Since joining 3FC, I have learned an INSANE amount of information about diet, exercise, health (both physical and mental), and countless other topics. I absolutely LOVE this community because whether I'm having a great day and am working hard or am down and want to give up, there are always people here for me

That said, I thought I'd share a few more things I have learned about myself recently. Well, perhaps they're not really things I've learned so much as they are small accomplishments. The first is that I have successfully (and without even realizing it) purged my home of snack food. This doesn't mean I have no snacks at all, but it means I have nothing that's quick and easy to grab when I get a craving or get bored and want to eat. Everything in my kitchen requires preparation (thawing, cooking, cutting...), so I have eliminated my habit of grazing. I actually walk into my kitchen with the intent to eat (out of boredom, frustration, loneliness, or whatever), but there is nothing in there that is easy to grab and eat. I open the cabinets, the freezer, the fridge--nothing! I no longer eat "just because it's there" because it ISN'T there! This has always been a huge fault of mine--eating compulsively. I used to never be able to have just one or two of anything--I would eat until the entire container was gone (bag of chips, box of cookies, carton of ice cream, entire cheesecake, etc.). While I may feel a nanosecond of frustration when I go to the kitchen for something to snack on, it makes me really evaluate whether or not I am truly hungry and, therefore, whether or not I am really going to make food for myself. What an awakening!

The second thing I want to mention, I sort of have a question to go along with. I have long been a hater of vegetables. I know they are good for me and I should eat them, but I have tried more different veggies than I can count on my fingers and toes, and I have tried them prepared in different ways, and it just ain't happenin'. That said, I have been ordering vegetables (or baked potato) instead of fries when I go to restaurants. Growing up, I was alway taught to clear my plate, a lesson that has certainly stuck over the years Well, what I always did was eat what I dislike the most first and save the "good stuff" for last. I still do this, and in my mind, it is a way of forcing myself to eat my veggies. For example, when I get Chinese (PF Chang's--YUM!), I get ginger chicken and broccoli. Normally, I eat the broccoli first because I don't like it nearly as much as I like the chicken. So, I eat all the broccoli, then all the chicken. That way, I had my veggies However, when I am done, I am SO full. I know that if I ate the chicken first, then I probably would not have eaten ANY of the broccoli, using being full as my excuse to not eat the veggies. My question is, I guess, do you think it's better that I eat the veggies first knowing that I will eat all of the chicken (no matter how full I feel--agian with the compulsive eating thing)? Or should I eat the chicken first and push off the broccoli to save on the calories (not just in the broccoli itself, but in the sauce that I have to drown it in in order to choke it down )? I know the most logical way would be to eat some of the broccoli, and some of the chicken and stop when I'm full, but I have tried that so many times, and it hasn't worked--I still (subconsciously?) end up leaving chicken for last. I've always eaten one portion of a meal at a time--eat all the fries, then the burger; eat all the veggies, then the meat; etc.-- and this 23-year habit is seemingly impossible to break. I'm probably making a bigger issue out of this than I should--I just was wondering what you guys thought about it (or if you all just think I'm crazy, which is also very likely ).

In any case, at least I'm eating sides other than fries at restaurants. In the past 3 weeks, I have only had fries once, whereas I would normally have had them about 3 times each weekend I have given them up almost cold turkey, and I actually feel like I have really accomplished something. I will never give them up completely (deprivation leads to binging), but at least I feel much more in control over them having reduced them by about 90%. Now to attack pizza...

I would eat the brocolli first, then the chicken! I am also struggling with introducing veggies! If it's in stuff like a stir-fry or a big ol' jumble of stuff in sauce then just pick up a huge forkful and don't bother about what's on it and enjoy the tastes together!

Personally brocolli + chicken are both such nutritious foodstuffs that I wouldn't bother about "overeating" either of them! As for the sauce, maybe just put the sauce on the brocolli and have the chicken with as little as you can manage!

I think eating the vegetables first is absolutely the way to go, given that you know you wouldn't eat them otherwise, AND the serving of protein in most restaurant meals is much more than an appropriate serving anyway. If you are currently eating all the broccoli and all the chicken, at least you're getting the vegetables in. If you can learn to stop eating the chicken (or whatever) earlier, so much the better. Maybe you can teach yourself to pause a few minutes after the vegetables are gone before digging into the protein. Then eat half the protein and pause again. That may give you a little time to have that "getting full" feeling to register and you'll find yourself stopping before the plate is clean.

I would suggest getting a box at the start of your meal. Put 1/2 of the brocoli and veggies in there and close it up. Then you can do your normal thing of eating all the veggies then all the chicken, but you won't eat til you're over stuffed. (Plus you've got lunch for the next day all set) Just a thought

I thought about suggesting that but if you're anything like me when it comes to PF Chang's you'll just eat it out of the to go box (or on the way home) If you can manage it, I think it's the best option.

If you absolutely CAN'T do that (and I'll probably be driven off the board for saying this but...) I would eat half the broccoli and then move on to the chicken. If you just don't have the will power to eat half of each, I think it's better to at least cut out half of the stuff you are able to do without. You're still getting in some veggies & cutting out half of the broccoli sauce calories.

Edit: We're a lot alike in our veggie hatred and neurotic eating habits. I always save the best for last too but that probably makes me eat more