How do I find balance?

TheImperfectMomma · February 2018

I WANT to change my lifestyle. I WANT to be healthy and eat healthy but I can't seem to go more than a month before I'm back to eating fast food, which makes me feel sick and gross and then I have NO interest in working and it takes weeks to get back on track. how do I stick to eating healthy? or at least find a balance.

Alfred650 · February 2018

Please start buying and portioning your foods. Do you own a scale?

ConicalFern · February 2018

MrStanDelone wrote: »

Please start buying and portioning your foods. Do you own a scale?

This is the default answer to everything on this website. Not sure it applies here.

Alfred650 · February 2018

No worries let it be

TavistockToad · February 2018

ConicalFern wrote: »

MrStanDelone wrote: »

Please start buying and portioning your foods. Do you own a scale?

This is the default answer to everything on this website. Not sure it applies here.

it really doesnt! :laugh:

rockymir · February 2018

TheImperfectMomma wrote: »

I WANT to change my lifestyle. I WANT to be healthy and eat healthy but I can't seem to go more than a month before I'm back to eating fast food

You want but you don't. It's interesting.
Do you want it enough? Because that's probably the culprit, how bad do you want it?

cessi909 · February 2018

Are you burning yourself out? I think some folks tend to go overboard when they start out and burn out

Alfred650 · February 2018

Repetitive meal planning, routines are your friend.

TavistockToad · February 2018

TheImperfectMomma wrote: »

I WANT to change my lifestyle. I WANT to be healthy and eat healthy but I can't seem to go more than a month before I'm back to eating fast food, which makes me feel sick and gross and then I have NO interest in working and it takes weeks to get back on track. how do I stick to eating healthy? or at least find a balance.

2 things... first, if something is making you actually feel sick, no, of course don't eat it. if you just mean you feel bad or guilty for eating 'junk' then stop thinking of food as bad or good. its all just food. some of it with more nutrition than others.

second, you can eat 'junk' and still lose weight. just eat less so you are in a calorie deficit, then work on adding in some fruit and veg, cos health.... and then find some exercise that you enjoy.

Momepro · February 2018

You are probably trying to so too much change at once.Humans are adaptable, but stubborn.Too big of a change, like suddenly overhauling your entire eating routine will work for a bit, but almost never for long. Instrad you have to break everything down into easily sudtainable smaller habits.It can be overwhelming at first, and trying to do it all at once is a recipe for failure.
I suggest logging for a while, even before making any serious changes to your diet.
Weigh (with a scale is best) everything you eat, and write why you are eating it (i.e, lunchtime, hungry, kind of bored, out with friends, watching tv) and how you are feeling right before, right after and an hour after (hungry, comfortable, normal, full, very full bloated, drowsy).
This gives you a baseline pattern for your normal habits and routine. From there, it's just a matter of experimenting. Are you very full after dinner? Cut back on a few things. Does lunch leave you bloated and gassy after an hour, try less or no mayo, and see if there's something you don't mind dropping each meal (fries, or cheese, or maybe only 2 tacos instead of 3, Maybe if you like meat, you can order the patty, but not the sandwich ).It's amazing how quickly these small and easily sustainable changes will add up to big calorie cuts. Only cut one or two things at a time, until they become habit instead if trying to do everything at once. That way they become individual habits instead of one big "diet". So when you backslide you won't drop everything at once, just one or two habits, that you can fix again more easily.

kiwiroz · February 2018

Hey @TheImperfectMomma an often quoted phrase on here is - being fat is hard, losing weight is hard so pick your hard. It was a bit of a kick in the backside i needed to hear. From one imperfect momma to another I can relate. This is my second go on MFP. First time 2 years ago I list 25kgs and was starting to feel better about myself and the wham life happened and I am back again. I am 167cm and 102kgs (lost 6 kgs since beginning of January). I eat around 1600 calories a day. Most people I work with wouldn't even know I was on a diet given the crisps and chocolate they see me eat. I fit wine, curry, takeaways into my weekly/monthly allowance. Depriving myself was a slippery slope to giving up so I just worked out what food gave me enjoyment and worked it in. Start logging honestly it was an eye opener to me. Good luck in your journey.

kommodevaran · February 2018

I for one can understand that you want but you don't. It's called ambivalence. It's normal. The desire for good health is pulling you in ome direction, and the desire for enjoyment and convenience pulls you in the other direction. It doesn't have to be like that. But you have to work a lot on your mindset, your habits, your food environment. In order to find a balance, you will have to redefine healthy eating.

A healthy diet is not certain, specific random foods you don't like. A healthy diet is balanaced and varied, no foods are in themselves healthy or unhealthy, it's all about amounts and frequency, proportions and context. You can eat anything you want. I suspect the problem actually started here: You are denying yourself pleasure from food, you try to not have it, you can't, because you need it, give in, because you can't stand it and you're surrounded by temptation, and overeat, because you feel you have failed.

Real food and traditional meals can be easy, pleasureable, nutritious. You will probably have to learn to cook. You will definitely have to make decisions. Planning meals is great to save money, time and frustration. But don't start some regimen that overwhelms you. You want to find practical solutions to your own problems, not create new problems.

yirara · February 2018

So your priority is eating fastfood. Why is this? Have you every tried answering this question? Why do you think you need fastfood? Boredom? The taste (is hyper-processed food really that great?)? You don't know better? Why not get yourself some recipes online and start to cook? Simple recipes but full of taste. Maybe that's a way to break the cycle, or anything else that you always wanted to do?

SilverRose89 · February 2018

TheImperfectMomma wrote: »

I WANT to change my lifestyle. I WANT to be healthy and eat healthy but I can't seem to go more than a month before I'm back to eating fast food, which makes me feel sick and gross and then I have NO interest in working and it takes weeks to get back on track. how do I stick to eating healthy? or at least find a balance.

Are you perhaps trying to change too much too soon? If you are used to eating one way, it is very difficult to suddenly change all your habits at once and likely it will burn you out and you will get overwhelmed or just plain fed up.

Finding a balance is about making small, sustainable changes which you can add to as time goes on without making life too difficult for yourself. It still takes some dedication, but much less than attempting to change what you know completely. And remember, you do not have to deprive yourself of "fast food" completely, you can still have it but as long as it fits into your overall calorie and health goals. I have been steadily losing weight since the beginning of January and I still have the odd take out and I had McDonalds for lunch the other day...

MegaMooseEsq · February 2018

I agree with @Momepro and @SilverRose89: you may have more luck getting started if you start small. I understand the desire to fix everything RIGHT NOW, but if sounds like you're getting overwhelmed and not moving forward at all - small changes are much better than nothing! My first goal wasn't to lose weight, it was just to stop gaining weight. Like @Momepro suggested, I got into the habit of logging everything, and that gave me some great insight into areas of my diet I could change to cut down on calories. Do the easy stuff first, and use those successes as motivation to make larger changes. The most important thing is to keep moving forward and not give up. Even failures can be learning opportunities!

Also, think about narrowing your larger goals as well. Losing weight, eating healthier, and exercising are all important to your health, but you don't have to focus on all of them at once. You can lose weight eating fast food and not exercising so long as you eat fewer calories than you burn. You can eat healthier without losing weight and should notice real benefits if your current diet isn't especially well-rounded or is causing specific health issues. And you can exercise without any changes at all to your diet and see many other benefits: more energy, strength, endurance, fewer aches and pains, and so on. But it might give you more momentum if you work on one area first rather than trying for all three at once. Figure out which one is most important to you right now, and focus on getting that going with those small accomplishments I talked about above.

You can totally do this! Good luck!

chantalemarie · February 2018

i am the exact same way. i think it just truly boils down to you actually wanting it or not. for me, i KNOW how i want to look but i don't want to do the work to get there. you have to get to the point where the way you want to look is worth the work getting there.

Lounmoun · February 2018

TheImperfectMomma wrote: »

I WANT to change my lifestyle. I WANT to be healthy and eat healthy but I can't seem to go more than a month before I'm back to eating fast food, which makes me feel sick and gross and then I have NO interest in working and it takes weeks to get back on track. how do I stick to eating healthy? or at least find a balance.

What does eating healthy mean to you?
What makes you feel sick and gross about fast food?
If you cut a lot of meat, fat, salt and sugar and suddenly start eating it again you probably will not feel fine.

Try smaller changes to your diet over time and it will be easier to sustain.
If you normally eat out daily try moving to once or twice a week. Try different menu items.
Try having more vegetables in your day alongside your normal diet. Try new ways of preparing vegetables.
Make homemade versions of fast foods so you can control whatever ingredient bothers you.

Don't view food so narrowly. Look at actual nutrition of your whole diet rather than calling foods good or bad. You need protein, fats, vitamins, minerals. You can get nutrients from a burrito or a plain boiled chicken breast. You don't have to eat plain boiled chicken to be healthy.

claritea1 · February 2018

I just typed a long reply and then it disappeared, so forgive me if this is a repeat.
I find that I fall off the wagon when I don’t have enough choices at home. When my groceries are low, or I have the same limited choices day after day. Because of this I am and making sure that I keep my refrigerator and pantry plentifully stocked. I also am using an app that keeps account of every food item in the house and anything we run out of goes on its virtual grocery list. I go grocery shopping for the few items that need replacing often. I make sure I have tons of healthy choices stocked along with a few treats. This way I readily have on hand a food item for nearly every craving. I also preplan my meals the day before, but if I’m not digging it the day of, I have plenty of other choices to default to. This way I nearly always eat at home and am usually quite satisfied.

janejellyroll · February 2018

If you want to change, what is making you go back to the old habits?

Are you busy? Do you not enjoy the foods you're trying to replace fast food with? Is it a social thing?

Once you figure out what the obstacle is, it will be easier to figure out potential solutions.

toxikon · February 2018

Losing weight is not complex. Consume fewer calories than your body needs. In the scope of weight loss, what you eat doesn't matter, and how often you exercise doesn't matter.

Case in point: I've been losing weight at a consistent pace since November, all while eating fast food, pizza, desserts and working a desk job, often with my only exercise being a 20 minute walk or quick yoga session.

It's all about counting your calories accurately and sticking to your calorie deficit. Log accurately by using a food scale to weigh solid foods, and measuring cups for liquids. Log every bite that goes into your mouth, every day. Stick to your calorie goal. Profit.

NOW - for general health. Yes, it's good to eat more fruit and veggies. Yes, it's good to do some cardio and strength. But you can add all those things slowly, instead of burning yourself out by doing too much all at once.

Maybe limit yourself to 2 fast food trips per week. Then once a week. Then maybe once a month.

Try to eat a piece of fruit every day. Then add some greens. Etc.

Start off spending 15 minutes doing something active every day. Then bump it up to 30. Don't beat yourself up if you miss a day. Just get back on track the next. Find physical activities you enjoy. You don't HAVE to go to a gym.

Good luck!

cwolfman13 · February 2018

Small incremental changes over time...I don't know anyone who just flipped a switch and did a 180* overnight who's had long term success. Changes take time...bad habits need to be broken and new habits need to be established...this takes time and is a process.

Also, don't go in with an all or nothing mentality...it's not realistic that you're never going to have something "bad" ever again. I have a pretty healthy diet and I exercise regularly...Friday evenings are typically either pizza night or we go out somewhere and get what we enjoy and indulge a bit. I like pub grub as well, so I go get that once or twice per month. I don't deprive myself of those things that are maybe not the most nutritious, but they're things I enjoy...I just don't indulge all of the time.

How do I find balance?

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