Am I going to be on a "diet" for the rest of my life?

It doesn't matter. Everything I want to eat, whether it's "healthy" or not, makes me gain weight! BTW what is healthy anyway? Everything is terrible, even soups and salads...what gives?

I hear your frustration! I used to exercise 3-5 times/week and thought I was doing pretty well watching what I was eating but no matter what I did, I was gaining weight year after year. Then in July 2010, I started P90X and actually started losing weight... but then the weight loss stopped. I did a lot of reading and research and learned a lot about my nutrition through a very simple 8-week nutrition guide.

First, I was NOT eating well before I started P90X - too many of the wrong kinds of foods.

Second, once I started P90X I went to the opposite extreme of not eating enough - 1300 calories/day wasn't doing it for me.

Third, I learned what it means to "eat clean".

I increased my calories to 1800-1900 calories/day and started really watching what I was eating - lean meats, whole grains, fruits, veggies, and plenty of water. Between those simple nutritional changes and the type of activity I was doing, I lost 28 pounds and have kept it off ever since.

I still have those "bad" foods on occasion... but I eat VERY well and have plenty of food throughout the day to keep me satisfied. And I actually find that when I do splurge on something like cake or cookies, I actually don't feel well after so those foods don't have the same attraction they used to.

The stuff I learned didn't cost me a thing and I've found a better way to eat that will last me a lifetime! Now, I get the privilege of sharing that info with others like you!

I hope that helps. Let me know if you need any more info!

I think you are overwhelmed (and hello, we have ALL been there!). Which is why you need to stop beating yourself up. So what if you have nutella, milk and meat for lunch one day? Really? Don't put so much pressure on yourself.

I don't WANT TO EAT a bunch of RANDOM crap as a meal! This is why I just don't eat.

Then don't! Lets say you eat a salad and a sandwhich with a fruit for lunch. You log the calories. You eat something similar for dinner and you log the calories. You eat a couple nummy snacks. You log the calories. At the end of the day, you are under or at your calories. That is a good day. STOP BEATING YOURSELF UP.

Plan plan plan. I know what I am going to eat all.day.long. the day before. Being busy, that is the only way it happens.

Look, I am in no way an expert, but I hate to see someone so stressed out about this. I just want you to relax and let yourself breathe for a second. Can you fit in a glass of wine with your cals today?

I think if you concentrate only on one day at a time you will find it easier to reeducate your eatting habbits.
Dont worry about if you are going to be eatting a big fat burger 2 years from now cause by then your motivations daily will probably be different .Just try to win your daily battles with food ,everytime you go to sleep you will reboot your thoughts just like a computer.
Thats how you will win the war ,by winning small daily battles.Im almost certai that when you achieve your desired weight and health level you will think twice about eatting unhealthy.good luck.

Take a look at my diary. Go ahead and look through every inch of it.

I eat cheese, eggs, chicken, steaks, veggies, ice cream, pop tarts, reeces puff cereal, milk, bacon, oatmeal.
I come home after lifting sometimes barely able to walk up the 3 flights of stairs to my apartment, and when I get up there my legs are shaking. I'm exhausted as hell and I still throw back some food and pop some chicken in the oven for 35minutes.

I looked at your diary, and I guess I would consider eating a hodge podge of ingredients and calling it a lunch may be what I consider "healthy". I don't want to eat coconut oil, a piece of meat and some nutella with milk and call it a balanced meal. Eating "what I want" is what my mind considers a normal meal. A sandwich. Some soup. A salad. Pasta. Etc. This is what I can't get over. I don't want to start eating for nutrients and throwing out a way of life that most people do every day and don't get fat.

I don't really understand why you can't eat soups, salads and pasta??
I often batch make a vegetable soup with added beans which adds protein. Lots of fresh veggies, no added salt very tasty and filling. Make a load at once and bag and freeze in portions.
I also often take salads to work, I don't have a dressing on it and have some ham or chicken with it. Why can't you boil an egg or cook a chicken breast to go with your salad?
Pasta is fine but try to pick wholemeal pasta - nothing wrong with a small portion of wholemeal pasta, chicken and salad. Sandwiches aren't that bad if you make them yourself, again wholemeal bread, chicken, ham, egg for a filling. I sometimes have a sandwich and rice cakes for lunch, almost as good as crisps!!

I don't want to commit to eating only healthy foods for the rest of my life. Any advice?

To be healthy and not fat you don't have to commit to eating "only" healthy foods for the rest of your life, but you really do need to commit to eating mostly healthy foods.

I think you are overwhelmed (and hello, we have ALL been there!). Which is why you need to stop beating yourself up. So what if you have nutella, milk and meat for lunch one day? Really? Don't put so much pressure on yourself.

I don't WANT TO EAT a bunch of RANDOM crap as a meal! This is why I just don't eat.

Then don't! Lets say you eat a salad and a sandwhich with a fruit for lunch. You log the calories. You eat something similar for dinner and you log the calories. You eat a couple nummy snacks. You log the calories. At the end of the day, you are under or at your calories. That is a good day. STOP BEATING YOURSELF UP.

Plan plan plan. I know what I am going to eat all.day.long. the day before. Being busy, that is the only way it happens.

Look, I am in no way an expert, but I hate to see someone so stressed out about this. I just want you to relax and let yourself breathe for a second. Can you fit in a glass of wine with your cals today?

Yeah, might as well, since I've only consumed a liquid diet today anyway.

Yes, that is not good for you. Why not relax for a week. Just a week. Stay within your cals, but don't overanalyze what is healthy and not. Then reassess how you feel. YOu may find you hate eating like that. Or you may be like me and love it. You have to find what works for you and what kind of lifestyle you can maintain. What everyone else thinks or does is irrelevant.

. Stay calm. Drink wine. Breathe. Stop self-destruction on all levels. Take a nap. Chill.
Shoot. Have a McD cheeseburger and wash it down with a large diet coke. It's 300 calories. Lighten up on yurself. Baby steps.

Hollycat

There, I fixed it for you

I used to feel the way you do. Then I came to realization. I had some cheesecake for the first time in months on Mother's Day. Instead of eating a whole piece (or a few pieces) I had half a piece. And you know what? I ate it much slower and enjoyed it 10x more than I used to. It truly was a "treat". The way it's supposed to be. I could eat it every day. But I wouldn't enjoy it near as much and I especially wouldn't enjoy my body. You have to decide what is more enjoyable in life for you: being lean and healthy or being fat and eating whatever you want whenever you want. If you truly feel as if you'd rather die then restrict your diet, then don't restrict your diet.

P.S. Perhaps you should stop focusing on eating "healthy" and just eat "less". I have not cut a single thing out of my diet. I just eat less of it all. Pasta, Meat, Cheese, Soup, you name it... I eat it. I just make sure my calories are at goal everyday and I've lost 32 lbs in 4 months.

If you think of it as a "diet", you will never be able to maintain your hard work. A diet is thinking in terms of short term goals, and if you want to be thinking in the longer term, you need to be considering this a lifestyle change. You will always need to be mindful and healthy, but your goals and the work you are willing to do are completely up to you!

I think part of the problem is that you’ve picked up some half-truths or misconceptions about what foods are right to eat and it’s stripping away all the enjoyment you could get out of diet food. Don’t worry, we’ve all been there! Carbs being bad is a common misconception, although I must admit the ‘protein is bad’ is one I’m not used to – more often people seem to think you should ONLY eat protein.

The problem is, I think we could tell you that you can eat bread, chicken, all kinds of meat, yummy (but appropriate!) cakes, but it is hard to trust people when you’ve got a pretty solid idea of what a diet consists of in your head. My suggestion is to have a good, hard look at the food that is offered by official food chains/groups that have proven success in the field of weight loss to get an idea of the wide range of foods you can eat.

Think you can’t have carbs, especially bread? Look at Subway and their calorie charts. There is absolutely nothing wrong with having bread in your diet, you just have to be careful with the amount because it can quickly inflate your calorie count. Having a low calorie Subway burger for lunch each day is perfectly fine – and if you can’t afford that (as most of us can’t!), look at the calorie breakdowns for the burgers and make a similar value one at home. You CAN have your sandwich and eat it too . Hell, you can have fries as well – weight watchers wedges are a good place to start.

Think you can’t eat deserts? Look at the wide range available with weightwatchers. Personally, I LOVE the range of weight watcher muffins offered by Muffin Break. For less than 230 calories I can have something chocolately and sweet and YUM (and which taste especially divine when heated and with some WW’s ice cream). I also love weight watchers éclairs, which I kept frozen and are oh-so-good.

Once you get an idea of the types of food that places like Subway and Weightwatchers not only put out but recommend, you can branch out and experiment a little. I make a mean 350 calorie pizza - and that's for the whole thing, not some measly slice! WWs is pretty expensive here, so I often do a calorie/sodium comparison to find cheaper brands. I think what you really need to work on first, however, is rediscovering what foods really are available to you, and coming to trust in them.

Because your on a bit of a wrong track about right foods/wrong foods, I’d suggest going back to the very basics and gradually working your way up from there. Calorie count and keep an eye on sodium levels, and pretty much ignore everything else you’ve learnt about what you should or shouldn’t eat (within reason – no eating 1200 calories of ice cream and nothing else!). You don’t necessarily have to cut out everything you love, but look for the low calorie alternatives that will keep you inside your calorie count. Craving an American hotdog? Buy a couple of small whole grain rolls and a lowish calorie frank. Cut the frank in half, put a half in each bun, add American mustard (which is a godsend when it comes to low calorie sauces!), a sprinkle of cheese, some onions – voila! Dying for a baked potato? Have it with melted, gooey cottage cheese, onions, and baked beans. The goal is to incorporate that kind of thing into your diet instead of making it solely your diet.

A lot of dieting isn’t about cutting out entire types of food altogether, but eating them in healthier ways.