What do people cut back on?

People who eat pasta and drank soda do you conpletely cut back? What all do you do? Thanks also what time is best to stop eating at night?
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Replies

  • socioseguro
    socioseguro Posts: 1,679 Member
    Hi:

    I eat my favorite meals, in moderation.
    I love pasta. Before using MFP I was not using a food scale and I was eating close to 4 oz of pasta, just for myself. Now, I use a digital scale and it is 56 grams ( 2 oz) and not a gram more.
    I also found out that I prefer to munch my calories rather than drink them. So soda was replaced by infused water ( summer) or green tea ( winter).
    My recommendation is to focus on your target calories (either daily or weekly) rather than timing of meals. I personally prefer to have more food during the daytime. Just a personal preference, nothing to do with body weight management, one way or the other.
    Good luck in your healthy journey
  • Dnarules
    Dnarules Posts: 2,081 Member
    I still eat pasta, but I measure my portion now. While there is nothing wrong with soda in moderation, the calories just are not worth it to me and I gave it up a long time ago. I will drink one every once in a while, usually after a hike.
  • Shells918
    Shells918 Posts: 1,070 Member
    Estefani_H wrote: »
    People who eat pasta and drank soda do you conpletely cut back? What all do you do? Thanks also what time is best to stop eating at night?

    I stopped eating pasta and rice completely. I eat a little bit of bread occasionally. I only drink diet soda. Most of this was for health reasons, but the tiny portion of these things that I can have, to me, not worth it.

    As for eating at night, there are different schools of thought. I'm best if I stop eating by 9pm. Others can eat all night if it's in their calories. Try both and see what works for you.
  • singingflutelady
    singingflutelady Posts: 8,736 Member
    Meal timing isn't important.
  • kgirlhart
    kgirlhart Posts: 4,968 Member
    I agree with @socioseguro , except I eat most of my calories in the evening and try to eat lighter earlier in the day. It is just personal preference. I did cut back on things like ice cream and candy while I was in a deficit, but I never completely cut them out. If I want them I work them in. And a food scale really does help for things like pasta. At first one or one and a half serving didn't seem like much, but you do get used to eating smaller portions and for me personally I realized there were lots of things I was just eating way too much of and once I learned to moderate my portions I really do feel satisfied on smaller amounts.
  • shadowfax_c11
    shadowfax_c11 Posts: 1,942 Member
    I still eat the same things. Just less.
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    Diet soda, still eat pasta. Weigh it all and portion appropriately Meal timing is not important at all. Just eat the same time you normally have been.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
    edited September 2016
    Calories. I eat the same things I did before, just less. Though I did switch from regular soda to diet to save those calories (2 cans=300-ish calories that could be spent on something else).

    I usually stop eating around 9:30, when I have dessert. It really doesn't matter if you don't have a sleeping issue if you eat late (some people suffer from acid reflux late night).
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    I cut a back a little bit on almost everything (reduced my portions). I did have some major cut backs that aren't simply reduced portions because I thought they were easy changes to make, like drinking diet soda or not eating the foods I don't like much. What you choose to cut back or not is personal preference, as long as it helps you meet your calorie goal.

    As for meal times, I usually stop eating at around 5-7 pm, but only because I don't feel hungry after that. There are some very occasional days where I do feel hungry at night, so I just eat. When you stop eating is personal preference,as long as it helps you meet your calorie goal.
  • z4oslo
    z4oslo Posts: 229 Member
    This site feels like im in this great science project sometimes. Luckily im just a spectator.

    Anyway, if anyone can pass me the fitnesspal bible it would be great. Have not read it yet.
  • cerise_noir
    cerise_noir Posts: 5,468 Member
    I just drink diet soda instead. But I still eat everything else that I used to, just less of it or not as often.

    The pasta I eat now has 5g of fiber and 11g of protein (catelli smart fusilli), but I do love some fresh pasta if it is there.

    And...I agree with meal timing not being important. I can see stopping eating at a certain time if you get reflux, it affects your sleep quality or have you have no calories left. Other than those, there's no real reason to stop eating by a certain time...it's silly as heck as the body has no idea what time it is and it won't start magically storing calories as fat after a certain time.
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,547 Member
    edited September 2016
    To lose weight (and quite possibly to manage it in an ongoing fashion) you will have to achieve a new balance between calories in (what you eat and drink) and calories out (calories you burn through daily living activities and exercise).

    HOW you go about doing all this is part of the exercise of figuring out something that will work for you long term. This will be different for each individual.

    Personally I chose to increase my daily activities, including inventing reasons to walk where none exist. And to use my logging to find items that provide ME with more satiation for fewer calories while removing obvious calorie hogs that did little to contribute to my happiness (bye bye "healthy" olive oil that was simply poured over "healthy" salads: don't miss ya!"

    Pasta, noodles, rice, butter, nuts, avocado/guacamole, fries/chips, nut butters, cheesecake, candy, syrups and spreads, dressing and a bunch of other stuff are calorie dense and you only get to eat a little bit before the calories pile up.

    As such, the prime function of a calorie counting site is to make you cognisant of the trade-offs you will have to make to incorporate these items into your diet.

    Quite often you discover that they're just NOT worth it!

    I now seldom eat fries/chips unless I am out eating fish and chips or at a gourmet burger place. I used to eat them every day to the point of literally thinking: fries, again? Sure, it comes with the combo I guess!

    Similarly for noodles/pasta. I might have some fresh noodles at a noodle shop; but, at home I am more likely to substitute spaghetti squash/zucchini/carrot/sweet potato/carrot/parsnip/other root vegetables noodles, or, my current favourite, shirataki noodles https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shirataki_noodles, especially with a seafood based sauce.

    Don't look at it as what you can't have.

    Look at it more along the lines of what new things you haven't tried yet.

    As for pop and dinner time, I now occasionally have a diet pop (instead of 2-3 cans of coke a day) but otherwise drink coffee or water. And I eat about half my calories after 8pm... cause that's what I enjoy doing.

    It doesn't seem to have hindered my weight loss too much!
  • FrothyGibblets
    FrothyGibblets Posts: 49 Member
    I cut out all fizzy drinks and switched to water as my primary liquid with coffee and the odd beer being thrown in. May sound extreme but it works out costing less money, even though I'm buying bottled water as opposed to drinking out the tap, and I noticed a difference in myself after just a couple of days so I've stuck with it and dont even feel the need or desire for a soda anymore.

    That's not going to work for everyone, but we all have our own needs and the key seems to finding our own balance.

    There's certain food items I've had to cut out completely because they were major binge foods for me, Haribo Sweets, Doritos etc. I know I can't just have a few and leave the rest. Other things I seem to naturally just not bother with now such as biscuits (cookies) as they just don't seem worth the calories.
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,547 Member
    z4oslo wrote: »
    This site feels like im in this great science project sometimes. Luckily im just a spectator.
    Anyway, if anyone can pass me the fitnesspal bible it would be great. Have not read it yet.

    Seems like you have some ideas you wouldn't mind sharing?

    The first announcement posts in each community section contain links to threads that contain a lot of valuable information.

    MFP bible request has now been fulfilled.
  • shadowfax_c11
    shadowfax_c11 Posts: 1,942 Member
    z4oslo wrote: »
    This site feels like im in this great science project sometimes. Luckily im just a spectator.

    Anyway, if anyone can pass me the fitnesspal bible it would be great. Have not read it yet.

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10300319/most-helpful-posts-general-diet-and-weight-loss-help-must-reads#latest

  • lilac_bunny
    lilac_bunny Posts: 137 Member
    Those noodles look good. I bought some "glass noodles" which were recommended to me but I didn't realise there were different types. The ones I have are made from mung bean they have carbs and not much else.