I don't remember what it was like pre-MFP...

I remember the things I used to eat, as I still eat a lot of the same things... what I really don't remember is why I thought the amount I was eating was ok, given that I was basically inactive!

I eat all the same things (7 months 1 week on MFP), so no problem remembering what it was like before. I sometimes wonder how I gained the weight, and then realize I always ate 3 slices of pizza instead of 2. I had a snack every night instead of half of the nights. I drank 500 calories/day of tea instead of diet soda or unsweetened tea.

Granted, now with the extra activity I can probably pull off eating 3 slices of pizza and a snack at night and maintain my weight, so long as I stick to the calorie free drinks.

What a great post!

I've been at my changed lifestyle for about 14 years. I remember breakfast was a frozen burrito. Lunch was McDonalds or Pizza Hut or the like. Krispy Kreme or a snickers mid day, and then something really atrocious nutrient wise for dinner. With several 20oz Dr. Peppers. I don't remember my dinners, other than that I didn't cook them, since I didn't know how.

I ate whatever I wanted in the largest quantities I could get away with, limited mostly by decorum, available funds, and indigestion. I'd eat cheeseburgers and snack cakes in the car on the way home and then eat a full meal with my family. I'd pack a breakfast and then stop for a second fast food breakfast on the way into work, usually with two sandwiches and two hash browns. I'd get huge takeout lunches -- footlong subs, big burritos, bacon cheeseburgers, full orders of Chinese food, etc. Every trip to the grocery store was a chance to get snacks.

There's a part of me ("Fat Jruzer") who still wants to eat this way, and very occasionally I indulge him. Oddly enough it doesn't make me happier or more satisfied - just sick to my stomach and blase.

Unlike many people, I never wondered why I was fat. In retrospect I'm lucky I wasn't much fatter. Tracking calories and macros has been a godsend for the quality of my life, and I bristle when people suggest that I should stop doing it or that it's disordered.

vinegar_husbands wrote: »

I ate a lot more bread, juice, beer, and wine. I didn't eat nearly as much ice cream or vegetables. Ate out a lot. I don't really remember what I ate for lunch and dinner either. I guess I ate "healthier", but not really.

I still wonder how I got up to my highest weight sometimes, but then realize that I feel more satiated when I eat meat and eggs.

Yeah. I would really only ate ice cream when I bought a pint or when I stopped by a Marble Slab. As for veggies, it was basically just broccoli and fried okra.

My diet was always really boring. I just ate Pop Tarts for breakfast, chicken tenders or Hot Pockets for lunch, and whatever my mom made for dinner. I'd sneak in extra Pop Tarts here or there and eat the largest fast food meals a couple of times a week, everyday some weeks.

For most of the year, I'd gorge myself on Wedensday and sometimes Thursdays.

My pre MFP life is clear. MUCH bigger portions of pasta, multiple cans/bottles of pop per day. Also comfort food like pizza burgers and fries were bought outside the house instead of inside where I can control ingredients and cooking methods and log them.

Before MFP I was a typical gym goer who went to the gym and thought that's all I needed to start looking like someone you would see on a fitness magazine. HA! Wrong! I bought in to the concept of eating HUGE meals post workout with the impression that the more protein and carbs I consumed here, the more growth I would get. While I soon found out that it was true, it wasn't at all the type of growth I thought it would be. Then came MFP and a changed me. Instead of focusing solely on the gym, I focused on efficiency inside AND outside the gym. MFP is what brought me to where I am now - a side career in fitness and nutrition because I've developed a great passion for the industry!

I used to eat pasta and pasta sauce. And... um... restaurant food... usually pasta. Pretty much sums my diet up for 2 years.

My biggest problem was I never bothered learning to cook. And learning to cook was the hardest part of adjusting to healthy eating. It's still up there.

Well... that and my love for pasta. And blaming my gas/bloating on my dairy allergy instead of the exorbitant amount of carbs I was eating.

ewhip17 wrote: »

Jruzer wrote: »

I ate whatever I wanted in the largest quantities I could get away with, limited mostly by decorum, available funds, and indigestion. I'd eat cheeseburgers and snack cakes in the car on the way home and then eat a full meal with my family. I'd pack a breakfast and then stop for a second fast food breakfast on the way into work, usually with two sandwiches and two hash browns. I'd get huge takeout lunches -- footlong subs, big burritos, bacon cheeseburgers, full orders of Chinese food, etc. Every trip to the grocery store was a chance to get snacks.

There's a part of me ("Fat Jruzer") who still wants to eat this way, and very occasionally I indulge him. Oddly enough it doesn't make me happier or more satisfied - just sick to my stomach and blase.

Unlike many people, I never wondered why I was fat. In retrospect I'm lucky I wasn't much fatter. Tracking calories and macros has been a godsend for the quality of my life, and I bristle when people suggest that I should stop doing it or that it's disordered.

I could have written this exactly.... but you did it first... :-)

Cheers. I suspect there are many of us.

Edited: There's an epic thread on reddit's /r/loseit about people's awful eating secrets. It's amusing reading. It's good to see that you're not alone.

https://www.reddit.com/r/loseit/comments/vp3hh/the_great_and_embarassing_sins_of_fatness_what/

I ate the same way as I do now, maybe I have more ice cream and treats now since I don't have the guilt I used to have with certain foods. I was around the same weight too but usually lost and gained the same 5lbs. However now my body composition is different. I mean, I looked OK before but since incorporating lifting and using MFP to track my cals during bulk/cut cycles it is much better

Ah.....@Francl27 was there life before MFP??? <Joke>

I started on here in 2011 with the prospect of losing the last 24 kgs. I was 74 kgs from at top weight of 126 kgs (278 lbs) I was like many here an extreme volume eater then followed by deprivation. My thinking was that this behaviour kind of evened things out....Didn't it???

Most of the weight had gone due to cutting portions and introducing exercise but the concept of understanding calories, macros and serving sizes was pretty foreign to me.....and I just couldn't shift the last 50 odd pounds.

I also fooled myself a lot. Well you have just gone for 1 hours walk. Hungry? Why yes! Well, Thank you I will partake in a king sized Snickers bars.....I deserve it and surely have walked off more than the calories in that treat....

Oh Boy....when I plugged in the numbers on here and started getting recommend portion sizes and calorie counts back for the foods I was consuming, in the amounts that I was consuming....I was gutted!!!

They say knowledge is everything.....yep it is and it can be painful too.

The sad part for me was that in 2010, I went from 250 to 170 in 10 months, kept that way for about 6 months, and then had a job move. I now had to go around Washington DC traffic and commute 50 miles each way. Also, when we moved, I no longer had access to the company-provided gym. Needless to say, I got lazy and was tired from all the driving. What was I eating? Mostly fast food in the car going from and to work

Fast forward to February 2015 and I was back at 250. On top of that, I fell on some ice and really hurt my arm. When the doctor (new medical insurance) took my BP, she went ballistic. So, I started using MFP again. I know what I'm eating now at least.

sardelsa wrote: »

I ate the same way as I do now, maybe I have more ice cream and treats now since I don't have the guilt I used to have with certain foods. I was around the same weight too but usually lost and gained the same 5lbs. However now my body composition is different. I mean, I looked OK before but since incorporating lifting and using MFP to track my cals during bulk/cut cycles it is much better

This. I used to feel very guilty and stressed out about what I ate. Now I know it is within my calories and if I want a slice of pizza I can eat it, I think I make much more balanced choices than I used to. I was previously constantly in a binge/restrict cycle.

I've also lost 10-15 lbs since I started consistently using MFP 2 years ago (however I also really got into cycling in that time).

I don't remember what it was like to not automatically know the calories in foods.

Man before calorie counting, I used to eat like crap! I am surprised I wasn't bigger. I would eat huge full platefuls of spaghetti with butter, 3 rolls with butter, 3 gigantic meatballs, tons of cheese just for dinner. (prob 2000 calories easy).

For "breakfast" I used to have a cheese danish and sugary orange juice or a gigantic 800 calorie cinnamon roll with cream cheese frosting lol.

I remember eating whole baskets of fries at restaurants and whole plates of fries and like 7 chicken fingers at a time. Also lots of pizza like 2-3 slices at a time plus fries.

I ate a lot of little debbie snack cakes as a kid too. Hohos, oatmeal cream pies, coffee cakes, etc.