What are the first things you threw out when you started your WLJ?

I didn't throw anything out. Just ate a bit less.

Nothing -- mainly what I had on hand were staple foods I'd consider healthy (if consumed in moderation, I used to have a too heavy hand with the olive oil), plus whatever I needed for the week (eggs, veg, fruit, meat, dairy). Never really kept snack foods at home or made them a big part of my diet (not that that would prevent any from losing, necessarily, and not having them didn't keep me from gaining).

I bake less, buy less cheese (I have a weakness for interesting cheeses), and don't snack outside of meals. For a while I stopped buying ice cream, but I eventually started buying it more than I had before and just keeping it in the house and eating it in moderation (vs. the old impromptu purchase when I want a treat or to reward myself and then overdo it). I order in less and am more careful to watch portions at a restaurant. Something like pizza I still eat, but it was mostly an at a restaurant thing or maybe order in, so I certainly wouldn't toss it (I might be less likely to plan on ordering enough to have leftovers), and same with Indian food which used to be something I'd order more or eat out more).

I don't find a lot of snack foods tempting partly because I don't like snacking -- right now my sister (who does enjoy snacking and has always been thin) has various crackers here that she likes plus her preferred cheddar (she doesn't live here, but comes by), and even if I didn't just think of them as her foods, I'd likely not be tempted since they aren't my favorites and I generally don't think about eating outside of mealtime now (unless a planned dessert). I have leftover candy from Halloween that's been here since and I don't think about it since I don't really like those kinds of chocolates that much.

I never really kept junk food in the house so even though I’ve cut it out of my diet for the most part, nothing got thrown out. I stopped buying fast food & junk food. However I don’t say no to a nice meal out and sharing a slice of cake on date night 😉 so I haven’t given up “all sweets” or “all meals out” just on my usual day-to-day I eat food prepared at home that I’ve measured.

I started my weight loss journey after a type 2 diabetes diagnosis, so the first thing I needed to do was get my blood sugar levels under control. I tested my blood a lot in the first few months and stopped cold turkey eating foods which spike my blood sugar levels, including soda, most sweets, and most products with refined flour. Different diabetics have different reactions to the same foods, which is why testing is important - for example, fruit is high in sugar, but doesn’t spike me, and neither do potatoes, but anything with white flour or rice will send my levels through the ceiling. Some diabetics find the opposite.

Another one here who threw out nothing.
I still eat same foods as before - just some less often and/or in smaller portions.

The only thing I stopped altogether was regular soda - swapped to diet.

I threw every dieting book/companion cookbooks and dieting dogma out with the bathwater. I started tracking my data points here and simplified my life.

lemurcat2 wrote: »

paperpudding wrote: »

Another one here who threw out nothing.
I still eat same foods as before - just some less often and/or in smaller portions.

The only thing I stopped altogether was regular soda - swapped to diet.

Yeah, I would have quit sugary soda or other drinks with lots of cals if I had consumed any on a frequent basis. I just happen to have switched out regular for diet years ago, and only rarely consume fruit juice, so my habits there did not change.

I think there is a difference between deciding that something has to be banned and allowing habits to change over time and experience. I have made it a practice to very seldom drink calories but I never actually declared soda or anything else as "off limits".

There are definitely things that have fallen by the wayside for me. I haven't had a Big Mac in at least 18 months. If I craved one enough I would put a plan together to fit one in but I am not sure if or when that is happening. Truth is when I was gaining weight my calorie standards were much lower and I often ate things I didn't really find to be a truly rewarding food experience. Now that I am pickier if I realize if I need something quick and less satisfying to pick lower calorie options. Of course sometimes life can be really messy and I just need calories in any form but luckily that does not happen that often. I did once unintentionally prove that you could lose weight eating mainly pizza for a week though...

NovusDies wrote: »

lemurcat2 wrote: »

paperpudding wrote: »

Another one here who threw out nothing.
I still eat same foods as before - just some less often and/or in smaller portions.

The only thing I stopped altogether was regular soda - swapped to diet.

Yeah, I would have quit sugary soda or other drinks with lots of cals if I had consumed any on a frequent basis. I just happen to have switched out regular for diet years ago, and only rarely consume fruit juice, so my habits there did not change.

I think there is a difference between deciding that something has to be banned and allowing habits to change over time and experience. I have made it a practice to very seldom drink calories but I never actually declared soda or anything else as "off limits".

There are definitely things that have fallen by the wayside for me. I haven't had a Big Mac in at least 18 months. If I craved one enough I would put a plan together to fit one in but I am not sure if or when that is happening. Truth is when I was gaining weight my calorie standards were much lower and I often ate things I didn't really find to be a truly rewarding food experience. Now that I am pickier if I realize if I need something quick and less satisfying to pick lower calorie options. Of course sometimes life can be really messy and I just need calories in any form but luckily that does not happen that often. I did once unintentionally prove that you could lose weight eating mainly pizza for a week though...

I think that makes sense depending on the person. I mostly don't think fruit juice is worth the cals (vs. just having fruit), but I have it if I feel like it (mostly at breakfast when traveling).

I did just decide one day (when I was in college, so not recently) that I wasn't drinking caloric soda when diet existed, and if I drank a lot of it I'd find it easier to quit entirely (or switch) than just drink one a day or something like that, but I am someone who tends to always be drinking a beverage (coffee, water, whatever) and does so kind of mindlessly, and I no longer even like sugary soda at all (I like Diet Coke and some others, though!). I struggle with moderating coffee (I drink it black, so not a calorie issue) and find it easier to just take a break for a while or have a hard rule about drinking after a certain time other than as a restaurant dessert replacement on occasion than try to moderate.

More generally, I do find it easier to not declare foods off limits but just decide if the cals are worth it to me (I guess in my mind I just think of caloric soda as something unlikely to ever be worth the cals). There are foods I haven't happened to eat for years that aren't off limits, they just aren't foods I ever want given the cals and the alternatives.

Like you, a lot of my excess eating when fat was more about mindless eating -- something was there (usually at work) and not that great but eh, why not. Now I'm more picky, and if I decide to use cals on something and it's not that good I get much more annoyed! ;-)

I agree with @Lillymoo01 that my diet morphed over time, I didn't do a radical overhaul.

I did throw out sleeping in. Who knew I'd enjoy hitting the gym at 4:30 a.m.?!?

I didn't really throw anything out, but what I started purchasing changed a bit after buying a food scale and getting more honest with what I was consuming and realizing that sometimes tiny amounts added up very quickly! Moving a couple months ago changed things up yet again as my living situation changed dramatically and what I want/need/what works now is radically different than it was the past 2 years.

At the beginning, it was more “putting aside” food that I had difficulty calculating the calories of such as rice; especially when eating out. By the time I came up to speed (dry vs. cooked); I was mostly eating cauliflower rice (I love it; I only eat what I love).

Otherwise; I have what I like in moderation. I’ll eat 1/2 of a danish, but I weigh it before and record it. If I feel for cake; I’ll buy it a Starbucks, believe me, it’s a wake up call to see what a 430 calorie serving of banana loaf looks like. I record it; eat it, enjoy it, and move along:-).

I don’t drink my calories; I have water or black coffee. Most of my diet is fruit and vegetables, and has always been; in the past, I use to eat too much of it.