Struggling to stay on plan with healthy eating

Ray37

Hi guys,
I am having a serious issue with staying on track with healthy eating to lose weight. I am 5' 5'', and weight 12st 8lbs., 26 year old female. I just cannot seem to stop eating crap, and am getting so down about my weight. I feel so depressed and angry that I've let myself go. Has anyone any tips on how to overcome the 'crap food' cravings, and how to keep the strong mindset needed to actually lose weight? I want to eventually lose 2 stone. If anyone can help or share some advice, I'd really appreciate it. It's affected my confidence so much that I actually find it hard to look people in the eye lately as I'm embarrassed about how I look. My mood is pretty bad too, as I'm just generally down about how I look/feel. I can't bear to be in photos and judge myself weight-wise with everyone I meet. Thanks guys.

FizzleSticks

This post has been deleted.

Ray37

Yep, exactly, I can't see myself getting where I want to be... I know I am very weak willed in this, and I hate it. My willpower has been zero. I live abroad and find myself with a lot more free time than I had back in Ireland, and use food as a comfort which I of course know is bad. I need to change my MINDSET more than anything.

thejaguar

If there's chocolate, I will eat it. All of it.

Replace chocolate with any other questionable food choice and the sentence remains true - crisps, pizza, chips, gravy, toast, ryvita, a fried egg on a ryvita...

What I've realised (after a long time and a lot of thinking) is that if I don't have something specific to do, I'll look to eat. And the more often I eat crap, the stronger the cravings get. I'm still weaning myself back off the little break I gave myself for Christmas.

So here's what I do to avoid eating crap.
1. Prepare - super important.
Every evening I make tomorrow's lunch and plan tomorrow's dinner. I also bring plenty of healthy snacks to have when I feel peckish throughout the day.
Being prepared is difficult but it really pays dividends.

2. Get rid of the crap.
If it's not there you can't eat it. I have ZERO willpower. I don't bother trying to exercise willpower. The fried egg on a ryvita really happened because I was literally willing to eat anything. If there had been crap available it all would have been eaten.

3. Do something else.
If I get out of the house in the evening I'm nowhere near as likely to eat crap - by out of the house I generally mean some form of exercise - a walk, a run, a swim. If you think it's too cold or wet to go out - you just don't really want to go out.

I focus my energy on those 3 things - rather than on what I did or didn't eat. It's easier (to me) to plan what I AM going to eat and what I AM going to do tomorrow than to focus on "how will I keep away from those damn chocolates in the fridge" (because I won't keep away).

And last thing - get an app like MyFitnessPal or one of them. I've used MyFitnessPal and found it really worked because of 2 things.

1. It gave me a specific goal
So it's not just about "don't eat the bar, it'll make you fat", it's about "you've eaten everything you need for today - so no need for the bar.
2. It taught me about portion sizes
When I started using it I got really anal and was weighing everything - when I saw how tiny portions were I started to realise I was eating WAY more then I realised - even of healthy things.

That's my two cents worth. I hope it's helpful.

quickbeam

Put that free time to good use - go out for a walk or a run. Try Couch to 5K if you've never run before.

Make a decision that you'll stay on the wagon for X amount of time. To lose two stone that will probably mean about 6 months at a pound a week. I'd aim for that, if you lose faster it's a bonus and better than aiming higher and then getting disheartened when you don't lose as fast as you wanted. That would mean setting a date in your head of, say mid-August to have reached your goal. Keep that in mind.

This helped me a lot in the early days when motivation was difficult: write out a list of reasons you want to lose the weight. List as many things as you can (you can always add to it as you think of more) and be as detailed as possible. Keep the list with you when you go shopping. If you're tempted to make wrong choices, take out the list and remind yourself why you shouldn't buy it. If you don't buy the wrong items, you can't eat them. If they're in the house, it's all too easy to succumb to the temptation as they're too easily accessed.

Ray37

Thanks everyone, it seems a a few of you have had the same barriers as me, mentally at least. Would you say in terms of exercising that I should start now, or wait til I have a few lbs off? TBH the reason I shy away from the gym immediately is I hate seeing myself in the mirror, as I get quite upset with how I look (same when I swim etc). I feel I've so much weight on that the work outs will be way harder than if I were to start in 2 weeks or so with a few of the excess lbs gone. May sound a bit mad, but my body image is so poor I can barely stand to see myself undressed etc. Genuinely not an excuse to not work out, it's just the fear of seeing myself puts me off

quickbeam

Oh, start now definitely. Walking or jogging out of doors might not have the same fear for you though - no mirrors, or changing rooms.

Ray37

quickbeam wrote: »

Oh, start now definitely.  Walking or jogging out of doors might not have the same fear for you though - no mirrors, or changing rooms.

Thank you, that's a good idea, it's funny, writing out my fears etc really makes it clearer in my mind of why I am struggling

Ruby31

I lost 3.5 stone 10 years ago. The only way I could rid myself of the cravings for junk food was to cut it out completely for about 2 weeks. Eat only homemade food. I found after being off junk for a couple of weeks, I stopped thinking about it. Before this, I was like an addict and would think about food ALL day.

Also, make sure to keep busy. There's nothing more likely to make you give in to temptation than boredom, and I don't just mean junk food. If I'm around the house for too long doing nothing, I'll start mooching for food even if I'm not hungry.

Alf Veedersane

It's possible there's an element of being overwhelmed by it all and your resolve is at a low ebb because part of you thinks 'what's the point?'.

Try not to focus on where you want to get but on the individual steps you need to get there. Most people are at least aware of some of the bad choices they're making. So start with a single good choice today. Then another tomorrow. And so on. You might find positivity from making a good choice followed by another one. It can help build some resolve, founded on the positivity you got from making good choices.

That can be a positive feedback loop.

Get a journal and wrote down those positive feelings when you have them. Check in on them regularly.

It's possible you're not in a place where you're able to make the changes to turn things around. But you can try. When you want to make the changes, you will.

There's a lot of truth in the saying that "Change happens when the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of change".

ger vallely

I'm 5'5 too, female and struggling to eat healthy as well. I know all the lingo, love all the healthy food but just gorge on sugary rubbish far too often. If you fancy a long distance healthy eating partner we could egg each other on? I could do with a nudge in the right direction. I even have goals to work towards but I just let myself get ridiculously easily sidetracked. I find hormones play a huge part in my diet, or so I tell myself! Some months I don't over do it at all and live on salad and soup and then the next month it's bags of jelly beans and double chocolate cookies. You're not alone!

Laney17

Ray37 wrote: »

Thank you, that's a good idea, it's funny, writing out my fears etc really makes it clearer in my mind of why I am struggling

Hi,I'm sorry to hear your self esteem is so low.that's what the root problem is here..not the actual weight but how you view the excess weight on your body..which is dampening your confidence even more..vicious circle!I think you need to do some work on building your confidence and changing your mindset first.the weight loss will follow in time but at the moment if you don't work on what's going on in your head,and continue to try lose weight and hate yourself even more for not succeeding..then this vicious circle will just continue.maybe try a session or 2 of cognitive behavioural therapy..then attend a motivation weight loss programme (motivation clinic or something like that??!)..best of luck to you

Ray37

ger vallely wrote: »

I'm 5'5 too, female and struggling to eat healthy as well. I know all the lingo, love all the healthy food but just gorge on sugary rubbish far too often. If you fancy a long distance healthy eating partner we could egg each other on? I could do with a nudge in the right direction. I even have goals to work towards but I just let myself get ridiculously easily sidetracked. I find hormones play a huge part in my diet, or so I tell myself! Some months I don't over do it at all and live on salad and soup and then the next month it's bags of jelly beans and double chocolate cookies. You're not alone!

Ger I would absolutely love that! We can partner up and work together! How do you think we can best do it? I'd love a person to fight along with

Ray37

Laney17 wrote: »

Ray37 wrote: »

Thank you, that's a good idea, it's funny, writing out my fears etc really makes it clearer in my mind of why I am struggling

Hi,I'm sorry to hear your self esteem is so low.that's what the root problem is here..not the actual weight but how you view the excess weight on your body..which is dampening your confidence even more..vicious circle!I think you need to do some work on building your confidence and changing your mindset first.the weight loss will follow in time but at the moment if you don't work on what's going on in your head,and continue to try lose weight and hate yourself even more for not succeeding..then this vicious circle will just continue.maybe try a session or 2 of cognitive behavioural therapy..then attend a motivation weight loss programme (motivation clinic or something like that??!)..best of luck to you

Yeah, the CBT is something I have done before actually, I have pretty bad anxiety and OCD (always have, since I was a child). I reckon I am living in my head an awful lot, instead of just going for it. My moods also play a part in my over eating, in that I eat crap when I am a bit low/bored etc.

FizzleSticks

This post has been deleted.

Smoked Tuna

I'd used to be the same and would consider myself in danger of relapsing. But a few things help..

1) Counting calories, record it on a spreadsheet (use my fitness pal if preferred). It becomes quite easy when you compile a list of your commonly eaten foods..don't guess, buy a food scales and weigh your food. Once you know the energy for a portion size you don't need to weigh it again provided your using approx the same portions.

And if you avoid energy dense food you'll find it hard to eat enough.

For energy dense food, buy the smallest bowl you can find. A smaller portion looks like a bigger portion on a smaller plate /bowl.

Here's a good bowl:

White Oatmeal Soup Cereal Bowl Crockery Set - 153mm 6" (Box 6) https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00GDGEV00/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_8CHPybRVMP9QF

2)Exercise, Join a group training environment so it's fun and your more likely to be consistent.

3) walking. Long walks.. 1,2, even 3 hours long when you've got the time. Not a massive amount of energy burned but it all helps but main thing is it Relieves stress and it's also time spent not eating

Smoked Tuna

Smoked Tuna wrote: »

I'd used to be the same and would consider myself in danger of relapsing. But a few things help..

1) Counting calories, record it on a spreadsheet (use my fitness pal if preferred). It becomes quite easy when you compile a list of your commonly eaten foods..don't guess, buy a food scales and weigh your food. Once you know the energy for a portion size you don't need to weigh it again provided your using approx the same portions.

And if you avoid energy dense food you'll find it hard to eat enough.

For energy dense food, buy the smallest bowl you can find. A smaller portion looks like a bigger portion on a smaller plate /bowl.

Here's a good bowl:

White Oatmeal Soup Cereal Bowl Crockery Set - 153mm 6" (Box 6) https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00GDGEV00/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_8CHPybRVMP9QF

2)Exercise, Join a group training environment so it's fun and your more likely to be consistent.

3) walking. Long walks.. 1,2, even 3 hours long when you've got the time. Not a massive amount of energy burned but it all helps but main thing is it Relieves stress and it's also time spent not eating

Also Weigh yourself every day and look at the average. WiFi scales are handy. As they automatically upload it.

If you have a bad day, don't stress, in a few days provided your back on plan you'll be back or at least close to where you were. Just don't make the bad day a regular thing.

pinkypinky

I don't agree with weighing every day. Once a week at the same time, wearing the same clothes or none, is better. The OP is talking about how her weight gets her down. If she gets on the scales and sees a number she's unhappy with, it could upset her mood for the day.

ford2600

Ray37 wrote: »

Hi guys,
I am having a serious issue with staying on track with healthy eating to lose weight. I am 5' 5'', and weight 12st 8lbs., 26 year old female. I just cannot seem to stop eating crap, and am getting so down about my weight. I feel so depressed and angry that I've let myself go. Has anyone any tips on how to overcome the 'crap food' cravings, and how to keep the strong mindset needed to actually lose weight? I want to eventually lose 2 stone. If anyone can help or share some advice, I'd really appreciate it. It's affected my confidence so much that I actually find it hard to look people in the eye lately as I'm embarrassed about how I look. My mood is pretty bad too, as I'm just generally down about how I look/feel. I can't bear to be in photos and judge myself weight-wise with everyone I meet. Thanks guys.

Your OP reads like food has control over you and that you are helpless. Your self esteem seems on the floor and you are also avoiding social interaction. Your mood is low.

I'd fix that first. It is completely fixable. Don't let your anxiety define you and how you look, feel and live. Get professional help with that; you have a habit of dealing with life which doesn't work well; you can learn new habits with positive feed back loops which can help you to define yourself.

When you get started with that then look at learning to eat properly (forget about dieting and cutting stuff out for now, just learn what's necessary for health). Take a long term approach to a lifestyle change
Then look at organizing your food environment; not shopping hungry, no junk in house, preparing lunch for work etc.

Join some group with a social element for support whatever works for you.

I'm be inclined to work in some time of relaxing time in your day also to "switch off"; be it yoga, walk on a beach, mindfulness again whatever works for you.

Best of luck

thejaguar

Also - please come back and tell us how you're getting on. Good or bad.

That way we can overload you with advice again - just so you know we care

Ray37

Guys thank you all so much for your advice :-) you're so kind. I've bought myself a diary to record my goals for the day in terms of healthy eating and why I need/deserve to look after myself. Day one down and I'm feeling positive!! I think recording my food will help to make better choices, and re reading WHY Im doing this and having a defined goal (-2st by August) can only have a positive impact. The diary happens to have an 'affiriming' phrase on each page, which I think is so good for someone who lives in their head as much as I do. Ill keep updating here, and anyone else who wants to join me should do so here too if you like. X

Smoked Tuna

pinkypinky wrote: »

I don't agree with weighing every day. Once a week at the same time, wearing the same clothes or none, is better. The OP is talking about how her weight gets her down. If she gets on the scales and sees a number she's unhappy with, it could upset her mood for the day.

That's why I said look at the average.

The once a week could just as easily be out, so every day and take a weekly average is more accurate.

Ray37

Been at this 5 days now, lost 2lbs and feel the mid section is a bit smaller  off to the gym tonight for a bootcamp class, won't lie, I am freaking at the thought of going. Still keeping the food diary and keeping carbs to very minimal levels. Just booked a trip back home in 3 months time, so this is going to be my motivation for keeping this all up.

guil

One thing that I haven't seen mentioned is get a tailors tape and measure yourself. Neck, each arm, chest, ,waist, hips and both legs. Even if the weight isn't changing a whole lot there will be huge differences there if you are doing any exercise.

Alf Veedersane

Ray37 wrote: »

Been at this 5 days now, lost 2lbs and feel the mid section is a bit smaller off to the gym tonight for a bootcamp class, won't lie, I am freaking at the thought of going. Still keeping the food diary and keeping carbs to very minimal levels. Just booked a trip back home in 3 months time, so this is going to be my motivation for keeping this all up.

Well done! Keep up the good work.

Just remember, you don't need to cut carbs. You just need to be able to sustain the healthier eating.

Enjoy reaping the rewards - mental and physical.

ger vallely

Ray37 wrote: »

Ger I would absolutely love that! We can partner up and work together! How do you think we can best do it? I'd love a person to fight along with

Hi Ray37, only just saw your reply now, so sorry. I guess we could start up our own thread in the health and nutrition section? I see lots of people keep threads going there, although it's usually only one person but I'd imagine it would be just the same with two. I'd love to be accountable to someone else and to feel like I would be letting someone else down besides myself if I were to go off track. I am moving house all next week so I guess it will be difficult to remain good but best starting with a big challenge! Sorry I've taken a bit to reply . Have you any other ideas on how to do this or does the one I had sound doable?

Alf Veedersane

ger vallely wrote: »

Hi Ray37, only just saw your reply now, so sorry. I guess we could start up our own thread in the health and nutrition section? I see lots of people keep threads going there, although it's usually only one person but I'd imagine it would be just the same with two. I'd love to be accountable to someone else and to feel like I would be letting someone else down besides myself if I were to go off track.

There's also the General Weight Loss Support Thread

There are a few there on a similar journey.

dartboardio

Hi, I'm quite similar to you.. in that I get all motivated and healthy eating for 3/4 days at a time, then I could eat a takeaway everyday for 4 days, then back on the healthy eating wagon... I need to stick with it, its not like im depriving myself, healthy, full dinners that are yummy, good breakfasts like porridge/toast, or both, yoghurts and fruit for snacks, or a pack of crisps... but i can't stick to it at all

Ray37

Hi Dartboardio! How about joining myself and Ger to set up a thread to follow for supporting each other? Not too sure how to do it, or even if we do it via email?? Im not sure what the best way is. We help each other when it gets hard and share tips/recipes etc. What do you guys think??

sneakysnake007

Any time you feel sad or depressed tell yourself that the body you have now will not be the same as the body you will have in 6months time. You will get there with exercise and healthy eating. Be good to yourself and accept where you are now, but please be positive and excited for the changes that are to come. Try and welcome exercise, even if it's just a 30minute walk. All your small efforts will gather together and create a big accomplishment for you in the end. Please don't punish yourself if you don't stick to your plan 100% of the time. These are the times that make you stronger as you realize where you went wrong and you get back up and prove to yourself you can do it. All the best with your journey

dartboardio

sorry for late reply back. actually went stalking your page posts and seen you'd replied .

id love to if you're still up for it.

last week was the same story. 'healthy' eating for a few days then all weekend soooo ****.
same again this week, back to eating filling breakfast,lunch, dinner then snacking all evening aaaaaaahhghhh.