Has anyone managed to successfully change unhealthy eating habits without going on a 'diet'?

[Mushyrule]

I developed some very unhealthy eating habits over lockdown, and whereas I would have always enjoyed a treat in moderation, I now find it very hard to control myself with junk food and I'll literally just keep going until I feel sick 🙈 On top of this, ds was born at the start of covid and I've not lost any of the baby weight, so this combined with my unhealthy eating had led to yoyo dieting (vicious cycle).

Has anyone been in a similar situation and managed to change their habits? I find that the diets do the biggest damage, as I will lose up to 10lbs, then fall of the wagon spectacularly and put it all back on. Would like to be able to just reset and be able to have a wholesome healthy diet without needing to stick rigidly to a plan, or constantly count calories.

I'm in the middle of trying to do this now I had a thread on here a little while ago about just trying to normalise my eating habits and not diet anymore. I'm just concentrating on 3 meals a day and a couple of small snacks and trying to notice when I'm eating on my feelings or eating out of boredom etc. So far I am maintaining my weight

Yes that's exactly it, normalizing eating habits. Glad to hear you've been doing it successfully. I just hate how skewed and unhealthy my habits have become 😞

I manage my sugar intake. There are always cakes at work but I limit myself to once a week. I don’t eat crisps. I don’t drink fizzy drinks. I do have sweets (again at work) and that’s what I’m working on next. I only drink very occasionally, and hardly ever in the house. Just stop buying it OP and that reduces the temptation. If you are hungry, eat fruit. Two things that helped. I gave up red meat pretty easily by saying to myself “I don’t eat that anymore.”
That stopped me having to make decisions about it again and again. I’ve told myself it’s forbidden and psychologically I can’t go back even if I wanted to. I also do a 5 mile (difficult) walk a couple of times a week. I tell myself that eating a sweet treat means dragging myself out to burn it off. Knowing how long you would have to exercise to burn off the calories is pretty motivating.

I'm currently on a ten day trial of Slimpod. You listen for ten mins before you go to sleep, not sure if it is called as hypnotism but after three days of it I am not craving sweet rubbish. Even shopping today with dh he bought his usual snack stash and I felt no urge at all - bearing in mind that this time last week I ate three walnut whips and most of a family bag of crisps just watching a film. I always ate well in terms of breakfast , lunch , dinner it is just all the rubbish in between that got me to 12 stone.

I know it's technically a diet plan, but I joined slimming world. I gained 2 stone after having DD and lost the last of it when she turned 2 months. I always associated diets with salads and soups so found it pleasant that most foods are free and treats are still ok in moderation. My meals were all still hearty so I didn't feel like I was on a diet and eating that way became second nature really quickly. Plus I found the accountability of being weighed helped me stay on track. But obvs it's not for everyone!

Sorry that should have been 9 months not 2 it isnt that good 😂

Aiming for 10 fruit and veg a day helps me
I don't always hit it but it means I'm concentrating more on what veg I can fit in and not eating processed food and by the time you've eaten 10 types, you've no room left to eat crap
Plus it got me into cooking different recipes

norachance your past eating habits sound very similar to mine. Might look into slimpod. I did something similar a while back with a hypnosis track, it was called 12 weeks to wow, but I didn't keep up with it 🙈

Have tried slimming world in the past with mixed success (lost a stone with it a few years back but have tried it again recently and it didn't work). I find that for me, it has the propensity to drive my sugar cravings wild.

Wow 10 fruit and veg!! I had never considered this. I have gone through phases of eating a lot of vegetarian meals, might give it a go again and see what happens.

I had a wake up call lockdown 1! I decided to sort my life out, starting with my mindset around eating. I decided to eat clean. So basically unprocessed food. I don’t eat sugar, or very minimally (don’t buy it), and I’ve adopted the thought of if my Gran ate it when she was my age, it’s fine!!

I lost 2 stone over the summer of the first lockdown without even trying.

I love good food. It’s not a diet as such. I eat full fat dairy. Nothing low fat. I’m vegetarian so I eat predominantly plant based.

I kinda told myself ‘processed food is poisonous and full of toxins, so just don’t!! And I’ve never wanted it since!!

I don’t limit quantities and eat like a horse!! If I’m hungry I eat. Simple

i was overweight. I’m not now. I don’t count calories or fat. Just clean eating.

it really does work

I found books on intuitive eating and the f*ck it diet book really liberating.

@stormchaser
I feel like I am going through a similar revelation to @Stormchaser1502

I just listened to this podcast about processed foods and am making a conscious effort to eat more 'cleanly'. It's definitely worth a listen IMO if you are looking for a more holistic change in attitude which is was I also need.

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0017tcz

It's only been a few days but I feel better eating more whole foods for sure and sugar cravings are definitely reduced.

Just don’t eat carbs and don’t eat between meals or have any desserts/ chocolate.

easy

Yes! I have a sweet tooth and really have no control, I was eating sweets all evening. I decided to start with intermittent fasting so I could have eating windows where I could still have freedom to eat what I liked. Worked so well for me and it's so easy to stick to x

I'm ready interested in the clean eating approach, but wouldn't it be very difficult to eat nothing processed at all? Even things like tinned tomatoes and frozen veg are processed aren't they?

So basically unprocessed food. I don’t eat sugar, or very minimally (don’t buy it), and I’ve adopted the thought of if my Gran ate it when she was my age, it’s fine

@Stormchaser1502 how do you manage to avoid all sugar, do you mean sugary foods or anything with sugar e.g. bread as well? Do you eat fruit? I am eating fruit when I want something sweet as I consider it clean but removing sugar aspect of clean eating is the bit I am most confused about.

Also do.you eat things like bread? If not what do you eat for breakfast?

OP my guess is that you reduce the proportion of processed food in your diet rather than being able to eliminate it completely. But it is confusing, I agree.

I would consider tinned tomatoes and frozen veg to be clean, but not pasta sauces or breaded frozen stuff.

If I diet I go mad. It triggers really bad eating behaviours. I aim to eat 3 really nutritious meals a day; I snack on something non sugary if I am really hungry and then try to make sure I eat more at whatever meal it was (usually lunch). I have been staggered by how much I can/should eat at meals to keep dysreg eating at bay (healthy fat, healthy protein, lots of different veg). When I go all wonky I focus on that again. It takes a few months and then I just moderate naturally without thinking about it. I fall off the wagon again at times of high stress. I did a whole 30 (look it up) 7 years ago and it was hard but taught me a lot about my relationship with food. Good luck.

I do eat fruit, yes. It’s natural. It’s unprocessed. I eat all fruit and veg. I eat a lot of olives and avocados for the natural fats.

for breakfast I have porridge with blueberries on top.
lunch would be a Greek salad
dinner would be anything as long as it’s clean.

as for sugars, I don’t buy or add sugar to foods but I’d eat it in its natural state. Honey for example.
we went ‘sugar free’ after watching ‘sugar free farm’. Really recommend it.

I watched a documentary about UPF’s (ultra processed foods) and it’s life changing!!

Its about making small changes that you
Can sustain. And that you wont stop the minute your motivation drops. So they cant be painful diet things you hate that make you miserable. But things you might like or can tolerate until they become your new norm. So if you hate salad don't commit yourself to
Salad for lunch every day. But it you dont mind fruit. Commit to eating two portions a day-for example.

3 meals a day. One am snack one pm
Snack. A small treat once a day perhaps in the evening. Not starving or depriving yourself. Lots of protein to keep yourself full. Takeaways or junkfood once a month.

How are your activity levels. Can you increase those. Not talking hitting the gym
Five days a week. But can you increase your steps with a goal to build to 10k over the coming months.

Evening snacking is my downfall. I find a14 hour no eating window works for me when I can get into that routine, ie breakfast at 9.00, normal meals during the day, and then don't eat after 7.00pm. I have a square of dark chocolate with my coffee and that signs off food till next morning. I've lost half a stone very gradually with this, but still have a way to go. It's practicable for me though, as I'm on my own and don't have to feed a hungry family at different times - that would be tricky.

If you like sugar, think of fruit that you really enjoy and have lots of this in the house. I found I really enjoyed a couple of good quality oranges or tinned red grapefruit as a way to stop myself thinking I needed sweets.

Illkleymoor - this is how I treat a sweet craving. Have a piece of fruit!

@Stormchaser1502 can I ask which documentary you watched about UPFs?

I have just finished listening to a podcast about UPFs (I've posted a link earlier on if anyone wants a listen) and I agree it's been a real revelation but I would like to learn some more.

I love the factual science based approach to this, and it's really changed my view on ultra-processed foods.