The balance between eating healthy and enjoying things.

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m16shane
m16shane Posts: 393 Member
in Food and Nutrition
This may seem like an easy problem to solve for some, but for others its an issue. It is in our nature to indulge in certain things, sweets, greasy foods, salty treats etc... Though where do we draw the line? Where is the balance?

For me personally I doubt I could ever be a strict vegan or "clean" eater. I enjoy eating and trying new things. I've considered taking vacations based on foods. For example go to Philly for a cheese steak, or New York City for a slice of pizza. Maybe Chicago for a hot dog and so forth.

Though I've realized my time is limited, and I would like what's left of it to be a healthy one. So I can have the energy and enjoy all my outdoor activities with the family. I know go to the playground with my daughter and I love being able to play tag and running around with her. I love that we plan hiking trips and go kayaking.

My question is do you find it hard to find balance in your life? What are your thoughts on this subject?
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Replies

  • MaraDiaz
    MaraDiaz Posts: 4,604 Member
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    Right now, while losing, I have no balance. I'm low carb and pretty much proving this study correct:


    A new study suggests that one path to successful weight loss might be culinary boredom.

    Researchers found that when people were offered the same food over and over again, they tended to eat less overall.

    source: http://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20110722/food-boredom-may-lead-to-weight-loss


    When I reach goal weight, I might enjoy a couple of teaspoons of bbq sauce on a special occasion, maybe a dessert. When I start really increasing my workouts this Winter, I might increase carbs and enjoy pasta or something, depending on whether I think I need that to fuel my workouts better.

    But for right now, I'm being extremely strict with my food, enjoying pretty much none of it, and it's working. I'm bored, I don't feel like eating what is available to me. I'm struggling just to get 1200 calories a day, and for me, that's a nice problem to have. It's a little annoying, true, but not as annoying as being overweight.
  • Josie_lifting_cats
    Josie_lifting_cats Posts: 949 Member
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    I totally do not limit myself at all. It is not the end of the world if I go over occasionally. We LOVE food in this house, and our vacations are often food-centered. We love to eat good stuff, plain and simple. And all of it. Everything. We are quite diverse.

    So we work on being healthy and still enjoying ourselves. Put simply, I'd rather die at 60 and eat the food I enjoy than live to be 100. Also, I just have no desire to live to 100. But I guess I'm weird like that.
  • angeldaae
    angeldaae Posts: 348 Member
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    I have found balance by learning to cook healthy foods in really delicious ways. We eat at home usually 6 days a week, so I am able to prepare "comfort" foods in healthy ways without feeling deprived.

    On the occasion that we do go out to eat, I eat what I want. That might be a bacon cheeseburger and fries, or it might be pizza, but it's never too often. And I plan the rest of my day to accommodate for a splurge at one meal.
  • melsinct
    melsinct Posts: 3,512 Member
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    I believe I have struck a nice balance. I lost 30 pounds and am maintaining now. I am a foodie at heart, an adventurous eater, and an avid home cook. I generally eat my definition of "clean" which means I don't eat much processed/boxed foods and I stay away from artificial sweeteners, preservatives, additives, food dyes, etc. Being that I love to cook, this isn't an issue on a day to day basis as I make most of my own food. I do love to travel and I love sampling different cuisines. When I am in travel mode, I eat what I want but just not loads of it- the old moderation mantra. If I have a huge warm buttered lobster roll for lunch, my dinner will be lighter and more sensible from a health standpoint. If I know I am going out to a steakhouse for dinner and will be chowing on red meat and creamed spinach, I eat a light lunch. Same thing for any high cal foods (fried food, greasy food, whatever).

    It really hasn't been difficult to strike that balance. I generally eat healthy and with regular sized portions most of the time, so the indulgence here and there doesn't do any harm. If I want ice cream, I'll have the ice cream. One proper serving of ice cream isn't a big deal or that many calories in the grand scheme of things (like 250 cals for a 1/2 cup or so). The slippery slope is when people can't eat in moderation and a serving of ice cream equals a pint. That's just being piggish and that is what needs to be controlled. Once you master moderation, the balance is easy to strike.
  • sofakingawesome69
    sofakingawesome69 Posts: 149
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    I love food and cooking, so I just have to eat the "bad" stuff in moderate amounts. If you eat a slice of New York pizza when you are there, it should be fine. Eating a whole pizza every day is an issue. Is being healthy worth giving up anything you might want to try, no way? Eat it, just in moderation.
  • TravisBurns
    TravisBurns Posts: 353 Member
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    Being someone who indulged in, let's put it simply, *kitten* food, pretty often;nearly a daily basis. I will say this, I just up and stopped eating like that every day, now once every week or two i'll indulge. I'll destroy all my limits, and i'll still lose weight.
    If you're going to be successful you gotta cut that stuff out. Not completely, but just highly divide the times when you do. It gets easier after a couple weeks into changing it. But you gotta start now. I aim for wednesdays to be my free day every one to two weeks. I base it upon how well i've been doing. But it never once has prevented me from losing weight in a week. And here is a good one even on free days NO SODA!
  • Sidesteal
    Sidesteal Posts: 5,510 Member
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    I don't know the answer to the topic but I think it's the right question to ask.

    I think that there are limited circumstances under which food elimination is the right answer, and I would speculate that becoming too rigid can create unwanted food relationship issues.
  • sarahcuddle
    sarahcuddle Posts: 349 Member
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    Although I do admire the above poster's dedication, I couldn't live my life like that. I want to make a permanent lifestyle change that will continue after I have lost the weight. It may take me longer to achieve the weight loss this way which can be frustrating, but I never feel deprived of anything. I have the odd cake and the odd glass of wine and still stick to my calorie goals. I am trying at the moment to work on my sweet tooth and eat less sweet stuff and more veggies. I think its an ongoing project and small changes over time will give greater benefits. If you are really bored with your diet you will be more likely give up, and that's not what I intend to do. Also I love food and I can't see that changing just because i'm losing weight
  • AntShanny
    AntShanny Posts: 366 Member
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    I haven't given up anything, I'm not on a strict "anything" "diet"...it just seems to me if you restrict yourself too much to get the weight off that when you go back to trying to eat regularly you'll put it all back on. I hear about people doing WW, the different shake diets...they lose a bunch of weight but then gain it right back when they join the real world again.
    Sure, I don't eat handfuls of M&Ms or a pint of Ben and Jerry's at one sitting anymore, but I still eat them. Since Feb 1st I've lost 18 pounds and I'm happy with it. I'd rather do this slowly and enjoy myself then starve and be miserable and unhappy all the time. Life is way too short to not eat chocolate!
  • cinsuccess
    cinsuccess Posts: 333 Member
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    I don't restrict myself. I just control frequency and portions. I plan for my "treats" so I can stay within my calories or as close to it as possible. Sometimes I just accept that I'm going to have a bad food day... it could be a special occasion, a bbq or just because I want a break. I admit that I'm losing slower than many on MFP, but I'm losing AND I'm happy. Allowing myself to have the things I love in moderation will also make it much easier for me to maintain once I reach my UGW.

    I have done so many diets in my life. I have gained and lost the same 50 pounds at least 3-4 times. I finally realized that restrictions don't work for me because I can't LIVE that way. I love food way too much to give up my sweets, pasta, bread and alcohol - plus all the other processed stuff I enjoy. It really is all about balance and planning. I've learned to look at my whole week ahead and plan for the indulgences... 90% of the time I'm able to stay under my calories. The other 10% of the time I accept and know that it isn't really hurting my progress. It may be slowing it down a bit, but that's something I can live with. :drinker:
  • akaOtherWise
    akaOtherWise Posts: 110 Member
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    If It Fits Your Macros...eat it. It's that simple. I eat any type of food I want, no matter what it is as long as it fits in my daily limit of carbs, fats and protein. Been doing this since I started my diet, I'm down 28lbs and love dieting. The main reason people can't stick to their diet is because they get bored with it or just don't enjoy it. They feel like a prisoner to their own food. Live your life and enjoy it. IIFYM
  • jpuderbaugh
    jpuderbaugh Posts: 318 Member
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    Right now, while losing, I have no balance. I'm low carb and pretty much proving this study correct:


    A new study suggests that one path to successful weight loss might be culinary boredom.

    Researchers found that when people were offered the same food over and over again, they tended to eat less overall.

    source: http://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20110722/food-boredom-may-lead-to-weight-loss


    When I reach goal weight, I might enjoy a couple of teaspoons of bbq sauce on a special occasion, maybe a dessert. When I start really increasing my workouts this Winter, I might increase carbs and enjoy pasta or something, depending on whether I think I need that to fuel my workouts better.

    But for right now, I'm being extremely strict with my food, enjoying pretty much none of it, and it's working. I'm bored, I don't feel like eating what is available to me. I'm struggling just to get 1200 calories a day, and for me, that's a nice problem to have. It's a little annoying, true, but not as annoying as being overweight.

    I can see the logic in this. I will actually avoid eating altogether to avoid eating my veggies. For me though, if I am really sick of the food I have, really bad cravings hit me really hard and I get extremely miserable.
  • Melaniemarie86
    Melaniemarie86 Posts: 57 Member
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    I'm reading this while eating my whole wheat protein pancakes I made. OM NOM NOM.

    For the most part, I modify things to make them healthy and tasty, and modify the rest of my day perhaps if I must. Like pizza, I make my own pizzas with chicken on a whole wheat pizza crust. My favorite food is guacamole, but I eat it in a taco salad with grilled chicken rather than with just tortilla chips. It's seemed to work out okay thus far.

    I just can't stand being culinary bored. I like basically all food, so I'm not going to deprive myself of the ones I really like. Puts me in a better mood too when I feel like I'm eating stuff I actually want to eat.
  • triinityz
    triinityz Posts: 146 Member
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    I have no balance, I either watch what I eat or I'm fat. I wish I could have an occasional slice of pizza and be satisfied. Hope to work out my food "issues" by the time I'm to goal so I can stay there and enjoy myself.

    It's funny, the low carber that replied was totally right. I'm a low carb veg and I'm sick of it, and now my weight loss has sped up a bit. Go figure. LOL

    I think you should enjoy yourself on occasion and not worry about it, have a hot dog in Chicago for me! :)
  • Spanaval
    Spanaval Posts: 1,200 Member
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    I am a foodie. So, I eat everything, in moderation. This has helped me maintain my mood and sanity as I lose weight/get fit. I know that I would need to clean up my eating A LOT if I wanted to look like say, a fitness model, but that's not my goal.
  • HisPathDaily
    HisPathDaily Posts: 672 Member
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    I will always enjoy pizza, beer, bagels, ice cream, fries ... but the pizza, beer, bagels, ice cream, and fries don't define or control me, I control them.

    In general, I will make a commitment to eating "more clean", "more organic", "more fiber", "more [fill in the healthy blank]", but giving up on something completely is not for me. Just like I hear live to eat, not eat to live (which I agree with), I say I exercise to live, not live to exercise ... it's all balance for me.

    HOWEVER ... when I was starting out, control was an issue ... if I was so smart at balancing I would not have been so heavy ... so to kick start I went through about 6 months of serious logging, a lot of cutting out, etc. I needed to get my control back. So while I had a longer term goal in mind (that I continue to get closer to) I did have a "kick start" period where I was MUCH more strict ... but I loosened up the more I felt I had control ... and then when I start feeling like food is controlling me again, I ramp it up again ...

    So perhaps the balancing is hard for some because they try to "balance" too early ... I had control issues with food, I didn't know how to balance, so with some serious changes (and being strict, for a while) I managed to get that control back ...

    Not sure if this helps or not ...
  • Kalraii
    Kalraii Posts: 89
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    I eat whatever I want - but I manage my portions. Before I'd eat a whole box of brownies, now I say "ah I don't want to put THAT many calories on MFP, I'll eat two = 100 cals". I feel good for having that delicious brownie AND for staying true to myself. To me it's a win-win situation. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for healthy, but I am a FUSSY FUSSY eater but I'm getting much better :) If I want more - I'll exercise for that privilege. Otherwise I am making an effort to drink my water, eat my fruit, veg and other good and yummie things that help me reach my goal. It isn't easy, especially since I am/was a serious binger. Honestly, I can't do diets, and MFP has really helped make ME feel in control of MY choices and responsibilities. Best of luck!! :)
  • worldhurdler
    worldhurdler Posts: 153 Member
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    For me, I don't mind being "bored" with my food Mon-Fri and getting variety in on the weekends. I actually feel empowered and less stressed eating the same thing during the week. However, I also pick things I genuinely like - for example, my locked-in lunch for months now has been a salad with salmon, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, fresh blueberries, 1/2 an avocado, and balsamic vinegar for dressing. YUM - I look forward to it every day! Dinners during the week are usually fresh steamed veggies, 5-6oz of chicken, and 2-3 eggs over easy coating everything in their yolky-goodness.
    Then, on the weekend, I just aim for sensible portions of whatever my husband and I feel like eating. I also don't try to avoid trying new foods when on a business trip, at a party, etc. I've even thrown about 4 parties so far that REVOLVE around picking a certain country/region and everyone brings a dish to share! So, for me, that kind of balance works - keep it simple when it's just me eating, but enjoy the comraderie of exploring new cuisine with friends and family. Since it works out that 5/7 of my days are pretty much guaranteed healthy, and the other 2 are exploratory but sensible, I still manage to maintain or even lose weight.
    We have a lot of beautiful food on this planet - and I really like eating it =D
  • carriempls
    carriempls Posts: 326 Member
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    Some folks like the all or nothing approach. That doesn’t work for me.

    Try changing your habits a little at a time. For me, the healthier I ate, the more I wanted to eat healthy. Over time your tastes will change. Eat a few more veggies and fruits. Eat a bit less fast food and white, starchy things.

    Over time I also learned (like someone posted above) to cook at home to make healthier versions of the things I love to eat out. It truly spawned my love of cooking. You really need very little oil to make a tasty stir fry. You can use light coconut milk and reduce the amount to make a thai curry that’s not so calorie dense. Stuff like that.

    I still enjoy ice cream now and again, but I don’t buy a carton and sit in front of the tv and eat half of it. I don’t buy frozen pizzas and wash them down with soda and chips on the side.

    And when I DO go out and indulge in good food, I manage my portions and enjoy every last bite.
  • steph1278
    steph1278 Posts: 483 Member
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    I, personally, have not deprived myself of anything along the way. That being said, I do find that I tend to make healthier choices the majority of the time. Just because something is healthy, doesn't mean that you can't enjoy it. I have made a lifestyle change. This isn't a temporary fix for me so I need to be happy with what I am doing to be able to keep with it for the rest of my life. I also have found a love of exercise. I like being active. I feel and look so much better inside and out.

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