There is one thing that I learned years ago while sitting in an economics class that I really wish I had heard and applied to eating when I was far younger.

It had something to do with supply and demand, but the point is the same. Demand goes down when there is either too much of it or people tire of it.

Why eat a whole bag of doritos, a whole pint of ice cream, etc., when it stops tasting good after 5-10 bites and is really off-putting when you're close to eating a whole container of it? I would have never believed anyone who told me that I can eat a single homemade cookie broken up into 6 or so pieces and be totally content. For a fraction of the calories.

That being said, I am part of the group that doesn't keep tempting foods in the house. I always regret it. And like Brie said, I've never wanted anything bad enough to get in the car to go get it, except for ice cream. And I have a "must bike for ice cream" rule for the place that's a 5 min. drive from home. Jill's idea about portion sizes is great...I about died when I saw the calories for quinoa...1/2 c. dry is 300+ calories! I was eating more "good" calories than I thought.

So maybe you could do something discussing how even "good" calories are still calories & need to be watched/counted. (I was reading a discussion on another forum about how Rachael Ray's food is supposed to be "healthy" despite using large amounts of olive oil, cheese, etc., and having huge portion sizes. And because of her mass appeal, people THINK this IS accurate information! )

There's always the obvious-weighing and measuring. When I measure out a Tbsp of peanut butter it is WAY less than the when I didn't measure. Hmmm, there's an idea for the book. Have readers do an experiment. If they don't already weigh/measure-have them pick 3 favorite foods. First, have them scoop, pour, etc. out whatever they think is a serving. Then have them do the same for all 3 foods but weigh/measure. That would be a huge eye-opener and a for-sure way to cut calories!

I think in your other book you have made great suggestions for cutting out excess calories-leaving behind a Tbsp of food on your plate, opening a bag of pretzels/chips/etc and pre-portioning them in baggies.

I would not recommend substituting diet/artificial stuff, and I'm pretty sure that you feel the same way about things like that. Snackwells cookies, artificially sweetened, processed foods are NOT the way to get healthy.

Lately for me, I've been trying to make sure I eat 5 servings a day of fruits and veggies. That is huge for me because in doing that I am eating less "other stuff" and that cuts out a lot of excess calories.

I totally agree w/Isabel too. Deprivation and diet mentality are sure ways to set yourself up for failure. I think you must be consistent in your eating habits and exercise habits(I should practice what I preach), and not cut out bread for six weeks, lose 15 lbs, start eating bread again, gain 25 lbs, stop eating meat, lose 30 lbs, eat meat gain 50-what a rollercoaster ride that is-and not a fun one either!


Jill

quote:

I'm working on a section about teaching us how to cut out excess calories...what kind of information will be the most helpful to you?

I've found that your advice to just keep "excess" calories out the house to be really helpful.

KD, you also posted about the DASH diet MANY years ago... and that made a BIG, BIG impression on me.

If I'm focused on the food that I CAN eat and making up a plan with 3-4 servings of fruit, 4 servings of vegs, 6 servings of whole grains, 2-3 servings of dairy, half a serving of nuts, 1-2 tsp of oil, and a couple servings of lean protein… AND a couple servings of dessert a week… that feels sooooo much better to me and actually WORKS for me. Not to mention, I’m never physically hungry eating like this. That is HUGE... to lose weight and feel full at the same time!

On the other hand, “No more chips. You have already eaten too many chips. OMG! You‘re so fat… you have no business eating chips!!!! Stop with the stupid chips already!!!” has NEVER worked for me. Beating myself up for being fat and having no will power and if I was just a better person, I wouldn’t be on my 7th serving of chips for the day, has never worked. I’ve never lost weight when I’m in a really negative place. Not to mention… it is REALLY possible to eat 1,500 calories worth of potato chips or chocolate… and still be physically hungry.

I find it an interesting and rewarding challenge to figure out how to eat really healthy… and to focus on all of the food that I CAN eat.

It is sooooo much better to be positive… than to be negative. And a clean pantry really helps. If it isn’t in the house… I don’t have to spend ANY energy at all on, “You have to stop eating that... NOW!!!” Talking to myself like a child being punished has never worked for me. When I talk to myself like a rational, reasonable, healthy adult... I tend to eat and exercise like one.

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I find that it also helps a LOT to decide, “I’m eating dessert on Friday night and Sunday night. And I’m having a glass of wine with dinner on Saturday night” and that‘s it… That is the plan. And I stick to it.

People have all kinds of “rules” that they follow (mostly) effortlessly all day long. Most people manage show up on time for work. Most people manage to show up to work sober. Most people manage to pick their kids up from school. Most people manage to walk thru a department store and not spend their mortgage payment on purses. There are some real consequences for being late all the time, or showing up to work drunk, or not picking up a kid, or blowing the rent.

But when it comes to food and exercise, people break their “rules” all the time… They make a calorie budget… and then blow it.

Some people blow the calorie budget because they have made up a stupid plan in the first place. Sort of like if I decided that I was going to spend $15 a week on food. That is just a stupid, unrealistic budget and NOBODY could stay on that.

The “6 baked potatoes a day” diet plan (of my own making) was just a stupid plan. I found it really helpful to be shown a REALISTIC plan…be it the DASH plan or your www.MyPyramid.gov plan or your Weight Watcher’s health guidelines… or any other REALISTIC plan and then just do it like it was my job. Yeah… might have to white knuckle it sometimes… just like we ALL have days were we think, “Ughhhhh!!! I do NOT want to go to work today!!!”… and we go anyway.

i think your mindset is important. feeling like changing your eating habits will somehow deprive you sets you up for overeating. that whole diet mentality thing can be rather detrimental.

for instance, a lot of fad diets ask you to cut out certain things.doing so triggers you to want those things whether you wanted them in the past or not. and then there are those diets that say you eat healthfully for 5 days and take 2 days off--what a set up for going overboard on those 2 days. (or the 6 days on, 1 day off schedule has the same effect)

i do believe there are some physical triggers. some types of exercise i do seem to result in me wanting more vitamin B-rich foods. i do seem to want more salt or chocolate during TOM. I think Denise has written some great tips on addressing these. go Denise -you rock girl.

i agree with drinking calories. i see some folks have a huge starbucks fru-fru drink as their entire breakfast. and i believe some of those are well in excess of 700 calories. and i still don't get people at the gym who scarf down 500 calorie sports drinks and burn 200 calories in their workout--huh??? i love food too much to spend my calories on beverages.

I admit to drinking too many calories. Seeing three glasses of wine up against food in equal calories was a real eye-opener for me. Showing my boyfriend that he DRANK more calories in beer during an afternoon/evening of football than I ATE in a day was a real eye-opener for him.

I also eat too many "good" snack foods. Low-fat Triscuits are healthy! Except when you eat the whole box...with an entire container of hummus.

I see people around me drink too many sugar calories. People who NEED the calories in Gatorade are the exception, not the rule. Sugared Coke, Pepsi, 7-Up...too many calories! Also...those frou-frou coffee drinks. Seriously--those are FULL of calories. "A cup of coffee in the morning" is NOT the same as 16 oz of sugary, creamy, whipped-cream-topped chocolate liquid with coffee flavoring.

I think it was really important for me to identify my trigger foods and just not keep them in the house.

It's way easier for me to avoid chips when they aren't there to eat as I've never wanted them so badly that I've gotten in the car to drive to buy them.

In general, I do worse with salty/crunchy things but can also get into trouble with sweets but again, I don't keep the tempting stuff in the house.

I devour too much bread in all forms, sweets and salty things when I can get them. Incorporating them into a plan would be of great benefit.

chocolate, ice cream. soemtimes, crunchy things.