I need to control what I eat. Any tips?
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SunflowerCutie
Posts: 61 Member
My goal is not only to get under 200 again but to be fit and get in shape. I need to lay off the junk food and salty and carbs. Once in a while is fine but not all the time. Like Sometimes whenever I see my favorite junk food or whatever, my head says, "Get it! I know you want to. It's just some." But my heart says "No. Stay away!" My problem is I get it sometimes and I feel guilty. I move around a lot. I do some Zumba workouts and workout videos on YouTube. I'm trying to get that motivation I had before. I lost weight before, I can do it today. I'm just focusing on getting in shape and being healthy. I feel like I always crave junk food but not all the time. Honest types would be appreciated.
3
Replies
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What kinds of junk food you usually crave? Some junk foods are surprisingly nutritious if combined correctly, and you can make them yourself to be lower in calories.
Feeling guilty will not get you far, it's best to recognize your likes and preferences and plan for ways to cater to them without adversely affecting your calories or nutrition.9 -
Temptations are everywhere around us, and we are made to feel entitled to overindulge. At the same time, we have strong norms against overindulgence. This conflict creates a lot of stress, including doubt and guilt. It will be easier to have the necessary discipline to not eat too much, if you have balanced, neutral information, and trust in your own ability to make good decisions.
Carbs is short for carbohydrate, which is one of the macronutrients that provide energy/calories. The other two are fat and protein. Many foods that are referred to as "carbs", have just as many calories in the form of fat.
If you eat well, and feel in charge, you will build up resistence to temptations. Balancing nutrition and pleasure is difficult, but necessary. Having some boundaries, some limits for when and how much of what, is a smart strategy.
Your food diary and a food scale are your tools to control what you eat. But you are the one who has to use them, and that's something you have to decide.3 -
amusedmonkey wrote: »What kinds of junk food you usually crave? Some junk foods are surprisingly nutritious if combined correctly, and you can make them yourself to be lower in calories.
Feeling guilty will not get you far, it's best to recognize your likes and preferences and plan for ways to cater to them without adversely affecting your calories or nutrition.
Yeah you're right but what junk foods are nutritious?1 -
kommodevaran wrote: »Temptations are everywhere around us, and we are made to feel entitled to overindulge. At the same time, we have strong norms against overindulgence. This conflict creates a lot of stress, including doubt and guilt. It will be easier to have the necessary discipline to not eat too much, if you have balanced, neutral information, and trust in your own ability to make good decisions.
Carbs is short for carbohydrate, which is one of the macronutrients that provide energy/calories. The other two are fat and protein. Many foods that are referred to as "carbs", have just as many calories in the form of fat.
If you eat well, and feel in charge, you will build up resistence to temptations. Balancing nutrition and pleasure is difficult, but necessary. Having some boundaries, some limits for when and how much of what, is a smart strategy.
Your food diary and a food scale are your tools to control what you eat. But you are the one who has to use them, and that's something you have to decide.
Thanks. You do have a good point.0 -
SunflowerCutie wrote: »amusedmonkey wrote: »What kinds of junk food you usually crave? Some junk foods are surprisingly nutritious if combined correctly, and you can make them yourself to be lower in calories.
Feeling guilty will not get you far, it's best to recognize your likes and preferences and plan for ways to cater to them without adversely affecting your calories or nutrition.
Yeah you're right but what junk foods are nutritious?
A burger made with leaner meat plus a side salad
Pasta with some sort of protein that's heavy on vegetables
Pizza with less/lower fat cheese topped with chicken and an arugula salad. Thin crust is even lower in calories
Burritos and burrito bowls heavier on lean protein
Mashed potatoes plus Irish beef stew
Oven fried chicken wings with roasted vegetables
Oven baked onion rings with greek yogurt ranch dip
Baked fish with roasted vegetables and french fries
and many other examples.
If you exercise and have the calories for it, you may even be able to have the regular versions of the above and many other dishes(regular fat, fried not baked...etc). Instead of thinking of junk food as ultimately bad, think of them in terms of nutrients
Example: what does fried chicken have and how do I make the nutritional profile better? It's mostly heavy on fat, breading is a starchy carb, and it has protein. You are basically missing fiber, add vegetables in some way (salad, roasted, grilled, mashed, or any variation) to a calorie-appropriate amount of fried chicken and the meal will be pretty nutritious. Since it's a bit on the high side for fat, you could make up for that by having low fat Greek yogurt with fruits for breakfast.
Chicken is healthy, it has protein and some vitamins and minerals. Breading is healthy, it's a carb and carbs provide energy. Oil is healthy, you need some fat in your diet for optimal health and for nutrient absorption. These are all healthy, but you need to consider your portions. Fried chicken is healthy overall, but the problem with it is that it's higher in fat and therefore high in calories, and that it lacks fiber. Fiber is easily solved by adding vegetables, as for the calories you have a few choices: eat smaller amounts to fit your calories, modify it to be lower in fat (like oven frying), make up for this high calorie meal by making another meal lighter and lower in calories, or have it less often planning for it and saving calories in advance. Whichever option or combination of options makes dieting easier for you.
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I find a routine helps a lot, always eat at the same time, don't eat between meals. Must admit I do break this rule occasionally in social situations, but one bad day is not going to have a great impact and it's easier to get back on track by the end of the week. Hope this is useful
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amusedmonkey wrote: »What kinds of junk food you usually crave? Some junk foods are surprisingly nutritious if combined correctly, and you can make them yourself to be lower in calories.
Feeling guilty will not get you far, it's best to recognize your likes and preferences and plan for ways to cater to them without adversely affecting your calories or nutrition.
I was going to say well, and succinctly said. But, your follow up post, with the fried chicken breakdown, was awesome.
It is not often we see such a good, detailed explanation of how one can make the food one likes fit into a deficit and fulfill nutritional requirements.
Cheers, h.3 -
Eating a couple of handfuls (or more) of leafy greens 10 minutes before fast food has been shown to slow the passage of the nutrients into your blood stream & through your digestive tract. The research showed it had to be 10 minutes before- not simultaneously.
So sometimes, junk or fast food, feels like a treat. Even calling it a “bad” food can make it feel more special/alluring. Practice the mantra, “there are no good or bad foods- just good or bad portions”
- as a first step to helping those foods lose their power over you.
If it’s burgers, you can make a delicious burger at home that is healthy/yummy. If it’s French fries, a homemade roasted potatoes or potato hash is yummy but with both you get to control: portion, quality of ingredients, types of oil/fat, and saltiness. You can even add herbs for MORE flavor!
Good Luck!4 -
SunflowerCutie wrote: »My goal is not only to get under 200 again but to be fit and get in shape. I need to lay off the junk food and salty and carbs. Once in a while is fine but not all the time. Like Sometimes whenever I see my favorite junk food or whatever, my head says, "Get it! I know you want to. It's just some." But my heart says "No. Stay away!" My problem is I get it sometimes and I feel guilty. I move around a lot. I do some Zumba workouts and workout videos on YouTube. I'm trying to get that motivation I had before. I lost weight before, I can do it today. I'm just focusing on getting in shape and being healthy. I feel like I always crave junk food but not all the time. Honest types would be appreciated.
I found logging before I eat really helps. This morning I grabbed some nuts at Starbucks ("healthier choice") and logged it before I opened the pack. I am glad because the tiny 50g bag would have clocked in at over ,300cals. Could have had the croissant! I gave the bag away.3 -
SunflowerCutie wrote: »My goal is not only to get under 200 again but to be fit and get in shape. I need to lay off the junk food and salty and carbs. Once in a while is fine but not all the time. Like Sometimes whenever I see my favorite junk food or whatever, my head says, "Get it! I know you want to. It's just some." But my heart says "No. Stay away!" My problem is I get it sometimes and I feel guilty. I move around a lot. I do some Zumba workouts and workout videos on YouTube. I'm trying to get that motivation I had before. I lost weight before, I can do it today. I'm just focusing on getting in shape and being healthy. I feel like I always crave junk food but not all the time. Honest types would be appreciated.
I found logging before I eat really helps. This morning I grabbed some nuts at Starbucks ("healthier choice") and logged it before I opened the pack. I am glad because the tiny 50g bag would have clocked in at over ,300cals. Could have had the croissant! I gave the bag away.
Except that 300 calories of nuts is WAY more filling than a 300 calorie croissant.
Again, OP, it depends on what you call junk food.3 -
I've logged and lost before, and one thing I'm doing differently this time is eating what I want while keeping an eye on the big picture. My attitude is kind of "Log it and live with it." I keep all "junk food" out of the house, and if I really want something, I can go buy a single portion, enjoy it, and move on with my day. I don't go shopping when I'm hungry, and that helps with impulse buying of family-sized packs of cookies, chips, etc. My log lets me see the impact on my nutrition that comes with deciding to enjoy that specific snack, and I can adjust the rest of my day's eating accordingly. When I think about whatever I'm eating in terms of the whole day's picture for calories and nutrition, it seems easier to decide to forgo the empty calories sometimes, and work with them on other days. If this approach helps you, great.8
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SunflowerCutie wrote: »My goal is not only to get under 200 again but to be fit and get in shape. I need to lay off the junk food and salty and carbs. Once in a while is fine but not all the time. Like Sometimes whenever I see my favorite junk food or whatever, my head says, "Get it! I know you want to. It's just some." But my heart says "No. Stay away!" My problem is I get it sometimes and I feel guilty. I move around a lot. I do some Zumba workouts and workout videos on YouTube. I'm trying to get that motivation I had before. I lost weight before, I can do it today. I'm just focusing on getting in shape and being healthy. I feel like I always crave junk food but not all the time. Honest types would be appreciated.
I found logging before I eat really helps. This morning I grabbed some nuts at Starbucks ("healthier choice") and logged it before I opened the pack. I am glad because the tiny 50g bag would have clocked in at over ,300cals. Could have had the croissant! I gave the bag away.
Except that 300 calories of nuts is WAY more filling than a 300 calorie croissant.
Again, OP, it depends on what you call junk food.
Completely depends who you are! I would find the croissant more filling than nuts, for sure. On that note, OP, it might be worth paying attention to which macros you personally find the most satiating - are you a volume eater, in which case bulking out your meals with lots of low-calorie veg might help to stave off unnecessary snacking? Do you feel most satiated with a lower volume, higher fat diet? Or are protein and fibre the nutrients that make you feel the most full? For me it's definitely protein, so starting my day with a high protein breakfast and having high protein snacks (e.g. deli chicken, protein shake, quorn stuff) when I get home can really help with the junk food cravings. Plus if you crave salty stuff, a lot of savoury protein-based snacks meet those cravings. Oooh, and things like pickles and kimchi are low-calorie but can sometimes 'replace' salty snacks like crisps, if you're not yet comfortable having high-calorie snacks around lest you overindulge.2 -
SunflowerCutie wrote: »My goal is not only to get under 200 again but to be fit and get in shape. I need to lay off the junk food and salty and carbs. Once in a while is fine but not all the time. Like Sometimes whenever I see my favorite junk food or whatever, my head says, "Get it! I know you want to. It's just some." But my heart says "No. Stay away!" My problem is I get it sometimes and I feel guilty. I move around a lot. I do some Zumba workouts and workout videos on YouTube. I'm trying to get that motivation I had before. I lost weight before, I can do it today. I'm just focusing on getting in shape and being healthy. I feel like I always crave junk food but not all the time. Honest types would be appreciated.
it helps to add my food that i plan eating in my diary. drink water. today i was hungry so had a latte fix - http://rawrevelations.com/latte-fix-vegan-12oz/
sometimes i eat brazilian nuts or almond butter with green apple. my favorite is chocolate mousse (dairy free)
https://balancedbites.com/content/easy-recipe-dairy-free-chocolate-mousse-pudding/0 -
It helps me to never eat junk from the bag. I always count it out when I make a choice to eat it. Then I enjoy it. Often I find a bite or two is enough and I don’t need more. Guilt is not a good emotion to go with food. I love to eat. The higher quality food I eat the less I need. I like taste.2
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Three things made a difference for me. I stopped mindlessly picking up junk food as I went through the temptation stands at every checkout. I just became aware that this was a habit I had developed and with that awareness checked myself every time until it stopped being a habit. Secondly I stopped keeping junk food in the house. If I have that extra effort of going out to the store to buy chips, that usually is an effective check for me. Third, I log everything that goes in my mouth - no more sneaking bites or mindlessly grabbing this or that.4
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i make rules for myself,i find that easy. no fast food. no snacks or sweets in the house. shop at stores that are not filled with junk food. for example; i quit stopping into my local Dollar General Store...becasue of all the junk food right at the check out. i would get those tiny bite sized twix's. So, i just quit going in there. i also don't eat fried foods and keep cheese out of my fridge. Think of your own rules that cut out the foods that trip you up.1
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elisa123gal wrote: »i make rules for myself,i find that easy. no fast food. no snacks or sweets in the house. shop at stores that are not filled with junk food. for example; i quit stopping into my local Dollar General Store...becasue of all the junk food right at the check out. i would get those tiny bite sized twix's. So, i just quit going in there. i also don't eat fried foods and keep cheese out of my fridge. Think of your own rules that cut out the foods that trip you up.
Also, OP, keep in mind that while restricting like this is great if it works for you but for some people it just doesn't work.
For example if I did what @elisa123gal does and cut all those things out of my diet I would feel overly restricted and would end up bingeing on all of those items. It's great that it works for her and helps her with controlling intake but it's not reasonable for ME so I wouldn't be as successful with that plan.
Instead I choose to find a way to work treats into my day, almost daily. I set myself an 80/20 rule where I try to make sure 80% of my intake is healthy and nutritious homecooked, etc whatever else. and 20% can come from whatever I want, potato chips, poptarts, elephant ears, ice cream, cookies, whatever.
The 80/20 rule has helped me learn to manage my portion sizes and learn moderation of the junk food but still not feel like I'm restricting myself.3 -
i log everything.
i move more...running and yoga.
i learned to make good tasting food that is healthy too. ex: ginger beef and chicken.
as you get closer to your goal weight, a food scale will be your best tool.0
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