How to eat less?

princessscotland

OP, your story is almost the same as mine. I found weightwatchers to be the only thing that helps me, the fact that I can't afford to eat snacks as I have too few points to spend on anything other than delicious healthy meals stabilises my blood sugar. I feel great plus I lose weight. I agree with lynzpower, you're eating far too many refined carbs. The more you eat the more you'll keep eating, it's a horrid cycle to be in but the cravings are easily broken with a day or two's sensible eating.

I think the trick here is to decide to do something sustainable then stick to it. Don't try these stupid crash diets like lemon detox. If boredom is a trigger, researching a new way of cooking and eating will stave off some of the boredom and capture your interest.

However you decide to lose the weight, realise that you can do something about this, you've more than got the power to get your figure back and keep it. I wish you the best of luck.

PS x

fuzzyhead_3

tanith wrote: »

Ask your colleagues to stop offering you stuff, if you tell them why they might all be grateful to you... also I found that changing to skimmed milk made a big difference to me...

Thanks for thr reply tanith.

I will tell them tomorrow. They are always admonishing themseleves for eating crap, so maybe they'll all join me!

Skimmed milk eh? I will give that a go too, although I don't drink milk in tea anyway so I suppose that's a start (I don't have sugar either).

Last night's dinner out was disastrous - I had a goat's cheese salad followed by lamb shank. No dessert though!

Today I've had:

Grilled breakfast - 2 slices of back bacon, 1 poachedegg, 1/4 tin of beans, 2 slices of toast and butter

Lunch - cup of tea and slice of carrot cake (the shame)

Dinner - small portion of spinach and ricotta ravioli (no sauce) and 2 slices of OH's HM thin crust veg pizza

Snack - 2 chocolate Digestives

It all looks so bad when I see it written down!!!

fuzzyhead_3

charlottecarter wrote: »

You sound just like me, except I have no injury excuse!! Something I am trying at the moment that is sucessfully freaking me right out (!) is taking a photograph of eveything I eat & drink each day. It sounds crazy but somehow seeing it all there seems to switch something on in my brain... I have lost 5lbs in the last week.

Thanks for the reply charlottecarter.

What a good idea!!! I might try this, it's easy enough with a phone anyways. Thanks for the tip.

fuzzyhead_3

pandora205 wrote: »

After years of yo-yo dieting I seem to have settled to a healthy weight and diet without having to think about food all the time. The key for me was to have masses of fruit and veg (more than 5 a day), to go for whole food options (bread, porridge, rice) and not to buy stuff that I can't be trusted with (crisps, biscuits, ready meals, fizzy drinks). Whole foods are slow release so they stave off hunger, though to be honest I don't think much about eating between meals now. Cooking from scratch is a good way to go, as home made foods are so much more filling. I freeze stuff I don't immediately need and plan meals around the fresh food in the fridge.

I now eat loads and don't put on weight, and allow myself the occasional treat and glass or wine or so.

Thanks for the reply pandora205.

These are all great tips, thank you. I know that I should be eating slow release stuff, it's just hard to put it into practice. Good point that I shouldn't buy 'trigger foods', I really should stop buying bars of chcolate and promising myself that I'll make each one last a week!

fuzzyhead_3

lynzpower wrote: »

Seems that you have fallen into the trap of high carb living. I know what you mean I am no saint myself, but need a kickstart to wean myself off carbs./ The more you have the more you want as carbs play merry hell with your blood sugar.

Lots of carbs there, 4 slices of bread, and the foxs classioc- any need for the merangue nest?

I try not to buy bread, OH likes it so its in the house, but if I lived alone I wouldnt bother.

I only have one heavy starch carb ( ie bread/pasta/ pots) but will sometimes have rice or couscous , i find that lighter.

I try to eat low carb in the morning, for example a healvily nutted muesli, sometimes add extra nuts like brazils. Hot breakfast I have would be bacon/turkey rashers and eggs and mushrooms, maybe one toast as a weekend treat fry up.

I have fallen recently off the wagon and eaten a lot more junk food, and naturally Ive put on weight. I am going to kickstart off again soon, I need to get bikini tastic and cant while im stuffing my chops. Sayting that I have started going to the gym. - can you swim with your ankle?

Thanks for the reply lynzpower.

I do eat a lot of carbs, it's true!!! Even when I was slim I did so, but it was wholemeal starch and fibre, fruit and veg rather than refined starch and sugary rubbish which is what im eating now!!

I might try the low carb approach. I try to eat low fat plain yogurt with fruit for breakfast rather than toast/cereal. But from there on it all goes to pot - sandwiches for lunch, starchy accompaniments with dinner etc.

What about the unrefined/slow release carbs, are they just as bad? What about fruit and veg?

GrammarGirl

The key for me is to not completely deprive myself of the things I love (chocolate, crisps, ice cream, cheese!) because that makes me want them soooo much more! Everything in moderation and healthier alternatives. One square of chocolate, baked crisps instead of fried, frozen yoghurt... not sure what the cheesy answer to this is as we all know lighter versions of cheese are just rubbish!

If you can exercise your control and willpower, you can enjoy lovely food without putting on weight. I hope you find a method that works for you anyway.

fuzzyhead_3

margaretclare wrote: »

Look at this:

Start early - don't skip breakfast - and have small meals of protein/complex carbs several times during the day, approx 3 hours apart. This will kick-start your metabolism.

Drink lots of water, at least 8 glasses a day. Some would say at least 1-2 litres a day.

Take control of what you eat. Don't eat to please somebody else. YOU are in control of what goes into your mouth and eventually ends up as ugly and dangerous belly fat.

Eat complex carbs - wholegrains, fruits, veg etc, and stop eating processed foods which contain white flour and white sugar. Eat proteins. Example: a boiled egg with wholemeal bread for breakfast, that's protein with complex carbs. You don't need takeaways, sweet snacks, junk foods, ready-meals, anything like that. If it grew on a tree or came out of the ground that's fine. Example: a potato comes out of the ground, but you never saw chips growing in a field, did you? Eating potatoes is fine, unpeeled. Eating chips is not fine.

And so on. Look at the sites I quoted. Today is the start of the rest of your life. Do it!

Thanks for the reply margaretclare and the pep talk, very inspirational!

I will take your point of eating small amounts every 3 hours but including protein every time.

How many eggs is it safe to eat in a day./week? I love hard boiled eggs and will sometimes take one into work as a mid-morning snack, and it is quite satisfying. What about nuts? I love them too but try not eat too many as they are so fattening.

I already drink 3 litres of water a day so at least I'm doing ok there. I have hung onto some good habits from my slim days!

You are right, I should eat to please myself and not to please someone else. The thing is, I started off accepting sweets, cakes etc just to reassure my friends that I wasn't anoreixic (see post #7) and I have actually come to like them!! Damn addictive sugar! But I should put myself first really, and think about what is good for my body.

I liked what you said about only eating natural stuff too, that is so true.

I_know_my_ABC_and_my_CMYK

I check the fat content of everything I eat these days. I follow weight watchers on line points system, but i also told my doctor I wanted to lose weight so he's recording it as well on a monthly basis so I have to lose it, it keeps me at it. It's taken me just over 8 weeks to lose 18lbs plus I'm disabled so my mobility is limited, so I'm quite pleased with myself. My clothes are loser and i have a bit more energy which is a big bonus for me. It costs me just under £10 for WW but for me it's worth it.

I find when I'm watching food programs onthe tv I exclaime at the calories and fat they are eating lol I drive my son daft.

fuzzyhead_3

bulchy wrote: »

Hi. I used to be like this, always eating, out of boredom mostly, never left enough time between meals to feel hungry, ate all the wrong food even though I had healthy stuff in the house too. I think its good to have others around you that can give you the support you need to change your eating habits, so that rules out your oh :rolleyes: just kidding, maybe you could get him to help you in your quest to eat healthier.
Me, the oh and dd all wanted to loose weight, oh and dd needed to loose more than me, so they got referred to weight watchers by our local NHS, dont know if theres a similar scheme running in your area, might be worth looking into. Anyhoo, the 2 weeks before they enrolled, we all seemed to sicken ourselves of junk, we ate all the wrong stuff, not to deliberately sicken ourselves, just to get it used up before we started the diet :rotfl:and it did seem to help, by the time they went to the first weigh-in, I was ready to change my eating habits. 5 weeks down the line, dd has lost 17lb, oh 18 and I've lost 11, so we're obviously doing something right. I'm not saying its easy, but its good that we're all here to help each other. I make the most of 'free foods' on ww, soups, salads etc, and fill up on these, fruit and yogurts. Why not take a look at rhe other diet support threads? Theres loads of good advice, support and ideas for eating plans.
What ever diet or excersise plan you decide to follow, I hope you do well.
Sue

Thanks for the reply bulchy.

I might try to rope OH into helping me and stopping me eating junk at home.

You have done amazingly well, all 3 of you. I am inspired!!!! :T

I will make a list of all the low fat/low sugar foods that I like and try to have asmany of them as poss so that I fill up on the 'right' stuff.

fuzzyhead_3

princessscotland wrote: »

OP, your story is almost the same as mine. I found weightwatchers to be the only thing that helps me, the fact that I can't afford to eat snacks as I have too few points to spend on anything other than delicious healthy meals stabilises my blood sugar. I feel great plus I lose weight. I agree with lynzpower, you're eating far too many refined carbs. The more you eat the more you'll keep eating, it's a horrid cycle to be in but the cravings are easily broken with a day or two's sensible eating.

I think the trick here is to decide to do something sustainable then stick to it. Don't try these stupid crash diets like lemon detox. If boredom is a trigger, researching a new way of cooking and eating will stave off some of the boredom and capture your interest.

However you decide to lose the weight, realise that you can do something about this, you've more than got the power to get your figure back and keep it. I wish you the best of luck.

PS x

Thanks for the reply princessscotland.

How do you work out your points, does someone do it for you or does it depend on your height etc?

I need something systainable, that's true. No point in losing 5lbs in a week and then regaining it. I need to keep itup forever - it was slipping off my healthy eating wagon that brought me to this point.

I have got the power! (I feel like She-ra!). :rotfl: