Calorie counting

Salad for breakfast or grain bowl w veggies. If I start off with a healthy meal and get my veggie count, I’m more likely to stay on track through the day.

I have no set recipe. I change up the veggies and the seasonings depending on what is in the house. The secret is to let it sit in the fridge for 24 hours and let the flavors marinate.

Nothing heavy in the soup like cream.

In fact, I eliminate dairy for a week when "getting back on track." (just a few drops in my morning coffee.) I don't buy any yogurt or cheese or sour cream that week.

Anonymous wrote:Soup. Lots of vegetable soup. I stole the idea from the Cabbage Soup Diet. I love soup and I make the best I ever tasted. My family agrees and we have soup when I've gone "off track" for too long.

would love your recipe

Tell myself I'm tired of feeling like sht and that eating more crap will make me feel crappier, so I better cut it out. It's pretty effective. Also, take walks outside, and don't weigh yourself.

Easy stuff like popcorn, water, eggs on wheat toast, avocados - all healthy and filling.

Soup. Lots of vegetable soup. I stole the idea from the Cabbage Soup Diet. I love soup and I make the best I ever tasted. My family agrees and we have soup when I've gone "off track" for too long.

Anonymous wrote:Instead of focusing on what not to eat, I challenge myself to eat as many veggies and greens as I can each day. I pad every meal with greens and veggies. I find that I feel so much better than I start to naturally gravitate towards healthier foods and stop craving the junk.

I also find that if I don't drink alcohol while I am trying to reset, I am much more successful. Even one glass of wine will make me say "screw it! i will start again tomorrow!".

+1
I tell myself I can eat whatever I want if I eat a huge plain salad (e.g., spinach and cucumbers with lime juice) or a bowl of a clear broth soup before my meal. By the time I'm done with my meal I'm so bored of eating I don't want anything more.

I also force myself to write out whatever crap I ate the day before in my food app, look up the calories, be realistic about portions etc. Knowing I have to do that again makes me not want to eat the crap.

Instead of focusing on what not to eat, I challenge myself to eat as many veggies and greens as I can each day. I pad every meal with greens and veggies. I find that I feel so much better than I start to naturally gravitate towards healthier foods and stop craving the junk.

I also find that if I don't drink alcohol while I am trying to reset, I am much more successful. Even one glass of wine will make me say "screw it! i will start again tomorrow!".

I agree with the grocery store. My DH does the shopping and can't control that.

But after a rough couple of days I might fast a day to just feel better. I like it, it isn't hard.

(Go ahead and tell me I've got disordered eating. I don't)

Eat more veggies, focus on fresh.

Anonymous wrote:For me, the only place I have to practice self control is the grocery store. I just don’t buy the crap. I never want to eat it enough to go out and get it if I’m home and feeling snacky.

Have you been eating out a lot? Just stop. Get some groceries and cook for a week. Make a salad for lunch every day.

It’s old school, but the other thing I’ve done a few times for a more dramatic reset is the first 2 weeks of the south beach diet. It’s hard, but totally changed the kinds of foods I crave and enjoy. Two weeks without sugar and a strawberry is kind of amazing.

NP. I generally follow this. I still eat out once a week, but all other meals are made at home. 90 percent of what I buy at the grocery store, I just choose whole foods that are nutrient dense. I still allow snacks and allow indulgences, but in small amounts.

I don't know what the south beach diet is, but I also did a sugar and simple carb detox diet for 1 month and it helped reset my carb cravings so that I wasn't craving a snack every 2-3 hrs. It also helped to reset my gut bacteria, and my digestion really improved. Before, I would often get stomach aches and indigestion and so much bloat after a meal, and then be hungry a couple hours later. After the reset, I was MUCH more even and it felt kind of freeing not to have cravings so often throughout the day, and to just simply stop craving sweets. It's also good to get plenty of probiotics, especially helpful after a sugar detox.

All that said, I think every person is different and you have to figure out WHY you eat like crap (lack of time? stress? habit/routine? eating out? work lunches? late night snacking?), and then approach it from that angle and problem solve.

Food diary with myfitnesspal to be more mindful. The weight loss for busy physicians podcast helped me reevaluate my thinking about food and address emotional eating.

One meal at a time work for me. Probably breakfast as that sets the tone. I focus way more on protein and fat and try to get a vegetable in in the morning. So a fried egg with 1/2 english muffin with butter and some cherry tomatoes. It also works to make lunch the biggest meal and i eat it at 2. So not at hungry at dinner.

For me, the only place I have to practice self control is the grocery store. I just don’t buy the crap. I never want to eat it enough to go out and get it if I’m home and feeling snacky.

Have you been eating out a lot? Just stop. Get some groceries and cook for a week. Make a salad for lunch every day.

It’s old school, but the other thing I’ve done a few times for a more dramatic reset is the first 2 weeks of the south beach diet. It’s hard, but totally changed the kinds of foods I crave and enjoy. Two weeks without sugar and a strawberry is kind of amazing.

I just go back to eating better?

What do you tell yourself/what do you actually do when you're eaten like crap for a few days (or more than a few days) and need to turn things around?

I seriously struggle with this. I'd be grateful for specific suggestions and strategies and mindsets. TIA.