How do you get over temptations when trying to lose weight?

Question

My birthday is in 2 days and I’m at what feels like the lowest point in my life. I’ve tried multiple times over the past three years to accumulate and stick to certain diets but i never can.

I plan to workout but always give up after the third day. I make my portions smaller to only end up starving throughout the day and night. Commercials on tv displaying food actually hurts me. I hate myself for even having to say it. My cravings are the worst.

I tried making myself busy with hobbies only for me to quickly lose interest. And I’ve read about trying to stay out of the house and on my feet but my friends always want to do something that includes eating.

I always tell them I’m on a diet, however no one seems to care. And no matter how horrible everyone around me eats I’m the only one who’s gaining. I can feel my self esteem lowering every second of each day. I feel so bad. I see food I want it. I smell it, I want it. What is wrong with me?

Maraneva · Accepted Answer

Hey, nothing is wrong with you. Stop beating yourself up okay? I used to literally eat anything labelled food and that bumped me on to a hefty 83 kilograms (almost 190 pounds) on a relatively small 5 foot 6 frame. I tried my best to stop indulging for 2 years! I realised I was doing something wrong with my BMI nearing 30 and getting tired for every little task was no fun. Here's what I did.
I never changed my diet. I eliminated 40 percent of it. That is, I'd eat 3 chapattis (Indian equivalent of tortillas) and then an equal amount of rice. I cut off the rice. Just like that and ate the chapattis at a slower pace. I never reduced or stopped any of the tasty side dishes, never tortured myself with not eating the sweets served after lunch etc. Just reduced the amount overall. With that effectively cutting down my caloric intake by a significant amount, I upped my water intake to nearly 5 to 6 litres per day. Because of this I avoided feeling too hungry and prevented binging afterwards.
I started shedding weight. Lost 4 kilograms and this led to my overall caloric need becoming lower because now I had lesser fat and tissue to move around. I kept up with my now-successful diet and made the second change - reduced snacking. Nope I did not stop snacking cause I knew that'd throw me off balance and I'd end up binging. If I ate a pack of biscuits and a small pack of fries, I brought it down to a pack of fries. So now my body was still getting well fed, well hydrated and it was getting its snacks too.
Lost the next 2 kilograms which totals 6 kilos lost. By this time my hunger levels came down due to lesser caloric necessity. Third change here - cut off that remaining snack of fries without my body even noticing it. Of course I went one step ahead and cut off coffee and tea but just reducing sugar will suffice. And I also deliberately reduced salt in my foods so I felt bored and full sooner (don't worry about sodium deficiency because most foods we eat are loaded in salt that usually cross the daily requirements). All this led to another 4 kilo reduction and that's where I stand now at 72 kilograms (163 pounds). And now because this slow descent into a leaner diet took place over months, my body is used to eating lesser food so I feel very full on average portion sizes. And I do the occasional binge, around 4 times a month or so. Nothing wrong in that. Just be sure to tell off your friends if it exceeds that.
Start with this and once the weight reduces you'll automatically be tempted to workout and that, will work instead of stopping on the third day. Good luck with your health journey

ohshee · Accepted Answer

What ever we are doing in life there will be temptations. ,,, it's a moment in time when we get to prove to ourselves. Who we really are. And who we want to be if you think about it ,, in so many ways it's hard to be good,,, because it's so easy not to be , in the long run is it worth it,, like with anything if we want it we have to work for it,, if it was just given to us then who would we be here's the other thing. All body's are different we process food different .. I don't know what foods u like or crave but I do know this for me I can eat anything I want because my body is working all day and half the night ,, meaning I burn it up fast ,,, so try your diet. See how far it takes you ,, every thing I just read tells me it's not working and it's not going to work because your not happy ,,, let's pretend u hit ur goal weight. Then what's the plan ,, in time u start eating again and this time u gain ur weight back plus more then what's the plan,, start all over,, ,, like I said I know nothing about what's going on in ur life but in order to do anything you have to be happy doing it,, well at least I do lol, I eat 6 meals just about every day.. because I burn that much energy everyday and when I go to sleep. I'm still burning it off water intake is very important so do you diet. Commit to it challenge you and only you not the food,, if it dosent work, it's all good. You tried,, then think why it didn't work ,, if u have a car. How many times a week do you have to put gas in it,, depends on how many miles you drive it ,,, it's the same with u. Be happy. EAT BUT WALK walk fast 30 min a day for 30 days if u eat more than what's needed. You body will tell u because it will slow down if you eat good foods good water your body speeds up. Sugars and bread will slow you down. Anyway,, after you diet , try this. Ur body is like ur car. Put fuel in it ,, drive it if the fuel sits in ur car to long gas gets bad and gums things up nothing works right same with your body 30 min a day 30 days at a fast pace your hole out look on life will change every inch ,, every inch on your body will tone up , ur body and mind will start to love it in the 3rd week in the first two weeks ur going to hate it just like ur diet,, commit follow through eat burn it off be happy smile

theronaldmcdonald · Accepted Answer

Don’t beat yourself up about it dude. But you HAVE to be consistent. Make sure you are drinking enough water because often times the body confuses thirst for hunger. You don’t have to eat smaller portions per se, but you have to eat healthier foods. Eat lean meats, eat plenty of fruits and veggies, eat less fried and sugary food (you don’t have to give things up completely but just don’t eat them often). I am young too, I have been on a pretty strict diet since I was 15 because of medical reasons. I know what it’s like to go out and see all your friends eat all this stuff you shouldn’t eat. If I can do it, you can do it! Do not quit the gym, I drag myself to go 4-5 times a week. You get used to it, it’s not always fun but it gets easier over time. Even if you don’t want to gym often try basketball, hiking, running, walking, bicycling, etc. Stay active. If you can, speak to a mental health professional to improve your self esteem, it’s hard to do these things if you don’t like yourself. You deserve to love yourself ok? It’s cool that you want to be healthier, but it starts from within! If you ever need someone to talk to, I’m here!

MzAsh · Accepted Answer

Although this sounds sad and morbid, my first weight loss story was when my mom was passing away. I lost about 15 lbs in 3-4 weeks due to my loss of appetite and running around trying to be there for her.

I was never fat. In fact I’ve always been thin but I went from 115 down to 100. That’s when I realized what it could take.

A couple years later I got up to 129. Hated how “skinny fat” I looked and cut down my portions and essentially did intermittent fasting (without realizing that’s what I was doing).

I started a 45 minute cardio routine that I did 4 days a week.

But my advice for you is that I found out the secret is when it comes to working out: start small and build up. Don’t jump into 45 mins of cardio. Start with 5 mins, then 10 after a few days, etc.

With eating, I mainly just cut calories. I still ate my favorite things like pizza, tacos, burgers, etc but I just didn’t eat as much of it as I normally would.

Allow for at least 6 weeks to start seeing results.

Massageman · Answer

So you are on a seefood diet - you see food and want to eat it. Seriously though,

a little hack you may want to try.
Many times when we think we are "hungry", we are just thirsty.
Have an 8 ounce (200-250 ml) glass of water, and wait 30 minutes. If you still feel hungry, you may 1/2 a portion of whatever you would usually eat. Follow that with another glass of water. Wait another 30 minutes. Of you are still hungry, have the other 1/2 portion and another glass of water. It's amazing that- after a while- you never even get to the first half-portion yet alone the second!

JDMFS · Answer

I used to be a certified personal trainer and most people will get results burning fat by making a few small adjustments to their diet and add exercise. 1st thing u need to do is get on a healthy meal schedule. Eat smaller amounts more frequently. Preferably at the same time everyday. If u figure out a meal plan that totals your body weight with a zero added at the end (I'm 198lbs so 1980 calories) this is what's know as your basal metabolic rate which is the amount of calories you burn just existing. If u take in this many calories u will be in a deficit with your daily activities and can lose weight in a sustainable healthy way. The American College of Sports Medicine's guidelines for safe and effective weight loss used to be that you take in at least 1200 calories per day and put yourself in a caloric deficit of 500-1000 calories per day. 500 would probably be plenty for u, maybe a little too many. There is roughly 3500 calories in a pound of body fat so a deficit of 500 calories a day for 7 days equals approximately a pound of body fat. Breakfast should be your biggest meal and they should taper down as the day goes on and u have less time to burn the calories. I've always instituted a no food after 8pm rule when trying to drop body fat as well. It feels like torture for a week maybe... then u get used to it. If u do this for 2 weeks I'll be happy to help u with an exercise routine or help u design a meal plan. Since u dont want to exercise, until u stick to the small dietary changes for 2-3 weeks there's no reason to implement more changes. This will help fix your metabolism and make it more willing to burn fat since it knows there is more calories coming. That's why smaller amounts more frequently and doing it at the same time is important.

Obtuse · Answer

Trying too hard and for the wrong reasons in my opinion. If you can't even treat yourself on a Birthday then how do you expect to do this for the rest of your life?

Make it simpler. You don't have to make bold leaps and risk tumbling off a mountain only to end up further away from your goal than you started.

How about just substituting fried chicken for grilled? How about replacing a chocolate craving some very calorie-dense milky chocolate to gradually darker chocolate?

And for training, how about just being active a bit and enjoying the energy that gives you? You should find a way where you enjoy the smallest increments progress, and find ways to see the smallest increments of progress.

The scale is unreliable. Your weight will fluctuate a lot with water retention and such. In my opinion that shouldn't be your number one measure of progress. Even knowledge can be progress. You discover a lower-calorie food that's richer in nutrients and that''s permanent progress. You can't lose that.

Do you see what I'm saying? Progress. You are setting yourself up in binary ways: 0% or 100% progress, no in-betweens. And you need lots of in-betweens in my opinion.

Anonymous · Answer

Aw I'm sorry butdon't give up. You shouldn't starve! Never. Just eat healthier. When you want snacks eat fruit or have a cup of tea and cereal cookies. When you're hungry you should eat or drink, just be picky about it. I eat a LOT bust mostly salads, rice or pasta with little to no meat and I also try to avoid fried foods. And when I say salad I mean something like this 👇🏻 not a bowl of lettuce

How do you get over temptations when trying to lose weight?

I also love adding rice

Also, if you have time read this
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/hypothyroidism-symptoms#section4
A hormonal disorder could be responsible for the weight gain, if you think you have those symptoms you should get checked just in case

Anonymous · Answer

I can feel your struggle on a spiritual level 😂 I have been on various diet and exercise routines before but my problem is usually maintenance. I can't sustain a healthy lifestyle so to speak.

So basically at this point what keeps me from being obese is by cutting some portions minimally that I wouldn't even notice it from my diet. Baby steps. This way even if I'm not losing weight, at least I'm not gaining any more. My habit changes too and before I know it, I can survive on smaller portions already.

I still have the appetite of a hungry hippo and I eat what I want (just smaller portions). I noticed that the more I hold back, the more I cave in and binge eat. Not to mention, miserable and moody.

_gigi18 · Answer

Smaller portions is just shit advice to be honest. Just eat healthier and dont buy unhealthy foods and drinks. Stick to water don't drink coffee or caffeinated drinks. Personally I can't tolerate fizzy or caffeinated drinks anymore and I feel much better. A tatic for sales is to not colour the intake. Some foods do have red orange green and grey. Out of sight out of mind you shouldn't force yourself to do things you don't want to do but sometimes when its harder to get the thing you're craving you most likely just lose interest. I like to just think about something else or drink water or eat fruit. Or if you want something come back to it later and if you still really want it then eat it. It takes 30 days to break a habit and I'm sure if you're determined you can. Don't take diets. You should view it as a lifestyle choice.

Kurαȷ · Answer

Buy yourself things that feel like treats, which you didn't allow yourself to have before, provided those treats aren't very calorie dense, of course.
Like, exotic fruits you've never had, novelty food items with new flavors- foreign cuisine for example, or simply just things that are too expensive to eat on a regular basis otherwise- lobster, other seafood, sushi, cured meats, fish roe and so on.

You will feel like you are treating yourself, even if you limit the overall amount of things that you eat.

And if you can't yet make your own money yet, I guess just get your family to get the food you like.
Avoid all the food that you eat only for sustenance, only eat the things that you enjoy eating, so that you don't feel a need to eat something nicer on top of what you have already eaten.
Say, if you have rice as a side dish, just don't eat the rice and have more of the main course instead.

That's how I personally maintain a snack-free diet.

BestUserName100 · Answer

Hmm try figuring out your triggers and what's trigger it to happen. Like take depression for example might cause it. I remember hearing also somewhere that you can get addicted to let's use fast food as a example with the fast burning carbs or whatever it is isn't important the fact is that you can get addicted to certain foods and crave it. Once you get better at saying no and fix your diet and clear your system of all that sugar or whatever it is your craving and your stomach shrinks from not over eating, it should become easier over time. Over time you should start to not crave food and it's easy to say no because you aren't hungry, you don't have those hunger pains you once had.

ChronicThinker · Answer

The problem is you're taking part in diet culture. What you need is medical assistance and to actually see a dietitian. Diets fail because they're geared towards fast weight loss but they're fast because they're unsustainable - which is why people fail.

HOAAH · Answer

Buy a swim suit that you want to fit in. Ask your friends to encourage you to lose weight to fit in the swim suit. Each time you lose five pounds, go buy a small item like a headband or eye shadow. Try to snack only on healthy fruit, veggie, nuts. Always drink a ton of water. Eat only half of your meal, and the other half put in the fridge for two hours later. If you forget it, even better. Eat it the next day for a meal.

claryy · Answer

Two years ago I wanted to loose weight, I went to the gym for more than a year and I followed a strict diet for this entire period, it was hard, very hard, but you this is something that you want you can do this, you have just to focus your mind, try to go to the gun with friends, or will be easy

jennifer_bloom · Answer

What helps me - is I pick a gorgeous person I want to look like - then every time I do a work out - I fantasize about having that person's lifestyle - and also if you work out in the morning - you will be less likely to pig out because you will remember how hard you had to work to burn off calories and you will feel like its not worth it to enjoy a tasty meal and then work very very very hard just to get rid of it

Shamalien · Answer

Just fucking control yourself. All this whining and self pity makes me sick. If it means not going out with friends so be it, that’s what I had to do when quitting liquor. Sometimes i watched em all get piss drunk and just sat there enduring the stupidity without so much as a drop. Build some willpower. Leave a bag of sweets on ur desk and don’t touch em

Meatunnel69 · Answer

I just made this light and full of veggies super easy  You need to cook food youself, stay away from grain pastas, refined carb breads, sodas pizzas or high carb foods go straight to fat. Eat more fruits vegetables and lean protein. Im curious as to what you eat

peachyknees · Answer

It sounds like you are going through an emotional eating phase. Do you think this is true? Do you feel the need to eat when you're feeling down/scared/stressed etc?

jamesritchey · Answer

Try incorporating exercise into your day so you can't avoid it. For example, I used to park far away from work so that after work I had no choice but to go for a jog or at the very least a walk, because it was the only way to get to my car.

roland77 · Answer

You got me here. Very hard to not buy some certain products. My consumption is already low on e. g. candy or chocolate bars still I buy some. So it is a low progress here.

SexyAshh · Answer

I find certain herbs curb your apetite, especially from sweets. Look up digestive bitters. You take them before meals and typically you eat less and dont want anything sugary

Avicenna · Answer

Try imagining how many kilometers or miles you'll have to run if you eat that. That may help motivate you to abstain.

Bman4907 · Answer

I usually just take my shirt off in front of a mirror. I haven't been happy with myself for a couple months, 36 of them to be exact and oddly enough, it's helping get the motivation to get moving.

lovedejj_xo · Answer

I eat what I want in moderation I’m not going on a crazy diet. Throw in simple exercise and you’ll be alright. I never eat healthy on my birthday I want all the cake and alcohol good luck!

Anonymous · Answer

I done all diet think other way.

A lot of gym and sports (a lot of cardio) like nearly every day and eat what you want diet.

By exercise I mean go and do 110%, not just half do it or 'bench warming exercise'.

simplelikeme · Answer

Take yourself to a happy place and do the thing you like to do the most. Start off with rewarding yourself once a week. You have to treat yourself also

IntrovertNation · Answer

You might need new friends if they’re not respecting that you’re trying to get on a healthy track

Anonymous · Answer

Well what’s your current height and weight now? Where did you start and what’s your goal weight?

dos3on3 · Answer

i workout waking up eat watery oatmeal to fill up at lunch i have fruits n veggies maybe some chicken and at night i walk a lot i usually gain weight when i pig out

Ianto · Answer

Always give in to temptation. You fony know when you will get another chance.

Iron_Man · Answer

Suck it up and live clean no junk food but once a month

Anonymous · Answer

I don't. I eat whatever I want.

Tish94 · Answer

hi are you ok for a private message

standingUP · Answer

pray. as simple as that. then pray again.

Countrywildmangirl · Answer

Try the keto diet pills

Nahid1707 · Answer

Eating healthy is important

Plitty-Tank · Answer

By refusing to buy temptation foods.

fonduegirl · Answer

COUCH & TV

basilsn96 · Answer

I don't, I eat.

How do you get over temptations when trying to lose weight?

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