I LOVE food and HATE dieting. This is a really hard change.

cwolfman13 wrote: »

I would also add that I have found being satiated much more satisfying than feeling full...these days I hate that full feeling that just leaves me tired and lethargic.

You don't have to be hungry OP...learn how to feel and enjoy being satiated rather than full.

Same here. I have found that the feeling I used to associate with "full" is actually quite unpleasant.

47Jacqueline wrote: »

Don't diet; eat a bit less. And eat the foods you like. That's actually the best solution.

If you don't have much to lose, sure. I had to go from eating 2500 calories to 1600 to lose weight (and only 1 pound a week). That's hardly 'a bit less' and pretty often, it means that if you keep eating the same foods, you will be hungry.

I love food too! But what I have found is that I am still pretty satisfied I am just making a conscious choice.... I don't want to "waste" my calories on mindless eating. I am seldom hungry but I am also not mindlessly eating just because food is in front of me. Which is apparently the reason I gained weight in the first place. Yesterday I had chocolate, fried rice, coffee with cream, greek yogurt to name a few. Im not doing without anything I want.

Francl27 wrote: »

47Jacqueline wrote: »

Don't diet; eat a bit less. And eat the foods you like. That's actually the best solution.

If you don't have much to lose, sure. I had to go from eating 2500 calories to 1600 to lose weight (and only 1 pound a week). That's hardly 'a bit less' and pretty often, it means that if you keep eating the same foods, you will be hungry.

I second this. I've lost a 135+lbs already. To continue to lose I have to eat 1700-1800 calories at this point (or run 5 miles a day I guess which frankly I don't feel like doing). When I see all the "you can still have pizza" posts I have to roll my eyes a little. Sure, I CAN have pizza but do I want to waste half my days calories so I can squeeze in two decent slices (don't give me any of that thin crust no sauce plain cheese crap and if you say the word cauliflower I'm cutting you).

That said, the answer to the "what's a foodie to do?" question is the one the first guy responding gave. Something has to change. It sucks but that's the way it is. As others have said after, you get used to things the further along you get, both mentally and physically. I had a heavy small slice of pie Christmas day that made me feel so bloated I can't imagine how I'd of felt if I had the slice I THOUGHT I wanted before deciding to halve it.

I REALLY love food and would be very miserable if I had to cut something I love out of my diet. I love variety, creativity, the way ingredients synergize in certain foods, I love the whole lot.

First thing I did was to cut out or extremely reduce the foods that I don't really like. No point wasting my calories on something that isn't awesome. I don't care for doughnuts, so that was the first thing to go and I don't even miss them. I like peanut butter, but meh, I don't care for it enough to justify the calories. Fruit juices are nice, but are not awesome if I compare how they taste to how hungry they leave me feeling after spending my calories on them. You get the idea. Once I cleared the non-awesome clutter from my diet I was ready for step two.

Substitution. I substituted for things that aren't too different in taste to me, but are lower in calories. Full cream milk became 1.5%, soda became diet soda, some of my sugar became splenda, chocolate became dark chocolate (it isn't lower in calories but I'm satisfied by less of it), I later discovered PB2 which was a valid replacement for peanut butter in my oatmeal.. and so on.

Reduce, bulk up and/or substitute. To be able to reduce foods from my usual gigantic portions to normal portions I had to bulk up my meals to make up for the portion reduction. This is easily done by introducing soups, salads, and all kinds of vegetables with my main meals. I like pizza margherita for example, and low fat cheese doesn't do it for me one bit. It has to be real pizza with real melty cheese and real dough. None of that cauliflower crust nonsense. I happen to like it thin crust so that's one thing it has going for it to begin with. For a meal I have two slices + a large arugula salad (I love it) + a large side of roasted green beans (also love them). That's a sizable 500 calorie meal, and that's with proper olive oil dressing and oil and garlic seasoned beans, that leaves me full for hours instead of eating the whole pizza (thin crust, remember?) for 900 calories like I used to do (plus sides). I still get to eat pizza, I still get to reduce my portion without feeling hungry, and I still get to feel satisfied physically and emotionally. Now for certain things substitutions work for me. My pasta doesn't have to be all pasta for me to enjoy it. I cut my usual amount by 1/3 to 1/2 and replace the other half with zucchini pasta. On top of that, I add other vegetables like broccoli and such. I love it this way. To go for broke I sometimes have a soup as a first course before the pasta, so my meal ends up being quite large and satisfying.

Creativity. No need to live on "bland diet food". Food doesn't have to be boring. It can have interesting flavor combinations even though it's lower in calories. For example, today I had oatmeal brulee. Cooked my oats as usual (I cook them with water, add splenda, then mix with milk), layered it with sugar free fruit spread and a bit of dry fruits, then topped it with a thin layer of brown sugar that I then torched. Heaven on earth for 350 calories! Oats tend to be one of the most filling foods for me so I also had that going for me.

Higher base calories and exercise calories. You don't have to live on 1200 calories. The difference between 1200 and 1400 is less than half a pound a week but it makes a huge difference in how you feel. Would you rather lose 0.4 extra pounds a week and be hungry or lose a little bit less but be happy? Now that 1400 can become 1600-1700 if you also exercise. That's plenty of calories to play with.

Bank. If I know I will need to go out and have a large dinner, I eat 150 calories less a day (15 extra minutes of walking + 100 less calories of eating) and that gives me about 1000 extra calories to spend on my dinner day, in addition to my base 1600-1700 calories.

Almost two years ago, I started on my weight loss journey and this time it stuck (whereas previously I lost and gained all back and then some). This time I focused on making a lifestyle change as I hated the word "diet." And as a self-professed foodie, this time the journey took longer BECAUSE I did not want to deny myself of any food like I did in the past - because it never worked for long.

The first three months, I did not exercise but simply logged my steps with a fitbit and slowly started substituting things like oil and vinegar for bottled dressing (or making homemade form plain greek yogurt). I switched to coconut milk creamer instead of the flavored "fake" stuff from Coffeemate. Just little, but significant changes. I also started weighing and measuring my food. Now THAT was eye-opening. The first time I measured out a half cup of ice cream (the recommended serving size), I almost cried because it looked like such a pitiful amount.

I was trying to stick to a calorie goal and always felt hungry because if I indulged in pizza or some other calorie-laden food, I realized I could eat nothing for the rest of the day. Like another poster suggested, I found volumizing food ... what was healthy and could fill me up? The answer was salad, but not like I was making salad. I started picking all the colors of the rainbow for my salad: red leaf lettuce and romaine, purple cabbage, red/yellow/orange peppers, green onions, celery, carrots and whatever was seasonal like kale, butter beans, etc. It took some getting used to but now I love having salad almost every day and ALWAYS have it ready to go in the fridge for a quick bite to eat as well as for taking it to work for lunch. It was also easy to customize by switching veggies and even protein, adding whatever leftover meat from the dinner before on it.

It takes time and diligence to change your ways! I still eat candy bars, pizza, donuts, cookies and much more. However, I plan things out when I can, even if it is to tell myself: is eating that donut worth 30 minutes of cardio just to break even on those calories? Some days the answer is yes and I'll get a donut and some days, the answer is no. You cannot be accountable to anyone but yourself! In the end, it is a numbers game: CICO ...

It was a lot of trial and error for me because I also love food, but I wanted to lose weight more. I did a lot of playing around with different substitutions and I stalked a lot of my friends' diaries. I have core foods I eat now that allow me to eat high volume but still within my calorie goal. Another thing that worked for me was intermittent fasting. I would rather have 2 large meals and a snack over 5 small meals a day. I don't eat til around 11am, snack at 3ish, dinner around 6 or 7 and I'm good and satiated. A cup of coffee in the am and lots of water during the day too.

I've been at this for 3 years; believe me when I (and everyone else here) say it's nothing that will happen overnight. I'm still learning new things. Good luck!

Figuring out you don't have to feel deprived or miserable to lose really is the key, IMO.

toe1226 wrote: »

You also find that your palette changes.

@toe1226 isn't ^that^ the truth I recently bought some frosted flakes for the husband and decided to have a bowl myself remembering I loved them in the past, they were disgustingly sweet and I can honestly say I no longer like them!

Just reinforcing some of what has been said already. It's about finding a compromise about what you are prepared to change and what results you expect to achieve in exchange for that.

I've had a lot of issues with binge eating due to feeling deprived and I'm currently working my way through those issues. My calories are currently 2000 a day (a very slight deficit ) and the only exercise I do is walking every day. I know I'm not going to lose much if anything doing this, but I'm not binging, I'm not gaining and I'm teaching myself how to eat sensibly again before I go back into a bigger deficit.

I eat what I want within my calories. I found swaps for things, like buying kids meals if I eat out.

I've accepted this is a long, slow work in progress and I may well never get to the size I once dreamed of being. I made a deal with myself that I'm not prepared to ever eat less than 1800 cals a day ever again and I will accept what results this gives me.

Doing something is better than doing nothing.

cebreisch wrote: »

I call it choosing your doom. If you want a hamburger and fries, forego the bun.

That sounds so sad.

Try to reduce your calories more gradually. This will give your palate and body more time to adjust. It is easier to adapt to smaller changes, say 250 less than before, than plunging into a 1000 cal per day deficit.

The reality is that most of us cannot eat whatever we want in whatever quantity we want and achieve & maintain the weight we want. Something has to give, and the sooner you come to terms with that, the sooner you will be successful. There might be some foods or way of eating foods that you DO need to give up because they trigger cravings or you cannot get them in small enough portions to work within your calorie goals. For example, I used to make refrigerator cinnamon rolls on the weekends. A can makes 8 biscuits. This is just way too much for 2 people, regardless of whether I eat it in a day or a week. I can't make them last week, it's not as tasty, and it still adds too many calories to my week without the satiety and nutrition I prefer. I can't buy a package of 1 or 2 cinnamon rolls. I might be able to get them at the bakery, but they are HUGE, again not within my calorie goals. The ones you can get at restaurants are even bigger, like a whole day's calorie allotment. So I just don't have them any longer.

This is not the end of the world. It just depends on which you want the most, the food or the weight loss. There are worse things than not having cinnamon rolls, or whatever.

vivmom2014 wrote: »

amusedmonkey wrote: »

vivmom2014 wrote: »

cebreisch wrote: »

I call it choosing your doom. If you want a hamburger and fries, forego the bun.

That sounds so sad.

Maybe that's how she likes her burgers. Personally I eat the hamburger for the bun so this is not an option for me. I just like the way the meat and fillings make the bun taste. When I have a burger I do the average 250 calorie ones coupled with a rich cream of mushroom soup and rosemary roasted potatoes (about a cup) plus a diet 7Up. That's about 600 calories and is totally manageable for a person with a reasonable calorie base. Heck, it's even manageable for the typical 1200 calorie diet if breakfast and lunch were to be chosen carefully. No bun skipping necessary. I consider both cream of mushroom soup and potatoes very filling (and craving worthy I might add).

Well yeah, but "choosing your doom"??

Yep, that part was weird. If diet feels like doom, it's not gonna last long. Muscling your way through it will only get you so far and leave you unhappy.

I have a good amount to lose and so I know I have to make changes that are going to work for the long term. I agree with the great suggestions already made in this discussion, but would like to add that planning ahead is really important. You won't stick to healthier eating if you feel you'll never get to enjoy your favorite foods again. I've been using MFP for about 3 months now, and I've lost nearly 30 pounds, which is good progress for me. When I really crave a favorite food, I plan my day around it. You can balance what you eat in other meals to accommodate that special food you love. I'm also learning about food/nutrition by using the food diary and seeing what I'm consuming in terms of fat, protein, sodium, carbs, and so on when my focus in the past used to be solely on calories, which really isn't the whole story. I've had some revelations (like what on EARTH are fast food restaurants putting in a cheeseburger to make it 1,000 calories, LOL) and I completely agree with the comment that was made about home cooking yielding bigger portions of food that is tastier when compared to fast food and processed, pre-packaged food. I'm becoming a better cook as a result, and I'm even learning to like fruits and vegetables, which were never high on my list of favorite things.

One last bit of advice is to log everything you put in your mouth using the food diary. It is particularly important to do so when you have "messed up" and really don't want to record all you've eaten. I force myself to be honest and record it, because it's interesting to see the effect that off days have on your weight control/weight loss pattern. I overdid the goodies a bit over Christmas, but knew I was going to allow myself to indulge a bit, but being honest about it allowed me to get right back on track and the impact wasn't as great as I worried it might be. The important thing is to avoid getting into a pattern of bad habits, and being honest with yourself is key. My habit in the past was to go completely off the rails after a few days of eating too much and I've learned not to do that now, which I think will make a positive difference long term.

Happy New Year to all, and let's be kind to each other!