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Nutrition Issues with Moderation and How to Navigate

watchnerd said:
I'll eat ice cream.
But we don't have it in the house.
So I have to go out and get it an an ice cream parlor.
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Generally same here.

I have my vices for sure. If I buy a bag of Cheetos, I will eat it. The whole bag - fun size, family size, party size, doesn't matter. Girl Scout Cookies... oh man. And, you know what makes those mint cookies better? Lathering them with peanut butter.

But yeah, I'll indulge those once in a while, but just like drugs and alcohol, I don't keep them in the house.
 
I think there are many ways of viewing overeating:

1) You get a high/intoxication from sugar and fat. I know I have it like that. Instead try to make interesting and healthy food. I know that if I eat very boring meals I feel like experiencing something interesting by eating chocolate. It takes time to make a proper meal, but might be worth it. Most smoothies with berries and oatmeal. It is delicious and low in calories. A lot of vegetables and fruits are also delicicious like carrots, cabbage, orange and grapefruit.

2) You get a hig/intoxication from sugar and fat, instead of taking care of your other non-food related needs. Loneliness, lack of friends, working too much, little romantic acitivity, non-meaningful job, all of this can increase the impulse of wanting to escape reality by eating chocolate/pizza/chips or similar stuff.

3) Accept that intoxication from alcohol, drugs and sugar is not that easily obtained from more adult activities. Rather give up on chasing highs and rather go for satisfaction. Satisfaction are milder pleasure that you can get from achieving goals, hanging out with good friends, finishing a good book, learning a new language etc etc.

4) Maybe you have troubles seeing the world realistic. Maybe you have an overly pessimistic view about yourself, women, men, your body, the political situation etc etc. In this is so maybe going to a good and experienced psychologist can help.

5) You can try to get your highs from other non-food related stuff like ice-bathing.

6) You can try to get easy, comfortable pleasure from other non-food related activities like for instance certain TV-series. Watching Poirot always sets me in a good mood. The same with doing yoga and meditation.


Hope this helps.
 
Outsourced nutrition over a year ago to a coaching app, M Factor. It’s brilliant and non judgemental. It adjusts as you go along so there’s nothing off limit. Key thing is to log and that’s it. Had previous experiences with other approaches that restricted certain things and that didn’t suit me. This approach suits me but I suppose with nutrition everyone has to find what works for them.
 
I'm all-or-nothing type of person too. What helps me keep myself in check:
- each time I want to buy a snack, I think about the money I could save.
- the concept of "nonsense food" comes in handy. It is no longer "bad food" or "junk food", but food that is so redundant that eating it feels stupid.
- lasting a week with a good diet is enough to keep it for a month - than I don't want to eat junk since it would feel like loosing a streak.
- a broader socio-economic reflection on how we are recquiered to consume redundant or even degrading stuff, and how my grandma and her peers where more cognitively and ethically sharp in the times of scarcity.
 
I kind of disagree with the thought of allowing oneself cheat meals or indulgences regularly. Now the caveat to that being that I am referring to those folks who talk about having them once a week or once every other week. Not once a month or a year. I think allowing yourself to have say pizza or ice cream regularly even in moderation keeps those cravings going chemically in your brain. At least it works this way for me. If I abstain from something like ice cream for more than a month I notice a detectable drop in cravings as my brain starts to rewire itself. Ofc this is my personal experience and YMMV and all that. Find what works for you.

Now I'd also like to point out that there is no point in being harsh on yourself after having eaten something "bad". Just move on and make smarter choices in the future. Don't beat yourself up about t. That just leads to more negative emotion around food which isn't healthy.
 
I have always been a bigger person since middle school and have struggled with my eating for a long time. One particular tactic I like to use to help combat my tendency to overeat is to not focus on cutting out food groups but instead focus on including healthy ones. Might sound a little counterintuitive but I imagine a lot of people around here do this as well. This has been the most beneficial to me long term and seems like a healthy relationship with food compared to cutting items out. I keep a checklist in my phone of about 12 food types (greens, fruit, berries, nuts etc.) I want to get in each day (ideally) and I have a protein goal for the day. Then I try my best to hit that checklist each day. I find that by doing that I rarely have enough room or appetite left to have any cravings at all.
 
Last Thursday morning I weighed 119.4 kg, which is almost 263 pounds. I cut out alcohol, desserts and bread and eat according to the plate rule. Calories these days were under 2000, average around 1800. This morning (which makes 5 full days of this way of eating) I was 4.1 kg. less, which is just over 9 pounds. I am aware that it is water, but still the body has to carry a lower weight. My initial goal is to drop below 100kg. (220 pounds) and never pass them again. After that I will think about what to do, but the ultimate goal is to be just under 90 kg. (198 pounds). Which means that from my starting weight to my final goal I need to lose at least 66 pounds, which I hope will be mostly in the form of fat. I know it's a lot, but I'll try to do it.
 
Anders said:
1) You get a high/intoxication from sugar and fat. I know I have it like that. Instead try to make interesting and healthy food. I know that if I eat very boring meals I feel like experiencing something interesting by eating chocolate. It takes time to make a proper meal, but might be worth it. Most smoothies with berries and oatmeal. It is delicious and low in calories. A lot of vegetables and fruits are also delicicious like carrots, cabbage, orange and grapefruit.
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I think this is huge. Being able to cook is (in the modern age of cheap, fast, and unhealthy) key to eating well.
2) You get a hig/intoxication from sugar and fat, instead of taking care of your other non-food related needs. Loneliness, lack of friends, working too much, little romantic acitivity, non-meaningful job, all of this can increase the impulse of wanting to escape reality by eating chocolate/pizza/chips or similar stuff.
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Trying to fill the void...
3) Accept that intoxication from alcohol, drugs and sugar is not that easily obtained from more adult activities. Rather give up on chasing highs and rather go for satisfaction. Satisfaction are milder pleasure that you can get from achieving goals, hanging out with good friends, finishing a good book, learning a new language etc etc.
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Drug addiction is an apt comparison. "Brocolli isn't as satisfying...." Well no sh*t it isn't! We've all heard that thing about comparison being the thief of joy? It is, and if you/I start thinking that the high you/I get from mint oreos lathered with PB is normal, everything else will be very very bland.
 
7) Throwing money on a problem. I like the thought of throwing money on a problem. I don't always think it is possible. Where I live fruit and vegetables are quite expensive, but so is chocolate. But since my economy is fine I try to spend a lot of money on different kind of berries and the most expensive and delicious vegetables you can get. So when I get my oral cravings I know I can go to my fridge and find a lot of blueberries, yoghurt, milk, grapefruit, banana and carrots. This works quite well for me.

8) I have also bought myself a carbonizer. I love carbonized water. It fills up my stomach and also tastes good.

9) I also allow myself to have available expensive coffee and exotic teas.

10) I like shopping so I have allowed myself to buy a lot of training equipment to my apartment. I have 18 kettlebells, two steps, three power-wheels, two pairs of paralettes, one pull-up arrangement, 20 bands and one stationary bike. All in my rather small apartment. Whenever I feel restless or annoyed I just do a couple of exercises. What is good for me is always available and in view. What is bad for me is not in my apartment.

11) Active life style. I like to walk. When I meet my friends we go for a walk. In the city or on a mountain it does not matter. We walk and we walk. Then we eat and then we walk a bit more. When I meet my parents we also walk. Sometimes we go by bicycle. I tried my father's electrical bicycle, it was so much fun, that I think I will get one of these myself. The more you move the better it is for you. I also think it makes you happier. It is also quite cheap :)
 
conor78 said:
Outsourced nutrition over a year ago to a coaching app, M Factor. It’s brilliant and non judgemental. It adjusts as you go along so there’s nothing off limit. Key thing is to log and that’s it. Had previous experiences with other approaches that restricted certain things and that didn’t suit me. This approach suits me but I suppose with nutrition everyone has to find what works for them.
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Logging daily calories is by far the most effective way for me to lose and gain weight.
 
I don't buy junk, but my wife does. When it's there, I'll eat it. About the only thing that works for me is having a pint or two of watered down green tea or just water with a slice of dried citrus (I slice oranges, lemons and limes and dry them in low oven) when I get up, maybe more later in the morning. That'll just about kill my appetite until early afternoon. If I find myself hungry later in the day, the water with citrus seems to keep cravings away.
 
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