I got a question for you maintainers (my role models).
You're living maintenance and you've walked the long and hard path of losing the weight and keeping it off. Was there anything from you previous diet that you just couldn't give up. Say chocolate, chips, ice cream, etc? And if there is, how do you incorporate it into your new lifestyle? Do you find a healthful substitue? Do you indulge in the real deal once in a while? Or do you just dream about it but never allow yourself to eat?
I didn't give up anything! There are just some foods now I chose to eat a lot less often and/or in a lot smaller portions. Of course there are other foods I eat a lot more often and in larger portions (fruits and vegetables). My tastes didn't change (much) through the process, I just make better choices for myself more often.
I figure I can eat (1) anything I want, (2) as often as I want, and (3) in whatever quantity I want. But I only get to pick two of these three if I want to manage my weight, and more importantly, my health.
I didnt give up anything either....although I really really try to avoid those foods that are both "bad for you" AND that I didnt REALLY like.
I eat chocolate almost every day...in small portions - usually 1 Dove promise or a hershey nugget or the like
I eat REAL white flour full fat pizza about once a week - but only one (Large) slice at the restaurant - no leftovers. If I make pizza at home its whole wheat, reduced fat cheese, etc.
I eat scoop ice cream rarely, but when I do it is the real deal - no reduced fat low sugar crap for me.
BUT I dont eat potato chips, for example. I never LIKED potato chips so why would I waste calories on them. I ONLY eat desserts that I REALLY like.
I'm with the ladies above- no food limits, just a daily calorie limit and an overall general focus on less cholesterol, processed sugars, and "crap". I am lucky, though, and do not experience any food triggers (which many folks who battle emotional or disordered eating do have to avoid). I, too, have to have a certain food group daily- the (light) ice cream food group seems to be vital to my emotional maintenance
Anne (I am eavesdropping over here trying to glean some wisdom from all of you) - what a wonderful bit of advice! 2 out of 3 - I never thought about it that way - but it makes perfect sense. Thank you for sharing
I did give up a lot of stuff forever - fast food, sugary soda, packaged baked goods, most fried foods and foods in cream-based sauces. I don't really miss any of those foods - they just aren't worth it to me.
I didn't give up home made baked goods (or nice quality bakery stuff), biscotti, dark chocolate, natural peanut butter, red wine. These foods I would miss, they are worth it to me.
I do have sound guidelines around food like that:
1. No junk in the house, ever. I just can't have the following in the house: ice cream, candy, cold cereal, honey cashews, chips, pretzels.
2. Acknowledging that sugary/empty carb foods set me off. It happened just this week when I decided to eat a "few" Ritz crackers at a party. I just wanted more and more. After all this time, I am STILL triggered by these foods. I don't consider myself "disordered" for having triggers - we are genetically wired to eat high-energy foods, I just have good genes for 10000 years ago.
3. Limiting treats to carefully controlled situations - a small square of dark chocolate, splitting a dessert in a restaurant (which I do at least once a week), getting a single scoop of ice cream at a shop.
4. Once a week, a chocolately biscotti with my non fat latte is okay!
5. No leftovers from restaurants (the only exception is the super low cal scallops and brown rice, with a side of spinach I get at P. F. Chang's that I intend to eat for multiple meals). Treats in restaurants are single treats and I get right back on plan the next meal. I don't care how wasteful it is.
6. Try to stay OUT of the breadbasket (I bat about 500 with this, heh)
Life is too short for me not to indulge in the things I love (mmm molten lava cake) but I make room for those kinds of foods by eating very very mindfully at least 90% of the time. I eat good breakfasts, pack my lunch/snack, cook a healthy, calorie-counted dinner almost every night so one night a week I can go out and have a really nice meal, wine and dessert.
During weight loss, I was probably onplan 99% of the time, now that I'm maintaining, I try to eat onplan 90-95% of the time. The occasional luscious dessert in a restaurant will not effect my weight, it wasn't one piece of cheesecake that made me fat in the first place.
I didn't give up anything either (demonizing some foods, so to say, would lead me to binge of them, I'm afraid). But, like Anne, I limit those things. If I choose to have pizza for lunch, it means the dinner has to be light. A square of chocolate is okay, but no more than twice a week with my coffee, for instance. And logging my daily meals also allows me to make sure I am not overdoing anything (for instance, pizza once only + chocolate once only + MacDo once only would still equal too much junk in one single week ). Sometimes, I eat 'the real thing'. At some other times, I make a substitute, like tomato sauce/ham/mushrooms on a pita bread instead of a pizza. But I know that sooner or later in my life, I wouldn't be able to avoid a situation where these foods would be present as the only option, so it's probably best for me, given how I function, to learn to do with them than to avoid them and then find myself unable to stop after so much 'abstinence'.
(However, like Glory, there are a few foods that set me off. In this case, I make sure to buy/get only one portion, and not keep the box in my house, so that I can't mechanically grab another, then another... And I also make sure to not keep junk food at home either. When you want to eat and all you have under the hand is fish and vegetables, you can't do that much damage in the end. ^_^
When I was losing weight, I did a total 180 in my eating and happily gave up all off-plan foods (sweets, baked goods, fast food, junk food, chocolate (except protein shakes), ice cream, you name it). I wanted the weight loss so badly that I would have lived on protein powder and water, no problem, if that's what it took. Fortunately, I was able to eat a much more varied diet!
Now that I'm maintaining, I eat the same way that I did to lose. It's just that I get slightly larger portions and a dinner out once in a while (like last night! ) So some foods are forbidden forever (such as sugar sodas, processed junk food, fast food). Some foods are rare and portion-controlled (such as restaurant meals and desserts). Some foods are trigger foods and I stay far, far away. Most of what I eat, I eat every day or at least several times a week -- total food rut!
Kat, you asked if we ever "dream" about a food? I've found that fantasizing about food is destructive and for me, will generally lead to off-plan eating. I try never let my thoughts turn to eating off-plan foods and deliberately put the blinders on when I'm in the grocery store or out in the world of toxic food. It's like I've trained myself to view fast food and 95% of the grocery store items as "non-food", if that makes any sense. Because it's not edible by me! The minute I find myself thinking "oh, X would taste good!", then it becomes a slippery slope to me eating whatever. So I try very hard not to dream or fantasize about off-plan food.
One of the most important things that we all have to do on our weight loss journeys is to make our own peace with food. To work out a relationship with food that will both help us achieve our goals and that we can live with forever. As you can see by the answers here, we all do it in different ways based on our own needs and likes and understanding ourselves.
One of the most important things that we all have to do on our weight loss journeys is to make our own peace with food. To work out a relationship with food that will both help us achieve our goals and that we can live with forever. As you can see by the answers here, we all do it in different ways based on our own needs and likes and understanding ourselves.
That's so very true. I've learned the hard way that if I don't make my peace with food, the consequences are not pretty. (And developing an ED at almost 30 isn't exactly part of my plans for the future. )
One thing that I forgot to add to my post is that, although I technically don't have "forbidden foods", living in a healthier way generally helps when it comes to not eating 'that old stuff'--I know I can eat X or Y if I want, according to that 'contract' I have with myself, but most of the time, now, I don't even want it anymore. Cottage cheese with fruits in it sounds and looks more appealing to me than ice-cream. I guess it's a win-win situation in the end.
Isn't that the most amazing thing, Kery -- that we can actually crave healthy foods and genuinely prefer them to processed junk? It's like our brains and bodies finally sync up in wanting what's good for us.
Yup. And I am happy to report that that pizza is still sitting untouched in my freezer, buried under what must be a half-ton of salmon, cod and broccoli.
Great questions, friendlykat4u, I, too, admire those here at 3FC who have maintained for many months and years.
I'm in the same place as several have mentioned: I have no banned foods. But, I seriously avoid liquid calories, fried foods, cookies and crackers (triggers for me), and most baked desserts. No ice cream or cookies in the house. To my surprise, I'm quite comfortable with nuts in the house, even though cashews were a favorite food to over indulge.
When I eat them, I do real peanut butter, real high-fat ice cream, dark chocolate, real mayonnaise, real butter, and real extra virgin olive oil. The satisfaction helps me to keep portions small and indulgence not often.
I'm another one who didn't give up anything. In fact, I REFUSED to give up anything. I set a calorie limit and stuck to it almost every day, and if I wanted something junky within that limit, I ate it. Probably more often than I should. I just knew if I tried to give up anything "forever," I wouldn't stick to it at all. I'd been down that road far too many times. Plus -- it just isn't necessary for me. I can do the moderation thing. The only rule I seem to need is the calorie limit. Granted, when you have a limit, you naturally choose foods that are lower-calorie and higher-volume so you get more bang for your buck, but I still need the freedom to blow half my calorie budget on something decadent if I feel like it. Or (and this is more often the case) to blow my calorie budget on small amounts of things that aren't that nutritionally sound but satisfy my cravings and make me happy. I just don't do the deprivation thing.
I gave up lots of food - initailly. I realized that if I have no control over certain foods - ice cream, candy bars, cakes and cookies, pasta, bread, rice, fried foods, etc, that I was just better off without them all together. And I was. It was the only way that it could work for me. I simply couldn't have those foods in my life AND be the healthy, fit and thin person I wanted to be. So I chose the healthy, fit and thin person. After about 20 years of struggling with my weight, that is. I was VERY fortunate that while I was losing, I was so determined that I didn't even miss those foods.
Having hit maintenace, my way of maintaining is to eat the same foods that I lost with in basically the same amounts, maybe a bit more. BUT, I occassionally eat whatever I want - ice cream, pizza, pasta, chocolate, all the foods I mentioned above basically (not all at the same time). I'll go up quite a few pounds after an epsisode like that and then go back to my same "diet" and get it quickly off. This has been working quite well for me, though I know it's not for everyone.
I don't have off limit foods per se, but I made a conscious decision to stop eating foods that aren't enjoyable for me.
For instance, I don't care for fast food or burgers in general. In the past in social situations I would eat the stuff anyway and feel incredibly disappointed that I consumed that many calories and didn't enjoy my food. Now I'll go hang out, but I don't eat. It's not worth it to me. I want to enjoy my food!
I also don't like to drink my calories, but I don't have specifically off limit foods. I still eat chocolate, ice cream, homemade baked goods, etc, but I just limit the portions.
What didn't you give up?
). Sometimes, I eat 'the real thing'. At some other times, I make a substitute, like tomato sauce/ham/mushrooms on a pita bread instead of a pizza. But I know that sooner or later in my life, I wouldn't be able to avoid a situation where these foods would be present as the only option, so it's probably best for me, given how I function, to learn to do with them than to avoid them and then find myself unable to stop after so much 'abstinence'.
) So some foods are forbidden forever (such as sugar sodas, processed junk food, fast food). Some foods are rare and portion-controlled (such as restaurant meals and desserts). Some foods are trigger foods and I stay far, far away. Most of what I eat, I eat every day or at least several times a week -- total food rut! 
)
No banned foods
