Eating in moderation or clean eating?

FitLaughLove
FitLaughLove Posts: 125 Member
edited November 2024 in Food and Nutrition
I'm having a hard time figuring out what works. I try eating clean and then end up binging on junk a few days later. On the other hand, when I allow myself a treat in moderation, it just makes me crave it even more.. is this normal in the beginning?

Replies

  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,219 Member
    I'm one of those that finds I crave sweets no matter what. Cutting them out leads to binge eating and eating them in moderation still makes me crave them. The way I help myself keep some semblance of control is to not have an aggressive deficit (only one pound per week) and to plan my food in advance.

    Sure, once I eat the treat I do sort of want more. I just remind myself that having more today leads to eating way too much, but I can have some more tomorrow.
  • brittyn3
    brittyn3 Posts: 481 Member
    ^This... I love sweets/snacks, everything. The more restrictive I am, the more I want something. I fit my treats in my daily calorie goal, I prelog. You just have to remind yourself of what your goals are and if that extra snack is outside your calories - if it's worth it or not.

    Over time it's gotten easier, but I still have my days.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    My management is a snack everyday. I pick the thing I'm really craving and save it for later in the day. Cutting calories too much limits your ability to do this.

    If I don't learn to manage snacks.....I'll never maintain.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    edited April 2017
    It's hard to find the balance. I have struggled with exactly this for many years. I have found that a three-pronged approach was effective: attitude, nutrition, and environment. So 1) working on my attitudes towards food has helped tremendously. Not dividing food into good/bad, healthy/unhealthy, clean/junk, but realizing that all foods can be eaten in moderation; this is sliding into 2) looking at my diet - the total of today, this week, a month, all year - as a whole, and eating anything I want, which is a wide range of foods I like and can eat to satiety, and 3) reducing the amount of temptation by always shopping with a list based on my meal plan, and thus never bringing into my house (large amounts of) foods I have trouble moderating.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    None of that was normal for me. I eat pretty clean I think, but have never strived for 100%. But since I got fat by eating mostly clean I didn't really change much in my diet content. I just ate less and moved more.
  • debtay123
    debtay123 Posts: 1,327 Member
    I definitely prelog- so I can have a sweet treat everyday- I love halo top- and I love the cliff kid jr bars-
  • wanzik
    wanzik Posts: 326 Member
    I think it's pretty normal. I attempt to eat cleanER and in moderation. If I mess up I don't let it get me down, I just refocus and move on. Keep your eyes on the prize. ;)
  • inertiastrength
    inertiastrength Posts: 2,343 Member
    Why pick? I eat mostly whole foods but also some "junk" don't really have the need or energy to specify really
  • MichelleWithMoxie
    MichelleWithMoxie Posts: 1,817 Member
    pre-logging and allowing myself a free day on Saturday has helped me a lot.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    FitLaughLove wrote: »
    I'm having a hard time figuring out what works. I try eating clean and then end up binging on junk a few days later. On the other hand, when I allow myself a treat in moderation, it just makes me crave it even more.. is this normal in the beginning?

    Hard to say when it's never even clear what people mean by "eating clean."

    My thought is that if there are certain foods that you crave more after eating them, the trick is to figure out how to control this. Understanding why it happens can help, although sometimes it just is.

    For me, sometimes if I cut something out and tell myself I cannot ever eat it (or otherwise are trying to eat really restrictively), I may subconsciously tell myself "oh, you've already messed up" when I eat something off my plan or overeat and then decide the whole day is a write off and tomorrow is a new day. Then I overeat more the rest of the day or have 2 cookies instead of one or whatever. What helped me with this was logging for a while and thinking through how illogical it is, as well as working on understanding a day is not a write off if I am not perfect.

    Sometimes there also just are foods that I don't think of much if I don't eat them, but if I eat them I have trouble controlling. I put barriers around those -- eat them rarely so I can overeat if I want (naan with curry), or in a context where I'm not so likely to overeat (ice cream measured out in a bowl immediately after a balanced dinner). I work on things that help with the desire to overdo: mindfulness, appreciating, focusing on the food, eating more slowly and with attention. I avoid eating treats in situations where I think I will have trouble -- not when stressed or feeling bad, not mindlessly when doing something else, not when I'm hungry and would be better off eating something more filling (or waiting for a meal). I also find that snacking in general doesn't work well for me, so I avoid it.

    You also may find that it's about habits and making a habit of eating something in moderation is something you can learn. I think it's easier to build habits that are about doing something rather than not doing something, so what was pretty easy for me when losing was to focus on what I wanted to eat and hitting my calories and goals and then fitting in what I could. Somehow knowing I was out of calories but could have more tomorrow if I wanted made stopping much easier.
This discussion has been closed.

Categories