Craving Pizza

[NicoletteAmber]

So I've been doing insanity and walking the dogs constantly, but I hadn't lost a single percentage of body fat in 2 weeks. Hmmm. I realized my macronutrients were the problem (or so I thought). I was eating 40% carbs which was the wrong call. So I changed my macronutrients to 40p/40f/20c. I thought this will fix the problem. And then my most favorite food of all time, the pizza craving hit. I stopped myself from ordering pizza tonight by going into myfitnesspal and calculating how many cheat meals and snacks I've had in the 20 days of this month. 9 cheat meals (3 of those pizza) and a handful of cheat snacks (mostly peanut m&ms). One cheat meal a week is good, so in 3 weeks I've trippled what I should have. 

My question to the fitbit community, what do you do to curb cravings? I'm always like oh I ate good today, I'll just have xyz. I need to be consistent. And really not have cheat meals the rest of the month. Any suggestions?! 

Thanks xoxo

[A_Lurker]

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shipo wrote

Hmmm, not sure I buy that.  If I want pizza I make or order a pizza and if I'm alone, I eat the whole thing typically in one sitting.  As for my weight, it doesn't have an effect either way; then again, given how many calories I burn in a day I guess this isn't too surpising.

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Agreed. For most, this is about finding a new way of eating. In my opinion, saying that you aren't going to have X until you've lost weight is not the way to go. It implies that you're only going to take your new habits and dump them once you've reached your goal. That feels self defeating. If you begin to learn how to work in your favourite foods as you go it seems like you have a better way of maintaining. Pizza I can leave or take. If we have pizza at work I take a piece or two, fill up on the salad and then log it and have a light dinner. Of course, it still doesn't take a huge amount of effort for me to hit 3500 calories burned. Okay, it certainly takes more than 80 pounds ago, but it's still doable. As I lose weight it will be harder to do (likely not possible) but the plan is to keep it up as long as possible. Meanwhile I enjoy pretty much everything I eat and really only deny by portion, not type of food. Chips, which I do enjoy, I bought a box of baked ones (likely won't bother again) and sun chips (yum) the last time I was at Costco. I don't even have one daily, but it would be easy to work in (at 210 cals max).

[AuroraKat]

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@AndyDandyPandy wrote:

Just like the rules of chips: You can't just eat one piece of chip. 

Same thing with pizza, you can't just have 1 slice. 1 slice will go into 3 and before you know it, half the pizza is gone. Sure, eat in moderation people say, easier said than done. 

Pizza will satisfy your cravings. But having the will power and determination to not eat pizza is a much more rewarding satisfaction. You will have a sense of control over your cravings and ego. Do it enough and your cravings will go down and seeing weight loss results will motivate you into continuing your journey. 

Losing weight and maintaining health is not easy especially if you're overweight/obese. You'll have to make some sacrafices, keep yourself motivated, be strongly determined and committed to succeed.

The reality, sad but true. Good luck. 

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Going cold turkey with tempting foods may be an option for some. Hey, if it works, it works - right? But, for many people, myself included, this would be a recipe for failure.

There's nothing inherently "bad" about pizza (or icre cream, or cookies, etc.). They are just very calorie-rich foods. Some of them don't provide too many micronutrients either. But, there's nothing horrible or unhealthy about having these foods once in a while. 

For me, a big part of achieving higher levels of fitness includes mental and emotional health as well. It wouldn't be a very satisfying life for me if certain foods were always off limits. Would I never be able to attend pizza parties my friends put together for football games? Or, would I go, but always bring my own food and power through as everyone around me enjoys yummy pizza? That would make me miserable pretty quickly!

I think it takes a lot of will power, determination and skill to moderate foods that are tempting. To have one cookie without continuing on to eat the whole box, enjoying that cookie and not feeling any guilt about eating it is a healthy way of dealing with food. My relationship with food has changed drastically once I let go of guilt and bias surrounding "bad" foods. As a result, my cravings have essentially gone away. I have pizza once in a while if I want it and move on. Your mileage may vary, of course. Everyone is different. 

[tamado]

There is so much at play here.  Food addiction, portion control, macro/micro nutrient content, varrying opinions on what makes us fat (LCHF vs Cal in/out, etc) and "Pizza" being everything from a thin crust with vegetables on it to a 2 lbs/sq in meat monster.  

Personally, I can portion control and look at my meal as a whole.  If I have a slice of pizza, that's my carbs for the meal.  If I don't want many vegetables on it, that's ok because I will eat that slice with a huge salad.  The pizza becomes a side dish not a main course and when prepared reasonably, can be part of a decent meal.  I have become very good at taking a portion of food, sitting down and eating it.  I don't serve at the table anymore, it's too easy to reach for me.  We fill our plates at the counter and go sit down.  Like a restaurant, when my plate is empty, the meal is over.  I complete my meal having made my choices before I sat down to eat, not as I go and responding to emotions and believing I am hungry when I have just eaten too quickly for the signal to have arrived.  

Again, if you have food addiction, portion control or other issues, then you may need to see this differently.

[shipo]

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@tamado wrote:

Again, if you have food addiction, portion control or other issues, then you may need to see this differently.

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How about a very high activity level where a lot of food is not only good but necessary?  Is that an issue?

[tamado]

@shipo, I personally am in the same boat in terms of activity level.  I like to say I have learned to eat the same foods no matter how active I am, I just change quantities.  IE: You can't out exercise a bad diet.  That said, your body will give you some grace if you are very active but I have been very active for nine years and stayed 265 lbs until I changed how I ate and saw food.  I am now a lean 160 lbs and am able to eat a lot due to my average daily step count of around 20-25k (I own a bakery, very active work).  So, I would say you can still eat a slice of pizza, but I personally would not eat a whole pizza.  Realistically, I probably could get away with it once in a while but I do not even want to anymore.  I love how I feel eating better.  So, now I enjoy the taste of things like pizza but enjoy how my body feels when I moderate that to a reasonable serving and fill out the rest of the meal with fresh produce.  Heck, I may even have a beer with my pizza on occasion.
Like @A_Lurker said, if you are denying yourself while trying to loose weight with no intention of continuing the same lifestyle afterwards, there really is no point in starting.  I look at food differently now, I feel different - I feel better.

While I am on the topic, I will make a meal comparison.  Both of the following meals are delicious and satisfying, but one seems to help me maintain weight and one makes me fat again.  They are both very large breakfasts, but again, I am very active.

Breakfast A (pre-weight loss normal meal after 8 hours of baking):

- 2-3 eggs

- 5 strips of bacon

- Large serving of hashbrowns with ketchup

- 2 slices of white toast with butter and jam

- Big bottle of orange juice

Breakfast B (I made this this morning, one of my favorites.  Again, this was at the end of 8 hours of straight work):

- I started by sauteeing four strips of chopped up bacon with a small amount of fresh potato hashbrowns

- Once crispy, I added spinach, onions, mushrooms, green peppers and hot peppers

- I pulled that off and started 2 over easy eggs

- I topped my sauteed hash with salsa, guacamole and touch of cheese and hot sauce

- 2 eggs on top of the stack - boom - delicious.  Very reasonable carbs, lots of vegetables, lots of protein

- 2 glasses of water

See the difference?  No refined sugar, no white bread, small amount of potato, no orange juice.

My point is, I can still enjoy breakfast food completely and totally, I make some small changes and find something I still truly love and do not feel deprived in any way.  If that breakfast is suffering, sign me up...

[shipo]

@tamado, I'm kind of in the same boat as you, but not quite.

Looking at my dashboard my last 28 days show a daily step average of 26,000+ (about two-thirds from running) and a daily calorie burn average of 4,200+, so yes, I need a lot of food just to maintain my weight.  That said, I've always hated the, "You cannot out exercise a bad diet" phrase.  Why?  Because what is "bad" for one person is demonstrably good for another.  I might meet you half way and agree one cannot out exercise a junk food diet (consisting of refined grains and sugars and manufactured fats).

Case in point, I'm going to be turning 60 next year and racing in a new age group (finally, when you're in your late 50s and racing in the 50-59 age group it can be difficult to beat some of those youngsters in their early 50s), and am endeavoring to drop a few pounds to increase my speed (word in the running community says for every ten pounds lost, a runner will improve his/her times by about 20 seconds per mile).  A few months ago I decided to ramp up my activity levels from the 150-200 mile per month range to closer to 300 miles per month.

Progress to date:

• Food intake: While not at all precise (I eat what I want, when I want it, and as much of it as I want), has increased probably an easy 20%.
• Size: Once again, no real measurements except losing not one but three belt notches since June.
• Weight: Only down about 12 pounds.
• Speed: Hard to quantify (due to course variations), my 5K pace has dropped from about 7:20 to about 7:00, and my half marathon pace has dropped from about 8:00 to 7:40.

Side note on the food intake thing; over the last couple of weeks I've ramped up my weekly running mileage into the 80+ realm and on several occasions I've literally run out of food and have very nearly swooned.  Sunday was the most recent incident; I went out for a sixteen miler in a pouring rain and when I got home I said to my wife, "I want pancakes!"  We hit a local farm-to-table diner and I ordered four eggs, four strips of bacon, and three large blueberry pancakes.  That sated me for a few hours, but by mid-afternoon I had to desperately rush into the kitchen and fetch out some chips (blue corn tortillas) and guacamole before I passed out.  As long as I eat every few hours all is well, but at these higher activity levels I figure I need to consume at least the number of calories my Fitbit burn rate says I'm burning, and even then I'm still losing weight (slowly).

Taking this full circle to the pizza; like you this isn't something I eat with any regularity, I'm thinking maybe once a month, max.  That said, when I eat it, I eat the whole pie and have a beer or two along with it.

[tamado]

@shipo, that's some good stuff.