When I was young and thin and still cared a lot about who was going to ask me to the Prom, I had a lot of food rules for myself. I never made them up, they just seemed like things you would ALWAYS do or NEVER do and I never questioned them. Here are the ones I can think of:
Never eat seconds.
Never have a burger AND fries, only one or the other.
Never eat more than two slices of pizza.
Never order dessert.
If salad is an option, have the salad.
If it has calories, don't drink it.
Never finish everything on your plate.
Never eat candy bars or candy, avoid chocolate as much as possible.
If you're having burgers at home, don't eat the bun. Eventually I quit eating beef.
Chicken and fish are ok, pork and beef should be avoided.
No fried foods except the occasional french fries or seafood but that should be really really rare.
It sounds like a fairly joyless existence, but I managed to keep my weight much lower (I have ALWAYS been a "secret eater" - so if I found myself at home alone, I might lose it and scarf half a loaf of bread or four pieces of sliced cheese or a whole bag of buttered microwave popcorn) and these weren't things I had a lot of angst over, they were just The Rules and most girls I knew did the same so it was no big deal.
Somewhere along the way (I actually do know when and why and how, but it's long and not relevant), I lost touch with my rules and the weight just piled on. Now, I often get seconds. I frequently eat fried foods. I have had more fast food than I'd like to admit (but we cut that out about a month ago).
I have noticed that some of the more successful losers here have some of the most well-defined rules. Even if they don't seem like RULES, they are at least standards. Some of them are very food oriented like no white foods and others are more about behavior.
No eating in the car.
No eating anything purchased from a drug store or gas station.
Nothing with trans fats (and I assume that anything from a bakery has trans fats).
Always eat sitting down.
Oh, those are very good! In the past few months I've managed to tackle "no eating in front of the tv" which I thought would be hard but it's not. I can't really do "no eating in the car" because we have to do long drives pretty often. Stopping to eat would add a lot of time. I have another thread about packing lunches so I think "always pack something" is going to be a new rule.
If only I could master "no eating in front of the computer"
Very nice rules. I might borrow some of them if it's ok
I'd say for me it's:
No eating in front of tv or computer
Drink 2 liters of water everyday
No eating after 8 pm
Eat something every 3-4th hour
No soda, sugary or fatty treats except for once a week (but I try to avoid that too)
Always have some fruit/vegetables for every meal
*severely restrict trans fats
*eat every few hours
*always carry a healthy snack while out, (to avoid fast food trap)
*the majority of my food should provide health benefits (whole foods)
*Food is to fuel my body, not for enjoyment only (can't overindulge in my cravings)
*think before I eat it. Why am I eating it?
*If I eat a whole meal of junk food, I'm going to crave more later and restart the cycle
*Just because you have a dark chocolate bar, doesn't mean you have to eat the whole thing!
*cut up/prepare things ahead that are hard to prepare (cantaloupe, lettuce heads, steel oats etc) so I have no excuse to let the food rot in the fridge!
Last edited by pinkflower; 08-11-2010 at 11:45 AM.
No fast food unless there is absolutely no other choice. When that happens, grilled chicken sandwich only.
The only time I drink something with calories is juice at breakfast.
No eating after 7pm.
No fried foods.
No skipping meals.
Log everything; everything counts.
Measure/weigh--do not "eyeball."
Aim for a high fiber-to-calories ratio.
Carry appropriate food when needed.
Planning is key.
Realize that nobody "really" cares what you eat--do what's right for you!!
My only rules...
It must fit within my allocated daily calories/macros (and if I don't have the nutritional info, I don't eat it)
My once per week "treat meal" (aka cheat meal) is still within those ^, no matter what. If I want junk, that's fine, but it has to fit.
-No soda of any kind
-Eat sweets sparingly
-Weigh every day
It's worked for me so far. I don't believe in depriving yourself. For me it became a natural thing to eat less when I started weighing myself every day. It also encouraged me to exercise more.
-Eat only at meals, no snacks.
-Veggies/Protein/Fat for meals. Sugar/grains/starch/alcohol sparingly.
-Daily exercise
-Abstain from binge trigger foods completely.
I often diverge from my guidelines and binge. And when I do, I remind myself of the rule- never give up.
Real food only, and nutrient dense.
No foods not in the plan. (My plan has no grains, no packaged foods, no legumes, etc. Here's the list.)
Three meals and a snack or two, nothing after 5 pm.
No eating in the car.
Take my own filtered and purified water with me, everywhere.
Count, weigh, measure, write down, keep track of grams of carbs, proteins and fats.
14-20 glasses of my water, every day.
If someone offers me food, very graciously say, "Thank you for thinking of me. But, I have health challenges and am on a special diet."
Don't give food advice to anyone unless they are seriously interested.
Keep learning about macronutrients and how they are metabolized.
Thanks for the thread!
Last edited by SilverLife; 08-11-2010 at 01:04 PM.
Reason: corrected punctuation
soda only as a treat - i used to drink 4 cans of diet coke a day ive cut it down to 1 every 2-3 days
no white things - white bread, white pasta, white rice, wont even eat potatoes
lots and lots of water
ALWAYS STAY WITHIN 1400 CAlORIES
treats allowed as long as they fit (i find i dont really want them as much)
1 portion of fish every 2 days at least
some form of exercise 5 days a week
weigh everyday (i think thats because im a bit ocd)
never ever have fast food
no cheese because once i have a tiny bit i cant help myself
as low sodium as possible
My rules for losing were a little different than now that I'm maintaining. My losing rules were:
No sugar
No fast food
No alcohol
Stay within my calorie range of 1200-1500 every day...Unless it was Christmas or my Birthday...even then it was not a free-for-all. I didn't cheat, or splurge or whatever one wants to call it because I knew I had cheated and splurged daily all the way up to 333 pounds. For years I hadn't deprived myself of any "wants" except for a fit healthy body.
My maintaince rules:
No Fast food
No Alcohol
No trigger food in the house (ice cream, crackers, nuts, pie, cake, cookies, etc.) STOP and go back to 1200-1500 calories/day if I am one ounce over 145, and don't stop until I am back to 140.
ETA: I choose not to drink alcohol because I had a problem with it. Beside the enormous amount of empty calories it contains, it also took away my ability to turn down junk food by giving me the WTF attitude and always made me want to smoke. (I also gave up smoking at the beginning of my healthy lifestyle.) Just not a good choice for me.
I had to give it up during my recent pregnancy and decided not to go back. All my poor food choices centred around having a couple of drinks, which made me lose perspective and I usually ended up with an entire bag of giant chips, 60 grams of sugar in a Vex, etc.
What are your rules?
Dhani 
