How to work on moderation

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rosebbgirl
rosebbgirl Posts: 3
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi, Im a new Mfp user, I'm looking to try moderation again. At first I tried going cold turkey because I think I may have a food addiction, but that did not last. So im wondering if I should work really hard on eating in moderation or should I find a different method.

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  • AliceDark
    AliceDark Posts: 3,886 Member
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    By "cold turkey," do you mean you tried to stop eating entirely? Because you shouldn't do that. You should eat food.
  • ellew70
    ellew70 Posts: 222 Member
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    Here's my suggestion for what it's worth.

    1. Try measuring your food and logging for a week. Don't make any changes other than measuring - you'll soon see that your portion sizes are way off.

    2. After a week, look at the patterns. See where the calories are? Alcohol? Soda? Late night snacking? Fried foods? Whatever it is, knowledge is power.

    3. Then make one change for the next week. Less soda. One beer not more. Whatever it is... for me, it was deciding either cheese or mayo on a sandwich, not both.

    4. Every week, add a change. Or two. You'll see you are making changes you can live with and slowly getting to your calorie gola.

    5. Don't beat yourself up. This is hard.

    Good luck
  • LoraF83
    LoraF83 Posts: 15,694 Member
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    Here's my suggestion for what it's worth.

    1. Try measuring your food and logging for a week. Don't make any changes other than measuring - you'll soon see that your portion sizes are way off.

    2. After a week, look at the patterns. See where the calories are? Alcohol? Soda? Late night snacking? Fried foods? Whatever it is, knowledge is power.

    3. Then make one change for the next week. Less soda. One beer not more. Whatever it is... for me, it was deciding either cheese or mayo on a sandwich, not both.

    4. Every week, add a change. Or two. You'll see you are making changes you can live with and slowly getting to your calorie gola.

    5. Don't beat yourself up. This is hard.

    Good luck

    This is good advice.

    There's nothing wrong with moderation. I just at a single serving of ice cream (62g) scooped into a bowl and measured. It fits into my calories and I enjoyed it. The problem would be if I sat down and ate half the container, or more than would fit into my calories for the day.

    Just remember that moderation takes practice, but it's worth it. Having a healthy relationship with food, understanding that you don't have to eat *everything* to be satisfied, that too many treats aren't worth the pounds.....it's a good thing. It will be difficult sometimes, but just keep trying.
  • Cheyenelikewyoming
    Cheyenelikewyoming Posts: 52 Member
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    Eat whatever the portion size is. For instance, sometimes I have potato chips with my sandwich. I read the bag and eat what it says (mostly ten chips give or take). Measuring and eating portion sizes of my favorite foods is what keeps me sane.
  • healthygreek
    healthygreek Posts: 2,137 Member
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    This is how moderation works for me:
    I eat my meal with lots of veggies, protein and healthy fats. I am nice and satisfied. Now I can eat my chocolate or ice cream or cookie or cake in moderation. I eat it slowly and really savor it.
    It took me a lot of practice and a few years to get it right, but now I can moderate my treats very successfully and I'm so proud and relieved that I can finally do this for myself.
    I think I had a lot of trouble moderating my treats because I deprived myself a lot and then went nuts with them.

    Keep trying-you can do it!

    Edited for grammar
  • pluto86
    pluto86 Posts: 1 Member
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    This is my first post. I've quit (almost) cold turkey eating carbs. I'm a major sugar addict. If you're desperate to lose weight fast, you could try staying under 20 carbs a day. It really controls cravings if you do it consistently. Since I don't much care for meat, and that, along with cheese is almost all I allow myself to have, it makes it pretty easy to not overeat. I did this last year and lost 45 pounds but gained it back when I got to my goal and started feeling really deprived (as someone else here said). Check out the ketogenic diet if you're interested. I still need to learn moderation, so thanks for all the great tips from everyone. These tips will be helpful when I try to reintroduce sugar into my diet in moderate amounts after getting to my goal.
  • rosebbgirl
    rosebbgirl Posts: 3
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    wait so I actually had a food diary on paper, and I noticed that I ate take out 4 times this week. So Lets say I cut the takeout food out, should I just continue to eat my regular food which is chips, chocolate, ice cream, soda etc. As I told you I tried going cold turkey before (cutting out ALL the junk) and that back fired on me.

    So I choose to cut out the soda and take out this week. What now?

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