how do you fight the urges to mess up?

I mess up too, but it helps if I prepare food ahead of time so when I get those urges... healthy snacks are just as easy to grab.

if a craving comes on.. i leave the kitchen, get out of there!
its like the danger zone..
But when i'm faced with a really bad craving.. i pop a piece of sugar free gum in a chew away and go make myself useful doing something else
Its the WORST when you have to sit and watch other people eating the food that you want sooo bad but in order to see results you cant mess around.. whats the point? you're wasting valuable time that you could be improving your body, life, and overall feel so why would you mess that up?
I always think ... why would you eat this nicole? youre going to hate yourself the SECOND after you eat it.
just remember that how your feeling now.. can be prevented as long as you stayyy STRONG! you can do it!

I mess up about once a week. When I do, I go right back to being healthy. If I have a crappy lunch, then I'll redeem myself with a healthy dinner. And if I only mess up a little bit, I'll lexercise to try and work off the extra calories my little mess up added on. Hope this helps!

Everyone messes up. Before I started this if I ate something bad I'd be like well, dosnt matter what I do the rest of the day and Id gorge myself. Now, i plug in what Im tempted to eat before I eat it and looking at the calories and stuff gives me a reality check. For instance I really wanted a triple choc muffin from Dunkins 600 calories and 31 grams of fat! That stopped me right there... totally not worth it!

I plan out treats for myself- I keep one sweet and one savory in the house. I like frozen godiva chocolate bars (i usually eat 1/2 at a time= 100 cals) or skinny cow truffles ice cream either chocolate/chocolate or choc/mint. And for savory I like to keep Quaker cheesy rice cakes (I know that sounds lame, but the little ones are like eating smart food pop corn!) or thin pretzles and mustard. Cheese + B&G hot pepper rings is tasty also.

The point is (before I start day dreaming about snack time) is that having these things built into your day can be a huge encouragment and help you resist uncontrolled snacking. The security of knowing you have something to reach fore can be a huge weight off your shoulders.

Good luck!

It's wonderful that you realize that your indulge doesn't mean it ruins your entire day. Many people struggle with that concept. I'm not perfect and mess up too, but I'm a big dose of tough love when it comes to unplanned indulgences.

You make yourself resist it because it's within your capability. Sure you want whatever "it" is, but you don't give in. Simple idea, physically simple, mentally hard. I've cried sometimes for not giving in to something I want so badly, but I consider it all part of my battle with emotional eating. There's no reason I should cry from not eating something.

I always feel so good when I've conquered a craving battle and not given in. Sometimes it takes half an hour, sometimes it's an all day battle... but I'm constantly getting stronger. Good job for not letting a slipup ruin the rest of your day.

Maybe your not eating enough for breakfast? A banana and an Atkins shake doesn't sound very filling?! I keep lots of my favorite yougurts and yoplait delight yogurt,(caramel and cream), in the frig. It helps when I'm hungry and need a quick snack! Make sure you have plenty of healthy low calories snacks available when the urge to eat stikes! Also, don't get discouraged, I too have been stuck at one weight for awhile now, I had my son hide the scale for next 3 weeks so I don't weigh and get discouraged. Just keep at it everyday, keep trying and don't give up when you eat a bit too much or something you feel you shouldn't have, pick yourself up and keep moving forward. Every day trying is another day forward towards your goal and being healthier. Good luck!

Hey!!

I agree with what everyone above me has already said - I do a little of it all
Apart from using exercise as punishment - I like to see it as something good otherwise I won't do it lol

Good luck

If you mess up... punish yourself by working out

Exercise should never be a punishment. It's something you should be doing to keep yourself healthy.

Like others have said, one thing to do is to prevent the action from happening by limiting what less healthy things you have available at your home. That will benefit you and your children. No one should be eating refined carbs and sugars - regardless of any advertising claims saying junk like "Made with whole grains" that seem to have been slapped on boxes, it's still not good for you.

Also, there's a mindset that I think needs to be altered, which is common on MFP. You seem to be rather upset at yourself for a bowl of cereal. Even though the cereal isn't the best food out there for you, so what? You didn't eat the whole box...or anything worse. It's a minor violation, if you can even call it that really. In this change to eating healthy you have to be gentle with yourself as well. It's ok to stray once in a while. Look at what triggered it. Were you feeling deprived? Have you been denying yourself other things? Is your normal diet well balanced and giving you the nutrients that you need? Shakes aren't all that satiating, perhaps you need to eat more real food if you can - like another poster mentioned.

Don't punish yourself for this, it can lead to worse things. I also think that the longer you eat healthfully and intuitively, the more you will realize that the processed foods aren't satisfying in the way that natural foods are. That in itself is a great motivator to keep eating healthy.

Anyway, I hope you've found something in this thread to help you in the future. Just remember to love yourself in this as well.

Try to avoid having the food in your house to start with. Although what I do is if I start to feel like I'm depriving myself of having treats every so often I'll give in and have a couple of reeses cups or some other chocolate, but the thing is I make sure to only buy 1 small packet instead of a big one, and then I add it to my daily calories and I don't feel like I need to eat more because I know I'm still gonna end up with 400 calories deficit that day and even though it isn't as good as a 600 calorie deficit I know that I'll still lose weight if I don't eat any more. That way I still feel satisfied and like I get to treat myself, I'm still losing weight and I don't end up completely giving up and over indulging a few days later. I hope that made sense.

Are you craving sweets? When I crave sweets, I eat a piece of fruit. I find the body craves things when it is hunting for nutrients. I find people on fitness pal don't eat enough fruit, and hence crave sugar. Fitness pal counts fruit as sugar grams, for juice and other stuff, I can understand that, but not fruit. Who ever heard of getting fat from eating too many bananas?! LOL. Sometimes I crave sweets when I haven't had enough protein either (I'm a vegetarian). My point is, I wonder if you are missing something in your diet. I'd think with the amount of weight you've lost so far, it isn't so much a self control issue, other than your body is prompting you to go find something it needs. Personally, I take a fist full of various vitamins and supplements every day and it really has helped me a lot. Good luck and God bless you on your journey. Gael