Eating Habits

People here have really covered the basics - what great advice! My only word of support is that the cravings, if you get them, DO go away. I once quit chocolate in a day, and while the first week was hard, I didn't even have an interest after that. It was several months before I had a single bite again.

Originally Posted by aphrodeia

People here have really covered the basics - what great advice! My only word of support is that the cravings, if you get them, DO go away. I once quit chocolate in a day, and while the first week was hard, I didn't even have an interest after that. It was several months before I had a single bite again.

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That's how I was with fast food. I used to crave Big Macs and stuff..but now it just grosses me out.

Originally Posted by aphrodeia

People here have really covered the basics - what great advice! My only word of support is that the cravings, if you get them, DO go away. I once quit chocolate in a day, and while the first week was hard, I didn't even have an interest after that. It was several months before I had a single bite again.

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I for sure get cravings all the time. I cannot wait until they go away. I really want wings right now lol

Another thing that worked for me when trying to eat healthier was to stop buying bags of cookies. Now if I want cookies, I have to make them. So I have them a lot less often but I don't feel deprived because I always have the option of making cookies if I REALLY want them.

I think that's a good way of thinking about unhealthy foods... you need to find a way to teach yourself to eat them only when you REALLY want them, not to eat them just because they're there. Make healthy food convenient and unhealthy one inconvenient.

A good way is to keep a container full of fresh, already washed and cut veggies in the fridge. Do that with fruits too and other healthy snacks too. Melba toasts with low-fat spreads are great too.

One great way of getting fruit is by having fruit salad. I usually make mine with a mixture of canned fruits (1 can of pineapple, 1 can of peaches and 1 can of pears - all in juice, NOT syrup) and fresh fruits (apples, grapes, oranges, berries, bananas, etc.)... cut them all and mix them with the juice from the canned fruits, plus a little lemon juice to keep the apples and bananas from turning brown.

You want to eat small portions about every 3 hours or so, best is one carb and one protein. Something about the way the body processes it, it's the best combination to eat. Examples are: a hard boiled egg and a baggie of celery or carrots. A 1/2 cup of cottage cheese and a banana. A can of tuna with maybe a little mayo for flavor, unless you can eat it just plain, and it's good if you scoop it and eat it with a serving size of Triscuits or Wheat Thins, or Club crackers are my favorite. I adopted this way of eating and it's really good, because it speeds up your metabolism, and it makes for less binging because you aren't overly hungry at any point. My lifestyle lately hasn't let me do this method correctly, but when I do it, it works and I lose weight, and feel healthier.

Originally Posted by marie-p

One great way of getting fruit is by having fruit salad. I usually make mine with a mixture of canned fruits (1 can of pineapple, 1 can of peaches and 1 can of pears - all in juice, NOT syrup) and fresh fruits (apples, grapes, oranges, berries, bananas, etc.)... cut them all and mix them with the juice from the canned fruits, plus a little lemon juice to keep the apples and bananas from turning brown.

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I do that, too -- I always have a fresh fruit salad in the fridge waiting for me. I cut up strawberries, cantaloupe, watermelon, and purple grapes.

I constantly graze throughout the day. I don't eat meals.

Hi there! Congrats on deciding to change your lifestyle around! It's the best decision anyone can make for themselves.

I'm an aerobics/group exercise instructor who specializes in muscle endurance/body toning classes and so I thought I'd offer my help to you. There are already a few things I'm going to mention here, but if you EVER have any questions about your work out or what work outs work best for what, please feel free to PM me and ask at any time! Wellness is my passion and I love talking about it.

The first thing I wanted to mention is that with your diet, it's crucial that you get PLENTY of protien and carbohydrates if you plan to be exercising. These will give you energy and the protien keeps your metabolism at a good, steady rate. Now, like others have mentioned, there are better protiens and carbs than others, so make sure you stick with the leanest variety when you can. It's ok though to use peanut butter as a protien though for breakfast or a snack, the important thing is that you're getting LOTS of protien in your diet!

Next, make sure you're giving your body adequate time to rest in between work outs. It's best to not do weight training day after day. The fact is that when your muscles are sore, they're not building. It's actually when you're resting and they're recouperating that your muscles are able to build themselves up. This same principle applies to cardio. So because of this, you want to take at least a day in between workouts to be seeing the maximum benefits, otherwise you're just keeping those fibers torn!

Those are just a couple of quick things for you. I hope they help a little bit! If you have any questions about group exercise classes, please let me know! I teach 5 a week this summer and have been teaching for nearly 3 years now. I'd love to answer any questions or concerns you may have!

Good luck to you and remember, it takes about 20 days to form a habit...so get into this habit for that long and it'll become just another part of your typical way of being!

Any veggies, lean protein, fruit, yogurt, cottage cheese, wheat bread...remember you can't eat what you don't have in your house....so don't buy junk food and you wont be tempted to eat it....

Originally Posted by IloveSiamese

Oh yea....should I count my calories and fat intake and all that???? How many calories a day should one consume when trying to loose weight????

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I personally wouldn't do that, I think that it makes the process too complicated, ya know what I mean? I would just focus on eating healthier, using the suggestions that everyone has made, working out, watching your portions etc. You don't want to cut your calories way down, because that will send the body into survival mode, and that mean it thinks its starving so it will hold onto fat. Good luck to you! I really wish you great success! I've been thinking about making a lifestyle change too

Originally Posted by marie-p

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One great way of getting fruit is by having fruit salad. I usually make mine with a mixture of canned fruits (1 can of pineapple, 1 can of peaches and 1 can of pears - all in juice, NOT syrup) and fresh fruits (apples, grapes, oranges, berries, bananas, etc.)... cut them all and mix them with the juice from the canned fruits, plus a little lemon juice to keep the apples and bananas from turning brown.

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How long will this keep in the fridge? I'm thinking I could make a big bowl on Sunday and then pack it as part of my lunch to take to work. I'm trying to eat more fruit.....

Katherine, that's great info! I might be bugging you from time to time with questions, too.

A lot of times people think something is unhealthy but they are actually much more healthy than people think.

For example, people think anything canned is unhealthy because antioxidents are lost during processing. However, the canning process are scientifically proven to increase absorbance of the remaining antioxidents 100 TIMES OVER. So canned vegetables and fruits are a lot healthier than people think.

definitely look at the part where the percentages are and if fat grams are more than, say 10%, of the Daily Value, put that sucker back on the shelf! Look for items high in Dietary Fiber, 2 or more grams per serving

Guys,

I need some support right now!!!!!!

I feel so horrible. I want to be healthy so bad but I feel so discouraged these past couple days.

I honestly feel like I am a drug addict and my drug of choice is food. I started this thing a little less than 2 1/2 weeks ago and I've had fast food 3 times (once on a road trip, once on our anniversary and KFC last night because it was so hot and we were too lazy to cook). I really have strong cravings and I've given in 2 times and immediately felt guilty afterwards. Like it didn't even taste good anymore because I felt guilty. I know I'm going to feel this way and yet I can't help myself. It's like I need an inpatient rehab program.

The only positive thing that I keep trying to remember is that I've lived in my habits for 20 years (and I've never been skinny ever) and it's going to take time to reverse these, but I'm so sick of living the way I do and I don't have anyone to help support me. I've been trying to convince myself that I'm ok the way I am and I just need to loose a few pounds but I've been in denial and I am at serious risk for health complications and I am only 20. I always wonder how I ended up this way????

Dh is a stick and couldn't gain a pound if his life depended on it and often is a bad influence on me.

I don't even know whether or not to trust my scale anymore . It has gone down 4 to 5 pounds and hasn't gone lower or higher than that in the past week.

Dh is a stick and couldn't gain a pound if his life depended on it and often is a bad influence on me.

I'm sorry, but I just needed to vent a little cause I am fusterated and scared and I really have no one else to talk to about this.

You're okay to vent. These things happen when you are trying to loose weight. Don't look at how you've failed, look at what you've accomplished. You've lost five pounds. What I want you to do is go to you local grocery store and pick up a five pound bag of flower and carry it around while you are doing you shopping. You will then realize how big loosing that weight really is.

When you are breaking bad habits it always hard. I know what you are going through. Don't expect everything to change over night. Take each day as it comes.

don't beat yourself up over it. You can't expect yourself to suddenly eat only healthy food. I don't think anyone eats only healthy food.
It's a learning process... you are trying to change your lifestyle and it seems like you're on the right track. Sure, you ate some junk food lately, but that's still a lot less than you used to, right? Don't be mad at yourself for indulging... just be honest with yourself. Yes, you ate things that weren't very good for you... but try and figure out why you did it and how you can help yourself avoid it in the future. Just remember that you can't change all your habits overnight and that you'll never be perfect (and you don't need to be).

Knowing what is good for you is only the first step in learning to take care of yourself. You also need to learn about yourself and how to apply it to your life. Just like with any other thing you learn, it's normal to make mistakes. It doesn't mean that you're failing.

It's not an easy thing to learn but you're doing great so far! Don't give up!