What Does Moderation Look Like For You?

Moderation: not eating in excess. For me that's eating something "bad" once in a while. Made blueberry muffins, i had ONE that week. Eat a couple squares off the candy bar, not the whole bar. Have a scoop of ice cream, not 4.

It's not so much about denying yourself the food you love, just eating it in less amounts. You could honestly eat something "bad" everyday and not go over your calorie limit. Eatings less, but more often i feel helps with the binge eating. Everything can be harmful if we overdue it. So eat happily, just be aware.

Moderation for me : eating no cookies most days, one or two occasionally, and then skipping one or more meals to make all the cookies I want fit.

I make very good cookies.

Moderation is having a bite or a bit or a serving of something I like, or something I'm offered by someone I care about. It's about making room for that in the larger picture of my life.

Sometimes it means pre-logging when you know there will be treats you'll want to have. Sometimes it means stopping yoruself after your bite or bit or serving and logging it, and realizing that if you stop now, you'll still be near your goal.

Sometimes it means "Oops, I had some of that peanut brittle my coworker brought in to share, so now I really should not have one of those cupcakes my kid just won on the cake wheel!"

I don't really use the term "moderation" but if I did it would simply mean not overeating.

Moderation = My daily calorie bank.

BreakinChains wrote: »

Thank you everyone who responded. I'm really starting to believe moderation is possible now. Hard, but possible. It's really helpful to know so many people struggle with it, but are able to do it.

The journey is hard. Anything worth it to you is going to be hard and that's ok. You are making a lifestyle change and in order to be successful in the long term, you have to be able to find some sort of balance that will keep you moving forward and beyond your weight loss goal. I am not going to say I'm never having another cookie. But I won't have them every day and when I do, they will get tracked.

This is a good question. I just think of it as avoiding gluttony, and also avoiding being too restrictive. So I don't usually binge or fast.

Personally, it is mostly a portion-size thing? I try to take a reasonable portion of food, then if still hungry may eat more, but I don't start out with a lot on the plate and then try to eat it all. Except for salad, popcorn, and watermelon. I'm immoderate with those items.

I do eat only 2 hershey's kisses and consider that a good bite of chocolate. I don't eat much between meals. I don't drink alcohol every day, only a couple of times a week. If I eat chips from the big bag, I put a serving in a bowl and close the bag. If I eat triscuits and cheese, I count the crackers out...

I do get hungry most days, between meals. I try to wait until physically hungry before eating.

For me - the keys to successfully moderating are planning, prioritization and perspective.

There are foods/drinks that I enjoy on a daily basis. A little bit of chocolate, a glass or two of wine. I know I need to allow anywhere from 200-400 cals for those indulgences every day (I'm in maintenance and my calorie target is about 2000 or so each day) My priority however, is first getting enough other things - enough protein, vegetables/fruits, and some exercise. If I don't fit in those other things first, then I may not be able to have my usual glass of wine after the kids go to bed. That all is part of my every day routine, I've planned for it and am able to fit it in about 80-90% of the time based on building good habits around exercise to allow myself a higher calorie target.

There are times though when I have a craving for something more indulgent, or plans for meals that I know are going to be more calorie dense. I need to also assess my priorities for that day or week to see if I can fit in the treat, or what adjustments I need to make during the week to allow for a weekend event. If there is a birthday celebration at work and I know I'm going to be having cheesecake for example, then I may not be able to fit in wine that day. If people brought in a bakery cake with whipped frosting that doesn't really appeal to me, I might just go to wish someone happy birthday and skip the cake, and stick to my normal routine. Or if I am going out to dinner with friends over the weekend, I may try to bank some calories earlier in the week to give me a higher allowance on the weekend. I plan out the week, determine what my priorities are (are we going to dinner and a movie? Do I want to save room for popcorn? Or would I rather have an appetizer at dinner and skip eating at the movie?).

Lastly, perspective. Full disclosure - I don't struggle with binge eating or trigger foods. I am not an emotional eater, or a volume eater. When I was overweight - it was because I ate a little bit too much of too many different foods, because I didn't try to restrain myself, and because I wasn't active enough. But the perspective I have gained and used in my approach to moderation is that it's ok to just have one thing you enjoy. When going out for mexican food, you don't have to have guacamole, and queso, and salsa, and a burrito, and a margarita. I just pick one or two of those things that I really enjoy, and forget about the rest. But on the flip side - if I do overindulge, the perspective I've gained is that this process is very manageable and I can get back on track pretty easily. Having a night where I exceed my calorie target does not mean I have failed, or that I should give up. It's just a number, and more than likely, it isn't even a high enough number to do anything more than cause a temporary spike on the scale. Sometimes when I think I've over done it, and a few days later I weigh in and the scale hasn't moved more than half a pound, I think, "is that it!? I should have gone ahead and had that fried ice cream too...".

I had to cut some things out of my diet entirely for a while until I could get them under control. In all cases my desire for those things eventually decreased to a reasonable level and in some cases I stopped liking/wanting them all together.