Will This Always Suck?

keep working at it! it takes 21 days to fully break bad habits and then it's time to find new, healthy habits. don't get discouraged. you can do this. it just takes time and a ton of effort. don't give up. keep pushing!

One thing my trainer once said to me was that it's understandable if you can't completely cut out the bad foods from our diet. If we have to eat fast food or that high calorie home cooked meal, then focus on making "better bad choices". Every little bit helps towards a healthier lifestyle. Gradually transition from the way you used to eat to the way you're "supposed" to eat. Soon, your body will crave the healthier stuff. Don't do too much too soon. Remain active and try not to go over your calories and you'll see results.

What's your exercise strategy?

No, it will not always suck. As some previous posters have mentioned, you can make good 'bad' choices. So many restaurants (fast food or sit-downs) have nutritional tables. Using the tools on here will help you decide on some of the bad things you can eat without compromising your daily goals...Good luck!

well... i shouldn't always suck... i LOVE to eat... and i like to constantly be eating, so i've had to find low calorie foods so that i can eat all the time and stay within my calories... the issue came when, even though i loved the low calorie foods im eating (like a 90 cal rice krispy treat to ease my sweet tooth) i would still want all of those foods i "couldn't" have... it took me REALLY wanting this to move past that delima- i decided i'd put EVERYTHING i ate into this tracker-- so when i went to Panera the other day and had a great meal and it was under 400 calories i decided to have a cookie without checking it- ONE COOKIE... it was over 360 calories-- i could have had like FOUR-FIVE snacks that would have been full of fiber/protein/whatever for that ONE cookie... so the rest of the day i made myself be hungry-- taught myself a lesson LOL

I know what you mean, but I'm pretty sure it will get better! I've only been on here for a couple days, but already I love how supportive evryone is and how easy it is to keep track of everything. Sometimes I want foods that know I shouldn't have, but I find it helps to look things up in the database before eating them, just to know what you'll have to work around later. Just wait until some results start showing, and I'll bet anything it won't suck at all then

I thnk perhaps you need to re-evaluate your relationship wth food, as well as the reason you started a diet (more appropriate, lifestyle change) to begin with. Life is full of choices; you choose whether to get up and go to work every day, to pay your bills, to clean your house, I could go on. For example, you probably get up every day and go to work, not because you have a burning desire to get to your office (I'm taking some liberties here with your particular situation, but I hope you follow) but because you have a mortgage or rent to pay, you have to pay for you car and insurance, put food on the table, etc. If you were to stop going to work, the consequences would likely be dire. You would lose your house, you and your family would go hungry. I'm fairly certain you don't want that. So you've made the decision that going to work is in your best interest.

Looking at food is somewhat the same way. If you continue to eat the way you were (unhealthy I assume) you will continue to have negative consequences such as low self-esteem, lack of energy, relationships suffer, isolation, etc. You have to make a choice, is eating the food you "want" worth what you're getting in return? You started this lifestyle change for a reason. What were those reasons?

Often we need to change the way we look at food, if we are going to get the end result we desire. Food is not love, comfort, or companiosnhip. Does a Big Mac truly make you happy? If so, you are choosing to eat the Bg Mac, because it is making you happy. But what do you mean? Being fat and out of shape and feeling unsexy doesn't make you feel happy? Well then why are you doing things that don't support your goals?

Ultimately, you have to decide which is more important. If food really, truly makes you that happy, then you should follow your bliss. But I suspect that food does not fulfill you, well it doesn't fulfill me.

Every day we make a choice, and no one is dictating to you what choice you make. Just be mindful of the choices you're making, and what their end result will be. IMHO, it isn't any more complicated than that. What is the end result you desire, and what are you doing to ensure you get those results?

Just like you might want to pull the covers over your head on Monday morning and stay home and watch Regs & Kelly, you don't because the consequences of doing so are not the end result you desire.

Think of it less in terms of "have to," but "choose to." At least that works for me.