How to eat less?

fuzzyhead_3

londoner1998 wrote: »

Hello! Simple, eat less and move more (I know, easy to say but not so easy to do!). I used to go to the gym but this only made me eat more and I realised I didn't enjoy the gym that much (all that noise and machines everywhere made me very anxious). I already did yoga and swam on and off but for the past 5 years, that's all I have done. I go regularly to yoga classes and I noticed that that started to slowly (but surely) reduce my appetite (I guess is due to reducing the anxiety). Getting together with my OH around that time also made me relax around food and have a much healthier attitude towards it ( I think I had a slight issue with it, there were groups of food I woudln't touch). When I have a particulary stressful time and have been inactive for a while, I start swimming more- just by going once a week or twice a week, I notice a vast improvement. I would say, eat smaller portions, mainly vegetables and pulses, with protein and a bit of carbs, don't cut out any food groups and try to move more. I am not from here, I am from the north of Spain (Basque Country) , where we eat much more fish than meat and every day food is vegetable- and pulse- based and very simply cooked, with olive oil and basic ingredients. Most of my friends, men in their 40's are very trim and young -looking and I think is because of the diet. Swimming is very gentle to start with and extremely relaxing. Try walking as well (but once your ankle heals!!) and may even dancing!! I walk for miles in London, specially in the summer. But whatever you do, it has to be something you enjoy, otherwise it won't work becasue you will not stick to it.
Good luck

Thanks for the reply londoner1998.

Very interesting to hear about your experience and the yoga helping to remove your anxiety. I lov the Mediterranean diet, maybe I should move to Spain lol!

I do love walking, it really is the nicest form of exercise. When I was slimmer, all I did was walk (and some toning work etc, but mostly walking), I ate better back then though.

I will go swimming sometime this week, I am feeling very restless.

What groups of food did you not touch?

fuzzyhead_3

newlywed wrote: »

Can you do any swimming? that doesn't put any weight on your ankle? Or for exercise sometimes I unstack the dishwasher one item at a time walking round the kitchen more (it's not far but it's a few extra steps when you really don't feel like exercising), or tidy up taking one item at a time through to other rooms where they belong.

Definitely get your OH on board with your eating plans. When my OH goes on his healthy eating diet (for muscle building more than anything) - I find we eat loads less biscuits and junk in the evenings. We'll occasionally have an evening snack of cereal instead (lower fat than biscuits and cakes), or maybe crumpets or fruit like melon.

I have only bought one pack of biscuits this week (for the kids really) - and most of them are still in the tin - instead of the 5 packs a week we were eating

The other thing that made a difference the other year was to dish up dinner and then put a large spoonful back in the pot (or in a tub for the next day's lunch).

I found if I dished up a huge portions, we'd eat it all. But if I dished up a smaller amount and said there's more if you want it... only rarely did either of us have seconds. And we didn't feel hungry either.

Thank you for the reply newlywed.

Good poiint about housework, I guess it can be a good form of exercise! I am going to do more of that when my ankle's better

I will get OH on board re healthier eating and portions, I haven't asked him yet and maybe this is me being afraid of actually taking that step. Maybe I'm not ready to let go of the junk. I am ashamed of myself...

fuzzyhead_3

Mojisola wrote: »

If you're going to start eating the low-carb way, drop the low fat foods. Your body needs fat to work and fat tells your stomach you've eaten and that you don't need more food.

Thanks for the reple Mojisola.

Oh right, I hadn't thought of that...

fuzzyhead_3

I just ate a slice of ginger cake and a whole packet of M&Ms, I feel so guilty.

Why am I doing this to myself? I saw myself in the mirror earlier and could have cried.

MissMoneypenny

I have this site as my opening page on my browser. Very inspirational
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/

and for losing fat
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=113693871

newlywed

fuzzyhead wrote: »

I just ate a slice of ginger cake and a whole packet of M&Ms, I feel so guilty.

Why am I doing this to myself? I saw myself in the mirror earlier and could have cried.

Everyone is allowed a small treat now and again. I don't go in for banning any foods as then I get really down and the banned food is all I can think of. Maybe you are trying to cut out too much too soon?

Can you allocate yourself ONE treat to have that day and only have that? Or else find a healthy food that is a treat - mine is smoked salmon or cherries, or melon. If I eat food that feels like a treat but is healthy then I don't crave the rubbish stuff so much

Try and work out why you ate that. Was it boredom? Can you try and find something else to do to occupy you? I find if I'm reading or doing jigsaws or beading or something, the time flies by and I forget about eating.

Were you upset? Did that trigger it?

I read the flylady body clutter book (well part of it - I found it dug too deep into my emotions so stopped) - and it helped me to realise that when things went wrong I went for cake and chocolate, probably because of childhood reactions. When my dad was in a good mood he'd come home with loads of different cakes from the bakers, or chocolate or something - so I associated that with good moods.

You need to look deep inside and find out why you ate when you weren't hungry. My biggest one is boredom. Keeping my hands busy stops me reaching for the biscuits and sweets.

fuzzyhead_3

MissMoneypenny wrote: »

I have this site as my opening page on my browser. Very inspirational
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/

and for losing fat
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=113693871

Thanks for the reply MissMoneypenny.

I will have a look at the links and hopefully pick up some tips.

fuzzyhead_3

newlywed wrote: »

Everyone is allowed a small treat now and again. I don't go in for banning any foods as then I get really down and the banned food is all I can think of. Maybe you are trying to cut out too much too soon?

Can you allocate yourself ONE treat to have that day and only have that? Or else find a healthy food that is a treat - mine is smoked salmon or cherries, or melon. If I eat food that feels like a treat but is healthy then I don't crave the rubbish stuff so much

Try and work out why you ate that. Was it boredom? Can you try and find something else to do to occupy you? I find if I'm reading or doing jigsaws or beading or something, the time flies by and I forget about eating.

Were you upset? Did that trigger it?

I read the flylady body clutter book (well part of it - I found it dug too deep into my emotions so stopped) - and it helped me to realise that when things went wrong I went for cake and chocolate, probably because of childhood reactions. When my dad was in a good mood he'd come home with loads of different cakes from the bakers, or chocolate or something - so I associated that with good moods.

You need to look deep inside and find out why you ate when you weren't hungry. My biggest one is boredom. Keeping my hands busy stops me reaching for the biscuits and sweets.

I don't know what triggered it newlywed. I really don't. I think my body has come to 'expect' sugary junk at certain times, or something. I'mn sat right now eating toast with Nutella. I can't believe I'm telling you this, I read back through my posts and feel so angry at myself.

Anyway, I bought 2 low-carb weight loss books earlier (one of them is a recipe book), 50p each new in the charity shop so very MSE. So I will be sitting down to read them and get some ideas.


So, today's food:
12 strawbs
300g low fat plain yogurt
v. small cottage pie
chicken and veg stir fry
snacks - an apple and lots of choclate (and toast with Nutella)

As you can see, my meals are actually not that bad, it's just the snacks I need to cut out. I need to delve a bit deeper into why I'm making myself fatter and eating this rubbish even though I know it's doing huge damage - and how I can change my attitude.

I will also look into healthier treats, thanks for the tip. It was very interesting to hear about you associating cakes etc with improving mood - and identifying your trigger points. Well done you for working all this out, you have obviously thought hard about it. I would like to be where you are progress-wise and hope that I can get there.

tara747

fuzzyhead - not that I practise what I preach as you will see from my sig - but maybe you could record how you feel before, during and after eating the chocolate etc? That might let you see how it affects you. Or maybe look at your posts from the previous day and see how you feel about what you have eaten. That might make you feel differently about what you are about to eat. Does that make sense?

(((hugs))) to you. I know you can do it! You just need to make one small change at a time. Starting today! So... what's the first one?

p.s. come on over to the 'axe the avoirdupois' thread, we are all trying to lose half a stone a month (breaking the bigger targets into small manageable chunks). It is very supportive even when you're doing badly - as I am! Or you could try the low carb or other weight loss threads xo

GrammarGirl

Nutella on toast is quite a good way to curb chocolate cravings, especially if it's on wholemeal toast and you only have a few slices. Don't beat yourself up about that one.