does it get easier?

I feel you. I'm going through the same thing I just went out and bought two Lenny and larrys cookies and pigged out on ritz crackers and matzo

You don't have to completely deprive yourself of that food, you just have to account for it.
If you can stick to a certain portion size, great! Some people find that it's hard to stop though, which is where overeating becomes a problem

Getting a certain portion of your weekly calories from pizza once a week is not going to damage your weight loss goals. Including a few squares of chocolate in your day is not going to damage your weight loss goals. It's food you enjoy, not food to feel guilty about, just make it fit.

Your calorie goal sounds pretty low, perhaps consider slowing your rate of loss. It'll give you more calories to play with, and make your journey potentially less difficult!

Yes, it TOTALLY gets easier. It's all about making it a habit. Also, junk food cravings is something I have experienced very strongly and felt quite depressed when I started, but for me personally they went away after a couple of weeks. First week is always the hardest. Your body is used to unhealthy food aka insulin spikes likely if what you eat has sugar or white flour (...which converts into sugar in the body).

Just log everything you eat here. Buy a kitchen gram scale and a measuring cup - best advice I've gotten here when just starting in Feb. If you eat pizza, log it. If you eat a salad, log it. Good luck!

The type of food you eat can make you hungry / bored.

I look at this as not a "diet" per se with a beginning and an ending, but more of an incremental lifestyle change. That way, it's a journey and I can't fail unless I get off the road and park my butt someplace and don't move.

(Picture one of those cute camping trailers with a beach umbrella, a lawn chair, a cocktail table with a margarita on it, and a cutesy lawn ornament flamingo. If I am going to go off the trail, I am going to do it in style.)

For me, deprivation doesn't work.

So, my goal for this lifestyle change (eating plan) was to pick an eating plan that offered me the best results without the pain of deprivation.

One of the things I did was to consciously make the switch from how I was eating to a new way of eating. Because while I know that it's Calories In / Calories Out (CICO), I don't like being hungry / starving because it makes me cranky and I then obsess about all of the food out there that I am now not allowing myself to have.

I knew going in that based on CICO, that I burn calories just by being alive.

If I eat as many as I burn I would be in stasis (and not lose). If I eat more than I burn I will gain weight. If I eat less than I burn I will lose weight except if I am in an extreme calorie deficit. Then my body goes into preservation mode and my metabolism might slow down and hold onto what I have b/c it thinks I am starving.

I knew from my own past experience that carbs and sugar are the devil. If I eat one sweet thing, then, I can't stop. I know that if I eat simple carbs (like bagels / white potatoes) my heart will race. If I eat complex carbs (like canned white beans) then I feel okay, but I don't really lose weight. I have restricted sugar and carbs before and knew that by restricting them, I am not craving them and I feel better.

The eating plan that does this for me is Paleo / Keto (low, low sugar/carbs and high protein/fat/fiber); my ratios are: (45% protein, 40% fat and 15% carbs/sugar).

See this website for a list of paleo websites:

http://paleoiq.com/best-paleo-diet-blogs/

I started by making incremental changes last November (one meal at a time), with the end goal being that I would hover around 1400 calories because as an older woman my skin doesn't bounce back as it did when I was younger. By losing the weight slowly, I have minimized the sagging skin.

It took several months of tweaking before I finally found my "sweet spot" in terms of balance between carbs and protein and (since January I have lost about 23 pounds). And... I am only complaint calorie wise about 75% - 80% of the time. I have some health issues and can't really exercise. Despite this and being tied to a desk all day, I have lost and continue to lose weight.

For me, eating low carb and low sugar all of the time some amazing things happened:

• I don't crave sugar (I have an entire box of Charms Wild Berry Blow Pops in my file drawer that I haven't touched since November because I don't crave sugar; I once measured my stress level by how many of them I consumed in one day);
• My moods are more even and I don't have blood sugar spikes and crashes;
• By consuming more healthy fats my joints don't hurt as much and I am more or less satiated on 1400 calories.

I used Paleo Leap and Paleo Tribe for the recipe ideas (they have some great low calorie recipe options) but this isn't necessary. I do think preparing and eating food that I make as opposed to boxes or eating out has helped me a lot. Boxes say they are low carb (but they have lots of other additives in them to make them taste good.)

It does get easier but it takes time. Junk food and sugar is addictive. Msg and high fructose corn syrup are addicting and so many foods contain it. Find your balance but don't deprive yourself. Like others said, you want a cupcake, eat some and log it and cut down somewhere else or add 20 min to your exercise. Have strategies for when special occasions happen (parties, long meetings, etc ), prepackaged healthy snacks. Explore different supermarkets and discover new foods. Read your labels.
The first few months are tiring and sometimes overwhelming because it's a large learning curve and because change is hard. Come for support often, read success stories, and a few months into it, you will see it comes more naturally!
Good luck! You can do this!

bscroggins05 wrote: »

If I want something, I eat it. But I plan my day around it, and control my portions. I also try to look for healthier versions of what I want.

This, exactly. I wanted to have pizza tonight. Deep dish pizza, not that thin crust stuff I've been eating almost exclusively since I started this path. I still denied myself the pepperoni and bacon in favor of healthier toppings like ham and chicken, but if I really wanted those things, I would do that do. It would just impact how much I let myself partake. And I'm under my goal for the day, because I've been planning for this since last night. I had a light (but reasonably nutritious) breakfast and lunch that left me plenty of room for an exorbitant dinner. And when I decided I wanted *just one more slice*, I went to the gym and hit the exercise bike for a half hour to burn off about a slice worth of calories, then came back and had that extra slice. You can't deprive yourself of pleasure and expect to maintain this lifestyle forever. Figure out what will and won't work for you. Treat yourself to the things you love, in moderation, and stay on track by planning your meals around that treat. Will I ever again eat a Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese, a Large Fry, and a Large Shamrock Shake(!!!)? No. Because that's more than my entire daily allotment in one meal! But I can still have a burger, I can still have cheese, and I occasionally even have a few fries, or some home-made ice cream.

jb2410920134 wrote: »

the app says i can eat up to 2200 a day and to lose weight at 1lb a week its 500 deficit? and 2lbs a week 1000 deficit? each day? so how did i lose 6lbs in one week?

Body metabolisms differ. The goal numbers are estimates that you may need to tweak (or not). I'm eating at the "2 pounds per week" goal and averaging 3.5 pounds per week (including some cheat days where I've gone over my limit and gained a few pounds back). Also: when you first start out you're probably dropping a lot of water weight, so if that's the case give it some time and see what your consistent rate is.