New and struggling to change eating habits

Fish oil is supposed to lower tryglicerides.

That aside, here's my theory. I started mfp because I needed to lose weight. I put my faith in "calorie in-calorie out" and trusted mfp's math. And, I'm losing weight. Losing weight is immediately useful for lowering cholesterol, etc. I am slowly making very small changes to my diet while faithfully counting calories. But if I want cheese pizza I eat it. You just need to account for it. Good luck! Add me if you like.

Hi Brooke, I had the same and it is very important for your future good health that you make this lifestyle change. As for exercise start by walking more and then lead up to something more, I have nearly finished my first month at a gym and then going to join for a year, although it's an effort for me to go once I have been I have that feel good feeling all day. Add me as a friend if you need any support, good luck for new new healthy lifestyle x

When I got my own place I started ratting like crap since I didn't have anyone cooking for me, I've really changed my attitude since those young kid days lol. I find I still get the cravings every now and again but that they aren't nearly as bad and that when I do give in it makes me feel terrible so I don't over do it like I use to (think two big bags of chips for supper lol terrible I know). I find now that when I don't eat lots of veggies or healthy stuff (say like when travelling) that I feel terrible and can't wait to go home and cook the stuff that I now love to eat. Think lots of colour and fresh foods. Your body, palate and mindset will all change you just got to stuck with it, go slow adding in more veggies at one meal, cutting one thing out at a time and work your way up from there so it's not a shock. Also try sticking to the outside aisles of the store, that way you don't even go by the bad stuff and you are way less likely to buy them, if they aren't in the house you can't eat them!!

Congratulations on putting in the effort to change your life around. I'm glad you are aware of how difficult this may seem, especially at first, and you are still willing to change. MFP is such an awesome resource and by posting in the forums you are putting it to good use!

I've never been completely into processed foods personally, I've always enjoyed certain fruits and veggies with my meals. I've found, however, that the more I learn about nutrition, the more I make better food choices and my palate has definitely expanded toward eating much healthier foods as a result. When I hear people tell me "processed/fast foods are bad for you" I would think, okay, well how bad is bad? What is it doing in my body? How does this affect me? When you research online (careful, do NOT believe everything you read!), read books on nutrition, and take a general interest on the subject you'll find it's much easier to avoid foods when you know not only THAT it's bad for you, but WHY it's bad for you! And better still, read about all the good things fresh fruits, veggies, nuts, lean meats etc can do for you! And herbs and spices! Experiment with recipes, it's fun. I started losing weight simply by cruising through MFPs many forums and posts by knowledgable people with actual experiences of what works for them, and listening to the advice.

You don't have to do anything drastic, try setting mini goals for yourself. Slowly ween yourself off of the junk and replace it with yummy filling real food! Use the search feature for inspiration and advice. If you absolutely love pizza, try searching for a healthy pizza recipe I'm sure there's tons and pull find something you love and yes, it DOES make a huge difference in the end!

I hope you find everything you're looking for, it does get easier! The hardest part is definitely the start. Motivation becomes way easier once you start noticing changes and seeing the scale move, you just gotta take the initial leap of faith and DO IT! try something, give it a couple weeks. It will happen!

I agree with what a lot of the other posters have said, but changing too much at once can be very hard. I would suggest, if it all seems unsurmountable, to just commit to changing one thing per week - say week one cut out the soda (if that's one of your vices) and then week two trying adding one new vegetable to your diet, or cooking a home meal twice, whatever works for you.

If you make a plan for the next eight weeks (say) it will probably be easier to stick to.

Good luck.

To answer your questions: Yes. This is how it worked for me: First I went on South Beach Diet. The book makes so much sense, is very easy to follow, and has great recipes. The most important part was phase I, which lasts two weeks. During that time, you cleanse your system of processed food, bad carbs, and sugar. That was the ticket for me. During phases II and III, you start introducing healthy carbs and fats back into your diet. After 2 weeks of no sugar, you can't imagine how wonderful a strawberry tastes! Once you rid your system of all the bad carbs and fats, you really taste the flavor of other foods. I used to eat salads because I had to. Now I really enjoy them. I stayed off sugar for a long time, then let myself have some dessert at my son's wedding. It was all downhill after that! I did another cleanse using the 17 Day Diet. This time I stayed off the processed sugar. I think the key is to get that junk out of your system and retrain yourself to enjoy healthy foods.

I just started over after having gained a couple of pounds.. I get off track and overdo eating the things I know don't agree with my weightloss plan...like pasta with creamy alfredo sauce. The cravings are back but I've faced them down before; it takes 2-3 days of being on top of things to get that under control. I don't try to do it all at once; just do today and let tomorrow take care of itself. I can't get into the drama of dieting, exercise, all that stuff. I log everything I eat (when I don't, I know I'm in trouble so I start over as soon as I can), enjoy the occasional treat, take a walk now and then, and drink lots of water. Works for me. I lose about 2 lbs a week. It took years to get heavy, I'm willing to take the time to lose it and then keep it off.

Based on my experience I can answer all your questions YES. Cravings will go away and you will start liking new food. Yes, you will spend the rest of your life eating this way if you want to keep the lost weight off, but at certain moment you will no longer have to FORCE yourself to eat that way. You will WANT to do it. There will be so many pleasant experiences that you will not want to go back to your previous way of eating.

When I was reading your post it reminded me what I was going through two years ago. I had similar thoughts and questions then. I made the change you describe and successfully lost weight.

Two years ago I developed very strong motivation that helped me implement drastic changes in my eating habits. It was the power of fear-generated motivation at work. I got so motivated that I lost weight quickly.

As far as food was concerned, I was determined to do anything humanly possible to lose weight. I gave up practically everything I liked. Many years ago it would be unthinkable to me to give up Big Mac, pizza or Chinese food, but two years ago I did it. I adopted a diet that consists only of fresh non-starchy vegetables, fresh low-sugar fruits, lean protein and whole grain bread. I take Omega 3 (healthy fats) and multivitamin supplement daily). I drink unsweetened hot tea three times a day and lots of water.

Changing my eating habits was not super easy and initially I experienced some level of stress after, I gave up all of the food I liked. For a few days I felt weak, had no energy but I didn’t feel hungry. The first few days were most challenging. But since my new way of eating provided rapid weight loss at the start, I had the additional incentive to keep going. Soon cravings for junk food disappeared and I honestly could say that I liked and enjoyed healthy foods I eat.

Don’t worry about the exercise. You don’t have to exercise to lose weight because weight loss can be achieved without exercise. The role of exercise in weight loss has been wildly overstated. When it comes to shedding pounds, it is what and how much we eat that counts most.

Physical activity (unless done vigorously like a professional athlete) is a minor component to the economy of weight loss. Exercise is great for our physical health and overall wellbeing, but it has a small effect on weight loss. The critical component is what food and how much you consume. There are certain foods you should eat and certain ones you should avoid. If you can change what you eat and how you eat, you will be able to lose weight.