1. Have you stopped labeling certain foods as "good" or "bad"?
2. Do you believe that you can enjoy your favorite foods and still lose weight?
3. Do you usually eat out of "stomach hunger," not "head hunger"?
4. Do you know how to guage your satisfied/comftorable level?
5. Do you eat your meals and snacks away from the TV or computer?
6. Do you take the time to savor the taste of the foods you eat?
7. Can you make food choices without being influenced by others?
8. Do you eat a variety of foods from all the different food groups?
9. Are you familiar with the portion sizes of most foods?
10. Do you feel comfortable cooking lower fat/healthier meals?
I found these questions in some old "diet" stuff and thought they were good to ponder. They have gotten me thinking of what I still need to work on...even after 3 years of this lifestyle!
Kat
Goal: Exercise at least 3 times per week.
Remember the positives.
Get the munchies under control!
Posts: 1068 | Location: Mount Vernon, WA | Registered: July 03, 2005
Have you stopped labeling certain foods as "good" or "bad"? Yes, they are either healthy or not so healthy
2. Do you believe that you can enjoy your favorite foods and still lose weight? Yes, all things in moderation
3. Do you usually eat out of "stomach hunger," not "head hunger"? stomach and blood sugars
4. Do you know how to guage your satisfied/comftorable level? Learned that the month I used Core plan rather than flex. My eyes have finally caught up to my stomach
5. Do you eat your meals and snacks away from the TV or computer? YES!!!!!!
6. Do you take the time to savor the taste of the foods you eat? I make sure that I take at least 20 minutes to eat. Slowly, putting my fork down to chew....it was hard at first, but it can be done.
7. Can you make food choices without being influenced by others? Without a doubt
8. Do you eat a variety of foods from all the different food groups? YES
9. Are you familiar with the portion sizes of most foods? For most, I usually have to ask about meat, since I am a big meat eater....
10. Do you feel comfortable cooking lower fat/healthier meals? It's old hat to me now
I found these questions in some old "diet" stuff and thought they were good to ponder. They have gotten me thinking of what I still need to work on...even after 3 years of this lifestyle!
Good homework, good review for those of us who havne't thought about those questions in a long time. Thanks
It's never too late to get it right.
Posts: 3473 | Location: Central USA | Registered: March 11, 2004
1. Have you stopped labeling certain foods as "good" or "bad"? Yes and No. I am still labeling certain foods as naughty, for example coke, microwave popcorn, yummy home baking)
2. Do you believe that you can enjoy your favorite foods and still lose weight? Yes
3. Do you usually eat out of "stomach hunger," not "head hunger"? No, but I am working on this.
4. Do you know how to guage your satisfied/comftorable level? Yes
5. Do you eat your meals and snacks away from the TV or computer? YES!!!
6. Do you take the time to savor the taste of the foods you eat? Yes
7. Can you make food choices without being influenced by others? Yes, well mostly. There are still certain foods that I have a hard time saying no to.
8. Do you eat a variety of foods from all the different food groups? Yes
9. Are you familiar with the portion sizes of most foods? Yes
10. Do you feel comfortable cooking lower fat/healthier meals? Yes with the help og KD's books my entire family is enjoying a healthier meal.
Enjoy every minute!
Jennifer
Goals for April: Exercise 3 times a week. Drink more water everyday.
Long Term Goal: Weigh-in at 180 lbs by my next Birthday. (Sept-13/06)
7. Can you make food choices without being influenced by others?
I wanted to chime in on this one also. I was thinking when I read this that this was A LOT harder when I was first starting. If you are a newbie, I just wanted to encourage you that this would get easier. People now expect me to make better choices, not the other way around. I got some 'remarks' when I was first making changes but seeing is believing and I hardly ever think about what I am ordering vs. what others are ordering any more. I remember a few instances early on that this was really , really hard.
Originally posted by GoingSkiing: Now I'm picturing Sandra Lee... "This oatmeal is just amazing!! It is fantastic! Your friends will never know that it took you 4 mins to cook it in the microwave with 2 cups of frozen store bought berries!!!!"
Great Sandra Lee impression! Except that she says "FINTASTIC!" instead of "fantastic"...at least that's the way it always sounds to me. Bugs me every time she says it...and she uses that word a LOT.
Posts: 7864 | Location: Rehoboth Beach, DE | Registered: March 12, 2004
Originally posted by GoingSkiing: The top is a "pull top" can lid and the only other food in the house we open like that is canned cat/dog food. The animals REALLY like canned food but eat mostly dry. The cat heard the can of toffee being opened and went insane when he thought that I had opened cat food and was messing around and eating it and not spooning it into his bowl.
Hard to savor your chocolate with a psycho-cat yowling and biting your ankles!
Thank you Denise! I have had as really bad morning and this made me laugh till I had tears rolling down my face. Being a cat person and having had many cats I can so relate. It was the pop top on mixed nuts that used to drive mine insane.
Originally posted by Tayhudson: I just meant I don't sit and think "OH. This is the most delicious oatmeal I've ever eaten. I'm going to eat is as slowly as I can to treasure the experience." Please, it is oatmeal.
ROTFLOL!!!!!
Now I'm picturing Sandra Lee... "This oatmeal is just amazing!! It is fantastic! Your friends will never know that it took you 4 mins to cook it in the microwave with 2 cups of frozen store bought berries!!!!"
OK... done being catty now.)
Denise
Posts: 9221 | Location: Silicon Valley, CA | Registered: March 17, 2004
Originally posted by Tayhudson: 6. Do you take the time to savor the taste of the foods you eat? I'm kind of like Denise here. If it is food to be savored then yes. If it is my oatmeal, Special K, or other food eaten on a regular basis, then probably not.
I think that it is that word "savor"...
I enjoy my oatmeal and Boca burgers and such and I‘m working on slowing down but not everything I eat is “savor worthy” but it usually tastes good.
I think that these lists are good and they get you thinking... but I also think that they are sort of bad sometimes. Like it might lead you to believe that every meal has to be savor-worthy and a gourmet experience and can lead people to believe that opening a can of chili (which you may not “savor”) is bad. Shoot, if I limited myself to food I “savor”, I’d be REALLY overweight!
Glad you got you LOL! in for the day, Lori!
Agreed. I wasn't meaning that I don't like Oatmeal or Special K. I don't waste calories on food I don't like at all. I just meant I don't sit and think "OH. This is the most delicious oatmeal I've ever eaten. I'm going to eat is as slowly as I can to treasure the experience." Please, it is oatmeal. I eat it several times a week. I know it will taste the same again tomorrow.
That's not to say I scarf it down in no time flat. I'm actually not a fast eater and never have been.
I am also cracking up over the cat comment. I have the same issue with the turbinado and demerrara sugar I buy, because it is in the same type of packaging as the "Whisker Lickens" treats our cats eat. They hear the package open and come running.
Silly kittens.
Dawn
"Success is not the result of spontaneous combustion. You have to set yourself on fire." anonymous
Posts: 4533 | Location: Indianapolis, IN | Registered: March 15, 2004
Originally posted by GoingSkiing: Sitting alone, eating at the table makes me MORE stressed… it doesn’t make sense (to me) to do it… and I’m not at all interested in having some kind of Zen eating experience every time I need to eat something (at this time).
Ditto in regard to sitting alone, eating at the table. If it is not a pleasurable experience, and it isn't for me either, then why do it? If I can "savor" my dinner AND my tape of Starting Over at the same time, why shouldn't I?
Posts: 7864 | Location: Rehoboth Beach, DE | Registered: March 12, 2004
I'm sort of scrambling today and don't have time to answer all the questions but wanted to share my first reaction when I read the savor question. I try to savor when I'm eating food that I need to practice moderation with. This typically comes into play in a social situation like a holiday meal, a meal out or a party. That's when I really think about savoring. Maybe the thought is that if you are stopping to savor, you'll slow down but slowing down isn't a major challenge for me most days so I don't think about savoring day in and day out.
Originally posted by Tayhudson: 6. Do you take the time to savor the taste of the foods you eat? I'm kind of like Denise here. If it is food to be savored then yes. If it is my oatmeal, Special K, or other food eaten on a regular basis, then probably not.
I think that it is that word "savor"...
When I hear it, I picture Giada De Laurentiis tasting something she has just made - with eyes closed - rolling the food around in her mouth - barely able to speak, she is so overwhelmed by the experience of having that bite of food in her mouth.
I enjoy my oatmeal and Boca burgers and such and I‘m working on slowing down but not everything I eat is “savor worthy” but it usually tastes good.
I think that these lists are good and they get you thinking... but I also think that they are sort of bad sometimes. Like it might lead you to believe that every meal has to be savor-worthy and a gourmet experience and can lead people to believe that opening a can of chili (which you may not “savor”) is bad. Shoot, if I limited myself to food I “savor”, I’d be REALLY overweight!
Also, I read something by a dietician... maybe in one of the "Thin for Life" books… and she wrote that she used to council her overweight clients to just eat and experience the food. And then she realized that she (the dietician) enjoyed eating breakfast and reading the paper or enjoyed some meals in front of the TV and it was condescending to think that fat people must learn to sit and eat and do nothing else.
Sitting alone, eating at the table makes me MORE stressed… it doesn’t make sense (to me) to do it… and I’m not at all interested in having some kind of Zen eating experience every time I need to eat something (at this time).
* * * * Glad you got you LOL! in for the day, Lori!
Denise
Posts: 9221 | Location: Silicon Valley, CA | Registered: March 17, 2004
6. Do you take the time to savor the taste of the foods you eat?
My sil gave us some See's toffee candy in a can for Xmas. I opened it last night.
The top is a "pull top" can lid and the only other food in the house we open like that is canned cat/dog food. The animals REALLY like canned food but eat mostly dry. The cat heard the can of toffee being opened and went insane when he thought that I had opened cat food and was messing around and eating it and not spooning it into his bowl.
Hard to savor your chocolate with a psycho-cat yowling and biting your ankles!
Denise
Posts: 9221 | Location: Silicon Valley, CA | Registered: March 17, 2004
1. Have you stopped labeling certain foods as "good" or "bad"? Not quite
2. Do you believe that you can enjoy your favorite foods and still lose weight? Yes, but I have to remember "moderation", not every day!
3. Do you usually eat out of "stomach hunger," not "head hunger"? No
4. Do you know how to guage your satisfied/comftorable level? I am working on this....trying to eat more slowly and be conscious of my comfort level. 5. Do you eat your meals and snacks away from the TV or computer? No, but I am trying to do that too, I eat too fast and don't concentrate on what I am eating to fully enjoy it and get the full "experience" if I am focused on something else. 6. Do you take the time to savor the taste of the foods you eat? See #5
7. Can you make food choices without being influenced by others? This is tough for me, when I am out for dinner with friends I want to "live it up" and feel resentful if they are eating all the great stuff(by that I mean not good choices)and I am munching on veggies. 8. Do you eat a variety of foods from all the different food groups? I try, I get bored easily and need variation. 9. Are you familiar with the portion sizes of most foods? I'm getting there. 10. Do you feel comfortable cooking lower fat/healthier meals? Yes, especially with the great cookbooks out there like kd's with healthy meals that have outrageous flavor. Great homework, I like this!! Jill
I have no specific goal(s) right now. I am trying to find the spiritual side of myself that I lost somewhere along the way.
1. Have you stopped labeling certain foods as "good" or "bad"? mostly, although I do have to label some as "bad" if they cause me IBS pains.
2. Do you believe that you can enjoy your favorite foods and still lose weight? YES
3. Do you usually eat out of "stomach hunger," not "head hunger"? I don't usually eat out of "stomach hunger" because I rarely feel hungry and since I don't feel hungry I usually eat by the clock. Breakfast after I get up, lunch around noon and dinner around 6 or 7pm.
4. Do you know how to guage your satisfied/comftorable level? Not really. I still have a tendancy to eat too much if it is really really good.
5. Do you eat your meals and snacks away from the TV or computer? Yes and No. The TV is set up so that you can see it from the dinner table so we are usually watching something while we eat. I have a small computer desk so there is not enough room for anything except a bottle of water and that is not really on the desk, it is on a cabinet next to the desk and I have to reach way over to get it.
6. Do you take the time to savor the taste of the foods you eat? I don't know that i would say I "savor" the taste but I do eat faily slowly. I am usually the last one to finish a meal.
7. Can you make food choices without being influenced by others? Yes
8. Do you eat a variety of foods from all the different food groups? No. I am a bit of a picky eater but since meeting KD I have been exploring a little more than I used to.
9. Are you familiar with the portion sizes of most foods? Not really. Trying to learn from the tips I read here.
10. Do you feel comfortable cooking lower fat/healthier meals? Yes.
I found these questions in some old "diet" stuff and thought they were good to ponder. They have gotten me thinking of what I still need to work on...even after 3 years of this lifestyle![/QUOTE]
1. Have you stopped labeling certain foods as "good" or "bad"? I tend to think in terms of food that I can eat as much as I want (veggies), and food that is to be eaten sparingly (dessert, cheese, fried foods...)
2. Do you believe that you can enjoy your favorite foods and still lose weight? Yes, I cannot subscribe to a food philosophy that cuts out a food group.
3. Do you usually eat out of "stomach hunger," not "head hunger"? I try to eat about every three hours to not feel overly hungry. Yesterday,I was traveling and got the point of feeling too hungry and ate half a loaf of bread at the restaurant. Not good. If it is "time" to eat and I really don't feel hungry, I don't force myself to eat, just because it is "time".
4. Do you know how to guage your satisfied/comftorable level? Yes.
5. Do you eat your meals and snacks away from the TV or computer? I rarely eat in front of the TV. Even if the TV is on, I cannot see it from my seat at the table. I do from time to time eat in front of the computer. Again, as has been stated by others, those meals are eaten slowly,because I'm busy in between bites.
6. Do you take the time to savor the taste of the foods you eat? I'm kind of like Denise here. If it is food to be savored then yes. If it is my oatmeal, Special K, or other food eaten on a regular basis, then probably not.
7. Can you make food choices without being influenced by others? Do I succomb to peer pressure? Is that what this means? No, I make my own bad choices when I make them. I make most of the food choices in my family anyway.
8. Do you eat a variety of foods from all the different food groups? Yes
9. Are you familiar with the portion sizes of most foods? Yes
10. Do you feel comfortable cooking lower fat/healthier meals? Very much so. In fact, with a couple of exceptions, I don't know how to not cook low-fat. My high fat food intake generally comes at a restaurant or someone else's house.
"Success is not the result of spontaneous combustion. You have to set yourself on fire." anonymous
Posts: 4533 | Location: Indianapolis, IN | Registered: March 15, 2004
. Have you stopped labeling certain foods as "good" or "bad"? Not really
2. Do you believe that you can enjoy your favorite foods and still lose weight? Yes, in moderation and determination!
3. Do you usually eat out of "stomach hunger," not "head hunger"? Stomach
4. Do you know how to guage your satisfied/comftorable level? No
5. Do you eat your meals and snacks away from the TV or computer? Yes
6. Do you take the time to savor the taste of the foods you eat? Yes, I do when I eat out more.
7. Can you make food choices without being influenced by others? Yes, most of the time, but if I do feel influence I try to have only 3 bites of the food.
8. Do you eat a variety of foods from all the different food groups? Yes
9. Are you familiar with the portion sizes of most foods? Yes
10. Do you feel comfortable cooking lower fat/healthier meals?
Yes, I do
"There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as if everything is." Albert Einstein
Daily to do: Drink plenty of water & take vitamins
Posts: 1690 | Location: Georgia | Registered: March 24, 2004
1. Have you stopped labeling certain foods as "good" or "bad"?
Intellectually, yes. I believe in the philosophy "Everything in moderation." However, because some "former fatty favorites" (FFFs) trigger unhealthy patterns in me, I think there is still a part of me that emotionally labels some foods as bad.
2. Do you believe that you can enjoy your favorite foods and still lose weight?
Intellectually, I 100% believe you can. Emotionally, I see that when I stopped losing weight is when I went from eating very strictly to still eating healthy but including a few of my favorite foods...so it's hard for me to say "yes" emotionally because it hasn't rung true for me personally.
3. Do you usually eat out of "stomach hunger," not "head hunger"?
I try not to ever feel stomach hunger, at least not to any intense degree. I try to eat about every 3-4 hours and, if I stay on this plan, I don't usually feel much stomach hunger. It is when I feel intense stomach hunger that I usually go most awry with my eating, so I try never to get to that state. I used to go straight from the gym to doing errands or shopping and then would come home very hungry. I was tending to eat out more then because I was so hungry and I was out shopping so restaurants were nearby. Now, I am at the gym for 2-2 1/2 hours and the only stop I make on the way home is for groceries and then I have lunch as soon as I walk in the door.
4. Do you know how to guage your satisfied/comfortable level?
Yes.
5. Do you eat your meals and snacks away from the TV or computer?
No. I eat almost all my meals at home in front of either the TV or the computer and I don't feel the slightest bit guilty about it. I don't see what the big bugaboo is about it. If you are sitting in front of the TV wolfing your food down, then I see that as a bad thing. I don't do that the vast majority of the time. In fact, as Bee and Denise said, I actually tend to eat SLOWER at the computer because I'm taking a bite, sitting the food down to read or scroll down the screen or type, and then taking another bite. (I was eating my breakfast--slowly--while I was typing this, in fact!)
6. Do you take the time to savor the taste of the foods you eat?
For the most part, I do. There are definitely some trigger foods or some times when I still inhale food though.
7. Can you make food choices without being influenced by others?
Yes. However, what I have found happening sometimes when I go out to eat with non-healthy-eating friends is not that THEY influence me but that somehow I give myself a pass as we are walking into the restaurant. Or, I'll come into the restaurant 100% committed to ordering healthy but, after I start looking at the menu, I'll change my mind, knowing that my friends will all be ordering fatty. So it's not that my friends are DOING anything to influence me, but that I am allowing myself to be influenced merely by being with them. This doesn't always happen, though...in fact, in Delaware, we go to Applebee's more often than not because they love it plus I can eat off the WW menu.
8. Do you eat a variety of foods from all the different food groups?
Yes though, because of my pickiness, my variety isn't as wide as it should be, esp. in veggies. And I should be eating at least SOME seafood.
9. Are you familiar with the portion sizes of most foods?
Yes.
10. Do you feel comfortable cooking lower fat/healthier meals?
Yes.
Posts: 7864 | Location: Rehoboth Beach, DE | Registered: March 12, 2004
