Sometimes moderation just isn't even worth it..
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JustinAnimal wrote: »Agree with you, OP, and the person who said "who wants four chicken wings?"
This is the reason I'll argue with the fast-fooders all day long. They'll say, "Why miss out on McDonald's and cheesecake and pizza, I can fit it into my calories...." Riiiiiiiiight, you can fit one of those meals into your day and then suffer the rest of the day by hardly having anything to eat. Maybe their stomachs and hunger cues working differently than I, but when I'm exercising like a *kitten*, I'm hungry all of the time.
Anyway, I feel your pain, OP, and am about to make myself stay under calories through the weekend, which means healthy food and probably no wine or beer. Boo!
you can't fit a 500 calorie meal from fast food or pizza into your day???
even if you are on 1200 calories a day that would leave you 700 for the remainder of your day; or, heavens forbid, you could go over by 100 calories and eat 1300 instead of 1200...0 -
I'm saving all those recipes, lol.
You'll all be glad to hear that we went out, and we shared a dessert of two brownies (with ice cream and whipped cream), and I still have plenty of calories left for dinner.0 -
Have you tried VitaBrownies (50 calories, tons fiber, vitamins) or Vitacakes (100 calories, more fiber)? They are so good and really meet the craving.0
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jess1992uga wrote: »Have you tried VitaBrownies (50 calories, tons fiber, vitamins) or Vitacakes (100 calories, more fiber)? They are so good and really meet the craving.
I tried the Vitatops and wasn't a fan, but I got a EnergyLoaf this morning from the same brand (the banana nut one) that was really good, so I might try those...0 -
It's really all about your philosophy. "Moderation in all things" is, to me, an unworkable maxim. The classical maxim (inscribed, apparently, on the walls of the temple of Delphi) was "Nothing to Excess".
And even Emerson, one of many to whom "Moderation in all things" is ascribed, appended it to say "Moderation in all things, including this."
But "Moderation" "Enough/Sufficient" and "Excess" are all different things.0 -
OP I feel you. I'm close to my goal weight too and the deficit I can sustain is only 1-200 cal a day. that means I lose a little over ONE POUND A MONTH. And I'm hungry almost all of the time, except for maybe the first hour after a meal. Changes are so slow and so subtle that getting into the mindset of "it's only 500 cal, it won't make a difference" actually does make a difference. That brownie splurge would erase my deficit for 2-3 days. And that's hard. And sometimes its just more conducive to your long term goals to put things back and feel unsatisfied. And that's ok. So let me commiserate in your sadness. Because I'm sad too.
Also when you are hungry a lot, its like a constant low grade stress and all of the decisions you make during the day to stay within your caloric goals add up and deplete your ability to handle that stress. And stuff gets harder to resist and if you've used up your tank of willpower for the day and now it's the evening and you are looking at brownies in the grocery store it's very easy to say, "well, just eat one..or half of one" but actually that can be pretty hard to do. Personally, once I decide to eat a bit of whatever it is, I end up eating more than I originally intended. I have to have all of my calories for the day, including dinner and evening snacks pre-thought out because I am so fatigued from being hungry and making the choices that will result in a deficit all day long that I'm done.
I agree with all of this. I lost the weight I needed to lose a few years ago and have been maintaining ever since. I am hungry almost all day, every single day. Except for the rare times when I allow myself to eat to satisfaction (that's 3-4 slices of pizza or an entire box of Samoas, btw
, I have been at least low-grade hungry for something like three years. It's draining and distracting, and if I added it up, I'd probably be appalled to know how time and energy I spend every day I spend talking myself out of eating more food.
I would love to be one of the people for whom moderation works, but for me, a two-bite brownie or one slice of pizza is nothing but a tease that makes me want more. Avoidance works better.
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I've been craving a brownie.
I don't know what kind of brownies you like, but have you ever tried the Think Thin Chocolate Almond Brownie bar? It's 150 calories and to me the perfect consistency of the kind of brownies I like, when I am wanting a brownie.
I actually prefer it over a brownie, because I like eating it but doesn't make me feel queasy afterwards (I've always had a problem with sweets where if I eat more than a small amount my tummy feels upset afterwards). This may mean that the bar would not be sweet enough for most and/or may actually be very gross, but from a non-sweets loving person I guess advice on sweets may be shaky.
Otherwise my "moderation" tends to be I eat 1-2 thousand calories of the thing I want and just call it a 3k day. Not sure that's what they mean but meh. I like food and am good with just losing a pound or so a week.0 -
I think this OP illustrates one of the reasons why I 1) Love being a large muscular man who can east over 2500 at maintenance w/o much activity, and 2) don't usually feel the need to be well below 15 percent body fat except POSSIBLY on vacation or in the summer time being that I live outside Chicago.
If I want a brownie, I eat a brownie. Not a binge sized brownie, but yes, probably 400Kcals worth of Brownie. I'm probably going to end up adjusting my eating SOMEWHAT after that to make it a 250-300Kcals hit just naturally net.
Do the math, that's 1/13th of a pound. That's 4lbs a yr if you allow yourself this type of indulgence once a week....so the question is can you limit yourself to once a week splurges and can you devote 2/4 weeks in May to a cut for summer when you really want to be lean.
I dunno, can you?
I would actually-for most males- let my weight float maybe 3 times as much as that during the colder months and go for a gradual cut around every mid to late spring for 8 weeks to get into summer shape.
It also goes to the unrealistic goals of some women; not every female is built to be 115lbs guys, plenty have the height, frame size and natural tendency towards lean mass to make 150lbs/140lbs a reasonable goal that will allow enough eating to make staying around a maintenance number less of a chore.
If you're constantly trying to eat like under 1500Kcals, you are probably (with obvious exceptions for petite people) going to be fkn miserable all the time.0 -
I'm not the biggest fan of brownies, but mostly had to give up pies except on holidays. I love apple pie covered in ice cream or decadent salted caramel chocolate pie. These are absolutely delicious, but a serving can easily go north of 500-600. I don't say I can never have it, because I do a few times during the year, but I have definitely cut them out of my day to day diet.
Day to day, I have replaced those things with desserts that are all under 250 cals. Low fat ice cream/sorbet, fun sized chocolate bars, Nutella on crisp bread or thinwhich slices. So overall, I don't feel particularly deprived.
I am a 5'5.5" tall woman and my TDEE is 1800-1900 a day depending on which formula you are using. A good slice of that chocolate pie would be nearly 1/3 my caloric intake for the day at maintenance. That ain't no joke.0 -
I've been craving a brownie. I had to do some groceries today so I picked Wegmans...It's just ridiculous... Two tiny one maybe two bite brownies = 220 calories...This 'healthy eating' thing just sucks at times.
I see what you are saying.
Today, I took a food photo instead of having a decent breakfast – I wanted a piece of fried fish for lunch and that was the price. It was “delicious.” I do this every month or so.
I must say, I mocked the WW Chocolate Bliss when I first removed the wrapper. The strange thing is – I found myself still buying a box once a week. Instead of using it as my “entire” snack, I make it part of a trio (perhaps with popcorn, fiber bar or fruit mixed with no sugar yogurt) and spread it out thru the evening. I’m not saying the “entire box” wouldn’t taste better – but I have other foods I like even more
The waffle is the size of a half dollar with a tiny single strawberry / blueberry & a drip of yogurt and squirt of sugar free syrup – all for under 25 calories – take away the waffle and you have about 2 calories. LOL
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CrabNebula wrote: »I'm not the biggest fan of brownies, but mostly had to give up pies except on holidays. I love apple pie covered in ice cream or decadent salted caramel chocolate pie. These are absolutely delicious, but a serving can easily go north of 500-600. I don't say I can never have it, because I do a few times during the year, but I have definitely cut them out of my day to day diet.
Day to day, I have replaced those things with desserts that are all under 250 cals. Low fat ice cream/sorbet, fun sized chocolate bars, Nutella on crisp bread or thinwhich slices. So overall, I don't feel particularly deprived.
I am a 5'5.5" tall woman and my TDEE is 1800-1900 a day depending on which formula you are using. A good slice of that chocolate pie would be nearly 1/3 my caloric intake for the day at maintenance. That ain't no joke.
Yeah I'm 5'5" but my TDEE is 2200, doing the math from the last 7 months, so it could be worse.
It also goes to the unrealistic goals of some women; not every female is built to be 115lbs guys, plenty have the height, frame size and natural tendency towards lean mass to make 150lbs/140lbs a reasonable goal that will allow enough eating to make staying around a maintenance number less of a chore.
If you're constantly trying to eat like under 1500Kcals, you are probably (with obvious exceptions for petite people) going to be fkn miserable all the time.
Haha I like you. My thought exactly. Ice cream, chocolate and brownie >>> being 18% body fat. Heck, even 20. I'm pretty happy at 22 if it means I don't have to give them up.0 -
CrabNebula wrote: »
I am a 5'5.5" tall woman and my TDEE is 1800-1900 a day depending on which formula you are using. A good slice of that chocolate pie would be nearly 1/3 my caloric intake for the day at maintenance. That ain't no joke.
Yeah I'm 5'5" but my TDEE is 2200, doing the math from the last 7 months, so it could be worse.
What I get for having a job where I basically just sit, barely moving for 8 hours a day and then another two hours a day in the car, sitting. During my lunches, I do incline treadmill (usually something like 9% @ 4MPH) and rowing (5-6k) for 30-45 minutes. If I have time after dinner, I'll walk another 3 miles outside. On the weekends, I do a lot of shopping or hiking, if the weather cooperates. But I am not super physically active.0 -
CrabNebula wrote: »CrabNebula wrote: »
I am a 5'5.5" tall woman and my TDEE is 1800-1900 a day depending on which formula you are using. A good slice of that chocolate pie would be nearly 1/3 my caloric intake for the day at maintenance. That ain't no joke.
Yeah I'm 5'5" but my TDEE is 2200, doing the math from the last 7 months, so it could be worse.
What I get for having a job where I basically just sit, barely moving for 8 hours a day and then another two hours a day in the car, sitting. During my lunches, I do incline treadmill (usually something like 9% @ 4MPH) and rowing (5-6k) for 30-45 minutes. If I have time after dinner, I'll walk another 3 miles outside. On the weekends, I do a lot of shopping or hiking, if the weather cooperates. But I am not super physically active.
I'm less active than you, honestly... but I lift weights, maybe it helps? And I guess I'm up a lot during the day, even if it's just to do laundry... I'm 133 pounds.0 -
Yeah, I don't lift. I know I need to, but I'm lazy about it. I find cardio so much more fun, so hard to get away from it. I am 135.0
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I feel the same way, but only about certain foods like brownies. A serving (preferably two) of ice cream for a similar or slightly larger amount of calories seems more worth it to me. I can eat a brownie in like 3 bites.
I do practice moderation, or I make room for the whole thing. But, I also have a few "substitutes" that I truly ENJOY when I'm in the mood for high volume food consumption.0 -
I remind myself that nothing tastes as good as being fit feels.0
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EarlyBirdBex wrote: »I remind myself that nothing tastes as good as being fit feels.
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hellcaterika wrote: »I'm the same way, I live for these Flaming Hot Cheetos here in the U.S. but when I read the calories I think " I have to run how long to burn this off?" Not worth it for sure! A few years back when I lost weight it got to the point where I would steal a chip off someone and I DIDN'T even like the fake cheese, processed taste anymore. Your body really does get use to eating better and all the fake, high calorie stuff tastes bad. Do you have access to fiber brownies? There's one brand, Fiber One, that has 90 cal fiber brownies and satisfies me when I need a brownie.
I love that this happens, our bodies are simply awesome! Pizza starts to taste too greasy and salty, sweets way to sweet. So having a bite or a tiny piece really is possible. Sometimes....
If I'm away from something for quite awhile and I think, hm...this might be good.. I can tell right off the bat if it's a craving from 'the old days' or an emotional craving etc.
Lovin this thread because it's good to not feel like the only one making an either or decision, is it worth it, or not. Been interesting reading the input of others on what's worth it even with an extra workout lol
But now by the power of suggestion I've sorta got a craving for brownies now. I'm going through the files in my brain to decide the best ones I've ever had and the crappier ones... is it worth is... or not... and that's what's going through my brain. lol 0 -
cheshirecatastrophe wrote: »
Not when you want a fudgy gooey brownie.
Which is why you should allow yourself to have one every now and then. I think this is the true definition of "moderation". I've had a lot more success with occasionally allowing myself to have the full serving of the "bad" foods I want rather than allowing myself little bits and pieces of it.
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970Mikaela1 wrote: »Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »Why would that not be moderation?
I just don't think everyone is using the word the same way. (assuming this is a reply to my question).
My version of moderation is once I'm close to my protein and fat macro I can have the other 1200 calories of mderated ice cream or brownies or whatever.
The other 1200?? wow. Lucky YOU!0
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