Help eating healthy when staying at home

Madison511

Active Member
I love doing Cathe's workouts (both cardio and weights and I also love the treadmill) and I am a stay at home Mom and every morning I say "I am going to eat healthy" but some how every afternoon I totally blow it!!!! In my mind I know I am already doing the hard part by working out 6 days a week, but why oh why can't I control my diet and just say "NO I won't eat that junk!!!" For those of you who can stick to a clean diet please tell me how you do it???? I need help!! TIA :)
 
Hey Madison511!

I take 4-5 looks at the crunchy Cheetos at the grocery store and "just say NO". I simply don't buy that junk anymore! Fill your house with good healthy eats and you won't be tempted to raid the snack cabinet because it won't exist! Make some healthy snacks you have never tried before. New tastes seem to satisfy me more. Purchase new cookbooks or browse the ones you have for ideas. There are a number of recipes posted here you can try too!

Good luck!
 
I am certainly no expert in this. I have terrible self control problems, especially in the afternoon when the kids get home from school. Two things I try to do. . .

1. stay out of the kitchen until it's time to make dinner.
2. If I'm fixing the kids a snack or while I cook dinner, I chew sugar free gum. That way I can't take bites of things while I cook.
 
I'm at home too.

1) We have a rule: No cookies or candy until the weekend. That way I'm not totally depriving us of treats, but the stuff isn't in the house all week, staring at me. The bonus ~ my husband and children aren't eating crap during the week either. :)

2) I eat 5 to 6 small meals a day and aim for a certain amount of protein per day. It started out rough because I wasn't used to eating that way, but eventually I adapted, and it has totally killed my desire for junk food like Cheetos and chips.

3) I have an official Cheat Day. The kids can eat cookies from Friday to Sunday, but I have only one day where I can eat what I want ~ cookies, ice cream, pizza, etc. It's something to look forward to, and it makes behaving during the week much easier.

4) I'm not a machine, which means I do break down at times. Then I allow a treat, but I force myself to log it into my daily caloric intake. I'll either happily eat whatever it is guilt free because I'm still within my caloric range for the day, or I'll notice my protein intake is suffering and will instead choose a better food, saving the treat for my Cheat Day.
 
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I have always heard don't tell yourself no, that is a guarantee that you will eat whatever you are telling yourself not to. There is really no easy solution to eating healthy, you just have to do it. Some days it is alittle harder then others. I have been eating clean for about a year and every once and awhile I crave something really bad. I let myself indulge, I usually get sick and then I don't want it for awhile. I wish I had a great answer for you but I think that the only thing that really works is will power and a true desire to change. I have two small children and a lovely wonderful DH, and no junk food in the house. They understand that everyone needs to eat healthy and it is a lifetime commitment. I don't know if I helped or not but good luck! It is hard, to many bad choices out there.
 
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I do not know what it is about the afternoon but it must get all of us...
I work with my husband in construction so during the winter months we have alot of down time. Needless to say this is when I fall off the wagon. I think if you try to put more protein and fiber into yur lunch you will be less likely to get hungry so if you are snacking then you are eating for boredom. I know it is easier said than done ( and you probably already know) but maybe if you can find something to fill the time you normally snack it might not happen as often. But I am a firm believer in 5 or 6 small meals a day. I think this has helped me out because you are not forcing yourself to wait hours for your next meal. In turn you are not just setting there constanly thinking about food , making you want to eat more.
I hope this helped:)
:)Rachel:)
 
Wow. This is the perfect thread for me. I'm just finishing up a third or fourth cookie (who keeps track anyway) and thinking "why do I do this to myself?" I love everyone's responses. I find it especially hard when I'm at home with my kids. For some reason, being surrounded by easily accessible food throws me completely off track. Thanks for all the tips. I'll be sure to implement some of those starting today:D
Aimee
 
Eating right and making healthy choices isn't something people just do. It takes training and practice like everything else.

Making small incremental changes will be easier and less overwhelming then making a lot of huge changes all at once.

Ellie Kreiger has a pretty good book called "Small Changes, Big Results" which has some wonderful suggestions for slowly adding in better habits over a 12 week period.

There are a couple of things that will really help.

1) Keep an honest food diary. (Seriously, if you don't record the cookie, the only person your fibbing to is yourself, and then what's the point) A food diary is a very important and useful tool. It is NEVER EVER to be used as a weapon to punish yourself and think poorly of yourself or your choices. It is a tool to help you learn and grow. It will help you identify patterns, and when used properly it will be a record of your journey to a better you.

2) Take time to plan out your food choices. Waiting until your hungry to figure out what you’re going to eat is setting yourself up for making poor choices. My judgment is terribly impaired when I am starving. I get super cranky and emotional, and am able to convince myself that McDonald’s is super yummy food that won’t make me sick this time.

It is really hard to go from not planning any meals (or only planning 2 or 3 a week) to planning 3 meals and 3 snacks a day. I don’t know why people think this is easy if you’re not used to doing it. It’s like asking a couch potato to get up and do IMAX3 from beginning to end in one day.

Pick one meal and start planning out the day before what you are going to do for that meal, go to the store, buy supplies, do some prep work, whatever. If you’re struggling with late afternoon hunger, plan out several days’ worth of snacks for that specific time. Buy Ziploc snack size bags and portion out some dried fruit, nuts, what ever. Tell yourself that when you get hungry at that time, you will enjoy your prepared snack. Finish that snack and don’t go back for seconds, even if you are still hungry. Wait at least 20 minutes. If you are still hungry after 20 minutes, consider whether or not you want to have another small snack or perhaps a glass of milk. Write it all down in your diary, not only what you ate, but how satisfying it was, whether you wanted more or something different. Try this for at least three days. Look at your notes and make adjustments. Maybe instead of dried fruit and nuts, what you really want is hummus, vegetables and a small whole wheat pita. Maybe instead of a 120 calorie snack you really need a 200 calorie snack to make yourself feel full and satisfied. Maybe instead of eating it at 4:00 you should try eating it at 3:30.

Once you master one meal, add another meal. Starts with your afternoon snack, then add breakfast or lunch. Maybe snacks are easier to handle at first then regular meals, so after you get comfortable with planning your afternoon snack, start planning out how you’ll handle dessert. (I can’t help it I really think everyone should have dessert every day.) Then add a mid morning snack. Breakfast is easier for some people to master then dinner, other find lunch the easiest of the main meals to master. Don’t be afraid to use leftovers as part of your planning process. There isn’t any reason why your extra salmon from dinner can’t also be used in some way for breakfast or lunch the next day.

Being strong in the grocery store is excellent advice, because then you don’t have to deal with saying no in your home. I have a huge problem saying no to regular Coke, so I never buy it. Instead I make Sun tea with various herbal teas and good old Tetley.

Just remember, you will never be able to just wander into the world and just happen across healthy food when you’re hungry. You don’t need to drag a cooler with you, but you do need to keep in mind what restaurants will be near where you’ll be. A lot of the chains have website and you can do some research before you go out. Figure out what are reasonable choices for your favorite restaurant when you are at home and not starving. It’s good to know that you can order 2 or 3 items from some restaurant’s menu and not blow your diet. And figuring that out when you aren’t starving will keep you from ordering the onion blossom of death at the outback.

I don’t know, maybe this isn’t the sort of thing you were looking for. I hope it helps.
 
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