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We dicuss this at my WW meetings often and last week we were discussing munching and late night snacking. I will confess that before I started to loosing weight my late night snacks were more like a second dinner. I would have my regualr dinner which always consisted of a meat, veg and a starch and sometimes as a salad as well, but then later in the evening mostly on weekends around 10 pm my husband and I would crave fast food. I would drive to Mcdonalds and get each of us a value meal. Granted at the time it tasted good but the after effects were not so good. bloated, sluggish feeling and then I would say I should not have had that. every Wednesday is buy one get one free sundaes at carvel and every Wednesday we would each get 1 large sundae. I do on occasion get ice cream from Carvel but it's a small soft serve no topping now. If we got Mcdonalds for dinner I would have a big mac, large fries, small cheese burger and 2 snack wraps!!! Yikes I cannot believe I ate that. I have not touched fast food since 2010 and I feel alot better. Loosing 56.8 lbs has made a difference in my appearance, attitude and the way I feel. I needed to confess because it feels good to come clean.Now I only have 1 helping of dinner and it's a smaller portion, I do snack at night but it's healthy snacking like fruit, granola bar, or lowfat ice cream treat. I don't deny my self alot but I do stay away from pre-packed frozen dinners, fast food and chain Ice cream stores. I do allow myself pizza once every 2 weeks and french fries from a diner maybe once a month. I eat Chinese/Japanese maybe once a month. I try not to deprive myself of too much but I do eat better than I did in the past. How about you??
Prior to my current habits, I followed pretty much the same routine. Except, I ate more of it, and I didn't exercise regularly. Now, I eat exactly the same things. But instead of 3/4 of a whole Pepperidge Farms garlic bread, I now eat 1/4 of it. Instead of a full side-dish of macaroni with 2 meatballs, I now eat a few forksful of macaroni, and only one meatball. I still smother it all with parmesan cheese though
Instead of half of a pint-sized container of Ben & Jerry's Coffee Heath Bar Crunch, I now have 1/4 of it, and have another 1/4 the next day, and maybe finish the rest over the weekend.
Instead of my monthly havarti, tomato, black olive, red onion, on a crusty french batard, I still have it - but only a few times during the last year.
Instead of sitting at a desk at a cubicle in an office for 8 hours a day, I now work part time standing up, as a cashier, which requires that I interact with other human beings, and which requires that I move every so often, and sometimes even lift things. Plus, I now go to a gym at least 3 times a week, including once per week minimum of a high-intensity exercise class similar to the Insanity program, but including weights. So I'm burning around 750 calories during that hour, while getting some excellent strength training.
I've always loved salads, so now I'm eating more of them.
I've always liked chicken, so now I'm eating more of it.
I've always considered fast-food to be a "convenience" thing, rather than a "enjoyed" thing. So I don't bother eating McDonald's or Burger Barf or Wendy's anymore, except maybe once or twice a year when I get a craving for a Big Mac or Bacon Jr. Classic.
I still eat pizza, though fewer slices and less frequently. I still eat a 6" subway sub once a week.
Really, not all that much difference in my eating habits. Just less (or smaller portions) of all the things I know contribute to weight gain and bad health.
Prior to my current habits, I followed pretty much the same routine. Except, I ate more of it, and I didn't exercise regularly.
Same here. I've gone through phases where I'll eat more or less of certain foods but one constant is that my diet always has lots of starch and sugar. I'm not a big meat eater, nor do I eat much fast food - although I will eat processed foods like canned soups. If my weight ever creeps up it's always because I've been eating more and moving less. Usually when that happens I've been eating more crap (candy/pastries/buttered rice) and less good stuff (fresh fruit and veg). The one time I ever went on a diet was with Weight Watchers. The things that helped me the most on that program were drinking more water and being more mindful about my food choices and portion control. Sweets were always in the mix so I knew I needed to budget my points to accommodate that.
I was a foodie and followed various "health food" movements; ie, veganism, macrobiotics, etc. These diets are low protein and did not work well for me. It was not so much late night eating but just a lot of cravings and never feeling satiated.
In the late 90s I found a diet called the Zone which helped me learn to put meals together. I also stopped doing dance cardio and switched to walking. I've found a higher protein relatively grain-free diet to be what works best for me.
I've always eaten healthy, meaning lots of fruit and vegetables. But before I could eat bacon, potato chips, dessert.... anything I wanted. Now I have to eliminate those things.
Excellent topic!!
I have been struggling with my eating habits for almost a decade now. Its not that I crave bad foods, but I got deceived by low-fat low sugar versions & misinformation A LOT!! Took me a year before I found out the so called "healthy" granola/cereal bar I was eating as snack was loaded with sugar under a deceptive name. Usually for breakfast i would pick up a cappuccino, egg & cheese croissant from drive thru. For lunch I would eat carbs like pasta or rice with meat & dinner was the same. I tried whole wheat breads too but they still have carbs. I would occassionally include a side salad. Low fat, low sugar versions of ice cream & hot chocolate were a part of my grocery list too. I rarely ate any fruit like apple or banana. Had some fruit with cereals for a while but I didn't like the taste of any cereal so dumped it. Would binge on fast food or pizza atleast once or twice a week. I would do cardio & weights 3-4 times a week so that helped a little. I would exercize for 2hrs & was constantly exhausted.
For the past few months I ditched all these habits & started doing all natural diet. I eat bananas for breakfast, lunch is a raw veggie salad with meat on side (like a cup of grilled chicken or fish), dinner is a healthy home made soup or saute veggies. I had switched to no-sugar cappuccino but I recently stopped that too. For snack I eat fruits or freshly squeezed orange juice or roasted peanuts or almonds. I canceled the gym membership & got an elliptical at home & try to do that atleast for 1/2hr each day. Fast food or sugars are limited only to special occassions like b'days or festivals. When I go out to restaurant I always order a salad & maybe a whole wheat toast. I luv what I eat now & the weight is coming off.
I used to get stuck on nuts. They always caused me to stall or gain weight. I could just eat too many ounces of these darn things and its easy to gain weight on TOO many nuts. Gave them up!
My problem was portion control with all types of foods, the thought of having only 14 potato chips was a joke so I would eat half the bag. I do portion out my food somewhat now when it comes to chips, pretzels, veggies and meat but certain items like pasta 1 cup is just not enough same with cereal 3/4 cup is not enough so sometime I'll have 1 1/2 cups cereal.
fast food SEVERAL times per week (usually at least once a day)
lots of sugar and processed starchy carbs (bread, french fries, sweets, etc.)
at least 1 diet soda per day and very little water (not unusual for me to consume probably less than, I'd say, 32 ounces of fluid per day)
very few fresh fruits and vegetables
processed foods like frozen meals, Lean Cuisines, Krispy Kremes, etc.
wine a couple/few times per week, but on each occasion probably 2 glasses, maybe more
I knew it was bad, but seeing it all spelled out makes it especially appalling. I developed gallstones and was having attacks -- excruciating! -- and also had heartburn. I always felt full, and it often felt like a big lump in my lower throat. I belched HORRENDOUSLY, all day long. So embarrassing!
On August 29 I had my gallbladder removed and used the surgery and recovery as a catalyst to change my habits. I've cut out soda completely, have cut WAY back on wine (I have had about 8 glasses total in the last 2 months), have increased my water to about 3/4 of a gallon per day, have cut out fast food (beyond the occasional...maybe once every couple weeks, and then it's likely to be something like Chick-fil-a nuggets or 1 piece of fish from Long John Silver's), have eaten apples every day (along with other fresh fruits and veg), have cut way back on beef, have cut way back on bread, have cut way back on sweets.
I put my scales under my bed because I didn't want my focus to become my weight, but I know I've lost weight because I've gone down in clothing sizes. (I estimate that I've probably lost between 15 and 20 pounds, but I don't really know for sure. I know I'd lost 11.5 pounds as of October 1.) But more than that, I feel sooo much better: no heartburn, no belching/gas, no bloat, no headaches, easier periods, no afternoon sluggishness, better sleep, more alertness in the morning, etc.
This week in particular I've had several people at work tell me that I look good, so I guess the positive changes are beginning to manifest on the outside.
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I cannot believe I ate that. I have not touched fast food since 2010 and I feel alot better. Loosing 56.8 lbs has made a difference in my appearance, attitude and the way I feel. I needed to confess because it feels good to come clean.Now I only have 1 helping of dinner and it's a smaller portion, I do snack at night but it's healthy snacking like fruit, granola bar, or lowfat ice cream treat. I don't deny my self alot but I do stay away from pre-packed frozen dinners, fast food and chain Ice cream stores. I do allow myself pizza once every 2 weeks and french fries from a diner maybe once a month. I eat Chinese/Japanese maybe once a month. I try not to deprive myself of too much but I do eat better than I did in the past. How about you??
