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Old 10-13-2014, 10:20 AM   #1  
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Default Preventative steps to keep from falling

Do any of you have things you have to make sure you don't do to keep from falling? I have two main rules to follow that I've learned from trial-and-error. The first is don't let yourself get too hungry. If I do, the few treats in my house become too tempting; I'll eat them and not stop until I've eaten everything that's not nailed down or red-hot. The second rule is don't have your trigger foods in the house. At all. No matte how firm you think you're standing or how good a rut you're in. All it takes is a weak moment, and those homemade chocolate-chip cookies in the cookie jar become a supermagnet (as I learned the hard way this past week).
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Old 10-13-2014, 12:17 PM   #2  
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Well, everything I do is basically to keep me from falling. Here's my list:

1) Avoid sugar and flour
2) Try to get enough sleep
3) Count calories when I start to struggle
4) move as much as I can
5) Eat reasonable portions, no seconds
6) Learn to manage my stress (I focus on what action I can take and focus on action, rather than results...I learn this from OA)...stop trying to control others
7) Come here to 3fatchicks
8) Minimize social food situations where I have no control
9) Stop eating after dinner
10) Treat myself with kindness and understanding
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Old 10-13-2014, 01:58 PM   #3  
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Here's what I try to follow:

1. Only eat when I am hungry - take 30 seconds to ask yourself if you really are hungry.

2. Stop eating when I am no longer hungry(NOT when I am full) - it will not benefit starving children in Africa if I do no clean my plate!!

3. Stay away from white foods - sugar, flour, rice etc.

4. Drink lots of water

5. Get enough sleep (this is a tough one for me as I work crazy shift work)

6. Google what 1 pound of fat looks like - YUCK!, then picture what those chips, cookies, cake, etc look like on your thighs, stomach, etc.

Last edited by jollyjude; 10-13-2014 at 01:59 PM.
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Old 10-13-2014, 03:35 PM   #4  
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I accept that I will slip up every now and again. Life happens.

Weight loss is a game of averages. You don't have to nail every meal, every day. Just most meals, most days.

The trick for me has been to ensure that one slip up does not lead to many slip ups.

It's not what you eat at a good restaurant a couple of times a year that makes you fat. It's what you stuff in your face at home, in front of the TV and at your office the other 363 days.

Last edited by IanG; 10-13-2014 at 03:36 PM.
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Old 10-13-2014, 04:57 PM   #5  
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Two more I just thought of.

1. Stay busy
2. Go into the kitchen only when absolutely necessary
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Old 10-13-2014, 10:52 PM   #6  
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Totally agree with luckymommy; everything I do is to keep me from falling down too.

1. Meal plan/calculate calories for the next day. I always, always, always have a plan. Even if I don't have control over the food I have access to, like when on vacation or a company party, I always have a gameplan of some sort.

2. Always have a back up plan.
Yeah, this is essentially the same as number 1 , but it bears repeating. LOL. If I forget to thaw out something for dinner, or I'm working late, I have a list of alternatives from a rotisserie chicken from the grocery deli to Subway. There's no reason to say " I just HAD to have a Big Mac and fries for dinner. " That is unless I've planned to have a Big Mac and fries for dinner. Which is altogether fine if that's what I want and I work it into the menu.

3. Stick to the plan. I know...a pattern is forming. I'm sure not everyone needs to avoid spontaneous eating, but I've come to the conclusion that I do. If I decide something sounds better than what I have planned for today, I'll have it tomorrow.

4. Measure, track, and weigh everything all the time. Funny enough, I can eyeball portions with an amazing degree of accuracy. I can cut off a hunk of cheese, throw it on my food scale, and nail one ounce 99 times out of 100. Of course, this is only because I measure everything all of the time.

5. Weigh myself daily. The only exception is if I'm not home.

30 years of dieting in nearly every way humanly possible have taught me this: It's not about the program I'm following, or what kind of exercise I'm doing. I've lost weight on any number of diets. It's not about being strict with myself because I lack willpower, motivation, discipline, or to punish myself because of past failures.

It is about being 100% honest with myself. The single biggest contributing factor to my weight gain, and most of the unhappiness in my life, is denial. I have a capacity for denial that is seemingly infinite if I allow myself to make that first excuse. Of course I'm going to make mistakes, but I just have to be honest with myself, forgive myself, and learn from them.
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Old 10-14-2014, 04:27 AM   #7  
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These are great! Here are my steps that I need to follow these days!

1 - Be Patient - Weight loss is a marathon, not a sprint. Some days you're not going to see the results you want on the scale. But it's important to stick to the healthy changes you've made in your diet and keep on exercising. So don't panic!

2 - Educate Yourself - Weight loss in theory is simple, but there's a lot of information out there that have caused people to get into bad habits. The biggest one is not eating enough food for the exercise you do. It's so important to fuel your body with LOTS of the RIGHT food. Not starve yourself in the hopes to see big weight drops. Also, it's important to know WHAT to eat.

3 - This is not a phase, this is a lifestyle change - So don't do things that you can't see yourself doing every day for the rest of your life. Sometimes diets can help you drop weight in a short amount of time, but once you go back to normal you could see yourself gaining weight. There's no point in taking drastic measures because you're impatient, take it a day at a time and don't worry too much about the number on the scale.

4 - H20 is your best friend! - Drink drink drink water all day every day. Your pee should be clear! I once dedicated myself to drinking water constantly every day for 1 week and I dropped 2 lbs by doing this technique. We're blessed to have access to it, so use it.

5 - Exercise at least 3x a week - Sometimes I'm guilty of feeling like I have to exercise LOADS and if I don't I won't lose weight. But 3 times a week is more than enough to get fit and lose some weight.

6 - Stay accountable - Use a calorie counter, write a diary, post of 3fc, make a vlog: just stay accountable in some way. Keeping it to yourself is no good and you will fall into old habits if you keep quiet because you're embarrassed to admit you slipped up. We all mess up, so don't worry! One bad day isn't going to reverse months of effort.

7 - Don't buy junk food - If it's in the house, you'll be tempted. So simply don't have foods that are bad for you. If you stock your kitchen full of healthy food then you have no choice but to eat it! This goes hand in hand in "educate yourself" on what foods you should have laying around, what snacks work best for cravings etc.

8 - YOLO! - I am a firm believer in enjoying life. Once a week or fortnight or month have a cheat meal. Not a cheat DAY but a meal. Go out to your favourite restaurant and eat whatever you want. Life is too short to say no to delicious food! If you're on point 99% of the time that 1% isn't going to mess you up if you keep things in moderation.

9 - Eat slowly and throughout the day - My biggest problem is that I get to the point where I'm starving and I will end up eating more than I need to. So I like to eat small things throughout the entire day so I'm not a monster by the time the dinner bell rings. I used to eat my lunch at 12 and then I would have to wait until 6/7pm for dinner. Now I eat one small thing every few hours from 12 leading up to dinner time and once I sit down in front of my dinner plate I eat slowly. I chew my food, I put my utensils down, I drink while I eat, which makes me feel full quicker.

10 - Smile! - Weight loss can be stressful. But our bodies are sacred and we shouldn't hate them. We should love our bodies and not compare ourselves to others. It's ok to want to lose weight to be healthier and confident, but it's not ok to want to change because you hate yourself. Smile. Life is wonderful. It can be a challenge, but life isn't without its challenges.

Last edited by Riestrella; 10-14-2014 at 04:29 AM.
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Old 10-14-2014, 06:21 AM   #8  
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I don't think of it as preventative steps, it's just part of daily life now.

1. I absolutely agree with not allowing myself to get too hungry. If I get too hungry I always overeat.

2. Not everything is worth eating! The other day I went to a birthday party and I was excited to eat some food but it turned out the food was not tasty, even the cake was bland. So I took a bite and no more. Not everything in sight is worth eating.

3. Never eat food for moral reasons. If I'm craving steak and I eat a salad instead there's no way I'll be satisfied. That always leads to some sort of binge. Salads taste much better when you're craving them, not when you're eating them cause you have to.

4. Do some form of physical activity daily. Walking, running, tennis, chi gong, yoga, weights, or chores and errands too. I consider mopping a very physical activity.

5. Eat mindfully, sitting down, with as few distractions as possible. I want to make sure I am present and aware of everything and keep an eye on my hunger/fullness signals while extracting the most pleasure out of the experience.

6. No eating on the couch or while watching tv.

7. No eating in my car.
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Old 10-14-2014, 12:58 PM   #9  
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1. Be active. This can mean a lot of different things, but I use the 10,000 steps/day benchmark. When I'm active I generally feel better, have more energy, and am more aware of how I fuel my body.

2. Check into 3FC. Brings my mind back to weight loss, helps me think through my goals and action plan. Also, I'm able to see what does/doesn't work for others. This site is a great support.

3. Weigh often but don't focus too much on the day to day numbers. I know this doesn't work for everyone but I find that weighing myself often helps keep the "fitness" part of my brain active. I don't get too caught up in the day to day numbers because I know weight loss is about the general trend.

4. Buy the good stuff. I try to buy healthy, fresh foods for my fridge and pantry. When I'm tired in the evening and want to grab something quick and easy, well, I do but it's not frozen pizza or chips and dip because I don't keep those things in the house. When possible, I also give myself the OK to spend extra dollars on healthy food. In the long run, I know I save money from not eating out/buying convenience food (not to mention money saved in the long run by generally being healthy).

5. Indulge. I love food, I love socializing over food, I love socializing over drinks. Indulging in these things is OK for me. It's about balance. Treats are just that- treats, not every day.

Great thread! Different things work for different people.
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Old 10-14-2014, 01:20 PM   #10  
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To echo a lot of the above posters, it's setting myself up to succeed by making a plan and sticking to it. If that means I need to cook breakfast, lunch and dinner at once for weeks at a time, then so be it.
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Old 10-14-2014, 04:21 PM   #11  
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Wannabeskinny View Post

3. Never eat food for moral reasons. If I'm craving steak and I eat a salad instead there's no way I'll be satisfied. That always leads to some sort of binge. Salads taste much better when you're craving them, not when you're eating them cause you have to.

[...]

6. No eating on the couch or while watching tv.
I really like these points, sometimes it's good to get something out of your system but stay within moderation. I have a really bad habit of eating while watching TV, when I'm on my own I'm terrible. I associate TV with food so leave me to my own devices and I'll eat everything while sat on the couch.
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Old 10-14-2014, 05:15 PM   #12  
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Riestrella View Post
I really like these points, sometimes it's good to get something out of your system but stay within moderation. I have a really bad habit of eating while watching TV, when I'm on my own I'm terrible. I associate TV with food so leave me to my own devices and I'll eat everything while sat on the couch.
It took a long time to accept that couch eating wasn't a good practice. It didn't matter what I was eating, healthy or not, I felt like I was binging. So I sit at the table now no matter what. Once in a while, rarely, I'll sit with my husband eating popcorn and watch a movie but it's a treat and it feels indulgent. Eating alone at the couch otherwise makes me feel gluttonous and lazy.

I'm slowly starting to realize that I trust myself around food. Left to my own devices I feel pretty darned good nowadays.
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Old 10-14-2014, 11:29 PM   #13  
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These are great! Thank you everyone for sharing.

Mine duplicate what's already been said but...

1) have my safe foods prepared and ready in the fridge for easy grabbing. I started divvying healthy soups into canning jars in the fridge so they're pre-portioned. No risk of sneaking in an extra scoop and it's ready to pop into the microwave and eat straight from the jar.

2) if I go out to eat I usually choose a fish and ask that the carb be replaced with a second serving of veg. Works great!

3) track food/calories and weights daily. It keeps me honest! If I feel like going off plan but can talk myself into entering the food into (Lose It) before eating, that can usually shock me into tweaking the meal to make it fewer calories.

I do love to eat on the couch, especially my breakfast in the morning. But I don't do mindless eating out of a bag. Maybe that's more the issue? Making sure portions are calculated and within a budget.

Exersize that has been more sustainable for me is weightlifting. Cardio always lead to me falling off the wagon. Although cycling is becoming a passion. It's all about finding what you like so it's not forced.
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Old 10-15-2014, 10:41 AM   #14  
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My basic preventative strategy (for weight loss but more importantly for maintenance) was to figure out a WOE that *really* works for me (I could lose weight calorie counting, but never keep it off bc I fail at doing CC for life. My strategy is based on 1 meal/day). It needed to incorporate the following aspects:

0) No counting anything. I'm just not going to do that for a lifetime (having lived most of my lifetime already, I know that isn't part of it, despite my resolution each time I reached goal weight).

1) No off-limits foods (starchy and sweet are portion-controlled), and eating the foods I want to eat daily (although it means eating less often and filling up a little first on veggies). Luckily, I love to eat food that most ppl would consider crazy healthy, but I also like to be able to eat some amount of things that aren't. I also spend lavishly on fresh produce, meats, imported cheese, oils, spices, sauces, and exotic ingredients.

2) Being able to truly feel full on a daily basis.

3) Being able to eat out and attend social eating events often.

4) Weighing often, a few times a week or more, to make sure that what I'm doing isn't resulting in weight gain, taking natural fluctiation into account (weight gain => more walking if time allows or eating more veggies before switching to other foods).

5) Getting enough sleep (really really hard for me bc I have sleep maintenance insomnia). Lack of sleep causes me to be hungrier more often and more intensely.

6) Incorporating rules for exceptions so I can deal with tidbits that come my way during the day and unplanned social eating.

Last edited by yoyoma; 10-15-2014 at 10:57 AM.
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Old 10-15-2014, 01:00 PM   #15  
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I like your rules ....they are similar to mine.Since I am in maintenance nothing is off limits and I dine out as often as I want and dont miss out on social functions.
I do keep track of my calories and food and choose dishes that fit in my daily total which is approx 1400 to 1800 calories a day.I also do not snack between meals because my meals are enough to sustain me till the next one.
So far this has worked for me without causing me to feel deprived.I'm liking it.
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