Keeping Motivated after initial month.

so have it.
losing weight is about healthy choices, NOT depriving yourself of the things you love.
want a glass of wine, try 1/2 a glass, log it in in the am and adjust your daily calories so your not over.
Piece of chocolate? have it and do the same.
trust me if you sip that wine & savor that chocolate you will enjoy it and appreciate it even more.
I dont do fat free stuff, it tastes nasty, i use whole fat versions of everything (like ranch dressing) i just use less.
take out food? smaller amount and fill in with a big healthy salad
You wont stick to what your doing if u feel deprived

I think you have to view this as a change in how you eat for life, not X many months without chocolate, wine (or in my case Jack D!). You can still incorporate those things into your life, you just need to compensate for them. In my case, this means more exercise to offset some of my higher calorie days.

I find it helps to look at how far I've come and remember what I DON'T want to return to. Sometimes I try on pants that are now too big for me and high five my own bad self for sticking with it!

Good luck!

I totally agree with feliciapeters.
One has to admit that the one food that is irrisitable is the one you have denied yourself. Then after so long of not having it I find that I tend to totally derail and binge like crazy then of course once you've binged then it is easy to just keep on doing so.
One has to truely savor the foods that one's is craving though. Eat them slowly with no distractions.
No TV, radio, book or anything.
Eat at the table. Smell the food. Feel the texture of the food in your mouth and close your eyes as you chew slowly.
Pay attention to your body. You can tell when your no longer hungry and don't eat until you feel full because by then the stomach to brain delay means your over full.
With the takeout food chose a bowl or plate from the cupboards that will hold as much food as your two cupped palms. That is the amount of food that will comfortably fill you. Many people (myself included) tend to eat twice+ that at least if not consiously thinking about it.
If what your craving is super high in calories fill up on a bulky salad first.
My trick to salad dressings is to use the full fat versions but I cut them with a bit of organic 1% milk (tastes like 2%) and a half of lemon. Works great to make caesar dressing stretch far enough to cover a big salad and doesn't have that gross taste that low fat has.
I would keep away from the wine due to the fact that alchool slows the body's fat burning for up to a day after it is drank and is high in empty carbs. If you do indulge I would do it only lightly once a week.
What I do sometimes is to mentaly remind myself that I'm doing this for me and if I binge the only thing I'm hurting is my goals. Then I decide what is more important to me at the time.

Keep going that healthy guy wants out.

For me, the best way to think of my food intake is the same way I think of my finances. I only have x amount of money every week and I have x amount of bills to pay. Similarly I have x amount of calories per day and x amount of "bills" (protein, carbs, iron, potasium, vitamins, etc) that I have to pay with those calories. I can't splurge on calories any more than I can spend beyond my means. If I want something that doesn't fit into my budget, I must either adjust my budget to fit it in, or work overtime (exercise) to pay for it.

Well said!

There is and it is almost as bad as regular credit cards.

It is called "excess body fat" LOL.

I agree with all the posts above! You can still enjoy your favorites without over indulging. When I drink/eat out I try to have a limit set in my mind before I get there. Like, tonight I will only have x amount of drinks, or I will only eat half of this HUGE plate of food, etc... That way you don't get caught up in the moment and end up over indulging. I've tried the whole "deprive yourself of everything bad" thing and I always end up binging on m cheat days or completely giving up on my diet. Not good!

I agree that you shouldn't deprive yourself of your favorites but have them in MODERATION!

a little tip for you....DARK chocolate has alot of good stuff for your body! It is actually healthy to have a little nip of dark chocolate....I have a cheat treat every week where I allow myself a small piece of dark chocolate to help curve my cravings

As far as soda pop and all the other junk foods are concerned...I drink flavored carbonated water....Strawberry Kiwi is a favorite of mine...it tastes kind of like soda pop but without all the harmful chemicals that pop has!

coffee - one cup a week! I know it sounds weird but coffee Fridays are something to look forward to!

exercise - i walk at least 1 mile EVERYDAY....and dance to whatever music I like as often as possible (usually in my room!)

This approach seems to be working for me...I've lost some weight and I have so much more energy than I did before!

Good luck to all of you on your weight loss journey! Here's to a happy healthy year!

I really like that idea.

What has been working for me so far is when I go out to eat with my wife, we order 1 meal and split it. But this won't work if we want different things. Having it already cut in half in a take out container is brilliant.