Hello everyone! A little background before I share my tip. I'm a 5'10" 21-year old female who has just lost 20 pounds (225 lbs > 205 lbs), and have consistently lost this over a period of 4 months. This was done through light weight-training and a massive overhaul of my diet. There's of course been trial and error along the way, and this is just what worked for me the best! All I hope for in sharing is that anyone can relate to this in any way.
Now, onto the tip!
This was inspired by a video I saw where the person casually mentioned that some of the best foods we can eat are available to us, yet we often incorrectly believe restaurant food can produce some reaction we can't ourselves. It really got me thinking, what foods do I actually like to eat? Yeah sure, we all like pizza and burgers and all that good stuff, but what about those foods make them appealing? For me, I love the cheese (cheese pulls!) and sauce of the pizza the best, and I like the burger and the crunch of the lettuce. I don't really like lettuce to the point of eating a ton of it plain, but I like the combination of the meat with the lettuce, for the texture. Some other examples for me are that I've noticed I like crunchy foods that are soft in the middle. So a lot of times, if I eat enough roasted broccoli or potatoes, that satisfies me as much as french fries. Of course I still love fries! But I've noticed that measured out amounts of roasted potatoes are an acceptable substitute for my body and mind to feel like I've hit that craving. Similar with mac and cheese, because I like the cheese more than the pasta, I've figured out ways to add more of that and less of the latter (a huge bowl of cauliflower cheese clocks in at <600 calories, even with a ton of cheese. It totally satisfies my creamy, cheese pull cravings).
Again, the point is not that I'm depriving myself of certain foods, and I'm happy to enjoy pizza, burgers and the like sometimes as well! My point is, putting elements of food that I like into my everyday diet has significantly reduced the deprivation I used to feel towards foods that I probably shouldn't eat too much of for my weight loss goals!
So, the single most helpful method for me has been to make a physical list of the foods you like to eat. It helps to do this when you're not already hungry, so you can really objectively think about what you enjoy eating and why. Then if you incorporate more of those into your diet, . And if you catch yourself thinking "man, I wish I had ___ food right now", think about why and what about that food it is that you're craving in that moment. Is it texture- crunchy or chewy? Is it flavor- salty, spicy, garlicky? Or is it a specific element or two of that food- like sauce and cheese with pizza?
Then, figure out how to add those elements into your diet in a way that YOU will enjoy!
Many of us can label cravings as "bad" or get angry with ourselves for having them, and I admit I did as well. Actually, cravings are good! They help give you insight into what you actually enjoy eating. I've noticed through this process, my own favorite foods have changed and evolved from when I was bigger to now. Food is fuel, but it's also something that can be enjoyable. Changing my mindset towards food and what I like/dislike to eat has been a real game changer throughout my journey, and if any part of this post resonated with you, I encourage you to try out this tip!
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