Hard to be "good" anymore

The hardest thing to learn is moderation of foods that we used to binge on.
The most important thing to learn is moderation of foods we used to binge on.

Everything about this process is a choice. It was easy for me to make excuses for way too many years. Time wasted. Make up your mind what you want and then work hard to get it. You will not be perfect. You will have bad minutes - they do not have to turn into hours or days.

Learning the lesson of moderation is the ONLY way to be successful in the long run. Good luck in your choices.

I log my binges when I have them. I log the alcohol I drink when I have it. And you have to be 100% honest with it.
I struggle with binge eating and I have - my whole life. But logging it helps me see how many calories I am actually consuming - and before anyone jumps down my throat saying - it isn't about calories it is about macros - I don't know what that is - so it is a foreign language to me.

But at the same time - if I want ice cream - i have ice cream. If i want peanut butter and a piece of chocolate - I have it. I don't let my body go without (Except chips - i love chips so much - I used to eat an entire bag or 2 in one sitting).

I am finding myself slacking a little bit (especially on alcohol. I LOVE beer) now that I've lost this much - but you just have to keep reminding yourself - that the battle isn't over yet.

I'm familiar with that, I made fries taste "bad"
Having a hard time with sweets tho

Most of the stuff I'm talking about tastes like desserts though. Mix protein powder with fat free greek yogurt and top with lite whipped cream = tastes like chocolate mousse. I make protein cakes and stuff all the time too. Going to attempt a healthy cheesecake either tonight or tomorrow too.

healthy cheesecake?? I'm adding you too!

Yes, I agree with this poster. For "chips", slice veggies very thin, a light spray coating of olive oil, a little salt, and in a dehydrator or oven, and you can make no guilt "veggie chips". Gives you the crunch and salt of chips without the calories. Lets face it, real chips really don't have much taste other than the salt and crunch.....so replace it with something else. There are a lot of "tricks" on the internet, on how to replace bad for good...do some research on how to replace the things you are eating for better, no guilt versions.

Once you learn to make 'good' things taste like 'bad' things it becomes way easier. For example, this morning I made red velvet pancakes. Sounds kind of bad right? But it wasn't bad at all, I use a high protein organic pancake mix, add in red velvet flavored protein powder, an egg, and top it with calorie free pancake syrup. Was very GOOD in every way.

There's lots of good things you can make that taste really awesome that are actually good for you. Once I learned to do that, it's been pretty easy to lose weight and easy to maintain because I don't crave anything. I just make very tasty alternatives to junk.

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oh this is awesome. I LOVE RED VELVET!!! What kind of protein do you use? I have the problem that I am lactose intolerant & most whey isolate protein powders REALLY mess with my stomach and I'm sick the rest of the day.

Sculli123 ~~~>

Once you learn to make 'good' things taste like 'bad' things it becomes way easier. For example, this morning I made red velvet pancakes. Sounds kind of bad right? But it wasn't bad at all, I use a high protein organic pancake mix, add in red velvet flavored protein powder, an egg, and top it with calorie free pancake syrup. Was very GOOD in every way.

There's lots of good things you can make that taste really awesome that are actually good for you. Once I learned to do that, it's been pretty easy to lose weight and easy to maintain because I don't crave anything. I just make very tasty alternatives to junk.

Nancytyc~~~>

Yes, I agree with this poster. For "chips", slice veggies very thin, a light spray coating of olive oil, a little salt, and in a dehydrator or oven, and you can make no guilt "veggie chips". Gives you the crunch and salt of chips without the calories. Lets face it, real chips really don't have much taste other than the salt and crunch.....so replace it with something else. There are a lot of "tricks" on the internet, on how to replace bad for good...do some research on how to replace the things you are eating for better, no guilt versions.

Once you learn to make 'good' things taste like 'bad' things it becomes way easier. For example, this morning I made red velvet pancakes. Sounds kind of bad right? But it wasn't bad at all, I use a high protein organic pancake mix, add in red velvet flavored protein powder, an egg, and top it with calorie free pancake syrup. Was very GOOD in every way.

There's lots of good things you can make that taste really awesome that are actually good for you. Once I learned to do that, it's been pretty easy to lose weight and easy to maintain because I don't crave anything. I just make very tasty alternatives to junk.

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Just curious if these 2 people are 1 in the same :huh:

It's always going to be hard, to be good.

I want to add... It feels so good to binge, it gives me this sort of satisfaction, but it's mixed with guilt...

Do a current weight photoshoot and then pull up a picture everytime you want to binge.... that's what got me in shape the first time..... I went on vacation and when the prints came back I was like... OH....MY....GOSH. I committed to change the moment I saw them and luckily have never gotten that heavy since. phew!

Just glancing at your diary the last 2 or 3 days, it looks like you eat very little for breakfast. So you might want to eat more for breakfast and then eat a good snack mid-day with protein. You should have a better chance of having less binges at night.

Is the evening when you have "down" time? Sometimes I eat out of boredom! Have you examined your feelings before your binge? Are you nervous, anxious, bored? Is it true hunger or do you just want something in your mouth.

Good luck. This whole weight loss thing is a process of experimentation. I crave sugars most after putting in a long shift at work and am still trying to find a plan to offset those feelings of wanting/needing sweets.

When I started I found it so easy to stay on track, now I cheat every other day.... I'm not sure how to motivate myself to say no to treats and extra calories... I am good in the morning and afternoon and start off the day with good intentions but then 6pm hits and I feel like eating everything I shouldn't in the house.

I wish it were as easy as not buying "bad" foods but I live with my family and I'm not the one that buys it...

Anyone else feel the same? How can I find my beginner's motivation again?

It's so hard! Living with your family makes it much harder! I also saw from reading some later posts in this thread that there seems to be an emotional component to eating (as with so many of us...you're not alone). I had a nutritionist look at my food diary once and she started pointing to things and saying, "Oh that's a hug right there. There's a kiss." She was right! I was (and still fight urge not to) using food to reward myself...a lot...even if only in little bits at a time.

So let's think about what's happening after six pm. Are you tired? Does your family stress you out? Are you watching TV (I find watching TV tends to make me wants a snack....totally mental)? What are some things that can be done to combat? Here are some things I try to do when I want a snack, especially if I think I might just be wanting on of those "hugs" the nutritionist mentioned:

1. When the craving hits, drink a glass of water (often we confuse hunger with thirst anyway).
2. Have healthy snacks convenient and at hand (nuts, small apples, cut up melon, and frozen grapes are some favorite summer treats for me...I wash grapes then freeze them in snack baggies so they're easy...it feels better than ice cream!) Feel free to do this while making your healthy dinner even, because if not, I don't make a healthy dinner. I want junk.
3. Chewing gum sometimes distracts me from wanting something for a while. Something about blowing bubbles can satisfy some oral desire, even if temporarily.
4. Distraction! Change up what you're doing. If you're watching tv, stop and read a book (then your hands are busy anyway), or take a walk or something else.

If you think of anything else, let me know, because evenings are my biggest challenge too! Good luck!

I have the exact same problem. I lost 160 pounds originally. i met that weight loss goal. then i had my bulk up goal after that, which I met. But i really haven't had any goals since then, i mean besides keeping "lean". After i lost so much weight, I got into a health part of food. It drives me nuts how nasty a lot of food is actually for our bodies so I have tried to eat as clean as possible. But I still love all food. I can still eat tons of "bad" food like it's nothing. I don't even get sick. And I can't do the whole moderation thing. if something "bad" hits my lips, I can't stop. And I also just never really feel full. I tried doing IIFYM moderation thing but just couldn't. I ended up over-eating on all the "bad" food. So it's a struggle, especially right now for me. But a big part of it is my life is very stressful. Eating "bad" foods is pretty much the only thing I can control and is a big FU to everything else that's going on. I realize that but it's still hard and doesn't change.

All I can say is that you aren't the only one We are all in this together trying to figure out how to stay healthy.

Probably the meds I'm taking

What meds are you taking and what underlying health issues are there?
Sometimes eating and appetite is indeed out of the eater's control. Some antidepressants for example are known to increase appetite and cause weight gain.

The boredom is definitely a killer. When im busy with something even if i get hungry i don't want to drop what i'm doing just to eat stuff. Very often people get fat because they have little else to do.

Those pancakes sound delicious!!!!

They were good. What was even better was the chocolate crepes I made on Sunday.

And just now I ate the cheesecake I made last night. Was pretty good and has good macros. Probably going to make a thread about the stuff I make soon in the recipe section with the recepies etc. I'll probably do a cake tomorrow, I'm thinking either chocolate or apple cinnamon.

The next time I do a cheesecake it's going to be smores flavor topped with chocolate peanutbutter. I'll probably do it this weekend.

Also, everything I make is ridiculously easy to make. I just learned how to make all this stuff within the last few months and I'm the type that used to burn toast. lol Probably the only good thing to come from my wife leaving me is I learned to cook!