Eat This, Not That!

My housemate was once on a weird diet and made 'chocolate mousse' from a diet recipe and thought it was disgusting. She gave me some and I thought it was delicious. It was made from avocado and cocoa powder and may some other thing too. I quite like avocado and I also like not-very-sweet chocolate. I would happily eat that instead of actual chocolate mousse.

Margaritas yeszz

popcorn7225 wrote: »

I don't mean to hijack but since so many of you have the same recommendation.....if you want it, make room for it and eat it but how do you control yourselves? If I were to have a piece of pizza for dinner I think that would lead to two. Or if I have a brownie for dessert I know that would lead to more picking later in the evening. How do you summon up the willpower to stop at just one? I've been back on MFP for 2 weeks now and really trying to eat well but snacking is going to be the death of me.

One way I have been managing, most days, to control my appetite and cravings is by eating enough protein, fiber, and iron during the day - I really focus on meeting my macros. I find I am not really as hungry as I used to be when I didn't pay attention to my nutrition goals.

How do I control myself? Admittedly, some days - I do not. Some days, I am careless and go over my calorie intake (but usually not by more than 200-300 calories). Most days I remind myself that I have goals, and I want to meet them and I do not want to be obese anymore. I enjoy my indulgence and then satisfy myself with either drinking some water or coffee, snacking on something filling but low cal like raw veggies, going to bed, or taking the dog for a vigorous walk in order to earn more calories.

I don't believe in letting food be the boss of me. When I know I have met my nutritional goals for the day it's harder for my body to trick me into saying "I'm starving" when I know it's probably just habit-munchies or boredom-munchies.

When I want a giant bag of M&M's and I know it just does not meet my health goals, I eat a small piece of dark chocolate. I do not feel deprived. I feel really great about making a healthy choice.

If you're craving something, eat a little bit of it or it will come back and bite u in the a**...seriously

hollydubs85 wrote: »

popcorn7225 wrote: »

I don't mean to hijack but since so many of you have the same recommendation.....if you want it, make room for it and eat it but how do you control yourselves? If I were to have a piece of pizza for dinner I think that would lead to two. Or if I have a brownie for dessert I know that would lead to more picking later in the evening. How do you summon up the willpower to stop at just one? I've been back on MFP for 2 weeks now and really trying to eat well but snacking is going to be the death of me.

For me, I log whatever it is I ate the second I'm done swallowing it. Seeing the number of calories left for my day go down does a lot for my self-control. For example, I ate two cookies. Log it right away, and bam, automatically 200 calories are gone. If I eat one or two more, is the satisfaction of the cookies going to outweigh the disappointment of seeing the number of calories left for the day go down? Again though, I have to log everything immediately.

I have friends on here that pre-log their days or entire weeks, and allow for 200-300 calories of whatever they want per day. I think this is probably the smartest way to handle it.

I'm sort of in between these approaches. I pre log my days if I know what I'm eating for my meals, and then at the end of the evening I may have anywhere from 200-500 calories left for splurges. I prelog all of them, like 2 glasses of wine, a serving of gelato, or two cookies, and then see where that puts me, then I can adjust before I actually eat them. Maybe only one glass of wine and half a serving of gelato fits, that's about 250 cals. Maybe I want four Oreos instead and have a glass of milk, that's about 350. I tweak it then I eat it!

popcorn7225 wrote: »

I don't mean to hijack but since so many of you have the same recommendation.....if you want it, make room for it and eat it but how do you control yourselves? If I were to have a piece of pizza for dinner I think that would lead to two. Or if I have a brownie for dessert I know that would lead to more picking later in the evening. How do you summon up the willpower to stop at just one? I've been back on MFP for 2 weeks now and really trying to eat well but snacking is going to be the death of me.

I prelog my snack before I'm going to eat it... seeing the number of calories I have left for the day come down is usually good motivation.

Then I take small bites and don't watch tv or do anything else while eating (ok sometimes I'll browse the web but I make sure to enjoy my food). 2 cookies eaten that way will be more satisfying than a sleeve of cookies eaten while watching TV. Pay close attention to the taste of your food... Guaranteed that after a couple cookies, it won't be as enjoyable anymore. Still be good, sure, but won't taste like those first few bites goodness. That's when you know it's time to put it down so you can enjoy it again fully tomorrow.

But yes, I tend to mostly eat things that will keep in my pantry/fridge/freezer. So mostly chocolate, packaged cookies and ice cream. I know it's there and I can have some more tomorrow. Freshly baked goods? I don't do so well with them as I know it won't be as good the next day. So I don't buy anything perishable that I know won't fit in my calories for the day if there's more than one serving (unless it's something I know my kids will eat too). And I typically don't bake much because my kids don't eat the stuff and I have to eat it before it goes bad (ok, husband helps).

Mostly I learned that if I restrict myself and don't eat the things I'm craving, I'll eat the whole box next time I have some. It never fails.

Wow, this thing got hijacked in a hurry. But I would agree with the sentiment of don't substitute unless it tastes just as good or better.

The best substitution I've made lately was in my meatloaf recipe:

Extra lean 97/3 ground turkey instead of beef
Whole old fashioned oats instead of bread crumbs or crackers
Cashew milk instead of dairy milk
Egg whites instead of whole eggs
Braggs amino acids instead of worcestershire sauce

I swear it was better than the old full fat version. Yummy.

ETA: I am a meatloaf fiend, and it was the BEST meatloaf I've ever made or eaten.

popcorn7225 wrote: »

I don't mean to hijack but since so many of you have the same recommendation.....if you want it, make room for it and eat it but how do you control yourselves? If I were to have a piece of pizza for dinner I think that would lead to two. Or if I have a brownie for dessert I know that would lead to more picking later in the evening. How do you summon up the willpower to stop at just one? I've been back on MFP for 2 weeks now and really trying to eat well but snacking is going to be the death of me.

wizzybeth's and mamapeach's answers really resonate with me too. I find that if I focus on positive things like getting enough protein, veggies, fiber, etc., that I will have room in my day for some extras, but not a huge amount (maybe 200 calories for ice cream), and I am happy using what's left and no more. The point is that I'm focusing on meeting certain goals, including nutritional ones and calories, of course, and it's not a matter of deprivation. I have what I have room for in my day and if I want more I'll be able to do so tomorrow. Since nothing is off limits, there's no need to eat it all now before I go back to "being good" or some such.

That said, I have found that when I eat something and the situation matters. Right now I'm struggling with stress eating at work and the best way to deal with that (when my willpower is low and there's lots of snacks around) is simply not to let myself snack. But at home after dinner I am not in the habit of snacking indiscriminately and don't have the same tendencies, so I can have dessert after dinner (and use the plan as a reason not to eat more than I should during the day, to have that room later), and won't go beyond that.

Also, for me, part of this was making a decision that I wouldn't go over my calories. I didn't make that too tough on myself--I used exercise calories and would have increased my limit if I was feeling hungry--but during my losing weight period I was pretty firm that except for days where I decided in advance I'd probably go over (some restaurant days, Thanksgiving, you know), my calories were my limit. So if I had 220 calories left and a half cup of my ice cream was 250, I'd have less than half a cup. For me, the calorie limit imposed a limit.

As for extra pizza at dinner, I decide in advance what I'm eating, put it on my plate, and put away the food. I simply don't have seconds, since I know I've had enough and the desire to keep eating (if it happens at all once the food is put away, which is rare) will go away.