looking for guidance.

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10/7/11 4:54 P

You eat a lot of junk food. I don't think you'll be successful going cold turkey. I recommend that you create a menu plan for the entire week, where you map out breakfasts, lunches and dinners that are NUTRIENT-DENSE. This means lots and lots of vegetables, some fruit, whole grains, lean proteins and a little healthy fat (like olive oil). Structure your meal plan so that it covers about 80% of your allowed calories each day and fulfills as many of your nutritional needs as possible, and then buy all of the ingredients to cover that 80%. Enter those meals into your tracker in advance. Now, as the week progresses you're left with 20% of your calories to play with every day. Want an ice-cream cone? Go for it. Want three slices of cheese on your sandwich? You can make it work.

By planning ahead and entering things into your tracker, you avoid that feeling of, "It's 8:00 pm, I haven't had dinner, but I've already eaten 1700 calories!" Instead, you're in a situation where you can say, "It's 8:00 pm, I've already eaten 800 calories, my dinner is going to be 450 calories, so it's cool if I have that chocolate bar."

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10/7/11 4:47 P

I like to break up my goals and work on them one at a time! It takes longer, but I like the idea of working towards something new each week.

Goal 1:
not drinking enough water.

Spend a couple of days drinking water, or try new kinds of tea. Maybe, drinking more liquids will cause less cravings or make you feel full sooner.

Goal 2:
eating junk late in the afternoon (usually candy)

Keep doing goal 1 and find a substitute for higher calorie candy. Peppermint mints and gum are pretty low in calories!

I would work on goal number 4 first! If you cut back your dinner portions then you might end up eating more sweets after dinner.

Goal 3:

eating sweets after dinner (mostly ice cream)

Keep working on your other goals and work on sticking to one portion of ice cream or find another substitute. I eat something sweet after dinner everyday, but I try to stay within my range.

I don't overeat sweets because I tell myself that I could always have more the next day.

Goal 4:

eating too much at dinner or not healthy choices

This is probably the hardest goal because it is going to require advance planning and prep time. Are you eating a snack after lunch? Maybe, adding a snack and drinking warm tea will prevent the overeating during dinner.

Posts: 2,699
10/7/11 3:02 P

Well, you've already taken the first step and identified the problem. So, think where you can make substitutions. Can you have fruit & Greek yogurt in the afternoon to help "get you through"? What kid of sweets are you eating? How much? Try having a Skinny Cow treat as an evening snack instead of full fat ice cream/candy/cupcakes. If you do have full fat stuff, be SURE to measure it. 1/2 is typically a "serving". Until I started measuring my ice cream and such, I never realize exactly how much I'd eat in one sitting! Sometimes, I'd bet it was 2-3, if not 4, servings worth. (Edy's makes some pretty good lower-fat ice cream if Skinny Cow isn't your thing.)

Start advance planning meals. Plug them into your tracker ahead of time, so you can see where you'll be and possible plan snacks/treats accordingly. You don't have to say "no junk" you just have to say "better junk", if that makes sense. Less junk, not quite as junky junk, etc.

You can also experiment with desserty type foods. I make "apple crsip" that my kids gobble up, that is basically toasted oatmeal tossed with some cinnamon or pumpkin pie spices (and I use a bit of Splenda) that I mix in with some apples I've sauteed on the stove (last time I used cooking spray only, no buttery spread, and it worked fine, and cut calories) with more spices. So, you can make stuff that tastes pretty good, and isn't terrible for you based off of junky favorites if you're willing to get a bit creative.

I've found when I've made the "NO MORE!" declarations, I've failed more often than not. So, while I avoid certain foods now, in general, I also don't really consider any food group totally off limits, I just make better choices.

Posts: 330
10/7/11 2:41 P

i'm not much help, but I can tell you that the only way the cravings will go away is to not eat the trigger food for 2 weeks. How is that done, when you have such strong cravings? I'm still trying to figure that out, however I do know, that if you don't eat sweets for 2 weeks, the cravings will be significantly reduced, if not gone altogether. Its a battle I have been braving for my whole life, sigh, so you aren't alone. my weakness isn't sweets, its salty/fried :(

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10/7/11 2:30 P

below is a blog i just posted. i could really use some advice so i figured i'd post it here too.

i realized something last night as i thought about the prospect of weighing myself this morning for my weekly weigh-in (still 153 btw). i realized that there are a few things in my diet hindering my weight loss. and they keep getting in the way. every day. every week. i look at my nutrition tracker and i can attribute my overages to the same foods and the same pitfalls. over and over again. so here they are:

1) not drinking enough water.
2) eating junk late in the afternoon (usually candy)
3) eating too much at dinner or not healthy choices
4) eating sweets after dinner (mostly ice cream)

i'm really tired of the scale not moving. so i'm thinking it might be time for some changes. but it seems daunting to say "i will not eat junk." so i'm trying to decide how to do this.

should i take the big plunge and say "no more junk"?

or should i make it more specific? "no more ice cream or candy for 30 days"

but how do i deal with the cravings? literally every day i crave sweets. and i've been giving in. how do i get those to stop? will they stop on their own? or do i need to do something more?

any advice is really appreciated.