I think you have a good plan for YOU.

I second that you should check out the intuitive eating thread. I just got done reading the book Intuitive Eating and it's basically about what you are putting into plan. See if you can get it from your library. I love the idea.

I think cutting back and eating when you are hungry and not eating when you aren't is a great place to start. If you are having cravings for a specific food then no amount of "healthy" food will fulfill that craving and you'll end up eating more. Just make sure you stop eating when you are full. I've started doing this over the past week and have realized that I used to eat alot more when I was on diets because I had to instead of my body wanting to.

Anyway, check out the book and/or the thread. It's really given me new hope and lifted a weight off my shoulders.

Welcome back Gamer! Your plan sounds great. I wish I could have a epiphany, need a little direction here.

I guess I'm confused. Are you ladies suggesting if Gamer eats her 3 meals at McDs then that's good for her plan? I dunno, I'd look at what others do that actually have lost a lot of weight and maybe really had a problem before. Someone like Robin. I know everyone's different but I'm sure this can't be the first time you've tried eating just three meals a day and no snacking.

Originally Posted by Gamerchick:
Since I still eat a lot of junk food, my first phase is to learn how to eat only when hungry, one plate/bowl of food at a meal, and to eat 3 meals a day. No snacks.

This plan does not sound like intuitive eating (not that I know much about it), I thought it works like if you're hungrier than more than the one plate at a time or the 3 meals you're planning, you'd eat more, but if you weren't hungry before bed and hadn't eaten that third meal, then you wouldn't eat it. Maybe someone will tell me if I'm totally misinterpreting how IE works.

Haven't been to a McD's in a year, but that didn't stop me from putting on 90 pounds. I'm sorry...but I try to do the healthy thing off the bat and I binge. I don't do drastic changes. All the things in my life with food have been gradual. Not everything I eat is bad...but at the same time I'm not worrying if I have, say, a poptart. I'm just doing what is right for me...and my biggest problem is eating when I'm not hungry. I don't buy the groceries in my house, and so most of what comes in is tv dinners and chips and poptarts and all that. The last grocery trip my dad said we couldn't spend more than 80 dollars...so he got stuff that would last us..I guess, in his head, that was packaged stuff.

When I look for fruit it's sitting there rotting because people have good intentions to eat it and it doesn't get eaten. I can't eat a dozen apples by myself so they don't buy.

My breakfast usually is a bagel. I eat some sandwiches with lean meat. Dinner may be a tv dinner.

But I'm not pigging out on chips and the such. I just work with what I have.

I mean...unhealthy food is always going to be around me. I'd rather be able to control myself when I DO eat it, than to wonder where all the healthy food is.

I haven't looked at IE at all since I came here...and I designed my plan how I wouldn't abuse it. If I ate more at one meal cause I was a little more hungry at that time, I'd be eating 2 plates. 3 meals is how a normal person usually eats. So that's what I put.

I know everyone has good intentions for me...but I'm sticking to my plan, and working with it on how I react to it. It's either me gradually fixing it, or me simply giving up or obsessing even more about it. Yeah...Maybe my first phase I can eat whatever I please...but the change will come soon...and it's way better than me never having started trying to change my lifestyle in the first place and drowning my sorrows in food. Or me going back to pro ana mia forums to try and starve myself.

I mean...there's the extremes...but at least I'm trying to leave one and get a little bit on middle ground.

Gamer, you don't have to justify what you're doing! :D

It's natural for people to want to help, thank goodness! But you didn't really ask us for a critique of what you're doing. You laid out your plan, and even though it might not be what I would do, or what anyone else would do, only YOU can tell whether it works for you in the long run or not.

Do check in on the Intuitive Eating thread if it sounds interesting to you.

Jay
P.S. And drink that water! :lol: Just kidding! ;)

Gamerchick, you SHOULD stick with your plan. You devised it knowing full well what you have to work with. The food available to you and your OWN BODY, and your own WANTS and NEEDS. We all have to find what works for us. It took me over 20 years to do that. Kudos for you for trying to do it a lot quicker then I did. And you know what, it's your plan, if you find it's no longer working for you - well YOU can change it up. It's YOUR choice. Good luck to ya. :hug:

I'm in no way trying to force anything on anyone. Since I just finished the IE book, it's fresh on my mind. I've only been doing it for a week, so I'm in no way an expert. :D

Mami - All I'm saying is that if you have a craving for let's say a homemade soft taco with refried beans, then eating anything else isn't going to satisfy that craving. You can try to eat other things. Say you eat that soft taco but can't have the refried beans because your diet plan doesn't allow for it (via restricted or not enough calories left). But after you eat that taco you still aren't satisfied because it was the beans that you wanted. Then an hour later you are still thinking of those beans. Nothing you eat is going to satisfy that craving except the one thing you really want. In the long run you end up eating more calories and put yourself through more anguish than if you would have just had the refried beans in the first place. I think this is what they are talking about when they say eat what you want. Meaning what you are craving at that time. If you stop when you are satisfied then you won't eat too much of it. Plus you don't feel bad because you cheated (there is no such thing) and you don't feel bad and beat yourself up over it. If you aren't having cravings for specific food, then that's where eating healthy comes in. You make the best choices you can and don't feel bad or guilty for eating any other type of food.

I highly recommend the book for anyone. I found it a great read. I'm studying to be a Dietitian and found this program very interesting.

I hope I didn't offend anyone or hurt anyone's feelings. Just giving a little piece of advice to someone who posted in the support forum. I found the book helpful to me and wanted to share that.

Gamerchick, you know you best. Many of those of us who are veterans of the diet wars have been experimenting for years with what works for us. Just read these board, and you'll see that there are a hundred different "plans".

Actually, what you're doing sounds to me to be similar to Bob Greene's Best Life Plan (though he advises one snack). He orders his phases like you have... first address the "when" and they "why" of your eating habits. Once you are firmly in control of those, restrict some of the more damaging foods. That's how I'm going about it. The weight is coming off slowly, but it's coming off. And the biggest bonus is that this is a plan I can stick with, and even better, I haven't had a binge in ages. Good luck to you!

I'm doing the same thing gamerchick. If I "diet" as in eating super healthy all day long I start to obsess and then I start craving all the foods I'm not supposed to eat and that's when I binge. (sorry about the run-on sentence) So I've also been eating 3 meals and I allow myself to eat whatever I want, the trick is to not overeat. I love it, I feel great. I haven't lost much weight, only about a 1 lb in about 2 weeks, but I feel good and that's all that really matter, plus, I'm almost to my goal so it's going to take me longer. Anyway, good luck, and I think you have a fantastic plan.

Gamerchick, I think you are on the right track, and kudos to you for planning things out so well. Studies have shown that people that "do their own thing" are usually more successful long term. We're all unique and have different needs.

That said, I think your game plan is actually similar to a new and popular diet book by Bob Green (Oprah's trainer) called the Best Life Diet. He recommends taking a gradual approach to making lifestyle changes, and doesn't recommend dieting at all during the first month! He recommends making lifestyle changes such as eating 3 meals and a snack, plus increasing your daily activity. Then in Phase 2 you gradually start making changes to the foods you eat, such as eliminating your choice of six 'bad' foods and replacing them with healthier foods. His research showed this method was successful for a lot of people. It sounds like this might be right up your alley, if you are interested in looking into it.

Good luck! :)

Thanks all for welcoming me back. I'm not upset or angry at anyone. Everyone has their own opinions, and what works for them might not work for me. I'll go along my own way and deal with the obstacles that I need to deal with.

:hug: Thanks all for the input. I'm happy to be back here!

I admire your dedication to only eat 3 meals a day. I think thats why cal counting works best for me because I am a grazer.. I eat lots of times in a day.. little here.. and little there.. which can get me into alllot of caloric trouble :)

Good for you for trying to change your eating habits.

I think learning to control your eating habits (meaning controlling the times you eat, and eating only when your hungry, and eliminating unnecessary eating) and the changing the quality of foods you are eating are equally important. IMHO, it doesn't really matter in which order you start out, becuase simply, no matter which one you start doing first, you will be no worse off than you are right now at this moment. So, we eventually want to see you doing both things simultaniously, eating less and eating healthy. But for now, just start somewhere and work your way to doing both. It's not gonna be easy, but you can do it.

Do yourself a huge favor though. Even though you don't plan on changing "food" quality right now, I do suggest that you eliminate the sugary sodas along with eliminating the snacks, becuase the sodas are every bit as bad, if not worse, than those snacks..... Just that one change can make you start losing weight again...

=) Haven't had a real soda in a year or so. I gave up sodas the first time I tried to lose weight...and it's the only habit that has stuck!

:carrot:

Welcome back, Gamerchick!