Step 1: Stop Eating Out!
 

I'm just starting my change is lifestyle. I have been enjoying eating out for way too long and it shows in my body size. First step is to stop eating out and to start preparing food at home. I think trying to change too many things at once could be overwhelming. And I am definately going to succeed at down sizing.

Anyone else have a step wise plan of attack?

I did that at first, and it did really help, especially making my breakfast the night before. But the more you get used to it, and the more you can see portions in what sizes they should be, eating out really isn't that bad. Some people benefit from cutting it out completely though. To each their own.

It did however cause a lot of irritation in my family when everyone was content to pick up BK or go somewhere and I didn't want to, but if you're mom (or dad?) of the house then nobody should even question you :D haha.


Personally the only thing I banned FOREVER is pop. Pop in a can. I still allow myself a 35-calorie glass of caffeine-free pop I make myself with a machine, but that's only every couple of months (or when we get pizza).

Good luck, though.It really does get easier!

Cooking at home has definitely helped me. I know when I cook exactly what ingredients are in my meals so there are no hidden fats or sugars. There are still times when I eat out but I plan ahead what to order.

We try to eat out at places that I can look up the nutrition information before hand.

If I can't...I look up my WW points and then usually ad a few on just to be safe.

I started taking my lunch to work, which has helped a lot. But we still eat out dinner as a family sometimes. I've found that as I've learned more about restaurant food, I can fairly easily find something on my plan and within my calories.

I too decided to stop eating out when I first overhauled my lifestyle. I didn't trust myself to not overindulge and I wanted to know EXACTLY what I was getting. At home, I could control everything - my surroundings, the limited choices, the portion size, the ingredients, etc. I have since learned how to navigate restaurants very well though.

For me, there were to be no baby steps. I know that works for some, but you see when I finally woke up and realized I was literally killing myself, there was no time for baby steps. I treated it as an emergency situation. Life and death. I was done being fat and wanted that weight off in as timely a fashion as possible. I had put my life aside for long enough, I was ready to LIVE!

I changed it all. At once. Like the alcoholic, I saw no point changing from whisky to vodka. I embraced the healthy lifestyle; I became passionate about it. I dived right in with both feet. And I was very pleased with the results.

I wouldn't change one thing about my journey, with the exception of course of starting it waaay sooner. :)

Sounds like your step is a step in the right direction.

I know, I had to work through this in my head. Like, at what point did making food become such a chore that it seemed so daunting. While I agree in general that making food will be better, when you say "babysteps" do you mean you will eat the same? Truly portion sizes is more important than anything, so I would add that in. For instance just measuring your portions and using smaller plates helps so much. This is a big advantage of home cooking.
I wish you lots of luck and joy of cooking!

I do the same, we only go to places that I know what the nutritional info is. If I don't know then we don't go. I'm a creature of habit so I always get the same thing.

Yeah, I tend to research places and I know the calories/fat/carbs ahead of time. My hubby and I have been eating at Applebee's and ordering off their 550 cal or less menu. Mimi's Cafe also has great options for people watching their weight, and I also love this place called Jack's Urban Eats, but I think it is only in CA

I cut back on eating out or look up the nutrition information before going. If I absolutely have to, I eyeball the ingredients, write them down and then shuffle them through calorie counters. I would say I am often right within a 50 calorie margin. But I am a foodie, so I can't quite restaurants cold turkey. ^^

This is one of my challenges too. Just seems easier so often...and I tell myself faster although I'm not sure that's true. Here's a few things I've had success with:

1. Try to figure out 2-3 fast 'pantry' meals that you can have on hand all the time and pull together quickly. One of mine is some salmon burgers I get at Costco in the freezer. I keep those little thin buns in the freezer, sweet potato fries and frozen veggies. That meal can literally be hitting my tongue in about 25 min from when I walk in the door and 20 min of that was unsupervised baking time so I change and whatnot while it bakes. Another online healthy eating buddy used to keep pasta, frozen shrimp and I'm sure she also added some veggies to her dish and she could whip that up.

2. I don't know how many you are feeding but I'm single so I have a lot of success with planned leftovers if they are things I actually like leftover. I'm not a huge leftover fan so it has to be the right things but you can find them.

3. Planning is really where it's at for me. Whether I'm REALLY on my game and consistently planning/shopping for the week or even if all I do is sit down the evening before and decide what I'm going to eat, I have pretty good luck following that through. If I have no plan, the drive through gets really easy.

4. The easiest meal for me to get a handle on was breakfast so I got it together to take or eat a proper breakfast almost always. To this day, it's one of the habits that has stuck for the most part. Find 2-3 if you need variety but if you are a same breakfast every day person, figure it out and make that happen.

5. Oh, and if you eat out, try the idea of making a good, better or best choice. For instance, probably a fairly simple salad is the best choice but maybe you have a grilled chicken sandwich w/a salad side instead of fries for a better choice or maybe you get the fries but you still picked the grilled chicken over fried as a good choice. Those little steps do matter and count. I also make myself read the salad section even though it is not usually what I will choose. I used to not even read it so I figure at least I give it a thought. I'm not a big salad fan but now and again I'll go for it.

HTH!

Peg