Why is this so hard?

I get cravings a lot too, it happens to us all at some point. You have to learn to control it and distinguish if your actually hungry or if it is just cravings. Try drinking some water and eat a banana, it you still crave after that then try do something productive to take your mind off it hope this helps x

It's the curse of the calorie aware. It does get easier to a degree. I do wish that 1. I didn't live alone but only for the half hour it takes to eat take away. Harder to overeat it when sharing and 2. that pizza by the slice were a thing here. Or more of a thing, it's rare you find anywhere that does it.

I do sometimes get individual pizzas from the supermarket, either in the fridge or sometimes there's kids ones in the freezer. I then add my own toppings. Helps scratch the itch.

I feel you, i never don't want pizza. always, any meal, pizza is welcome. Just recently tried Blaze pizza though and will be going back - whole pepperoni pizza was like 660 calories and yum. Will probably go every couple of weeks for that

If you can cook, you could start making your own pizza, or other fast food, so you control portion size and ingredients, you could also have a scheduled fast food meal, just do your research in advance with a number of different options, eg if I want a burger I'll get the xx from yy. If you're troubled by intrusive cravings, ther are guided meditations you can do to reduce their impact

VintageFeline wrote: »

Harder to overeat it when sharing

Except you won't share, you'll just order 2 portions of *kitten* and overeat anyway. I actually wish sometimes I did live alone: when at work I manage to balance but hubby often sabotages my efforts in the evening (and certainly during weekends)...

When I have those cravings I plan them in for the next day or two ... right now I am craving a chicken, bacon, cheese, avocado, hash brown, brioche burger .... that’s 1000kcal ... so planning it for the weekend ... along with a small lunch and a smaller breakfast

How many slices do you usually eat? Eating just one slice fewer is progress. It's hard because it's a big change, and change takes mindful effort which can be tiring sometimes. It gets a bit easier with time. Not as easy as just eating mindlessly, but easier. You will develop strategies that become kind of automatic. When I want a meal very high in calories I automatically default to skipping breakfast and lunch. Not very comfortable, but easy in the sense that I don't have to think about it, it just happens. Someone else may choose to save calories up throughout the week, and yet someone else will be fine with two slices. It's a strategy collecting, trial and error, lots of experimentation kind of learning curve. I can't promise you it will become effortless, but it does become smoother as you progress.

ETA: don't know where the other paragraphs disappeared - I wrote a lot. Anyway, here is a rewrite:

There are basically a few ways of ways to go about it, either to go all out and stop eating certain foods for a while to retrain your palate, but note this only works if you know you are cutting out foods for a specific purpose, not because foods are bad or fattening, and you know you will re-introduce them later if you wish. Downside is that this can be very stressful, upside you will see progress sooner.

The second way is to make changes that are so easy you barely feel like they are changes, but they accumulate. For example, drinking water before a meal will likely help you to consume a little bit less, not guaranteed but it doesn't cause the stress of having to control your portion. Then later reducing your portion just a little bit at a time to where it doesn't feel like you are really reducing it. For example, I used to eat a large pita sandwich, then I started giving the first bit to my dog, then I started cutting the pita and eating two thirds, until I was down to half which was my desired portion. Downside it can take longer to arrive where you want to be, upside more of these changes are likely to stick and become your new norm.

Another way is to just go in, doing the proper things, changing things in the process and expecting some discomfort. This is basically like eating in moderation and watching your portions right off the bat. Downside, lots of trial and error possibly before you are mentally ready to handle trial and error (new dieters tend to freak out over the slightest bump in the road), upside you get to learn a lot about yourself and make progress sooner.

Personally I used all three ways for different things. Nuts I had to snip right off because it was more stressful for me to moderate them than to cut them out. It was hell at first but it passed. I haven't fully re-introduced them as a stand-alone snack, but I can have them in things and it's perfectly okay for me. Things like oil and bread I reduced very gradually. Things like pizza I went right to portion control because it's not a food I'm prone to stressing about.

fastfoodietofitcutie wrote: »

I'm not going to order the pizza but I've been thinking about it for 2 hours, that's not normal.

In my personal experience, the best thing you can do is order the pizza, eat the number of slices that fits inside your calorie goal (or maybe even one extra), and then move on. Diets where you deprive yourself of what you are craving are simply doomed to failure. I had so much pizza on this incredible journey (88 pounds and counting), you would not believe it. Also, I learned to like a healthier pizza: thin crust instead of deep dish, ham or chicken for the only meat topping, veggie toppings... (my go-to is a thin crust ham and jalapeno, and I regularly fit a half of a large pizza inside my calorie goal)

ladyreva78 wrote: »

Order the pizza.

Put 2 slices on a plate.

Freeze the rest in handy 2 slice servings for another "I need Pizza" day.

Enjoy the hell out of those 2 slices.

I have to agree with this. The mindset of punishing yourself for wanting perfectly delicious food is just wrong. For me I may decide to make a healthy version of pizza instead using wraps of course. But when the desire to eat a genuine pizza is tugging at me and im simply just gonna order it and eat it till I'm content. I will probably be over NY calories for the day and that's fine because I don't do that everyday. Once my pizza craving is quenched the next day it's back to normal. And if you did eat a bit over your calories you'll find your less hungry the day after. Incorporating the foods you like with having a meltdown is learning how to eat for sustainable results. It's not a sin to indulge for a day provide it isn't a common occurrence. There's also no sprint to your goal. It's a marathon.

I can often hold off on a serious pizza fest with an at home option. It's not the same, but the flavors can hit the spot for considerably less calories - between 400 & 600 calories instead of 900-1500. I eat food with a pizza flavor probably once per week, and keep the glorious, greasy real pizza to one or two days a month.

Chicken cutlets simmered in marinara, topped with thin slices of pepperoni, mushrooms, Parmesan and mozzarella. Cover or broil until everything gets melty. ~400 cals

Naan, pizza sauce, favorite toppings

Frozen French bread or personal-sized pizza and side salad or veggie soup (~500 calories)

English muffin pizza (I go high fiber, they're pretty filling)

Dip a grilled cheese in marinara, throw some veggie toppings in when you grill it - peppers, onions, olives, tomato, spinach, etc.

Whole wheat pita, spicy roasted red pepper puree, shallots, mushrooms, prosciutto, arugula, Parmesan or Asiago cheese - not traditional pizza flavors, but really tasty.