) to eat whatever I want. I can usually hold off on cravings until then. I'm not sure if I'd be able to do that if I didn't have my free meal. Right now, I need it for sanity purposes, but I'm hoping that's not always the case.
  • jcrob33
    jcrob33 Posts: 2 Member
    I found that I had to die to my bodies desires and learn self control. Try fast for 24 hours. It'll help you resist food!

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