Battling diet mentality and tendency to portion

[taymariekay]

I keep finding myself wanting to portion and weigh my starches so I don’t overdo them. I think it’s because I my weight loss is pretty slow. I really don’t want to have to do that, but wrestling with the idea. I know a lot of men on here talk about eating in abundance but I’m kind of scared to do so as a woman. I have a past of binge eating so I can really pack in the food haha. I know that’s what the 50/50 plate is for, filling up on volume without overdoing it.

I am 5’ 8” 185 lbs and female. I have an active job (retail and on feet all day) plus I go on a 45 min walk daily. So I am pretty active and I know I probably need a lot of food but sometimes I get scared of my appetite and ability to eat large portions.

I have cut out everything that is easy for me to overeat. Only eating whole starches, vegetables and keeping fruits at a minimum (really love fruit and can easily eat tons). Still eating salt and fat free condiments, trying not to overdo those though because they can hinder my cues I think.

Hard to trust my body when I have a history of dieting. Yo-yo dieting is pretty much how I stay heavy ironically.

I guess I just need affirmation. I want to rid myself of diet mentality for good.

[Mark Cooper]

Speaking for myself, something I found to be very helpful was transitioning my evaluation of my efforts from focusing on the weekly scale reading, and thinking I needed to figure out what I did right or wrong, based on that number (which caused me to come easily to unsupported conclusions), to instead concentrate on my behavior throughout the week and view success in light of how well I did adhering to the MWL 10-Point Checklist. If I do an excellent job adhering to the guidelines, the outcome follows at what is probably an appropriate pace. Reading that back to myself, I guess what I'm saying is I had to make a "leap of faith" and just concentrate on following the MWL guidelines over a significant duration of time. This short post Jeff made in the April 2020 MWL thread provides exceptional clarity -

Hi Mark,
Am I eating when I’m hungry? It’s hard for me to distinguish hunger for appetite.

You don’t have to figure it out or work out it. Only follow the guidelines. When hungry (regardless of whether you may think it is true hunger, appetite, or something else) just eat. Eat of the recommended foods as outlined in the 10 point checklist.

Over time, it will work itself out.

In Health
Jeff

[taymariekay]

Thank you, Mark! This is exactly what I needed to hear Love that quote from Jeff. I get down on myself when I think I’ve eaten outside of hunger or eaten too much. What’s most important is that I’m eating the right foods instead of wrong ones and I do believe him when he says that over time it will work itself out. Especially as I continue to feed my body healing foods and focus on the guidelines.

I suppose focusing on the process and behaviors and not the outcome as much is what my mind needs. I also think I get so caught up in the weight loss aspect that I lose sight of what’s most important which is life long behavior change. Which takes time!

Thanks so much for your feedback! Helps so much!

[jan_npr]

I can relate with the eating too much for sure. Like many I am a volume eater. I didn't seem to be able to totally stick to the regular starch solution and so this week started on the MWL. Having fewer choices is turning out to be a good thing. I am eating all I want and we'll see how things go. Oddly enough I find my appetite is lessened. To your health!

[wildgoose]

I get down on myself when I think I’ve eaten outside of hunger or eaten too much. What’s most important is that I’m eating the right foods instead of wrong ones and I do believe him when he says that over time it will work itself out. Especially as I continue to feed my body healing foods and focus on the guidelines.

I suppose focusing on the process and behaviors and not the outcome as much is what my mind needs. I also think I get so caught up in the weight loss aspect that I lose sight of what’s most important which is life long behavior change. Which takes time!

@taymariekay I think you said two important things here. Focus on what you’re eating, not how much you’re eating. And trust the process.

I’m a volume eater. For lunch, I usually have a bowl. Not one of these tiny bowls, not even a soup bowl. We're talking a mixing bowl. I put about 2 cups of steamed brown rice in the bottom, then fill it with vegetables and steam the whole thing. Yes, the veggies reduce in volume when steamed, but the bowl of cooked food is still at least 2/3 full. And I eat the whole thing! This is after starting with raw veggies or soup. Then I end with a piece of fruit. It’s a lot of food. People can’t believe I eat like this and stay thin.

I lost weight this way, (55 pounds — see my ticker below). I still eat like this (today’s lunch was broccoli, mushrooms, onion, garlic and ginger, with brown rice), and I’ve weighed the same since the first of November. I don’t weigh or measure anything, but I know the bowls I store my cooked rice in are 2 cups and the bags of frozen broccoli that I use for 3 meals' worth of lunches are 54 ounces. So if that gives you an idea...

Trust the process. Trust that food will come around again whenever you want, so you don’t have to starve yourself or stuff yourself. Eat till comfortably full. If you’re hungry again later, even if it’s only been a couple of hours, you can eat again. Don’t skimp on starches. Figure out which starches fill you up best and keep you full. This is a learning experience — you’ll get better at it as you go along.

Goose

[taymariekay]

I get down on myself when I think I’ve eaten outside of hunger or eaten too much. What’s most important is that I’m eating the right foods instead of wrong ones and I do believe him when he says that over time it will work itself out. Especially as I continue to feed my body healing foods and focus on the guidelines.

I suppose focusing on the process and behaviors and not the outcome as much is what my mind needs. I also think I get so caught up in the weight loss aspect that I lose sight of what’s most important which is life long behavior change. Which takes time!

@taymariekay I think you said two important things here. Focus on what you’re eating, not how much you’re eating. And trust the process.

I’m a volume eater. For lunch, I usually have a bowl. Not one of these tiny bowls, not even a soup bowl. We're talking a mixing bowl. I put about 2 cups of steamed brown rice in the bottom, then fill it with vegetables and steam the whole thing. Yes, the veggies reduce in volume when steamed, but the bowl of cooked food is still at least 2/3 full. And I eat the whole thing! This is after starting with raw veggies or soup. Then I end with a piece of fruit. It’s a lot of food. People can’t believe I eat like this and stay thin.

I lost weight this way, (55 pounds — see my ticker below). I still eat like this (today’s lunch was broccoli, mushrooms, onion, garlic and ginger, with brown rice), and I’ve weighed the same since the first of November. I don’t weigh or measure anything, but I know the bowls I store my cooked rice in are 2 cups and the bags of frozen broccoli that I use for 3 meals' worth of lunches are 54 ounces. So if that gives you an idea...

Trust the process. Trust that food will come around again whenever you want, so you don’t have to starve yourself or stuff yourself. Eat till comfortably full. If you’re hungry again later, even if it’s only been a couple of hours, you can eat again. Don’t skimp on starches. Figure out which starches fill you up best and keep you full. This is a learning experience — you’ll get better at it as you go along.

Goose

Thank you so much for your reply! This was super helpful to read. I am going to continue doing the MWL checklist and trust the process. I'm starting to understand that I need to follow the program and not worry about the details. It's awesome hearing from people like you who have had such success!

[Tian-De]

I can relate with the eating too much for sure. Like many I am a volume eater. I didn't seem to be able to totally stick to the regular starch solution and so this week started on the MWL. Having fewer choices is turning out to be a good thing. I am eating all I want and we'll see how things go. Oddly enough I find my appetite is lessened. To your health!

Jan,

I totally agree! When-ever I say I am trying to do "starch solution" somehow my mind gives me excuses for just about anything I want to avoid -oil, vegan nuggets, tons of bread (with peanut butter on eat slice, of course), peanut butter on every slice of fruit I eat, sometimes just spoonfuls of peanut butter out of the jar (those are fun too). After a week of this, I start feeling pretty down on myself. I totally agree about fewer choices being helpful. I feel like I can actually achieve "starch solution" when I'm shooting for MWL's 10-guidelines.

I found what Goose said her to be really helpful,

I’m a volume eater. For lunch, I usually have a bowl. Not one of these tiny bowls, not even a soup bowl. We're talking a mixing bowl. I put about 2 cups of steamed brown rice in the bottom, then fill it with vegetables and steam the whole thing. Yes, the veggies reduce in volume when steamed, but the bowl of cooked food is still at least 2/3 full. And I eat the whole thing! This is after starting with raw veggies or soup. Then I end with a piece of fruit. It’s a lot of food. People can’t believe I eat like this and stay thin.

...

Trust the process. Trust that food will come around again whenever you want, so you don’t have to starve yourself or stuff yourself. Eat till comfortably full. If you’re hungry again later, even if it’s only been a couple of hours, you can eat again. Don’t skimp on starches. Figure out which starches fill you up best and keep you full. This is a learning experience — you’ll get better at it as you go along.

This is something I could do better with. I think that somewhere inside, I'm afraid of calorically dilute foods, and tense to avoid adding lots and lots of veggies to a make massive meal. Thanks for sharing this, Goose, it adds a lot of perspective!