What are some ways you stay motivated to eat healthier? I know with all of the easy fast food that is designed to stimulate our taste buds and get us addicted, what are some things that you do to prevent losing control of your diets? I know I have a problem with impulse eating and would like some help in this area. I think if food didn't taste so good I'd probably be skinny! I am looking for ways to improve my eating habits and I figure if I can be proactive in the struggle, I might get a handle on it.

If you want to add a few things you do well or tips and 3 things you're struggling in for others to help you; that would be great!

Here are some things I currently do:

1) I eat a big breakfast so that I am not as hungry during the other meals
2) I try to plan out meals so that I'm not looking for something at the last minute and scrambling or settling for the quick and easy route
3) I am learning new recipes to keep things interesting in the kitchen; variety is the spice of life!

What I am struggling in:

1) Portion size
2) I feel like I need dessert afterwards
3) Eating later than I want to... you have to have dessert while watching you favorite show... so what if it comes on at 9pm!

I think these are good things that you are doing. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day so it is good to great a big one.


I feel like I struggle with the same things. I feel like I need to eat dessert after dinner too. I think one thing to help me in the past, is to not have the desserts in my house. When they weren't there and ready to eat, I wouldn't eat them! But if they are there, your will power has to be stronger than the dessert's. I don't know much else you can do beside tough it out and not give in the the temptation!

Exactly... Same with me, if goodies are in the house, I will eat them. So I have to keep the kitchen pretty much empty, of treats, that is!! I just don't buy them at the store.

I'm another one that will eat stuff when it's there, most of the time.

I went to the back of the 7-11 inbetween bus trips today though and got some grapes and water instead of the nachos and soda. I usually stay far far away from the sandwiches, fruit, and pretty much everything that doesn't get delivered to them and stay in sealed packages in gas stations for fear of getting sick, but for once the grapes looked really good.

Grapes at 7-11? I've never seen grapes or any fruit at a 7-11 store. Maybe that just happens in Florida?

But yeah, it is so much easier not to eat the junky food if it is not right there waiting and ready to be ate!

7-11 has all kinds of stuff around here. There's usually a cooler off to the side or back by the slurpee machines with sandwiches and sliced fruit bowls in it.
The fruit isn't something I depend on being good though. A lot of times it's like a Goldielocks and the two sterile bears story.

I can't remember the last time I was in a convenient store that didn't have bannanas next to the register.

It seems like the closer to the coast around here the more stuff the 7-11 stores have in them.

I don't think I'd ever eat fruit from a convienent store either... the thought of everyone and their dog coming in a picking up the fruit would be enough for me to say no thank you! I hope you washed the grapes first

I have started buying the small variety bags of chips and avoiding the big bags because even though it may be a little more expensive, I find it saves me money in the long run by helping me control my portion size. I think I might start buying things in individually wrapped serving sizes and see if I can control it that way. I just wish pop tarts only came in packs of one, two is not a snack and not a meal... one is a snack and I don't feel guilty eating later!

The 7-11 fruit comes in small plastic bowls with shrinkwrap seals around them. There's probably fewer people actually touching the fruit itself than there is the stuff in the grocery store.
In any event though, if you get a bottled water too you can pour a little in the bottom of the bowl and shake it up to wash them off.

The biggest problem is that some places get stuff that goes bad because nobody buys it, or, they have stuff that's not ripe because they don't want it to go bad soo fast.

I got the picture now... that's not nearly as bad as I thought. I can't imagine you'd luck out and get the fruit on the exact day it gets ripe. If you do you need to buy a scratch off lotto ticket while you're there too!

We have $20 "Gold Rush" scratchoff tickets here in Florida, when they first came out people were winning $500 left and right. A buddy of mine and I played them to the point that we won $100-$500 every few days, and then we got to the point that we were buying the entire $600 stacks at a time, at which point we started losing $200-$300 at a time.

Needless to say, I don't play scratchoff lottery tickets anymore. I've had enough scratchoff lottery excitement to last me a lifetime.

Good point! I don't play very often, but I do figure that you have to be in it to win it. I figure my odds are crappy whether I buy one or a hundred... I am a value bet kind of guy. From 0 to 1 is huge... but 1 to 100 not so much... so I just buy 1!