Cutting out the "non essentials"
 

My weight has been creeping up and up and I have to do something different. I don't like extremes, or going the same route over and over with the same results (diet, binge, diet, binge, ect.).

So I've come up with a new plan. Cutting out the "non-essentials", mostly just desserts and junk. I use to think a doughnut here, a cookie there, was no big deal, but now I think it is why I am the weight I am. I heard of one lady just giving up sweet tea and dropping 20 lbs! This is what I want to do, except I don't drink sweet tea. I eat cr*p instead.

I don't want to be a skinny minnie or anything. I'm up to 185 now and this is unacceptable to me. My clothes are too tight, and people are starting to make comments. I would be happy with going back down to 165, just so I can fit in my clothes again. Back a few years ago, being 165 made me feel like a whale, but now, after being this heavy, it would be heaven!

How does this plan sound?
Heidi

So how will you determine what is a "non-essential vs. essential'? For example, a piece of bread is not essential to live, so are you going to cut out all bread? Actually wheat products are all heavily fortified, and not really that healthy in their natural state, so will you cut out all wheat?

Seems like a good idea to cut out junk food, but there are loads of other food that can easily turn into pound packing calories.

I have to say I'm not sure because I got big from eating too much healthy food. 2 turkey sandwhiches with baby spinach and swiss cheese on whole wheat--instead of 1. 2 bowls of fiber one cereal, instead of 1, 5 glasses of milk a day instead of 3. Of course i had the occasional binge help me along the way.10 lbs a year for 6 years got me to where I am.

I don't like deprivation either. It makes me become obsessive and nuts. I would maybe food journal your normal eating habits for about a week. Don't try to change. That will also let you see what you are eating now--since you are not losing now--you know you have to go below that. It helps you get an idea of your overall current diet.

ANY food packs on the lbs if not accounted for, like Ms Lori and Ms Jen say.

Good luck with the plan -- I think the trick will be NOT eating more to "compensate", as in "this isn't junk so I have have another serving, cause I'm not eating the chips"...

Let us know how it goes!

Kira

Pretty much I'm going to start out with things like doughnuts, cookies, pie, stuff like that. I'm not going to go gung ho and eliminate all things unhealthy or anything. I'm going to start slow and give up the worst of the worst. For me that is sweet stuff. I don't need to eat all that sugar. I'm going to start with sugar.

The only things sweet I will keep are Diet Dr. Pepper and Otter Pops. This is only step one. I have to take this slow, one step at a time. If not, all I'll end up doing is crashing and burning. Like I said, I have to do something different. Maybe this will work for me.

Hey, it's worked for many people, and it hasn't worked for many people. All you can do is try to be informed, try what you think is best, and be willing to re-evaluate and change as needed.

Giving up sugary junk is certainly a good place to start, I wish you much success!

Sugar sounds like a great place to start! Sugar is the :devil: LOL (IMHO) ;)

Thanks everyone. I'll post any progress I make. I'm not looking for fast weight loss or anything. Maybe 20 lbs. by Christmas or something. If I can be 40 lbs. down by NEXT summer, that would be fantastic!

I'm coming up to my 40th birthday. I'm done playing those mind games with myself, and for setting unrealistic expectations. I will get there. The tortoise always wins!

I think giving up unhealthy foods is a really good thing to do but IMHO the most important thing you could do is keep track of your portions and everything you eat.
Also, try not to compensate for not eating junk by eating MORE of other foods. While quality is important, I've found that quantity is equally important!
There are a bunch of websites that could halp you track if you'd like..
Good luck!!

Actually, my plan is to eat like I normally do, minus the extra sweets. I'm pretty sure this is what has caused my weight to creep up. No over compensating for me! I do pretty well during the day, it's my nighttime habit of eating cr*p that's BAD! This I will tackle first....

well, if your diet is good except for your night time noshing. in lieu of my other post about 100 extra calories a day. If you are noshing 400 cs a day extra (that comes easy with junk food) and don't stop. You could gain 17 lbs just from that alone by the end of this year. If you stop you could drop 17 lbs just cutting that alone. Add exercise and you could drop alot more.

That is a good plan. I think it is good to cut uneeded junk out. You might try setting yourself a cut off time for eating. Absolutely nothing but water after a certain time--maybe 8 pm?

I used to work at a feed and seed store. And we had very correct agriculture scales. Plus they can handle heavy weights. A young man that started his weight loss at about 500 lbs had to come and weigh on it every week. I got to talking him and he told me that he had lost 200 lbs easily. I told him I was proud of him and asked him how he did it. He said well not much really, I don't eat anything after 8 pm. I was floored!

jendiet

I went on vacation last week and hubby took us for doughnuts every morning. It was heaven (esp. the apple fritters! Yum!) but I got to thinking about all the treats I give myself, just because. Pretty much daily, not just on vacations. I'm not a math wizard, but I'm guessing I'm taking in about 500 extra cal. a day! And the scale is showing it! Horrible! So, this is why I want to see what would happen if I just didn't eat these things. I have kids, so it isn't unreasonable to eat a couple cookies or a cup (or 3) of ice cream on any given day. It's there, and it tastes good! Comfort food for a busy mom, you know? Anyways, I'm rambling.

So, are you trying to cut out the non essentials too, just to easily knock off a few cal. a day? Seems we have the same mindset. ;)

I think the thing you have to be careful of is -- by cutting out all the junk, will you just move from overeating to maintaining? It sounds that, while you want to stop the ongoing slow increase, you also want to start a downward trend, right?

I think it is *great* to cut out the junk, definitely. I'd recommend doing that for a month as adjustment to the new way, and then reevaluate if you also now need to look at portion sizes and / or exercise.

I agree with the tortoise approach. This isn't a race. It's a lifestyle change that you want to be manageable and maintainable.

I think in my past attempts to lose this weight I kept making the mistake of going full force, trying to tackle all my bad habits at once. I always give up and go back to what I'm used to. Yes, I just may maintain for awhile, but it's better than watching the scale go up! Once I feel comfortable not eating all the extra junk (I tend to have anxiety attacks when I am out of my comfort zone, i.e. overeating), I'll move on to portion control. Then maybe drinking more water. I know what to do, it's following through with the changes for the LONG TERM that is difficult for me. I'm trying something different, which may not be the most conventional, but I'm hoping it works for me. Nothing else seems to be working.

I think it is a good plan. It's kind of what I do when I get sick of counting calories. I pick very specific foods I am going to eliminate for a very specific amount of time. For me it works to give me enough food awareness but not go crazy.

Ha, Otter Pops! I haven't thought about those since I was little!!

I am sooo hooked on Otter Pops! I love blue, pink and red the best.

Not so fond of green and orange.

well, I have cut back on my portions of junk food. I don't drink drinks with sugar in it. I make a homemade blend of green and white teas that is sweetened with honey and has like 20 cs glass.

I am doing fast-5 to control my cravings and for structure--I have to admit on this plan it is REALLY hard to overeat. when you do eat--you feel like you have overeaten because you get so full so fast.

I eat mostly clean and mostly in protein/ complex carb ratio. But when I have a dessert after dinner it is a little daily treat.

tonight I had 1/4th cup icecream (130cs 4.5g fat per 1/2 cup), a tbsp whipped cream and 4 cherries cut up into it. really the ice cream is comparable to yogurt, but I Like the ice cream better. (I already take probiotics)

earlier in the day I split a 40 calorie cookie with my son.

so you see I am still enjoying some goodies here and there. Just NOT a whole pack of cookies or 1/2 gallon ice cream.

I can relate, i am the epitome of the diet - binge - diet cycle. i found that taking one baby step at a time helped. i always needed to start tommorow or on monday full force, if i slipped and ate a couple of maltesers, oh well diets ruined lets order a pizza! stupid i know, but that was me. now im a bit more relaxed.

things that i cut out thats dropped calorie intake significantly:
- Wine! (swapped for herbal tea)
- tea & sugar (swapped from lemon&green tea)
- desserts (swapped for fruit)
- unecessary snacks (drink water first)

swapping means you dont feel deprived. im not saying these are unecessary per say, some nights i do have wine, they were just unecessary for me personally.

I think this is an excellent plan. I can relate to that feeling of being overwhelmed by too much change. For me it was always ultimately impossible to stay on any super strict plan and that just let me make excuses to myself for falling off of it. I started cutting back on junk food slowly over the winter and I saw a definite result. I lost at least 5 lbs doing that and I wasn't even being very strict with it.

What helped me was that mentally when I decided to get strict and start counting calories, it was a lot easier. I'd already done a lot of the work, so I felt less restricted moving to a more controlled plan.

I had a cool experience last night.

We had a get together at my parent's house and cake was served. Before I would have taken a piece like everyone else, thinking it's just a piece of cake, what's the big deal? Well, instead I went to the fridge and took out 2 otter pops (the grandkids eat them too!) and ate them instead! They were the larger ones, at 25 cals. a piece, but heck, 50 cals. is A LOT better than how many cals. was in the cake! I didn't feel deprived! I am not craving cake because I ate something that was equally satisfying to me!

I'm going to lose this weight by cutting out all those extra cals. I seem to be putting in my mouth for no good reason. Step one is going very well. I"m even now consciously eating less throughout the day to knock off even more cals. An extra serving here, an extra serving there.....man, I'm feeling real good about myself today!

girl you are rocking it. Just keep that mindset and you will be there in no time!

When I decided to start eating better in mid-March I weighed in at 280 pounds. I love bread, sweets, starches, fatty foods and yes, even some alcohol. I didn't want to eliminate those items completely because I knew I wouldn't stick with the diet if I gave up everything I enjoy.

I decided to ADD 8+ glasses of water, 5+ servings of vegetables, 2+ servings of fruit and exercise to my daily life instead of removing anything. Because of all the healthier foods and water I'm consuming, I'm not hungry and I find I eat substantially less of the other foods. I weigh and measure everything I consume (including condiments) and I journal my daily food and exercise. I've taken off a fair amount of weight by doing these things and feel like I can live with this eating plan for life.

Perhaps some of this strategy may work for you. If not, I hope you find a plan that does help you to lose the extra weight. And keep posting here for support and encouragement. :)

That's a great approach, and obviously it has produced results for you!! WTG! I eat TONS of vegetables throughout the day, and am so happy that the farm stands are starting to be in full swing these days!

I think its a great plan! :) And its making you conscious of what you put in your mouth and make better choices/substitutions :) Trust yourself you seem to know the direction to move towards. And you know what, if and when you want to be more structured, you can do that too - thats the beauty of you being in control of your life and body!

I weighed myself tonight. 2 lbs. down! Yay!

Yay indeed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

Woah there. This is where you need to be looking. I got to 250 on binge eating because of depression and anxiety. Once I was given an anti-depressant, I became happier, more able to cope, and lost some weight. I plan to get down to 175-160. The medication I am on is really helping though because I do not binge because of anxiety any more. I actually eat less than ever before, and also can occasionally have a treat. Yesterday I had an ice cream cone.

I did something similar though. I took out items that were empty calories and of little nutritional value, and exchanged them for items with more nutritional value. I also took a good look at serving sizes and realized that my meals were at least twice the reccomended size and a lot of calories came from that. I also stopped paying attention to conventional meals. If I wanted a boiled egg and an orange for dinner, then I would have it. I wouldn't bother with the whole "balanced meal" thing. If I wasn't hungry, I wouldn't eat.

I'm pretty much trying to keep it simple this go around. There are so many things I SHOULD be doing, that I can be overwhelmed by it all very quickly. This leads to crash and burn every time for me.

That's why I am just focusing on cutting out what I don't really need. For me, right now, I need the comfort of most of my eating routine in tact. I am eating my same meals (I don't cook) for one thing. Just not eating after dinner is hard for me right now, but I'm doing it, slow but sure. After I make that a habit and keep it up for say, 2 weeks, then I can move to step two....smaller portions. I had to stop with the "gotta lose this weight NOW!" mentality because it just didn't work for me. If I can be down 2 lbs. a month, that is fine with me. As long as I'm not gaining anymore, that's great! I was just eating to eat for the longest time and ignoring the consequences. I was getting on that scale every week, watching the numbers creep up, and I got to the point last week where I said, "D*MN! This has got to stop!" But I couldn't go back on that traditional "diet" that I've always failed at. The all or nothing diet plan. I hate that roller coaster ride. Eat, binge, eat, binge....I am trying something different, and I think it's working, Thank God.

For some people, they learn how to swim by being thrown into the pool the first time. I'm more of a one toe at a time person. You throw me into the pool and I drown!