I was just thinking...
 

For me it is so hard to make the commitment to eating healthy because I think of all the food I will not get to eat anymore - ice cream, chocolate, etc... But then I was remembering back to when I was eating very healthy and exercising and had lost 50 lbs. I didn't miss those foods at all. I just remember liking my life. Anyway, just some interesting thoughts.

Yup, when you're eating healthy foods and losing weight and feeling absolutely DIVINE, you don't even miss "those" foods. Cause' like we always say around here, "Nothing tastes as good as being thin feels"

Just to add in here. I LOVE the healthy foods I eat. Very important for me to have found tasty, delicious, on plan, low calorie, high nutrient foods. It's definitely what keeps me on plan.

And every now and then, now that I've lost the weight and am in maintenance I do get to eat "those" foods occassionally.

I haven't been to a pizza buffet for 3 months. I dream about it, but when I think it through logically I know how temporary it will be and how bad it will make my stomach hurt now and how awful I'll feel afterward.

I know you know this, but everything you enjoy now you will now enjoy facsimiles of or in moderation. They'll be doubly delicious as a rare treat!

Good luck.

Hmmm....

I haven't given up all of those things. I just don't eat them as often. Each week I have a "free" day where I make different choices than I usually make. Six days a week I eat really healthy, and on those days if I want ice cream or cookies or whatever, I tell myself I can have them on my free day. Sometimes I still want them and sometimes I don't. But if I still want them, I have them. I just don't have them everyday, and this delayed gratification has worked very well for me.

What has been interesting to me is how often my free day comes along! That might sound funny, but I am in a pretty good routine now, and I have my day where I eat out, have a fully loaded breakfast burrito or ice cream or whatever. I do not feel deprived at all.

There is no way I could give up those things at all. If I never ate them, I would miss them way to much. It's the whole eating them, once in a while, and small portions that has been the secret.

No food is "off-limits" for me or a "never again". It would be counter-productive for me. I want to live my life while losing weight. And that includes an occassional special treat food.

Instead, I'm allowed to have anything I want.* It's just that when I'm eating healthier, I don't really want the not-as-good choices. Sure... ice cream is tasty, but my body just doesn't have that need after a week of being on plan.

When I truly find I want it, I just plan a little bit into my day for dessert.

*Anything as in any choice. Not everything in all kinds of portions.

I agree - I have not completely given up anything. I love icecream, but I make it difficult to eat by not having it around the house. I have told myself that whenever I really want icecream that all I have to do is get in the car, go to a Coldstone, and have a small bit as a treat.

Cheese, fries, cake... it's all the same way. I don't let myself eat those things constantly, but now and then in a small amount is ok. I simply work it into my calories.

Depriving yourself of anything is not the way to go. It's been much easier for me to modify my lifestyle and view those types of food in a different light: a special treat in moderation.

Bingo!

Seriously, I'm one of those people who, if you tell me I can't have something, I immediately MUST have it. That's why diets like Atkins and SB and so forth don't work for me - I have a knee jerk reaction to being told "you can't".

My commitment to eating healthy is easier for me because I *don't* think that there are foods I can never eat again. I find it easier to choose an apple for my snack today because I know that this weekend I'll have a frozen yogurt cone from Jason's Deli. I find it easier to avoid the greasy pizza that's brought into my office, because I know that I can go home and make a yummy healthy pizza on whole grain crust, piled with veggies and homemade tomato sauce.

And quite frankly, I'll never give up chocolate. I find a way to get it into my calorie plan at least 4x a week.

Like Faerie said, this is my *life*, not just a diet. And I won't live my life feeling deprived. :)

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There is also a difference between feeling deprived (which to me means someone is withholding something from me) and making a conscience decision to avoid certain foods that don't contribute to our weight loss and health goals.

I have decided that there are foods that I just cannot have because even a little bit leads to a binge. Surprisingly, if you quit a food for a month, it no longer tastes good when you have it again. I never eat fast food anymore, I never have candy in the house and I don't buy 100-calorie packs of anything. I have a tight budget so for me a treat food is to buy a red bell pepper.

I totally agree! Also, to the OP, I am the same way. I never missed things like pasta or bakes goods when I was losing, but they have been appearing a lot lately and I'm backslifing bigtime. Certain things are simply too detrimental to my goals, even for "once in a while".

Yes! This is me too. I keep thinking "when I get to maintenance, I'll be OK if I eat a cookie now and then" Then it dawns on me that I really don't have any desire for a cookie. Fresh pineapple is as sweet as I want. What I remember now about a cookie (especially store bought) is not a yummy taste at all and an icky texture in my mouth :shrug: Quite possibly I have brainwashed myself in some way but it works for me :D

That's a good point. And, I agree, there is a difference.

I used to love all sorts of foods that weren't great for me - a typical day was a huge muffin and a venti caramel latte with whip for breakfast, pizza for lunch, a scone and another latte for a snack, either M&MS or yogurt pretzels out of the machine and then Taco Bell for dinner. I loved Bloomin' Onions from Outback, Cheesey fries with ranch dressing, burgers with cheddar and bacon, nachos with cheese and chili, huge bowls of ice cream with chocolate syrup. If I had bread with pasta, I had 5 pieces. I always had to have the largest size, the biggest piece. If someone brought a box of donuts in to work, I would take 2 up front and then sneak back later for at least 3-4 more (in separate trips, of course). I could eat a bag of Salt & Vinegar Lays, a can of pringles, an entire sleeve of Thin Mints. I never turned down birthday cake at work.

I pretty much ate whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted and thought I could never do without the foods I loved.

I made some tough choices about what I COULD give up and what I could NOT give up. I gave up fast food, nachos, Bloomin' Onions, venti lattes with whip, donuts (for the most part), most baked goods, most fried foods. I don't miss any of these foods a bit.

I still drink lattes, but now I get the small one and I'm happy. I still eat ice cream, but I don't trust myself with open containers in the house anymore - but a single scoop at an ice cream parlour/restaurant is okay. I still love chocolate, but I get single serving pieces of really nice dark chocolate. I still drink the occasional glass of red wine (usually 1-2 glasses per week). I still treat myself to a nice dinner out once a week and almost always split a decadent chocolately dessert.

Eating whatever I wanted didn't make me happy, I was a miserable overweight depressed sluggish person. Now, I eat carefully - but I like the foods I DO eat and I am a slender, energetic happy person. 98% of the time I am perfectly happy (although every now and then I get the "but I wants" and the "but why can't I's", but I think that's pretty normal, it never lasts long).

I would gladly trade nachos for baby carrots dipped in hummus, or a maple scone for a package of fresh raspberries or a venti caramel latte with whip for a tall non fat latte with sugar free syrup. For my health, for my figure, for my happiness.

You know this just struck me. Bear with me while I ramble here, because I kind of had a lightbulb moment. :)

Don't we all get the "but I wants" about lots of things? Not just food. But I want that pair of shoes, why can't I have them. But I want to go spend a week on the beach, why can't I just ditch my job and family and go. But I want ... the TV, the lifestyle, the kids, the car, the whatever ...

And most of us are pretty good about accepting that everyone doesn't get everything they want - that's just life. You know? We'd all love to win the lottery and live a life of leisure (however you define leisure). But we can't. And we accept that.

So why do so many of us find it hard to accept that about food?

I can't have a closet full of Jimmy Choos because I wouldn't be able to pay the rent otherwise. So I buy ONE pair, on sale, and baby them.

Why couldn't I accept for a long time that I couldn't eat a whole box of chocolates, so just have one and enjoy it?

I don't know that I have any answers ... but it's interesting to me the analogy there with every other aspect of life. What made me able to exercise self restraint with one thing, and yet not with another. And then what made me change?

Hm. Food philosophy 101 for a Thursday morning. ;)

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I, too, hate being deprived but there are certain foods that are triggers to overeating and that is more what I was talking about. I am so jealous of those of you that have the willpower to have just a little bit of something. I literally can eat myself sick if there is something I really like in the house. But I am trying to work on that because I think there has to be a way I can do it. Obviously, if the weight came back then the way I was doing it before wasn't perfect - wasn't something I was able to just jump back into after my son was born. And I think it is linked to deprivation so maybe well, consciously I wasn't feeling deprived, I might have been. Hmm - food for thought (no pun intended). :)

Oh, believe me, I have a few trigger foods that I can't have in the house. I posted recently on another thread about sour cream and onion potato chips.

Seriously, I cannot buy them, I cannot bring them in the house. I just can't.

But. On the RARE occasions that I decide I *have* to have them, I will go to the convenience store and buy one small, individual serving bag. That way I don't have a whole bag of them at home - because I will eat the whole thing.

But again, I think for me the trick is knowing that if I feel like I'm going to die if I don't have sour cream and onion potato chips, I *can* have them. I have to get off my butt and go to the corner store and get them ...but I can if I want.

I just don't make it easy! :)

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You know, you may have hit on something there. I have referred in other posts to "a switch being thrown in my brain" that caused me to do a 180 with my food choices. Maybe those "The Mercedes is yummy, but the Ford is practical - so, we'll go with the Ford" brain cells finally swarmed over the "gimmie cookie" cells. :lol:

Oh yeah, I've compared food to money many times. I have to have a monetary budget - I can't buy everything I want or I'll go broke and not be able to pay the rent. I also cant eat everything I want, if I exceed my calorie "budget" I'll gain weight. This was a pretty big "whoa" thought for me 2-3 years ago.

Excellent light bulb moment, PhotoChick, that really resonated with me. I think one reason we find that so hard to accept with food - at least I know it is for me - is because, compared to all of these other wants, it's so easy to fulfill these wants.

"Comfort food" in this part of the world is readily accessible 24/7, abundant, often cheap (especially some of the unhealthier choices) and a socially accepted indulgence that is pushed on us by a million-dollar fueled marketing juggernaut. And - once you've eaten it, it's gone. As if it's never been there in the first place, except of course for what it does to your body, incrementally. There is no clear connection of "this cookie made me this much fatter" as in "this pair of shoes made my bank account this much emptier and clogs up my shoe rack this much more." It's much more easy to live in denial with food choices than with almost any other choices.

And I would go even further to suggest that some of us might use this ease of satisfying our food cravings to compensate for frustrations of other unfulfilled wishes. I know I have.

Glory, that's a great, eye-opening way to look at it - thanks!

Excellent analysis.

You know, this just really hit home for me, in a slightly different way. If I want something we can't afford financially then it's too easy to just put it on the credit card. This is a habit I'm just now breaking and paying off my credit card debt.

I think I've been doing the same thing with food. I shouldn't have another soda/bag of chips/snack but I've been doing it anyways. Eating on credit ("I'll exercise this afternoon", "I'll cut back tomorrow"), so to speak, except it results in a mountain of weight to lose instead of a mountain of debt to pay off.

I'm changing my mindset on both things, and it's hard. Working and waiting for it, instead of the instant gratification of buying or eating on credit. But it's a change I have to make.

One of the things that is making it easier for me with food is not being so stingy on other wants in my life. It isn't so hard to have things in the house when food isn't a substitute and there's not the added pressure to consume it. I've learned that ice cream can actually go bad if you leave it in the freezer too long because you forgot to eat it. But eating it was all I could think about back when I tried to just eliminate it. The brain is weird.

I agree that things do taste better when you don't have them as much. I would not have guessed that.

So true! It really does help to replace indulging yourself with food with indulging yourself in other things.

I am also very surprised and delighted to have learned this. I mean, you always hear that, and it sounds great, but deep down you're thinking, yeah right. But it is so neat to really prefer to have treats on a treat basis - that's what makes them treats! I had mom's homemade chocolate cake a couple weeks ago for BIL's birthday. I soooooooo enjoyed. Really enjoyed it. Wanted more at the time! But I have no desire to have it every week. That's amazing to me.

One of our fellow 3FC members--I think it's Jane but I'm not sure--has the slogan in her signature line,

"If hunger isn't the problem, food is not the solution."

People often use substitutes like food, buying things, alcohol and drugs, even sex, in place of the actual solutions to problems. Sometimes the problem is simply something as minor as boredom! Other times it may be dissatisfaction with a job, a partner, the way one lives, etc. In any case, these substitutions are temporary fixes--a quick feel-good--but they aren't without a price...

Jay

I have been on some kind of diet for the last 10 years and everytime they have ended in failure and added pounds. This time has been different from the very beginning and I wasn't sure what exactly it was until I read this post. I guess until now I didn't realize it but my lightbulb has gone off also, everytime I have wanted to "cheat" I have told myself "OK, but I am only going to buy one serving of cookies, icecream, or whatever." Because of this I have stayed OP and I don't feel so guilty.

I still struggle with finding a balance between indulgence and avoidance, but my ideas of indulgence have changed quite a bit too. I "splurge" on some healthy foods, and they're both taste and wallet indulgences at time. For example, I LOVE ugli fruit, but when I can find them, they're often $2 a piece. That's alot of money for a mutant grapefruit, but if I had a choice between $2 worth of ugli fruit or $2 worth of brownies, I'd take the fruit, because a brownie is too boring and normal and an ugli fruit is exciting and unusual. The taste is great, sort of like pink lemonade, and they're so juicey and sweet. Mmmm, I want one now. I don't often buy them, because the quality is sometimes a bit iffy. You can't tell by looking if it's a good fruit, and a disappointing ugli fruit is dry and flavorless - and you've just spent $2 for nothing. Most places will refund your money if you take back the receipt and complain, but I usually lose my receipts, or forget.

So much of this for me, is learning to think very differently. Muchm ore often now, if I'm eating something that isn't on plan, it's not because I'm "indulging," but because I didn't have time for what I really wanted. I am though getting alot better at finding and keeping fast and healthy options in the house.

I agree with Glory on this-I have thought hard about what foods were okay to give up, and what I would protect like a lioness to her young to keep safe (for me that's cheese/dairy.)

I don't want to tell myself that anything is off limits, though. If I banish it from my life-it will become the one thing I crave (and most likely overeat.) I just make a better swap or portion control my choice better than I would have in the past.

I really dig the dancing broccoli! :broc::broc::broc::broc::broc:

Yup. And to be honest there *are* things I have "given up" in the sense that I haven't eaten them in over a year and I don't have any urge or desire to. But that doesn't mean I've made any conscious decision to - it's just that there are things I've decided I want more than those things.
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:yes: :yes: :yes: Could not agree with you more PC!
I want this . . . NOW!!!!! :D Do you have a crust recipe to share? Thanks.

I actually use Alton Brown's recipe for pizza dough, but I sub whole wheat flour (which I buy from King Arthur Flour, so it's really ground whole wheat, and not unbleached white or something like that), and ground rolled oats for the regular flour.

Alton's recipe works really well for whole grain doughs, because it requires an overnight in the fridge, which allows more gluten to form. Normally the problem with whole grain pizza crust is that they don't have enough gluten and they don't get "stretchy" enough to make good crust.

In the recipe below (which is his from Good Eats), I use 1.5 cup whole wheat flour and 1/2 cup ground rolled oats (I just whirl them in the food processor).

2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon kosher salt*
1 tablespoon pure olive oil
3/4 cup warm water
2 cups bread flour (for bread machines)
1 teaspoon instant yeast
2 teaspoons olive oil
Olive oil, for the pizza crust

Place the sugar, salt, olive oil, water, 1 cup of flour, yeast, and remaining cup of flour into a standing mixer's work bowl. Using the paddle attachment, start the mixer on low and mix until the dough just comes together, forming a ball. Lube the hook attachment with cooking spray. Attach the hook to the mixer and knead for 15 minutes on medium speed.
Tear off a small piece of dough and flatten into a disc. Stretch the dough until thin. Hold it up to the light and look to see if the baker's windowpane, or taut membrane, has formed. If the dough tears before it forms, knead the dough for an additional 5 to 10 minutes.
Roll the pizza dough into a smooth ball on the countertop. Place into a stainless steel or glass bowl. Add 2 teaspoons of olive oil to the bowl and toss to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 18 to 24 hours.
Place the pizza stone or tile onto the bottom of a cold oven and turn the oven to its highest temperature, about 500 degrees F. If the oven has coils on the oven floor, place the tile onto the lowest rack of the oven. Split the pizza dough into 2 equal parts using a knife or a dough scraper. Flatten into a disk onto the countertop and then fold the dough into a ball.
Wet hands barely with water and rub them onto the countertop to dampen the surface. Roll the dough on the surface until it tightens. Cover one ball with a tea towel and rest for 30 minutes.
Repeat the steps with the other piece of dough. If not baking the remaining pizza immediately, spray the inside of a ziptop bag with cooking spray and place the dough ball into the bag. Refrigerate for up to 6 days.
Sprinkle the flour onto the peel and place the dough onto the peel. Using your hands, form a lip around the edges of the pizza. Stretch the dough into a round disc, rotating after each stretch. Toss the dough in the air if you dare. Shake the pizza on the peel to be sure that it will slide onto the pizza stone or tile. (Dress and bake the pizza immediately for a crisp crust or rest the dough for 30 minutes if you want a chewy texture.)

In the summer time we actually put our pizzas on the grill and cook them that way - makes for really yummy pizza with a smoky flavor - almost as good as a real brick oven.

I top mine with tomato sauce, artichoke hearts, chopped baby spinach, mushrooms, basil, and cheese.

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I absolutely love anything with red sauce: pasta, pizza, anything you may enjoy dipping into a red sauce.. like my finger! Not only are all those things bad for me (except my finger of course) but I have a lot of stomach problems and I have to avoid everything acidic. I've had to develop the mentality that I may want pizza or spaghetti but if I don't have it and I just eat something else instead, I'll still be full and I'll forget about it within an hour if not less. I know that if I do eat those things I'll have much more than that to deal with 1) my stomach will hate me 2) my conscious will hate me 3) my bf will hate me for complaining about 1 & 2.

I know that I won't be sitting here tomorrow thinking about how great that pizza was last night, just like I won't be sitting here thinking about how miserable I was without it. I've finally gotten a handle on my cravings and have realized they are temporary tests of my will power. When its really bad (like I'm on the phone with dominos) I'll grab some grapes and go walk the dog-- approach the fridge with a new attitude when I get back. I still get to eat pizza though now thanks to Lean Cuisine's Spinach and Mushroom pizza that has NO red sauce!!

my weakness
 

My weaknesses go in waves. Right now I always seem to be craving Mexican food, especially tacos (which sucks because I live in New Mexico and there are so many good places to go.) Sometimes it's Chinese food, or Indian (I get on ethnic jaunts. What I try to do is learn to make it myself so I can control the portions and ingredients.
Thanks for the pizza crust recipe!

I like to eat whatever I want, as long as I don't go over my calorie-limit. High sodium things make it so I don't lose AS fast, but I still lose weight steadily. Plus, it's only water weight. I look at it this way: When I eat what I want with a limit, I am happy and I still lose weight. If I even THINK about restricting myself, I start to think about bingeing. That's my indicator for what works for me. I might, like, not do it how everyone wants me to, but at least I am mentally happy and losing weight. And, it's a lot better than eating WITHOUT a limit.

I am the exact same way. Recently, I made the decision (and it was really hard) to remove my favorite thai take-out place from my speed dial. Not all of it is calorie-laden or fattening, but the portions are huge (not to mention it gets expensive). Then, I went to the grocery store which has a great asian section and bought some ingredients to make my favorite dishes at home (fish sauce, garlic and red pepper spread, rice noodles, sesame oil, etc...) along with chicken and frozen vegetables and I'm finding it's quite easy to master a lot of these dishes. AND I can regulate my portions as well as the amount of oil and salt that goes into them. Oh, and it's way cheaper, too. It has been win-win for me.

I'm doing hte Metabolic Research Center diet, and it's super strict. A lot of foods are completely cut out (imagine me going 6 months without pizza!), but my person said something sort of inspirational to me this week after I'd cheated a bit-- at least with my diet, I won't have to do this forever. In about six months, I can have things back in moderation, but if I can just commit to being "militant" (her words) about sticking to the program, I'll be able to relax a bit more once it's all over. So far I've done great this week, so hopefully I'll keep up the motivation.

Peanut butter! Normally a jar of peanut butter will go rancid at our house...but the minute I start restricting calories, I CRAVE the stuff. At 90 calories a tablespoon, it's not exactly a low calorie snack. Like some others I bargain when it comes to "treats". Do I blow 90 calories on a Tablespoon of Peanut butter or do a eat a giant sweet & juicy fresh pear for about the same calories. I'm the same with money. I could go to the thrift store and buy a pair of slightly used designer jeans for under $20, or I could go to the mall and by them new for $100. I just wish I had always been as cheap with my calories as I have been with money.