Lighten the **** up!

I track my calories and follow my macros because it keeps me on goal, and it works. 21.5 lbs gone in 9 weeks with this simple plan and exercise.

I am a complete and utter junk food addict, and at one point, it was all I was eating, it was an obsession. It was also an unhealthy coping mechanism for my depression. So I take the abstinence approach because I know for me, giving myself permission for one leads to giving myself permission for two, then three and so on, and it's a very dark road I have no desire to go down again.

Further to that, eating junk food means eating a large portion of my calorie allowance, making it exceedingly difficult to ensure I hit my protein, fibre and calcium goals. So for me, counting calories and restricting junk IS important.

I love how some people are getting all upset at this thread.

Go back to stalking people's diaries and telling them to lay off of the fast food. Meanwhile I'm going to the Gym and the directly to Chuck E Cheese's (which so happens to be directly next door) and getting me a 1100 calorie plate of breadsticks. And I be damned if ANY of you tell me otherwise! :flowerforyou:

Amen sista!

Well said - on the whole I eat healthy food but I do eat some chocolate and the occassional bag of crisps and I have lost weight steadily (just over 1lb a week). I am now aiming to maintain and this week managed to lose a pound despite eating more which was a great surprise.

its great that most people can actually pactice moderation with sweets and treats and what not. some people just cant and must avoid it totally. what is confuisng to me is the feeling that those who are avoiding it are stick in the muds who must be living miserable lives. feeling deprived is a mental thing. once cravings are gone after abstinance then your body is not being deprived. so to say you are deprived is a choice to feel that way.

what I do not get though is how some folks seem to brag about their ability to have their treats in moderation.

whatever.

You are awesome! I really needed this! BRAVO!

If you're counting every calorie and stressing out over what one candy bar (or cake, pizza, pasta, breadstick, wine, etc.) might do to you... if it's preventing you from living a normal social life and/or you think your friends are trying to sabotage you by inviting you out for munchies or offering you some potato chips... then you need to get a grip.

I agree with this wholeheartedly. But I resent people who try to imply that eating otherwise is somehow not living, that people who actually don't like those things are somehow missing out. It's just as silly as those who say the *only* way to lose weight and be successful is to eat clean 100% of the time. I try to eat clean a good portion of the time because I want to be as healthy as I can be and I know I feel better when I mostly eat clean. But I also do enjoy some not-so-clean stuff. But posts like this are just as ridiculous to me as those who think vegans are somehow not living because we don't eat animals. I eat delicious food all the time. Perhaps if the OP had stated it more like this, there would be more agreement. I do think it's sad when I see people post about all the things they "can't" have, because it really isn't true (unless, as dave198 pointed out, you really are one of those people who cannot control yourself with moderation) and they're probably making themselves miserable, but the OP seemed quite judgmental.

OH, I TOTALLY AGREE.

I cringe at some of the posts people put on here freaking out about eating this or that. I've lost 71 pounds and don't feel the least bit deprived of my "comfort foods". Last night, I ate pizza and I loved every bite. Didn't feel the least bit guilty about it because I feel I need to allow myself those little treats. If there's cake at the office potluck, I have a sensible piece or slice and don't beat myself up about it.

This is a lifestyle change, not a diet. Diets can not be maintained over long periods of time but committing to eating healthy, sensible, and REALISTIC meals/snacks 80 - 90% of the time and exercising regularly is much easier to be successful at. So........enjoy eating the foods you love for that other 10 - 20% of the time.

Cheers!

Applause!!!

THIS!!

The OP wasn't picking on those who, for some reason or other, need to abstain from certain foods. I think they were mostly targeting the uptight people who like to spread the gospel of self-deprivation.

I think it's more important to achieve a good relationship with food (like learning HOW to eat junk food in moderation) than to lose weight. For some people, that should be their first step towards being healthy, not a diet. Fix the problem not the symptoms.