going cold turkey

keziak1
keziak1 Posts: 204 Member
edited November 9 in Health and Weight Loss
Do you find there are foods or habits you have to just excise from your life in order to lose weight? Or do you do well with "moderation in all things"?

My downfall is evening eating. When I'm not in control I eat a LOT at night. More recently I made myself a small snack and that worked for a while then it was like the snack just made me hungrier and I over-ate again. I'm ready to re-commit to my process and I'm going to try going cold turkey on the evening eating. My husband who is at a healthy weight never eats at night, but he does drink beer.

Replies

  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    My first couple months I went without chocolate. Hershey Kisses were my downfall, as I could eat a bag in 3-4 days. Now when I need it, I have two pieces of Ghirardelli 72% dark chocolate. I just had my first Kisses since about April and they aren't even appealing anymore.

    If you think you can't do moderation, cutting them out of your house is best.
  • tcunbeliever
    tcunbeliever Posts: 8,219 Member
    I used to be a late night snacker (as in eating a whole second dinner around 10pm just about every night) because I was hungry. I have made a couple changes and found it works for me. I eat more during the day so I have sufficient nutrition earlier and I'm not starting dinner with a 1000+ calorie shortage. I exercise at night after dinner (eat around 7 work out around 9). After working out I find I am super thirsty and after drinking lots of water I feel full, so that late night appetite never kicks in and I go to sleep happy.
  • joneallen
    joneallen Posts: 217 Member
    Food and drinking are going to react different to everyone. Just because he does something, doesn't mean it's going to have the same result with you.

    This whole journey has been a lifestyle change. Not something I do just to keep my weight in check.
  • brienneoh
    brienneoh Posts: 4 Member
    Everyone is different, but I have a bit of the same problem. Moderation is great, but I have found that eliminating things that are triggers or foods that I crave, can help break bad habits and lessen cravings after a few days.
  • VryIrishGirl76
    VryIrishGirl76 Posts: 1,167 Member
    My habit has been "winging it".
    I must plan my meals, otherwise it's a snacky free for all!
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    sometimes more extreme steps have to be taken to break bad habits. it is a lot easier for me to consume certain things in moderation now having broken the habit...had I not gone cold turkey from soda for example, it is likely I would have had a difficult time...now that the habit is broke, I can have a soda every once in awhile and it's really not a big deal.
  • GaleHawkins
    GaleHawkins Posts: 8,159 Member


    All the posts are great. What cwolfman13 said about going cold turkey from soda struck home in my battle with carb abuse in general. Everyone is very different and I am shocked how some post what another is doing is WRONG if it works for them. We all have evolved to where we are today in our eating lifestyles and will continue to do so.

    If someone had told me six months ago I would be Low Carb (<50g) and High Fat (80%) I would have looked at them with a blank look because I would not have known what they were talking about.

    As my eating lifestyle evolved I realized I was going in the right direction because of my decreasing pain levels and increased mobility abilities. Others can say what they want but I know a life of pain at the 7-8+ levels going to a 2-3 on a 1-10 scale is a YES you are finally poking your face with better stuff message from my body. :)

  • Lourdesong
    Lourdesong Posts: 1,492 Member
    When it comes to my favorite foods, the "all or nothing" mentality resulted in binging, i.e. I'd choose "all" eventually.
    "Some" is moderation. It's a manageable happy-medium between extremes.

    If you enjoy eating at night, and aren't as hungry throughout the day, then just allot most of your calories to be consumed at night.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,423 Member
    keziak1 wrote: »
    Do you find there are foods or habits you have to just excise from your life in order to lose weight? Or do you do well with "moderation in all things"?

    My downfall is evening eating. When I'm not in control I eat a LOT at night. More recently I made myself a small snack and that worked for a while then it was like the snack just made me hungrier and I over-ate again. I'm ready to re-commit to my process and I'm going to try going cold turkey on the evening eating. My husband who is at a healthy weight never eats at night, but he does drink beer.

    I feel that for me the changes are more adding things than taking away. I've added logging what I eat and drink to my routine. I've added some regular exercise to my routine. I plan snacks more often in advance. I've really added awareness.
    There are things that I don't feel are worth using up my calories on now. I eat smaller portion sizez of some other things. Moderation for some things, not bothering withother things.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
    I didn't "cold turkey" anything, I do however, pre-log my day. If it isn't logged, it doesn't get eaten.
  • keziak1
    keziak1 Posts: 204 Member

    [I didn't "cold turkey" anything, I do however, pre-log my day. If it isn't logged, it doesn't get eaten.]

    Thanks for that thought. Until the holidays that is what I was doing and I didn't think of it in terms of a strategy but it makes sense. My "mini" snack wasn't really the issue. It was the mindless grazing afterwards.

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