Losing weight while building a better relationship with food

I’ve noticed that this time around with my weight loss journey, I’m no longer living in restriction and categorizing foods as “good” and “bad”. The cycle of feeling bad about eating a “bad” food never served me as I felt bad about enjoying foods that could have been had in moderation.

As someone who’s struggled with food all throughout my life, I find that only now am I able to lose weight and still enjoying a sweet treat or a nice meal out without feeling like I’ve failed. Life cannot go on with me avoiding bread, rice, sweets, nice meals out, etc though I can choose to honor my cravings with intent and eat in moderation (80-20 as some call it).

Do I meal prep most of my days out? Yes. Do I have snacks in my house still? Yes. Is that okay and can I have them around with reverting to giving up/ giving in to eating in excess to scratch a craving when it could of been had in as a side or serving size option? YES!

Has anyone else found that their relationship with food as shift throughout their weight loss journey?

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Not every diet is made for everybody. So what is working for you?

I've lost over 240 lbs nowadays, do I still have more to go? Yes. And I won't claim to know everything or, heck, anything about the pure diet mindset.

But I've been thinking a lot lately about how much food I eat.

Not just preparing my food or anything, just simply the act of eating. See I used to eat only when I got hungry. But my "hungry" isn't a proper hunger. I get to the point where if I don't eat in the next few minutes and I'm standing around I better eat or I get hangry. So I used to eat only when I got to the point I was ready to eat someone's face when hungry, that's a big problem. I believe so at least, some people have said that "only eat when you're hungry". That's not great advice for me, but it could be for you. Do you feel the hunger in a mild discomfort type of way? Perhaps this is better suited for those types.

"Just eat less" - is typically told by well-meaning people that think they know a lot about losing weight. But I just can't seem to agree with it, for myself at least. I eat way more, healthier, and more filling options. Still some junk food and fast food sometimes but way less often it's not filling and you get so little for more calories than most of my meals nowadays. My biggest obstacle was learning that I need to eat more often and that eating once or twice a day wasn't enough for me. I can't rely on hunger cues, so I need steady meals and snacks throughout the day. Even on occasions, I know I'm going out with family for high-calorie foods, I can't skip meals, it'll be worse when I get to the restaurant.

"Intermittent fasting is great" I'm certain OMAD and intermittent fasting are good for a lot of people, heck not too many people eat in their sleep. But there is also nothing wrong with eating breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks.

"Don't eat sugar/don't have it in your house"- That's a no for me again. I have a big problem with not having food around, my house is plentiful because if it's not I go into "MUST EAT EVERYTHING FOOD IS SCARCE!' mode. My family was really poor growing up and my mother had problems. She'd sometimes go too long without eating or feeding us kids. So when we got the food I'd eat as much as people would let me. My siblings would eat until full but became underweight because of household problems. Nowadays I can have a tub of ice cream in my fridge for a month without touching it, it's there if I want it. And that helps me mentally. Is this going to help everyone? No, and that's a-okay. We're all individuals.

Personally having a plentiful house full of food, eat constantly throughout the day, and enjoying food on special occasions without worrying about it.

Weight loss needs to be viewed on as: "How'd we get here in the first place?" Adjust from there. Perhaps work with a therapist and a doctor.

My question for you guys today: what is working for you? Is there any advice that just doesn't work for you but you believe can work for others?

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Advice on breaking a weight loss plateau?

Hi, been on my weight loss journey for about 7 months now and need some serious advice:

For the past month I have hit a weight loss plateau and can't seem to break it. I need some tips on how to break this streak as my goal weight is 190 lbs.

Here is some context:
-I am 6'3" 23 Male
-My starting weight was 250lbs and my current weight is 213 lbs
-I have been losing weight for 7 months
-I workout 7 days a week for about 90 minutes, with atleast 30 minutes of it being cardio and the rest being strength training. I do a Upper, Lower, GPP split with Saturday being a cardio day (equivalent to my rest day)
-I have a fair bit of muscle mass (I have been lifting for about 4 years on and off)
-I track my calories and macros (My daily intake ranges from 2100-2500 calories and minimum 180g of protein)
-My diet mainly of yogurt, fruit, chicken, turkey, and whey (I eat other things, but these are the ones I eat on a daily basis).
-I have a cheat meal once a week

After doing some nosing around I suspect that my BMR tanked, which is why I'm not losing weight despite the deficit. I've heard some suggestions about a refeed (which I've attempted for 5 days by eating at 3000 calories, but it didn't really do much, I just gained a bit of temporary water weight then got stuck at 213 again) If I were to do another one, how long should it last? How many calories? There is also the possibility that I'm not tracking my calories properly (I weight everything I eat and don't use things that would hide calories like oil or butter. The only thing that could be hiding would be spices).

I don't think it would be wise for me to lower my calories any further nor increase exercise as I already eat very little and exercise quite a bit, so how should I break this plateau? I am not opposed to anything, I just need to know what to do. Any advice would be extremely appreciated :)

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Could somebody please help? Just want some insight on if my weight loss plan is half decent, or if I should add anything.

First time trying to lose a significant amount of weight.

Workouts: ⁃ running or jogging for 10-30 mins ⁃ cycling for 10-30 mins ⁃ weight training for 15 mins ⁃ HIIT incorporated (cycle as hard as you can for 30 seconds, cycle normally for 1-2 mins; run as hard as you can for 30 seconds, jog normally for 1-2 minutes) ⁃ yoga ⁃ jump rope 1hr per day ⁃ rowing machine; elliptical, etc. ⁃ burpees (aim for 30 reps per day) ⁃ deadlifts (lower the weight so it’s more cardio than weight training) ⁃ boxing**

DIET: ⁃ cut out refined carbs 5 days per week ⁃ cut out sweets 6 days per week ⁃ smaller portions more frequently ⁃ higher protein content ⁃ more fruits and veggies ⁃ more water

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The one thing I do love about dieting is that weight loss is inevitable ..

If our weight is stable at some number, then it takes every single calorie we are eating to maintain our weight at that number. So .. even if you are 500lbs and eating 3 large pizza's a day, every one of those pizza's is required to maintain that weight of 500lbs.

If you only eat one large pizza, then over a period of time, you'll weigh what a person who eats one large pizza a day eats, it's inevitable.

Our bodies can't create calories out of thin air, we have to eat them.

And I find that comforting. That literally all we have to do is find a way to eat the amount of calories that would sustain us at our goal weight, and that's literally it.

When I quit smoking, that's the thought that helped me to quit smoking. That I might want a cigarette, that I might crave, or someone might try to entice me to smoke, or circumstances like being in a bar might make me want to smoke, or all these things ... but ultimately, I was able to quit because it was as simple as never putting a cigarette in my mouth and lighting it. I just couldn't do that one thing, and in the end, nothing else really mattered. As complicated as it seemed when I wanted to quit smoking, it was actually extremely simple. Don't lift a cigarette to your mouth and light it on fire. Easy.

All we have to do is just eat whatever calories are required to maintain us at our goal weight, and eventually that's what we would weigh. Because there's no other way that it could work out. We simply wouldn't be eating enough to maintain our current weight. Weight loss is inevitable.

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favorite foods I ate during my weight loss journey (w calories)

Breakfast:

Burrito: 1/2 cup of egg whites (67) cooked w spinach (20) on an almond flour tortilla (95) = 182 cals *can add mushroom, bell pepper, etc.

Avo Toast: 1/2 large avocado (160) + brown egg (70) on top of toasted bagel thin (110) = 340 cals *season w red pepper flakes, everything bagel seasoning

Protein Pancakes: 1/2 cup of Kodiak buttermilk power cakes (190) topped w 1/2 cup heated up blueberries (40) = 230 cals

Egg Muffin: Dave's Killer Bread English muffin (140) + brown egg (70) cooked w spinach (20) + 1 Tb light mayo (35) + dijon mustard (0) = 265 cals

Rice Cakes: crush up 2 hard boiled brown eggs (140) and mix together w dijon mustard (0) and 1 Tb light mayo (35), spread on 2 Quaker lightly salted rice cakes (70) = 245 cals

Coffee: black coffee + 1 Tb coffeemate vanilla beam creamer (35) = 35

Lunch/Dinner

Protein Pasta: 2 oz dry Banzai Chickpea Pasta (190) + 1/2 cup Rao's Tomato Basil Pasta Sauce (80) + 1/2 cup yellow onion chopped (32) + 1 cup stir-fry vegetable blend (35) + 14g Fat Free Cheddar (22) + 1 cup Spinach (20) = 379 cals *can add ground turkey

Tofu N Rice: 1 serving of Extra Firm Tofu (70) sautéed with 1/2 cup yellow onion chopped (32) + 2 tablespoons Kirkland tomato paste (30) served with 3/4 cup cooked white basmati rice (150) = 282 cals. *can replace tofu w any protein (chicken, fish, etc.) and add veggies

Shrimp Tacos: 2 carb balance whole wheat tortillas (140) + 5 oz Argentinian Red Shrimp (88) + 1/2 cup red and green bell pepper chopped (35) + 1/2 cup yellow onion chopped (32) + 1 Tb light sour cream (20) + 28g Fat Free Cheddar (45) + 1 cup butter lettuce (5) + lime = 365 cals

Berry Protein Smoothie: 1 cup frozen mixed berries (60) + 1 cup unsweetened almond milk (30) + 1 cup spinach (20) + 1 scoop collagen peptides (60) = 170 cals

Drinking hot lemon water after lunch and dinner can help curb the post meal sugar craving

Snacks

Dannon light n fit yogurt (80) *can add berries or granola

1 cup Boom Chicka Pop Sweet n Salty Kettle Corn (70)

Carrots or bell pepper with hummus

Protein Bars: Think! Protein Bar Smore's (150) , Cliff Z-Bars (140)

3 pieces Costco Spanakopita (200)

Green Tea!! or any tea (0)

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fell off the wagon during the holidays. how to get back on?

prior to the holidays i maintained a calorie deficit while practicing routine exercise and had a healthy, substantial weight loss coupled with feeling the best i’ve ever had in my life. over the holidays, ive given myself grace to take a break and enjoy without calorie counting or intense exercise. it has proven difficult for me to return to healthy eating and exercise, and i feel all the worse for it. ive definitely gained weight and i feel like all of my hard earned progress is going down the drain. how do i motivate myself to start eating healthier and exercise again? can anyone relate?

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