Breaking a habit

I love pizza!! Have you tried making cauliflower pizza crust. Easy to google the recipe. I just load mine with veggies and go easy on sauce and cheese.

I was using MFP for a good 6 months before I found these posts so it is a bit of a personal mission of mine to pass them on to other people who are just starting.

My standard suggestion/tip is to do some reading and buy a kitchen scale!!!

juliet3455 wrote: »

Visit these links about building Habits.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/ihad/view/the-power-of-habit-part-4-making-good-habits-stick-1-000-days-on-mfp-and-counting-698617

http://blog.myfitnesspal.com/the-next-step/

Visit the Eat-Train-Progress group and read the pinned topics. If you click on the little STAR you can bookmark the topic for future reference.

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/10118-eat-train-progress

Read the information at these MFP post. They have links to multiple very good reads.

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/categories/getting-started

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1234699/logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide/p1

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/833026/important-posts-to-read/p1

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1069278/acronyms-and-terms-for-new-mfp-members-v-6/p1

Try the USDA site as a cross reference for nutrition values of different food diary entries.
http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/

A Recipe Swap Group
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/148-recipe-swap

A Recipe Blog Site
https://blog.myfitnesspal.com/category/eat/recipes/

Some of these links will show up in the other Groups and discussions.
There are lots of other good groups and discussions with really good information and some with a more Social aspect.

@blankiefinder‌ She Nailed it when it comes to Logging accurately and selecting food from the search feature.

blankiefinder wrote: »

By the way, if I haven't found an entry that lists the grams, I keep looking for a different entry. This [ Enter Food ] item is already listed a bunch of times. Better to edit and correct one that is already there than add to the database mess that exists now.

When creating or editing a Food item from the existing database my Personal Bias is to enter the nutritional values based on grams ( 100 gm ) as it makes the portion size math easy, especially when you use a scale and WEIGH EVERYTHING. Don't log 2 tablespoons as it is a subjective number, where 32 gm. is very concise. You will be surprised how small some portions look when you start to weigh them out.
Re-train/calibrate your mind as to what a portion size is.
For Nutritional values start with the values from the product label and confirm it with the un-biased nutritional information from the USDA web site at 100 gm.

Im_Johnny wrote: »

For me when I've gone on a diet it's usually been straight forward, no more fatty foods and eat salad and fruits. I'm the past that has worked for me but it was only a diet, and not a true change of habit so I went back to fatty foods and gained more.

I simply enjoy Pizza, Fried Chicken and Burgers.
Apples are cool and all, but they don't satisfy me the way a steak does.

Is it possible for me to simply enjoy the foods I like and cut down the portions?
Would it be ok for me to stick to a 2000 calorie diet and still eat pizza?

I don't know why I feel like I have to replace these things with salads.
All I want to do is lose weight and enjoy my life.

You don't break bad habits, you replace them. A habit is made up of three components the cue, the activity and the reward. What you need to do is replace the activity. I have a cue of sitting on the couch, watching TV. My habit was to eat a large bag of chips and maybe a Caramilk bar as well. My reward was the feeling I had after eating. Now, when I have the cue of watching TV, I sit on my recumbent bike and pedal. If I still have the craving for something tasty - I drink zero calorie flavored water. Then my reward is feeling good about working out rather than having a belly full of poison.

At meal time, you can still enjoy pizza, fried chicken and burgers - just don't do it every day. Eat those foods only once or twice a week. Replace those foods daily with a healthier option. My co-workers and I have a tradition of going to Fatburger for lunch every Friday. I used to order a wonderful burger every week with fries but, that was helping to make me unhealthy. I have replaced that with the Cajun Chicken Salad and have done that for 8 weeks in a row. The chicken on the salad tastes great and fills me up with protein. Honestly, that salad is probably one of the best restaurant salads you will ever eat. Big, filling and delicious.

Sure, I have a burger and pizza every once in a while but, most meals are from the healthy side of the menu. Indulge once or twice a week, just not every day. Eventually, you will stop craving the unhealthy stuff as eating well becomes a habit. I really love my salads and stir fry meals - I don't even care if the guy beside me is eating a burger and fries. I have built a habit. Building a new habit is hard at the beginning, you have to be a little radical but, every day it gets easier to continue until one day, you do it automatically!

Hope my ranting helps a little. Feel free to add me as a friend if you are so inclined. :-)

that is why MFP is so great. you can work your favorite foods in to the program. as others have said you have to track everything you are eating to the best of your ability. Since MFP even lists the nutrition counts for fast foods you can see where you are doing damage. MFP will also tell you what your daily target calorie goal should be depending on your statistics and how much you want to lose per week.
2000 calories a day sounds too high to me to be losing weight. but I don't know what your activity level is or your other stats.
My daily calorie goal is 1280 to lose 2 lbs per week and I am not very active.
I agree with having a salad along with the pizza. get the salad dressing on the side. An old weight watcher's tip - dip your fork in the salad dressing and then the get salad instead of pouring dressing all over.

I like Ogopogo's reply...replace your habits. So simple, so obvious. Yet never though of it in that way before. Thanks

For me it is sometimes a huge struggle! I think people that say it's not a problem are kidding themselves ...hee hee....or don't need this app....