splurged yesterday
 

Had a ton of crap yesterday after 4pm. Been good for around 2 weeks before that. So today I am struggling to get back in the positive mind set since I screwed up. But I kind of felt like a day like that was building. And maybe that mindset is the problem. I've been good today. So why not focus on the good of today? Just thinking out loud a little bit.

AONT (All Or Nothing Thinking) is bad. Don't do it!

I've fallen into that trap before and it is a very destructive on. What's past is past--forget about it and pick up where you left off. One meal or one bad day won't derail you. Averages are what we're interested in since this is a long term thing.

My advice is to make sure you log every single calorie--good, bad or ugly--if you eat a dozen donuts (and I HAVE, in the past) log 'em. If you drink a gallon and a half of beer (done that too), log it. That way you can see how small an impact one slip-up makes on your average.

Regards,
Michael

The hardest part about logging every calorie is how time consuming it is. I have done that a little bit lately, but I think I have only gone all the way through with it one day because of how long it takes. I know about custom foods and all that. I dunno, maybe I will do it again. Thanks for your input. You are right about the all or nothing thinking. I am already feeling pretty good just thinking about this. I am losing weight and feeling good and just had one bad half-day. I'm sure it hurt my averages a lot. But not as much as having 14 bad half-days in the same week LOL. So, nice to meet you Michael. I'm Mike. What things have worked for you in your huge amount of weight loss. Do you have a plan for maintaining when you get back there?

Mike is right- one bad day is better then 14! I slipped up a bit yesterday too!

When i get home from work it is really tough for me- because i have free range of the kitchen :) It helps for me to plan out food for the day- then i can look forward to having that 200 calorie snack when i get home. I know when i cant have- so i focus on that.
Planning out my day in the morning helps my food intake overall too- because it allows me to plan ahead and prepare myself for the upcoming meals.

Thinking ahead is always the best when it comes to eating healthy-

Hi Mike. I know custom foods are a bit of a pain, but once they're in, they're in. I spend less than 5 minutes a day entering my food and activities. I make much use of the "recent foods" features--if you do the "more foods" choice at the bottom you can scroll through the last week(s) of food and check off multiple ones to add--this makes entry quick and painless.

As to my plan, I stay between 1500 and 1600 calories a day (always 1500, usually under 1550). I don't "cheat". I do have one day a month that I plan to take "off" w/no calorie restrictions. I do log everything, even on the day "off".

I try to keep more-or-less a 40/30/30 carb/prot/fat mix on my pie chart, but don't worry too much if it's off a bit.

I avoid simple carbs and processed food as much as possible.

I only drink black coffee and water (and usually some form of alcohol on my "day off").

Most days I eat 300 cals (high protein) for breakfast, 100 cal snack around 9 am, 300 cals for lunch around 11:30 and the rest of my calories for dinner around 5:30 or thereabouts.

I walk 1.3 miles in 25 minutes every day during my lunch break and on weekends do WiiFit and/or some other activity.

This is what works for me. I will say that my loss has slowed down now that I'm under 300--it's about 2 lbs a week now. In past weight loss journies I've lost much faster, though I was younger and ate much fewer calories (1000 a day).

I'm now convinced that a more sedate pace is better for a number of reasons.

As to maintaining the loss, the jury is still out. It's something I've never been able to do in the past. My current thought is that by losing more slowly my body and mind will adjust to the new "me". And, I intend to continue to log food/activities here to keep me "honest". We'll just have to wait and see how that all plays out, so stay tuned!

Regards,
Michael

They say it takes 3 weeks (minimum) to start a new habit, so I'm thinking you have to get right back to it Mister, because you got another week (minimum) to go before your new lifestyle is even close to becoming a habit. Believe me, I know all about habits, good, bad, otherwise. Hey it happens, at least you're not letting it spiral out of control. Grab the reins and brace yourself, the first 48 hours after a binge are the worst, then the carb monster tapers off and you'll have an easier time controlling it again.

Michael,

I have the same weight goal as you and I have also had difficulty maintaining when I have gotten close to it. Hopefully we can help each other. You have some serious momentum going. I don't work out as much as you, but maybe that will have to change. I've been trying to stay under 2000 calories/day. It's been tough, but I feel better when I exercise discipline. i think i'm getting some momentum going too. just a couple weeks, but more than i've put together in a long time. i've heard it takes 30 days to establish a habit. i am at least going to go that far even if i do have a slip up like last night. i really can see myself doing it this time, so i actually believe it.

Michael,

Another thing, are you hungry all day? I am hungry all day when I keep my calories low. What about you? Any tips for managing hunger? And please don't tell me to eat a lot of protein for breakfast. No matter how I spread out 1500-2000 calories, I'm still hungry.

Just curious as to thoughts on that 'all or nothing' thinking. I've always thought it was important to understand personal motivations/orientations to food and I am definintely an all or nothing kind of eater. I don't have a problem saying no to sweets and such, but once I get a taste, I don't know how to keep portions in control. I'm aware this could set me up for binging (and has in the past), but I have yet to find a better way to handle my problem. I had read a book a while ago, something like "7 secrets of naturally skinny people" that talked a lot about learning to eat more actively, and yet letting go of any regrets if you do have a bit too much...basically cutting out the guilt. It was an eye-opening read for me if anyone is interested.

Anyway, Mike, to address your question about being so hungry...I personally find a little carb with my protein is much more satiatiating. For instance, my usual weeekend breakfast consists of two egg whites and veggies (usually mushrooms and spinach). It's basically protein on top of protein. On the side I usually have either fruit or yogurt. I found, however, that I would be hungry within an hour or so of eating it, but when I add a slice of whole wheat toast, I stay full a lot longer. Since such a realization, I try to keep my snacks and meals a nice balance of protein, veg/fruit, and carb with maybe a little added dairy. The more complete, the longer I stay full.

I find that increasing my activity works better than cutting my calories too low. I can't handle hunger. Hunger does not seem to increase with increased activities - in fact I find I'm less hungry on those days.

Weekends are always hard. I overate at a lunch buffet yesterday, however it was at 3 pm. so I was able to avoid food for the rest of the day and my calories were likely only 2-300 more than usual.

Getting back on is track is so important. Knowing that you are going to lapse and having a plan to deal with that helps.

You CAN do it, really.

First, as to the over-cal day you had, it really doesn't matter. I have one day a month figured into my plan that I take "off". I log what I eat, but with no calorie limit. Yesterday was my day--I had over 3K calories, including a 6 pack of beer. Today, I'm right back on my 1500 cals.

I think the "day off" is a good idea--you are planning on it, it is not "cheating". You record the calories and it is figured into your average. You are also not faced with the "I'll never be able to eat (insert your favorite food here) again" type thinking. You think "I've been good all month, today, and today only, I will go significatly over my usual limit".

It's funny, even on my day off, I have no compulsion to eat junk like sweets or bakery items (my old nemesis--I was a raving carb freak) nor really go overboard. And suprisingly, I enjoy my "day off" less and less. Even the beer was a dissapointment and I do like beer. I feel much better today with, at this point, 400 good calories in me.

Now, as to feeling hungry--I really seldom am hungry to the point of distress. Having on a couple of occasions taken in 0 calories for 30 days at a time, I know what real hunger is all about.

The way I spread out my 1500 calories really keeps me satisfied most of the time. About the only times it doesn't is if I'm bored and have perhaps used up my calories too early in the day.

On work days I eat 300 cals (usually 1/2 cup egg beaters, 2oz steak and 2 slices lite whole wheat bread w/real butter) for breakfast, 100 (fruit)around 9:00, 300 at 11:30 and the last 800 around 5:30 to 6:00 and go to bed around 8 or 9.

On weekends I usually eat a big brunch around 10-11, usually a couple eggs, bacon and toast. I'll have an afternoon snack, then again, the rest of my cals around supper time.

I do drink a big glass or two of water before my meals, which really helps.

I really don't exercise as much as I should--just the 1.3 mile walk at lunch time on work days, the WiiFit for half an hour or so on Saturday and some house/yard work on Sundays. I DO need to start lifting, but haven't done it yet.

This is what works for me. It may very well be that you can't live on the lower cals and that's fine but your losses may come more slowly. I would take a hard look at what you're eating in those 2K cals--are their any "empty" calories there? If so, you might consider cutting them back. Just a suggestion.

Regards,
Michael

PS I still weigh about 70 pounds more than you, so my body burns more than yours just to keep me breathing. With my "lifestyle" and exercise, I figure around 3000 cals a day. I am losing, on average, a bit over 2lbs a week with my 1500 cal intake limit. If I ate 2K a day, I would expect the losses to really slow up, for what that's worth. I suspect that eventually my maintainance level will be somewhere around 2K cals a day.

thanks so much for the help guys (and girls). i am doing a 5k in march, so i'm hoping to lose enough weight by then to actually be able to jog. there is not way i could run a mile today unless i was being chased. i guess i've just had to accept hunger as part of weight loss. but i think when i've lost the weight, it won't be so bad. i am establishing some new habits and i will never go back to the old ones. i used to go to mcdonalds almost every day for lunch. i've been only once in the last 3 weeks or so and i don't even crave it now. they say it takes 30 days to establish a habit. i think i'm pretty close.

One thing I've found is that an early morning workout tends to calm down my hunger a bit. I've never really been a big breakfast person though. Since I started I've been alternating between running 30-60 min on the eliptical (depending on the day) and doing the p90x cardiox dvd first thing in the morning. I follow that up with a slimfast shake about 40 min. later after getting cleaned up and such and for some reason this ritual really seems to level out my hunger for the rest of the day. I eat about every two hours after that first shake, but small snack/meals never bigger than 300 calories and stop eating early. Been at 1200-1500 calories a day, with daily workouts and hunger has not been too bad. Hope it helps!

Also, water! I have a 500 ml bottle that I keep with me all day, no idea how many I get down, I just know its a lot. Helps with the hunger and it speeds your metabolism!

If I can add my 2 cents here...

I see it mentioned this idea of equating being "good" with the quality and, sometimes, quantity of food consumed on a given day. My opinion is that you are no less "good" because of, say, a dozen doughnuts than if you ate 1 cup of broccoli instead. My point here is that your value and worth as a person is NOT dependent on or determined by food.

What has proven to be so effective for me, and one of the reasons why I am still maintaining the healthy lifestyle I started almost a year ago, is that I no longer consider food "good" or "bad" and, by the same token, I no longer consider myself either "good" or "bad" based on what I eat. I can and do eat anything I want - there are simply some foods that require stricter portion control than others. It doesn't make those foods "bad" or me "bad" for eating them.

I also have one "cheat meal" a week, which, over the course of the last 8 months, has developed into just having one day a week where my calories are at 2000 instead of (roughly) 1500. But it did take quite awhile for me to prefer steamed vegetables to fries, just like it took a long time for me to find exercise I liked enough to do for an hour a day. ;)

Just my opinion... I wanted to share a food philosophy that's enabled me to lose about 50# with some more to go. Good luck and be kind to yourselves.

Mecompco has talked with me about his diet a bit and I have been using the %40carb/%30protein/%30fat method myself. I, too, was a raging carb fiend, favoring sugary pastries and pastas for years. Very high carbohydrate levels do trick your body into thinking it's hungry after only a little bit, even after you've eaten a whole day's worth of calories in a sitting (and I have).

Carbs are not bad. Anything is bad in excess.

I find the higher protein levels keep me satiated much longer to the extent that I actually struggle to eat my entire 1300 calorie minimum. Your body has to work harder to process protein, keeping you satiated longer. Transfering carb calories to protein calories also limits that ever present threat of excessive insulin that we over eaters tend to bring on ourselves.

Give that ratio a try and give it some time. I think the change happened abnormalyl quick for me. In only about a week my eating patterns have shifted drastically in favor of weight loss/nearly all day satisfaction.