Hardest Healthy Habit

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Debbielynn69
Debbielynn69 Posts: 2 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I have had a hard time eating 5 servings of fruits and vegetables.
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  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
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    2 fruit and 3 veg - really? How are you approaching it?
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    What do you find most challenging about it?
  • seska422
    seska422 Posts: 3,217 Member
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    Debbielynn69 wrote: »
    I have had a hard time eating 5 servings of fruits and vegetables.
    I usually have 3-4 servings of veggies (by eating a big portion with one meal) but I rarely have fruit. I'd rather get my sugar elsewhere, get my fiber from veggies, and take a multivitamin to cover the gaps.
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,742 Member
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    For me the hardest is not really that hard...eating home cooked meals more often. I used to go out a LOT more, and would grab takeout several times per week or go out for dinner as a major form of entertainment. Now I limit that to Saturdays. It took quite a bit of adjustment though to get used to this.
  • KateKateKaaaaate
    KateKateKaaaaate Posts: 1 Member
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    seltzermint555 wrote: »
    For me the hardest is not really that hard...eating home cooked meals more often. I used to go out a LOT more, and would grab takeout several times per week or go out for dinner as a major form of entertainment. Now I limit that to Saturdays. It took quite a bit of adjustment though to get used to this.

    I'm working on making a similar change -- but between a long work day and wanting to unwind with friends over dinner, it is really hard to change this habit. Does anyone have specific strategies to share on this point?
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,742 Member
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    KateKateKaaaaate wrote: »
    seltzermint555 wrote: »
    For me the hardest is not really that hard...eating home cooked meals more often. I used to go out a LOT more, and would grab takeout several times per week or go out for dinner as a major form of entertainment. Now I limit that to Saturdays. It took quite a bit of adjustment though to get used to this.

    I'm working on making a similar change -- but between a long work day and wanting to unwind with friends over dinner, it is really hard to change this habit. Does anyone have specific strategies to share on this point?

    For me it helps a lot that my husband works from home and cooks most of our meals, and we plan x number of lunches & dinners for the week ahead of time. I think we sort of keep each other on track with this, knowing that we bought the right amount of groceries to cook our meals and don't want to waste anything. I think he's actually better at this than I am, because all it takes for me to want Thai food is seeing 1 pretty photo on social media. But I don't do it just because it sounds good...if it sounds good to me all week, we'll have it on Saturday.

    I do sometimes have those social outings that I make exceptions for...but I try to limit them to less than weekly, at least. Sometimes I suggest meeting my girlfriends for coffee or dessert instead of dinner, for example. Or if a group is going to a restaurant that is fairly casual and I'm not that jazzed about the food, I just eat earlier at home and then get a beer or coffee with them there.
  • endermako
    endermako Posts: 787 Member
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    Being patient is my biggest issue. It's hard to see the weight come off so slow.
  • Leannep2201
    Leannep2201 Posts: 441 Member
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    For me, it’s setting aside enough time to prepare healthy meals/ lunches etc. Yes, I know that this should be a priority, and I AM making it a priority.... it’s just the biggest challenge because my days are so busy. It’s manageable, just challenging.
  • Johnd2000
    Johnd2000 Posts: 198 Member
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    Same here, so I take a multivitamin.
  • ladyhusker39
    ladyhusker39 Posts: 1,406 Member
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    Consistent weight-based exercise. I'm great a getting up and moving, but lifting or things like squats, lunges, push ups, squats, etc. I don't particularly enjoy and find a chore to do consistently.
  • Cbean08
    Cbean08 Posts: 1,092 Member
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    I have to remember to eat. I often let my work or my social life come first and I just forget to eat a meal which isn't doing much for my current goals. I also rarely eat fully balanced meals with proper portions. I don't have much of a taste for starches and have to make an effort to include one and even more of an effort to eat it instead of just eating more meat.
  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
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    Dani9585 wrote: »
    For me, and I don't know if the community would consider this a "habit," but I find it far difficult to manage my calories on weekends. The weekdays are fine and sometimes, I even need to actively seek food to meet my calories for the day. I tend to prepare my meals and will choose lower calorie foods (usually a lot of veggies). The weekends are a different story. It's like old habits of eating high calorie foods come back full force and I can't let the thoughts go. We tend to eat out a lot or make large portions of "comfort foods," all of which are higher calorie. Of course, I know these choices are fine in moderation, but that's where I struggle. I over indulge. To be fair, the is my first honest attempt at using MFP, so I still consider myself a beginner and know that I have a lot to learn and work through (re: thoughts and how they impact my behaviours). I can say though, that I am proud of how well I am doing during the weekdays and my eating habits are far more balanced now than they ever have been. I feel confident that I will continue to see successes with this lifelong journey :)

    It is a habit and it is a common one. There are several culprits. I don't claim to know them all but here are a few 1) There is less structure to occupy our minds 2) We are tempted by what someone else is eating or we feel left out 3) We eat the stress away of the previous week (comfort food) 4) We eat out at restaurants or with friends 5) The TV is on and commercials are reminding us of all the food that is out there to eat 6) Alcohol 7) Some combination of the above

    I use one of the oldest tricks in the book when facing "comfort" food or anything higher calorie on the weekend or, for that matter, during the week. It may help you or it may not. Finding the tricks that work for you is part of the journey and as long as you stay on it you will figure it out. Anyway, this weekend we made pasta carbonara. To control my portion size I added a salad and around 8 oz of water which I consumed a full 10 minutes before going and getting the entrée. I was barely able to finish my smaller portion (actually I wish I had stopped without finishing but that is one of my bad habits) and I was uncomfortably stuffed for hours. It is not always a salad first but it is always the lowest calorie portion of my meal. The other good thing about this trick is that next time I will cut my portion by another 25 percent.

  • bbell1985
    bbell1985 Posts: 4,572 Member
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    I agree with the sleep. I just want to stay up late.

    Also, now that I'm in a healthy weight range and look "decent", I'll just wipe out my deficit every weekend because I'm like "screw it".
  • aliceksylvester
    aliceksylvester Posts: 1 Member
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    my hardest habit is eating enough food. I simply don't know how to eat well enough throughout the day to hit the calorie count I need to lose weight. Sounds so convoluted but it's true.
  • Sp1tfire
    Sp1tfire Posts: 1,120 Member
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    For a lot of people not going out to eat/fast food is super hard to break. It takes a toll on the calorie budget and wallet though, so it can help a lot of people to 'quit' or lessen it.
  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
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    aliceksylvester wrote: »
    my hardest habit is eating enough food. I simply don't know how to eat well enough throughout the day to hit the calorie count I need to lose weight. Sounds so convoluted but it's true.

    You don't need to hit a specific calorie count to lose weight you need to stay under it.

  • thelettermegan
    thelettermegan Posts: 49 Member
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    cardio exercise.

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