Hi all! How do you balance enjoying your favorite foods while still managing your weight sustainably? Please share your tips as I am having hard time dieting as a beginner. Thank you!
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Are you talking for general health or aesthetics?
“Favorite foods” vary so much from person to person - what are yours, that you’re struggling to manage?
For myself, there are differences in the way I manage wanted foods. So pizza would be an example of a food I don’t give up. I have it occasionally, but try to keep from eating the whole thing. Still, if I over eat it I just get back on track following. It’s gone and over with.
Salty snacks are another big favorite of mine. I find it best to avoid these altogether because I can’t seem to control it once I get started AND (different from pizza) then want it the next day and the next and the next. Best to just not buy it or have a first chip at a party.
Why don’t you list what you are currently doing as far as resistance training, cardio and diet. Also list your goals and your current stats.
The questions you asked is very vague and hard to give guidance based off of that.
Your favorite food is the most important. Sugar is the most damaging because it spikes your insulin. Spiking insulin favorably partitions nutrients to your fat cells. But sugar is the easiest to stop (if you have the discipline to just stop cold turkey.) A little sugar increases desire for more sugar.
Second thought: I am just not a good person to ask. I don’t understand why a person cannot just commit to follow the diet. Many believe in a weekly cheat meal to help keep your body from going into “starving mode.” Reward yourself that meal and get back on track. Sorry, I have no unique strategy.
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My favorite foods are meat and eggs. They’re very satiating, so when I eat them, I don’t feel hungry. From there it’s a question of WHY I am eating. If I’m eating because I’m hungry, it’s pretty simple: I eat until I’m no longer hungry, and since I’m eating meat and eggs, I am eating the food that fuels my training and recovery.
HOWEVER, if I’m eating to satiate NON-nutrient hunger (such as a hunger to absolve boredom, a hunger for pleasure, a hunger to satiate anxiety, etc), THEN there can be issues.
So it’s worth asking myself “am I REALLY hungry for food?” A fair answer to this question is “the protein test”. If I’m REALLY hungry: I’ll eat pure protein. Egg whites or plain chicken breasts are a great example. If I willingly eat these and they taste good: I’m actually hungry. If, however, I say “I don’t want that, I want X”, then I’m not really hungry.
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It depends on what your “favorites” are. I’d take a steak and wedge salad over sushi or a burger any day. But that’s because you can train your eating habits through repetition, and learning to appreciate the ingredients themselves.
Learn to like black coffee and green tea more than a pumpkin spiced latte or anything carbonated. Learn what good vegetables taste like. Learn how to know when you feel smart hungry and not in blood-sugar panic mode. Eat your protein and veggies first. Use spices and herbs instead of something greasy.
When you go out to eat, drink a shake in the car and order a salad first, than whatever you want (preferably pizza like @EmilyQ said.)
if you have a sweet tooth, look up anything by Chris Shugart.
And get your workouts aligned with your eating. Have Sunday brunch with smart choices, go to cookouts, and fancy restaurants. We spend so much time thinking about this, so you should enjoy eating, but in a smart way.
I actually think that bodybuilders have some of the best cuisine on the planet.
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Lots of good advice here. I’ll really echo @RT_Nomad on the cheat meal, and it follows what others are saying about training your habits. When I get on a roll, of losing my rolls, I find it’s easier to go through the week if I know I have a meal at the end where I can have whatever. I’m not “denying” myself; I’m just delaying a meal.
As I go through the diet, I get addicted to the progress and just lose my taste for some crap, so I often won’t eat the garbage anyway.
Then something magical happens: I don’t crave the food, I crave the experience. As an example, I know my kids want to do something for Father’s Day this weekend (well, their mom is making them; I don’t know if they want to), so I’m saving a big meal for that day. I don’t care what it is, but I just want to do it with them - that seems to help make the food itself less important.
On top of that, there are some incredible recipes out there that turn your favorite garbage into high-protein, high-fiber meals with minimal tradeoffs in taste.
Or you could do something like the Velocity Diet and just get it out of your system, or the anabolic diet where you’re meant to have high fat and high carb days (so you can get a bit of everything), or count every macro so you can fit things in however you want, etc.
Lots of ways to skin this cat, so, as noted, it kind of comes down to your goals, your current state, and what the struggle is.
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My experience: once I have a “Why” and then a time approved strategy, compliance is a non issue.
I’ve got more important shit to do than worry about cravings, and I was a binge eater for YEARS.
But now that I know WHY I want to be healthy and look good naked, and have found a sustainable eating plan, an hour or so of calculating macros and I’m good for months.
My diet consists of eggs, chicken, steak, protein powder, oats, rice, taters, cottage cheese, stir fry veggies, bananas and dates (my primary reason is actually economics). After many years of subscribing to the higher fat diets of Poliquin and others, I’ve finally come around to a higher carb and low fat diet and can’t believe how much better I feel across the board.
Sometimes I deviate for more “expensive” foods as blueberries or salmon. I love all these foods.
I like pizza and ice cream too, but with my digestion on point and my energy levels finally stabilized, I don’t want that shit feeling of being loaded on pizza or whatever. Fuck that. I’m a damn good cook and I’ll take my steak w stir fry veggies and rice.
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“A strong enough why can overcome any how”. Absolutely spot on.
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Yes sir, and I typed it that way for that very reason. Without the “Why”, and plan doesn’t really matter!
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This ties into a mindset of delayed gratification. For instance, when I was heavier it was necessary to to be strict, but after acclimating to a lower-set point I can “cheat” a lot more.
Very well stated.
But, most of the serious diet questions (about a contest diet) I got when I was competing, the “why” was well understood. Then the problem is that there are a few different methods to get there. Without the person having a large amount of knowledge, the more options just adds confusion to their diet decisions.
I found it extremely difficult to help someone who was listening to more people than just me. I knew the method that worked for me, but a little of this and a little of that and a little of another was the route to failure.
I second this!
I don’t understand the question… but the answer is steak
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For the most part, make some things off the table, at least for a while. Eat like a grown-up. Or at least make a rule you can follow: candy once a month, whatever. Your tastes buds change. They actually “fall off” and regenerate all the time. If the new ones haven’t tasted whatever your off-limits foods are, you’ll lose the cravings. In that sense, cheat meals just keep the food addictions going. My old rule: Cheat meals are for people with abs. (Harsh, but it kept me on track.)
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Learn to cook your favorites in a healthier way: more protein, fewer calories, less/no sugar, healthier fat sources, etc. Pretty much my whole blog. I eat pizza often, but not pizza made with crap by a stranger.
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These are two distinct periods of time.
While cutting calories to lose weight I don’t eat pizza.
If I want pizza any other time I know how many calories it is and work it into my daily calorie allowance.
This is big. It’s AMAZING how much junk goes into…well…junkfood. If I ever eat cookies, I eat the cookies my wife bakes. I know what’s in them: grassfed butter, organic wheat or oats, pastured eggs, Fairlife milk. I’ll top it with some raw local honey.
Wanna know what’s in a package of “cookies” from walmart?
“Titanium dioxide”. But don’t worry: it’s just for color.
To say nothing of the fact that these foods have been specifically engineered to be addicting and UNsatiating. You want to eat MORE once you start eating them.
Making your own food is huge.
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Canada has pizza??
I’m not Canadian.
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