OMG I LOVE FOOD

I've seen it said over and over in the threads, and I have to agree - you're not going to change until you want it badly enough.

Yes, food can be a delicious and comforting thing (don't I know it!). But until you start loving yourself more than you love food, you probably won't be able to say no to the chips.

Work on changing your mindset. Set small goals and work towards them. Reward yourself (not with food) for small successes. You can do it!

Simple. If someone asks you if you want a chip, have a chip. Just don't have the whole bag.

I love food too. I still eat the food I like, just not as much of it. Whether you eat one chip or the whole bag, you'll eventually reach the end of the bag and be out of chips. How you feel when you stop is up to you.

I learned that I can still enjoy the foods i really like while still maintaining a caloric deficit. Let nutrient dense food make up the bulk of your calories each day. lets say 80 to 90%. With the remaining 10-20%, enjoy some stuff you like. Make sure it fits your macros so you don't go over. Bam! Now you enjoy the best of both worlds without hurting your goals. It is really the only way most people will maintain a healthy lifestyle. Cutting out all the foods you enjoy forever will never last. Unless you are getting on a stage you don't need to go to the extreme. Besides, lets be honest. One chip isn't why most people are over weight.

#IIFYM - Flexible dieting

For me, I find that eating small(er) portions of the foods I like helps keep binging to a minimum. I have also found that planning my day out in advance is very helpful. For instance, I have 1/2 a cup of ice cream at night. Knowing that I get a "treat" at the end of the day helps me plan my meals and snacks the rest of the day.

I think that in general when someone says that they'll "never" eat a certain type of food again set themselves up for failure. So, have a serving of chips, track it, and adjust for it so that it's within your daily calorie goal.

Pretty much this. I'm a major foodie and the reason most of my past weight loss attempts failed was due to deprivation and restrictions. Thinking I couldn't have dessert or pizza or whatever just made me want that more and after a few weeks of going without I decided it wasn't worth the sacrifice and gave in. Thing is, you can still lose weight eating what you like as long as it's within your calorie/macro goal so it's not so much a matter of doing without as it is about keeping your portions under control.

Whether it's a treat once a day or once a week or even once a month - having that planned indulgence to look forward to can help you avoid temptations. Planning and packing snacks/meals can also help a lot. Say I've got chicken thawed in the fridge and plan on making a tasty low cal dish for dinner. If Hubs says "let's order pizza", I can explain that there's food to be cooked that we can't waste and put him off for a day or two and plan for a pizza night.

It can also help to tweak recipes a bit. Use leaner meats, less carby foods (pasta, rice potatoes), and bulk with veggies instead. Your dishes will still taste great but be a bit healthier with lower fat and calories.

Good luck!

The number one problem in loosing weight is the food! I love food so much. If someone ask me oh you want a chip I'm gonna say yes. How do you control yourself with food???

By logging everything and planning ahead if possible. I try not to deny myself foods I love, meaning if I want ice cream or pizza, that's what I'm going to have, but I'm also realistic. I realize that if I want to have, say, 4 slices of Papa John's Pizza, that means I need to either: A) Drastically cut my calories before so I can still stay within my calorie allotment or boost my exercise to give myself more calories to work with that day or C) the ideal choice...a combination of both.

I am working to eat proper portions but there are certain things I realize are "triggers" for me so I try not to have them in the house. If I want ice cream, I go out and get a single scoop cone. This helps to me to eat a "serving size" rather than, say, a whole pint of Ben and Jerry's. :laugh:

Pretzels...I actually count 'em out. Ditto potato chips.

I've also found it helps to get in the habit of eating less but more OFTEN. Keeping my blood sugar at a more even level by eating between meal small snacks helps me to avoid stuffing myself at meals because I feel starved.

I also love food. I love to grow it, read about it, cook it, preserve it, and of course, eat it.

I could never lose weight or maintain a healthy weight without exercise because I'd be miserable eating so few calories. Exercise is key for me because it allows me to eat foods I like, prepared the way I like, without having teeny tiny portions.

Also, I find that eating light most of the day so I can have one really big meal helps me. No tiny plates. No saying "no" to seconds or dessert. If I want beer or wine with the meal, I have it.

Develop the habit of making better choices and just taking a bite instead of eating the entire thing (if it's unhealthy food)

The number one problem in loosing weight is the food! I love food so much. If someone ask me oh you want a chip I'm gonna say yes. How do you control yourself with food???

I eat the chips. I had chips yesterday. I weighed out a serving (28g), put them on a plate with my turkey sammich and went on my way. I ate it, was content, and carried on.

Had I wanted more chips I would have had them, while making sure they fit into my day and if they couldn't fit I just have them another day.

I had to eliminate trigger foods. No more Oreos, Pringles, Ben & Jerry's, and no more Chocolate Peanut Butter Spread. Then I started to learn about food and my body's nutritional needs. Then I re-evaluated my relationship with food.

The biggest lesson I've learned is that no matter how much I love food, it does not love me back. It could care less about me. If I won't invest in a personal relationship under those conditions, I needed to not invest in a food relationship under those conditions.

So, I downgraded food from "LOVAH" to "FUEL" and eat to fuel my energy while I do things I love and that love me back. Working out, walking my dog whilst running from zombies--all love me back. Food is fuel.

I also love good, and have an unhealthy relationship with food. I could eat all day if I let myself, and I certainly don't have to be hungry to eat. I never understand those people that skip meals or "forget" to eat - how the hell?! And let me tell you, I'm only 140 lbs but I can put food away. If you saw me on a day that I'm not counting calories, you'd probably wonder how I'm not 500 lbs. I could eat an entire bloomin' onion from Outback by myself and still eat my actual meal. I can scarf down an entire bag of chips or hershey kisses in one sitting. I can out-eat my husband at any restaurant.

The way I control it is by being a little lax on weekends. I try to remain under my calorie goal for the weekly average, and I make sure to still count calories to keep myself in check, but if I want some Chinese food or something, I'm going to eat it. I stay on track all week, usually just go a little over on Saturday but mostly alright, and then Sunday is my refeed day. It helps me keep my sanity, but I'm not going over my weekly goal, so it's alright and I'm not completely sabotaging all the work I did during the week.

Whatever works for you!

I absolutely can't stand the phrase, "eat to live, don't live to eat." Ugh...it's a skinny people saying for sure. You know what, I eat to live AND sometimes I live to eat. Food is good and I enjoy eating it, so I'm going to. I don't believe in depriving myself of everything i like for the sake of being thin. If I need to lose weight slowly in order to still treat myself sometimes, I'm okay with that.

I also love good, and have an unhealthy relationship with food. I could eat all day if I let myself, and I certainly don't have to be hungry to eat. I never understand those people that skip meals or "forget" to eat - how the hell?! And let me tell you, I'm only 140 lbs but I can put food away. If you saw me on a day that I'm not counting calories, you'd probably wonder how I'm not 500 lbs. I could eat an entire bloomin' onion from Outback by myself and still eat my actual meal. I can scarf down an entire bag of chips or hershey kisses in one sitting. I can out-eat my husband at any restaurant.

The way I control it is by being a little lax on weekends. I try to remain under my calorie goal for the weekly average, and I make sure to still count calories to keep myself in check, but if I want some Chinese food or something, I'm going to eat it. I stay on track all week, usually just go a little over on Saturday but mostly alright, and then Sunday is my refeed day. It helps me keep my sanity, but I'm not going over my weekly goal, so it's alright and I'm not completely sabotaging all the work I did during the week.

Whatever works for you!

I absolutely can't stand the phrase, "eat to live, don't live to eat." Ugh...it's a skinny people saying for sure. You know what, I eat to live AND sometimes I live to eat. Food is good and I enjoy eating it, so I'm going to. I don't believe in depriving myself of everything i like for the sake of being thin. If I need to lose weight slowly in order to still treat myself sometimes, I'm okay with that.

That's rather rude. Learning to have a healthy relationship with food has nothing to do with 'skinny people'. There's really nothing wrong with making a conscious choice to occasionally let loose and consume a large amount of calories. If your overall life has a healthy balance in it, that's perfectly fine. You're not going to gain weight overall by doing that one time. The problem comes when that behavior happens on a daily basis. Learning to enjoy a few tastes of the food you love rather than mass quantities of it is really the key. Do you get more satisfaction out of eating the entire blooming onion as you do out of eating a few bites of it?