Will you ever get used to healthy eating?

13

Replies

  • CSARdiver
    CSARdiver Posts: 6,252 Member
    This is where you are now, but expect your thoughts to evolve and you learn and grow.

    Initially I relied on willpower and just stuck within my budget. I never eliminated foods, but just ate within my calorie allowance for that day/week and lost 60+ lbs in the first year.

    I hit my goal weight in the first year and slacked off of logging, regaining ~30 lbs. At this point I started to review my actions as a set of behaviors instead of solely relying on budgeting. I learned a lot about myself during this process and know which foods are satisfying and which are not, those I need to exercise caution around.

    I see the whole "healthy/unhealthy" mindset as detrimental in the long term as this fails to address the root cause of obesity - caloric surplus. You have to decide whether this mindset is sustainable in the long term.

  • GemimaFitzTed
    GemimaFitzTed Posts: 260 Member
    ^^^^ This post above me. THIS. THIS. THIS!
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,943 Member
    Gaining weight by overeating takes time. Losing weight also takes time. Please try to stop thinking in terms of diet, but rather in terms of new life. Don't stop eating what I want to eat. Just eat less of it.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,616 Member
    My view on “healthy foods “ are anything that’s involve less calories aka vegetables and unseasoned steamed this and that kinda food . What I consider unhealthy is that pizza , mcd , Kfc and lots of carbs. Before I jumped into this diet I could eat 2 box of regular dominos pizza in one seating . I’m really afraid of going back to even trying pizza cause I know it’s going to be hard for me to control .

    OK ... first of all, why "unseasoned"??? Why not add seasonings? Go into a spice shop, ask questions and try things!!

    There's absolutely no need to eat bland food.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,616 Member
    zeejane03 wrote: »
    My view on “healthy foods “ are anything that’s involve less calories aka vegetables and unseasoned steamed this and that kinda food . What I consider unhealthy is that pizza , mcd , Kfc and lots of carbs. Before I jumped into this diet I could eat 2 box of regular dominos pizza in one seating . I’m really afraid of going back to even trying pizza cause I know it’s going to be hard for me to control .

    I'd work on changing your mindset. Even though I eat a very 'healthy' diet, I don't consider pizza, fast food etc 'bad'. Labeling food leads to frustration, guilt and failure. There's nothing wrong with eating the foods you like, you just need to learn how to fit them into your calorie targets.

    Also, as you progress you may become interested in slowly adding nutrient dense foods but don't force it. I've been at this whole thing for around 7 years now and how I started out eating is completely different than how I eat today. But it's been a slow, natural progression. If I had tried making a bunch of drastic changes at the beginning I would have failed.

    Interesting sidenote-during my active weight loss phase I ate fast food several times a week, ate no fruit, very few veggies, all sorts of packaged 'diet' foods etc. Lost 50lbs and improved all my health markers.


    Woah , see when people tell me they actually lost weight still eating junk foods (sometimes) it blows my mind . How is that possible . Pizza is so high in calories

    I lost weight eating one large Dominos pizza (large by Australian standards) each month.

    I did that because I exercised ... a lot.
  • tinkerbellang83
    tinkerbellang83 Posts: 9,129 Member
    Machka9 wrote: »
    zeejane03 wrote: »
    My view on “healthy foods “ are anything that’s involve less calories aka vegetables and unseasoned steamed this and that kinda food . What I consider unhealthy is that pizza , mcd , Kfc and lots of carbs. Before I jumped into this diet I could eat 2 box of regular dominos pizza in one seating . I’m really afraid of going back to even trying pizza cause I know it’s going to be hard for me to control .

    I'd work on changing your mindset. Even though I eat a very 'healthy' diet, I don't consider pizza, fast food etc 'bad'. Labeling food leads to frustration, guilt and failure. There's nothing wrong with eating the foods you like, you just need to learn how to fit them into your calorie targets.

    Also, as you progress you may become interested in slowly adding nutrient dense foods but don't force it. I've been at this whole thing for around 7 years now and how I started out eating is completely different than how I eat today. But it's been a slow, natural progression. If I had tried making a bunch of drastic changes at the beginning I would have failed.

    Interesting sidenote-during my active weight loss phase I ate fast food several times a week, ate no fruit, very few veggies, all sorts of packaged 'diet' foods etc. Lost 50lbs and improved all my health markers.


    Woah , see when people tell me they actually lost weight still eating junk foods (sometimes) it blows my mind . How is that possible . Pizza is so high in calories

    I lost weight eating one large Dominos pizza (large by Australian standards) each month.

    I did that because I exercised ... a lot.

    I had a Personal/Small one weekly during my first weight loss phase. I eat pizza fairly regularly whilst I've been maintaining. It's like any sort of budgeting, if you plan for something you can afford it, I am fairly active so my daily calorie burn is around 3000 calories, if I am completely sedentary it's around 2100, if I have a light brunch on a weekend, I can easily fit in a pizza in the evening.
  • staticsplit
    staticsplit Posts: 538 Member
    I usually mentally save around 200-300 calories for an 'unhealthy' food if I want it. I don't always. Recently it was Snyder's honey mustard pretzels as my afternoon snack, which isn't even that unhealthy, just easy to eat a lot of if you take the whole bag away with you. I weighed out 30-40g and ate them slowly. But on days I weight train, I tend to crave 'healthier' food. I try to make the bulk of my food balanced with lots of healthy fats, veg, fruit, protein, etc, but if I cut things out, I start bingeing and then skipping meals and it's not good.
  • amy19355
    amy19355 Posts: 805 Member
    Slow and steady wins this race, I believe.

    Because weight gain often happens slowly over time, weight loss can be expected to be similar.

    Establishing habits doesn’t happen overnight or even in three weeks; habits take months of diligent doing before they are incorporated into us.

    One day at a time, take it that way and watch the days and weeks and months add up. The satisfaction will come!!!

    Good luck
  • kazminchu
    kazminchu Posts: 250 Member
    I echo pretty much everything that has already been said, but my personal highlights are:

    1. You will learn to like "healthy" (in terms of reasonable calories) food if you learn to make it how you like it. My absolute favourite meal is my own homemade chili with tonnes of vegetables in. It's less than 200 calories for a giant portion and it has more than 5 portions of veg in, but it's delicious and I look forward to it all the time, I'd eat it every day if I could! Keep trying new ways of cooking things and new foods, you'll find some really delicious things out there that are very reasonable in terms of calories!

    2. It's okay to fall off the wagon occasionally. I cannot and will not moderate certain foods, pizza included. So, if I'm going to have pizza, I'll have a whole pizza to myself. Yes, I might go over my calories by 1000, but it's one day in maybe a month, it's not that big a deal. When I'm really on form I do what other people have mentioned and "bank" spare calories over several days so it's not even a hit.

    You can do this, remember even small changes can make a difference so don't give up even if you think you've failed - you haven't!
  • kenyonhaff
    kenyonhaff Posts: 1,377 Member
    zeejane03 wrote: »
    My view on “healthy foods “ are anything that’s involve less calories aka vegetables and unseasoned steamed this and that kinda food . What I consider unhealthy is that pizza , mcd , Kfc and lots of carbs. Before I jumped into this diet I could eat 2 box of regular dominos pizza in one seating . I’m really afraid of going back to even trying pizza cause I know it’s going to be hard for me to control .

    I'd work on changing your mindset. Even though I eat a very 'healthy' diet, I don't consider pizza, fast food etc 'bad'. Labeling food leads to frustration, guilt and failure. There's nothing wrong with eating the foods you like, you just need to learn how to fit them into your calorie targets.

    Also, as you progress you may become interested in slowly adding nutrient dense foods but don't force it. I've been at this whole thing for around 7 years now and how I started out eating is completely different than how I eat today. But it's been a slow, natural progression. If I had tried making a bunch of drastic changes at the beginning I would have failed.

    Interesting sidenote-during my active weight loss phase I ate fast food several times a week, ate no fruit, very few veggies, all sorts of packaged 'diet' foods etc. Lost 50lbs and improved all my health markers.


    Woah , see when people tell me they actually lost weight still eating junk foods (sometimes) it blows my mind . How is that possible . Pizza is so high in calories

    There's a couple of ways:

    1) Save up your calories during the day. Or even during the week.
    2) Do a big workout during the day. (If you do a marathon, that night you really should be eating high-calorie foods afterwards!)
    3) Select the low-calorie pizza. (Costco snack bar pizza is 800 calories/serving. (!) Thin crust Paul Newman pizza can be a little shy of 300 calories/serving.)
  • kenyonhaff
    kenyonhaff Posts: 1,377 Member
    There's a lot of biological and psychological mechanisms that make you want to go back to unhealthy eating habits. It takes MINIMUM 6 weeks to develop new habits, and really more than that for them to really fully integrate.
  • garystrickland357
    garystrickland357 Posts: 598 Member
    @PAV8888 Nice post. Preach brother...
  • Chaos_Angel
    Chaos_Angel Posts: 23 Member
    It helps for me to have something healthy that I also consider a little junky like chocolate rice cakes <3
  • MsBaz2018
    MsBaz2018 Posts: 384 Member
    edited January 2019

    This is my 10th time trying to lose weight and each time I tried to lose weight I’ll lose about 10 kg max and then go back to old habits of eating pizza , mcd and really bad foods . My kinda junk foods are crazy . The calories are insane and now I’m drastically limiting myself from all kind of junk foods . Like normal people I don’t think I can eat a slice or pizza and stop. It’s going to make me eat more and I’ll eventually give up (speaking from experience). I’m in severe depression due to my obesity, this time I’m really trying to sustain and lose a lot of kgs to build some self esteem and I know for a fact that this will be my last attempt.

    Someone already said it. There are lots of cooking methods and seasonings that will make what you consider "healthy" foods more palatable.

    Think about doing a menu. There are lots of places you can look for "healthy" recipes. Try low calories variations of things you already enjoy.

    Also, if you are obese and coming from a situation of eating two pizzas in one sitting I hope you didn't chose to eat 1200 calories. If you really feel like this is your last attempt then try to take it as slowly as you can to get used to eating differently than you did before. It's not a race.

    Just my 2 cents.

    ETA: I just picked on the fact that you started dieting when you were 15 and also you live with your mom.
    What are your stats before we even go further? This can't be healthy.
  • mbcieslak87
    mbcieslak87 Posts: 206 Member
    Why don’t you make your self a burger or make yourself some pizza, or whatever you love. You’ll never stick to a diet in the long run if you deprive yourself of everything you love. I make mini pizzas several times a week for lunch.. we have burgers and homemade “fries” a couple times a month for dinner and I still eat cookies, cake and ice cream... I just look for healthy alternatives... but literally every grocery store offers them, even Walmart. I still indulge on fast food or going out to eat weekly but try to make good decisions and keep it in my caloric goals. You don’t have to give up foods to be healthy, you need to look at portion control and finding ways to incorporate healthier cooking methods and fruits and veggies into your diet.
    I know this is long, but just for ideas; I use flat out pizza crusts, ~40 mL of pizza sauce, 56 grams of part skim mozzarella and a serving of turkey pepperoni (which I think is 17 slices) and then top with bell peppers and onions usually, or whatever veggies I’ve got on hand that go well on pizza. It’s right around 400 calories, very filling and pretty high in protein. Or sometimes I just have the cheese and pepperoni and make a side salad to go with it, if I’m just craving basic pizza.
    For burgers use low fat beef, make a 4-5 oz burger, use lower fat cheese, and you can find buns in the area of 140 Cals (or use lettuce if you’d like)... top with normal burger toppings but try to limit the mayo (or use low-fat). Cut up some potatoes or sweet potatoes, toss in a little bit of olive oil and bake. So yummy and much better for you!
  • gothchiq
    gothchiq Posts: 4,590 Member
    I'm like you and I understand. One bite of a high calorie food leads to an evening, or more, of out of control behavior. Herbs and spices are your friends. Roast the vegetables rather than just boiling or steaming. The secret, I think, is to create good flavors and textures with the types of food that you want as parts of your healthy diet. You may want to borrow some "tricks" from vegans who often work with techniques and such that others don't even think about.
  • ShayCarver89
    ShayCarver89 Posts: 239 Member
    Honestly, if I'm craving junk..I eat junk. Just in moderation.