Eating what ever you want
hpearce123
Posts: 41 Member
Hi I have been doing mfp on and off for a few years! I have noticed I have got in to bad habit of having what I want and logging it. I stay on track but the choices aren't good. has anyone else led this slippery slope?
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Replies
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If the choices involve staying under your calorie goal, then that's not bad, for losing weight.
Nutritionally it could probably use some work depending heavily on what the "not good" choices are.4 -
My choices are to much bread crisps like just rubbish it's a bad habit to of got in to but it's so tempting to log it and cut back to balance out x0
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This will at least teach you portion control... and at least for me if I'm hungry I'd choose to go for more filling (often healthier) options rather than just eating chips and drinking coke. Watching your calories really helps put things into perspective. But I think it's also important to keep your favorite foods and just make it work withing the goals. It makes it more sustainable and easier in future to switch to maintenance... If you lose weight eating protein shakes and all the stuff that you don't plan to eat long term...maintenance will be hard and most likely unsuccessful because you'll go back to old habits. There is no evil food...portion control is key. That being said - variety in food choices is also something to strive for. It is good to experiment and find new foods that you like... key word being 'like' ... don't torture yourself eating sth you hate because it's 'healthy' or 'low calorie' - once you're happy with your weight you'd probably not continue with it either way. Best way is just to modify your current diet...make portions smaller and try to make healthier choices within foods you like
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Counting calories is all about eating what you want to lose weight. If you feel well and energetic, lose weight at predicted rate, and don't feel overly hungry, you're probably eating healthy enough. Are you hitting your macros? Are you eating your five-a-day? If that's in place, you're doing well.1
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While you can eat whatever you want for weight loss, I prefer to eat better foods to help fuel my body better. However, there is a slippery slope when eating foods like you mention because it's easy to go overboard, sometimes making up for it by cutting elsewhere or exercising more and sometimes not. What I've found is eating things like that are triggers for me - I simply lack self control to stop myself. However, once you find nutrition dense foods that you truly enjoy, it becomes much easier. Don't try and force yourself to eat foods just because they're healthy. Find those you look forward to eating. Right now, I'm eating a pear and blueberries for breakfast with a cup of tea. And I love it! Tons of nutrients, antioxidents, fiber, etc. and fairly low calorie but I actually look forward to eating it for breakfast in the morning. The same goes for my lunch. I could just as easily pick up Burger King and I would enjoy it, too, but the calories would drastically higher and the nutritional value much lower. Long story short, find healthy things you enjoy eating and you will do better in the long run.2
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I eat what I want and as long as I log it...I am good.
It's when I am on vacation and can't log that I find I can fall down the slope.
I have to get back to logging immediately.1 -
hpearce123 wrote: »My choices are to much bread crisps like just rubbish it's a bad habit to of got in to but it's so tempting to log it and cut back to balance out x
Bread? What's wrong with bread? Chips aren't that bad either.0 -
It depends on what you are eating and what your goals are. I prefer to have a little structure to my eating, so that I can then eat what I've in the mood for and still hit my nutrition goals.0
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If the food you are eating isn't filling you up, meeting your nutritional needs or making you feel crappy why would you want to eat it? Think about it. Is it really what you want to be eating? Think about the food you like that does make you feel good and meets your needs. Eat more of that.
I eat food I like every day. I want to eat tasty food that fills me up and meets my goals. I prelog my whole day every morning to help me do that. I eat most of the same foods I always did just in appropriate portion sizes for my goal. I look at my calorie goal first and then my protein goal. I try to eat several servings of vegetables or fruits. I have 1-2 snacks planned every day.
Breakfast- Greek yogurt, granola bars, cereal with milk, sandwich, dinner leftovers, fruit or cottage cheese (about 200-300 calories)
Lunch- sandwich, salad, or dinner leftovers (about 300-500 calories)
Dinner- something different every night of the month. (about 500-600 calories) I have soup once a week usually.
Snacks- things like fruit, chips, popcorn, pretzels, chocolate, cookies, granola bar, carrots, celery, broccoli, trail mix, deviled eggs, pickles (about 100-300 calories)
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I ate a whole box of Girl Scout Peanut Butter Patties yesterday and stayed under my caloric restriction. I should be good right?5
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hpearce123 wrote: »Hi I have been doing mfp on and off for a few years! I have noticed I have got in to bad habit of having what I want and logging it. I stay on track but the choices aren't good. has anyone else led this slippery slope?
I eat the foods I want and just track it.
Try to keep around my calorie goals.0 -
The way I approached it was to not cut any particular food out that I love, but rather to add things to my diet and my lifestyle: More lean protein, more vegetables, more whole grains, more exercise, more sleep.
By focusing on adding, if I got those things done first, then I would find room for the other things (chocolate, wine, pizza). I never felt deprived or that I was sacrificing foods I enjoy in order to meet my goals.1 -
I ate a whole box of Girl Scout Peanut Butter Patties yesterday and stayed under my caloric restriction. I should be good right?
From a calorie stand point you are fine. How do you feel about your choice?
That was something like 910 calories 14 g protein from that box of cookies. Did you make up the rest of your calories that day with foods that met your nutritional needs? Did you feel satisfied and physically good at the end of the day? Would you choose to do this every day or would you normally eat a more moderate amount of cookies and more of other foods?
You are good if it is meeting all your personal goals and you like it.0 -
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GS Cookies are available once a year. It's up to you if you eat it all at once, or a few a day until they are gone.
I eat a lot of things my doctor, who is also a friend, doesn't. But I got my annual blood work back yesterday and it's all well within normal limits. She's going to tell me that my diet is awful. I'm going to tell her that I am not asking her to eat it. We do this every year.1 -
I would concur.
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I eat what I want and as long as I log it...I am good.
It's when I am on vacation and can't log that I find I can fall down the slope.
I have to get back to logging immediately.
This is my biggest downfall, I get off track on vacation and its hard to get back into the MFP groove when I get back.0 -
Hehe the food did taste good but I felt bad I've hit the shakes 2 shakes daily and evening meal 3 100 cal snacks I needed to get strict seems to be going well day 3 and lost a couple of pounds. The drinks are full of vitamins Deffo have more energy. I still log everything here. It's handy this community like slimming world group but free and less restrictive! Anyone tried meal replacement shakes?0
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I eat what I fancy as long as it is in my calorie goal.
For instance today, I had chocolate fudge cake, a small piece of banoffee traybake, pizza for lunch and then more pizza for dinner (work bought pizza for everyone then then I took leftovers home).
Still under my calorie goal for the day. That is helped however as I went to the gym for Pilates and spin class. If I was just sedentary for the whole day I would have only been able to scrape one slice of pizza in.
I had three today. It was fabulous
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hpearce123 wrote: »Hi I have been doing mfp on and off for a few years! I have noticed I have got in to bad habit of having what I want and logging it. I stay on track but the choices aren't good. has anyone else led this slippery slope?
I find that planning food intake can be very helpful in staying on track with macros and micros. Perhaps you could try pre-logging a day with "good choices" and then leave a list out or put all the foods in one area? That way when it comes time to eat, you're just grabbing something from there that you know will fit, and not standing in front of the pantry grabbing something because it fits in your calories.1 -
lemurcat12 wrote: »It depends on what you are eating and what your goals are. I prefer to have a little structure to my eating, so that I can then eat what I've in the mood for and still hit my nutrition goals.
This. I eat WHATEVER I want. I cannot, however, eat AS MUCH as I want of whatever I want. I still eat whatever I feel like eating, but I do so in appropriate portions and in addition to staying within my calorie goal (this past weekend aside >.>) I also try to hit my nutritional goals.
ETA:
I find that planning food intake can be very helpful in staying on track with macros and micros. Perhaps you could try pre-logging a day with "good choices" and then leave a list out or put all the foods in one area? That way when it comes time to eat, you're just grabbing something from there that you know will fit, and not standing in front of the pantry grabbing something because it fits in your calories.
Also this. I pre-log and it helps me enormously. Decision fatigue (and general fatigue) means I made stupid, stupid choices after work. Making smarter, better choices in the morning helps avoid constant takeout and helps me achieve what I previously mentioned about calorie goals and nutritional goals (and also my financial goals - takeout gets expensive!)1 -
hpearce123 wrote: »Hehe the food did taste good but I felt bad I've hit the shakes 2 shakes daily and evening meal 3 100 cal snacks I needed to get strict seems to be going well day 3 and lost a couple of pounds. The drinks are full of vitamins Deffo have more energy. I still log everything here. It's handy this community like slimming world group but free and less restrictive! Anyone tried meal replacement shakes?
My maintenance range (daily, natural, normal day-to-day fluctuations) is 6-7 pounds. You can't possibly detect a loss of 2 pounds.
You're not supposed to feel bad for eating good food. Setting boundaries and getting in a structure to your eating is GOOD, but "strict" as in depriving yourself from good food, is not recommended. Food will always be more nutritious than powders, shakes, pills.
You don't have to use shakes. Of course, this MFP thing IS supposed to be as little restrictive as possible, and that means shakes are in if you want them, but you don't have to. They don't do anything special. Food is enough, and the majority of successful people in here use food for the most part. If you log anyway, just log and hit goal and enjoy.1
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