Moderation or Deprivation? Which works for you personally?
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I used to do the deprivation thing - and it would work, for awhile...then the resentment would start, and then the anger, and then the "screw it, I'm not living like this!"
so now I'm trying moderation - and so far, so good - slight resentment at not being able to eat as much chocolate/chips as I want, but it's much better than not eating any at all3 -
Yes, of course. I have a lot of digestion issues due to celiac. I avoid gluten as well as dairy, many fruits, beans, and other grains because of the damage caused by untreated celiac. I allow myself safe (for me) treats in moderation because it gives me at least some way to enjoy food occasionally.3 -
I go through phases. Moderation is nice in theory but personally I find that it creeps up on me until one day I realize that I'm consistently going way over on calories and eating primarily chocolate (my weakness).
When I notice I'm getting weird and eating chocolate non-stop all day I'll take a break and go a few weeks without it. Cutting out chocolate and sweets completely is freeing for me because it takes the thought out of it. If I tell myself it's not an option at all, then instead of constantly thinking about how to fit more sweets into my daily calorie allowance, I can stop fretting over it and just eat balanced meals that satisfy my hunger. I can't really satisfy my desire to eat chocolate. I'll continue eating until I'm ready to sleep.3 -
I find that if I stay too "rigid" in my dietary choices for too long I'll end up binging at some point, so I try to give myself one meal a week (Saturday nights for example) where I cut loose a little and enjoy. Nothing drastic, but if I have a burger or pizza or something and a beer or two I don't feel like I'm living some monastic lifestyle of deprivation.
You have to know your triggers though. If one chocolate leads to the whole box, or one chip leads to the whole bag, then you need to stay away from them completely I would think. Unless you have a really good friend that will bring you just one and then deal with any Tasmanian Devil like responses from you!3 -
Definitely moderation - but it's the whole mindset attached to it. All or nothing (my natural tendency) always resulted in a period of fierce nothing and then a depressing lapse into everything. So now I have a treat everyday but try to really enjoy it and make it count mentally so I can say "it's okay, ive had enough. I can have it again tomorrow." Do its really about not feeli g deprived. It's not foolproof of course, but works heaps better. And when it works it givrs me that warm glow of zen uber achievement. :-)1
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Yes, of course. I have a lot of digestion issues due to celiac. I avoid gluten as well as dairy, many fruits, beans, and other grains because of the damage caused by untreated celiac. I allow myself safe (for me) treats in moderation because it gives me at least some way to enjoy food occasionally.
Thanks!
I'm a fellow celiac so I get what you are saying (I think). Not eating (abstaining from) gluten containing foods is not deprivation in this case because eating it will make you sick, but you follow moderation in the foods you can safely eat.
Hmmm.... That almost makes me rethink my answer of abstaining. I avoid gluten containing foods and most dairy due to celiac. I limit my veggies because of stomach issues, I I really limit refined carbs and sugars due to insulin resistance (probably from steroid use for AI disorders and too much refined carbs and sugars in the past).
If I cant't safely eat the foods I am abstaining from, is that deprivation (in the spirit of this thread)? I moderate the foods that I can safely eat...
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For me, it depends on the food. I have a piece of chocolate occasionally because I like chocolate but I also have no problem having one fun-size candy bar and walking away. I also like potato chips but I've stopped buying them because once the bag is open, a strange time warp happens and all of a sudden I've taken in double my calorie allotment for the day and I'm on the couch covered in potato chip crumbs wondering what happened.3
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For me, the answer is substitution. Rather than ice cream, I make a sorbet. Rather than chips, I cut peppers and eat with hummus. I use zoodles in lieu of pasta.
When I have a blow/out (like today’s 3500+), it’s typically on nuts, granola & dried fruit type things. Crazy, I know.4 -
Moderation for me. If I even think of deprivation (like I used to think of diets), I would head for the treat shelf. Losing weight is supposed to make my life better, not more miserable. As I convinced myself that all I was doing was to make my life happier and better, the easier it was to stick to the program.
Everyone in my weight loss group had issues with all or nothing thinking. An all-or-nothing will believe that a single slip-up is failure. That's when all discipline flies out the window, and the poor person, who has stuck to the program all week, throws in the towel. How long did the diet last? Three weeks? Won't even make a blip on the scale.
Another problem with all or nothing thinking is that the person might try to "make up" for a "bad" day, by trying to exercise the extra calories off, or further cut their calories on the following day. This can lead to ever more extreme behaviour and not a very healthy view of food.
I think every meal and every choice stands on it's own merits, and even a very "bad" day deserves a good dinner. Don't go to bed starving.6 -
I have ice cream every day and I’m able to have my planned serving and be happy, but a family sized bag of m & ms with peanuts will be gone in 3 days. I’ve eaten them until I actually felt sick. So, I don’t buy candy. My husband eats candy every day and he even agreed to stop by 7-11 on the way home from work, to buy just what he wants to eat that night. No left overs, because it will call my name!!3
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I don't think abstaining from foods that will make you sick is deprivation at all. For about 5 years I believed I was allergic to peanuts, so I avoided everything with peanuts. Not deprivation because I wanted to live, lol. Got tested...not allergic so now snickers & especially peanut m&m's are not safe around me...now abstaining is like deprivation.2
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I haven't managed to read through the whole thread, but I (too) want to point out that it's not between moderation and deprivation, but between moderation and abstaining. And the definitions of moderation and abstaining are going to be individual. One person's moderation, can easily look like abstaining for another person; what someone calls abstaining, could fall under moderation for another. Whether it's abstaining or deprivation, is another matter, and going to be subjective. It's about mindset. If you feel that not having is your free choice, it's abstaining. If you feel you shouldn't or can't have, it's deprivation.7
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RetiredAndLovingIt wrote: »I don't think abstaining from foods that will make you sick is deprivation at all. For about 5 years I believed I was allergic to peanuts, so I avoided everything with peanuts. Not deprivation because I wanted to live, lol. Got tested...not allergic so now snickers & especially peanut m&m's are not safe around me...now abstaining is like deprivation.
Well, yes - but allergies is another story.
I'm sure nobody would argue that somebody with an allergy to a product should try moderation of that product - of course in that case it is full deprivation, no choice there.
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It varies for me. I must deprive Nutella. I can moderate ice cream.2
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Running_and_Coffee wrote: »Specific foods have an impact on my brain. Like if I eat some cheese or almond as a snack, I don’t think about food again until I’m hungry. If I have an equal calories’ amount of crackers or oatmeal, I will think about food until the next meal and crave specific things that aren’t as healthy. So I don’t eat the foods that set off the cravings. But because I lack cravings, I also don’t feel deprived. I don’t see it as deprivation...it’s knowing myself well enough to set myself up for success.
This applies for me. Once I realized it, it felt like such an appetite hack. It's *so much easier* to eat at a lower calorie level when I structure my meals on satiety and how they make me feel after eating them.
In conjunction with that mindful design of what I eat, I eat in moderation. I still eat the foods that set off my appetite, I just eat them in strategic ways that I've learned don't throw my appetite out of whack. For example, I love brownies, but just eating one small piece by itself turns my appetite up too high. I don't like that feeling at all. What helps is having a piece with a glass of milk. It's more calories up front, but it fills me up and ends the impact with that meal, rather than spreading a ravenous appetite afterwards. I haven't eliminated any foods, just found ways to eat them that work with me (which for some foods, just means having them very infrequently).0 -
sheliftsheavythings wrote: »Moderation or deprivation is not really the point, is it. The whole idea of food consumption has morphed from being simply a fuel, into being a pleasure. If one treats food as a means to an end: to aid our bodies to function properly, efficiently and in a healthy fashion, there would be no question as to how we do so.
Animals eat for fuel. Being a 'foodie' is a human behavior. Change your perspective.
I strongly disagree with this. You can greatly enjoy and appreciate food while not being a glutton. Pleasure isn't in itself bad. You don't need to divorce pleasure from food to maintain a healthy weight.
I do think some people mindlessly use food as entertainment/pleasure though and feel entitled to ignoring a calorie budget. I think if a change of perspective is needed, it's being aware that calories have consequences and we don't get an unlimited supply just bc we'd like one.
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sheliftsheavythings wrote: »Moderation or deprivation is not really the point, is it. The whole idea of food consumption has morphed from being simply a fuel, into being a pleasure. If one treats food as a means to an end: to aid our bodies to function properly, efficiently and in a healthy fashion, there would be no question as to how we do so.
Animals eat for fuel. Being a 'foodie' is a human behavior. Change your perspective.
You clearly aren't Italian
That was my first thought!0
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