Wow, so I compared my eating habits from this past January to now..

I can't believe that I ate like such a pig! Ahhhh. My breakfast was "poptarts", snacks were chocolate chip cookies and pretzels, lunch was two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and dinner was a huge plate of spaghetti with texas garlic toast. Now, it's totally different. Has anyone else had the same experience? It's just interesting to look back on my old logs. I'm glad that I changed my eating habits though. I eat a lot healthier now, almost a complete 180 of what I ate in January.

edit * oops, thanks for correcting my mistake!

I think you mean a complete 180. 360 is a full circle, which means you're back where you started. However, I do know what you mean. I did not save my logs, but...I used to have Toaster Pastry every morning, and now I make myself an omelet and yogurt. I cook so much more now...no more mac n cheese...I haven't so much improved the quality of my food (although I have done that, too) as decreased snacking and having high-cal food as treats rather than staples.

I totally know what you mean...

Only for me it's happened slooowly, like over the course of two years. It wasn't so much that I was putting horrible things into my body (though I was), it was mostly just putting too much stuff in there, period =D. I have a lot of energy, so there's no way I'd need that much food to keep me going.

About two years ago I would start breakfast off with sausage, a buttered biscuit, maybe some bacon, and gravy. (Yup, I live in the south haha.) When even my MOM stopped pretending that it was just baby fat, I decided I needed to change some stuff...so I cut out most of the fatty food and started loading up on veggies. I ate a lot less meat (since most of the meat I ate tended to be deep-fried) and potatos (also either deep fried or smothered in butter and cheese.)

Yeah, my eating habits were insane. I was a 13-year old version of Paula Deen. (although I didn't actually try to fry butter...though I did eat it right off the stick. Along with sugar right from the bowl.)

Needles to say, I was almost two hundred pounds and veeeeery unhappy. It's been a slow process, but when I look back on it, I'm amazed by how much I've changed. Now I'll have some cereal (sans milk) or a peice of fruit (maybe a MorningStar soy sausage patty) for breakfast, a faux-chicken fillet for lunch with some veggies, some speghetti and meatballs made with Tofu Shirataki Noodles and soy meatballs, and maybe some fruit leather (not fruit rollups, the kind with real fruit) or goldfish for snacks, or yogurt and FiberOne for dessert (and sometimes breakfast )

Sorry for rambling...I like talking about food. I'm so hungry just thinking about it all. Now I'm down to 115 pounds...still teetering towards overweight, but I'm getting there.

Oh man, I did this about a month ago, when I was harping on myself for eating another bowl of pasta salad.

I used to have a Snickers and a bottle of coke for lunch, maybe with a bag of chips.

Or I would just eat icing straight out of the container, eat GALLONS of braums Pumkin ice cream, while bags of Ruffles sour cream and cheddar with Cottage cheese (don't knock it until you've tried it, yum), I used to drink whole milk and eat croutons straight out of the box, dipped in salad dressing.

and the Nachos!

Now the food I used to eat makes me sick, all the grease and fat.
Luckily my Dad kicked the whole family into a healthier lifestyle.

Icing Straight out of the container...wow, I still do that now Only it's just a teeny weeny teespoon when there's NOTHING to cure my craving, and I track it on CC. (I make sure to track EVERYTHING so I don't go back to my old ways.)

But before? Yeah, about a whole tub of icing a day. I wish I could find some of my fat pics...Oh my God, I saw one the other day and was mortified. I'm so short, and weighing so much, I looked awful. I was smiling in the pic, but I got depressed just looking at it...the girl in the picture didn't look like she had ANYTHING to smile about.

My stepdad pushed me into a slice of greasy pizza once and I got so sick...I barfed. Everywhere. No lie. I guess you just can't go right from tofu and celery to pizza and chips and expect to not get sick.

Oh man, I miss poptarts so much...

I started really gaining weight during my first year of highschool. My school was less than two minutes away from just about every fast food restaurant in town - Wendy's, A&W, McDonalds, Dairy Queen, Tacobell, Tim Hortans, a fried chicken joint, pizza places, two Chinese food restaurants - everything!

So of course no one ever brought anything from home short of snacks. Not ever. There was a real 'peer pressure' aspect to it - come lunch time you'd walk over to wherever with your friends because there was nothing better to do, and then sit around and eat while you waited for class to start. It was like the great migration, only instead of zebras and antelope braving rivers, it was five hundred hungry teenagers running across the highway so that they could stuff their faces with greasy crap. Yay ._.

So on top of that, I was also overeating to help me deal with my depression and anxiety issues, and had absolutely no concept of portion sizes. So that meant that even when I was eating something that could be considered 'healthy' (or at least not horrible for me) I was screwing myself over by eating four times too much of it. My meals were like - beige, all the time. The only veggies I'd eat were the starchy ones, and when I had fruit I usually ruined it by smothering it in sugar or chocolate powder or caramel sauce.

I've managed to kick most of those habits, though (once I hit 170lbs I pretty much had a melt-down). I can't say I loathe fast food now, but I'm certainly not eating it every day anymore (more like once every couple months) and my plate is more often than not filled half-way up with veggies.

I haven't reached my goal weight yet, I feel so much healthier now =D

Same!  Like, once I got on here, I was pretty good with calories, but for me it was all about the quantity of calories, not quality, so I'd be starting my day off with Lucky Charms, and instead of making my own supper with chicken, veggies etc, I'd make Mr. Noodle...380 calories and over 100% of my sodium for the day.  And that would be my meal...I'm so glad I've dicovered that if I actually cook my own food, I can eat wayy more for the same, or fewer, calories, and not feel disgusting all the time.

flightotc, I know EXACTLY what you mean when you say that you only payed attention to quantity, not quality. I'd be like "oh sure, I'm staying well within my limits!" but I never looked at sugar, sodium, carbs, etc. I eat a lot less packaged food these days. The only exception to that are these prepackaged portioned snacks that I like to get by Emerald, the 100 calorie almonds. They are sodium free, and taste really delicious. I feel so much better now, and I (unintentionally) went from being 143 pounds in January to 130 pounds as of yesterday.

Can we say Wendys Breakfast Sandwiches on the way to work every other day!! Yea I wasn't mindful at all of what I was consuming. I just followed my happy hungry tummy wherever it lead me! Now I'm logging everything and have done a 180 also, I analyze everything. I think it's great to be able to find out through CC how much fat, carbs, and protein I am consuming along with calories. CC is more addicting for me then facebook! haha.

Actually my eating habits haven't changed much.  I started on CC in April (at 155lb) away at college....those days I got mostly B's because I had to pay for my own food and the healthy stuff (fruits and veggies and low-fat yogurt) are expensive. Especially in the quantities I eat them!  My portion sizes of the mashed taters and pancakes and pasta and meats are smaller though.  Since I got home for summer all of my days but a few have been A's.  I have tons of fruits and veggies everyday...sensible pairings of proteins and fiber to keep me full....smaller portion sizes.  And now I am down to around 130 (129.4lb last measurement).  I also try to avoid processed foods (the sodium contents are rediculous) and only eat fast food when I have to (like when on a long road trip).  Actually this past trip I ate at McDonalds and I got one sandwich without the fatty crap and ate it with fruit I brought along. lol  Make the best of it!

oh my god! me too!

I'd eat very little at breakfeast. I find most people who don't eat breakfast are people who eat a LOT. they ate so much the previous day and night, their still full.

At lunch I would have a bagel and sugary drink-snapple, vitamin water-. Cheez-its and if I packed a fruit, I didn't eat it. After school- jeez. I'd just keep grabbing thing sout of the closet- twizzlers, licorice, cheez-its, pretzels, oreos, soda. At dinner I would eat 2 servings or more of pasta and cheese and sauce. I'd refuse to eat fish or chicken and very little salad and veggies.

It disgusts me! and on weekends I'd eat sooo many snacks!I never exercised. Gross! I almost wonder how I don't lose weight quickly seeing how drastically I've changed my eating habits.

If my parents bring home unhealthy snakes I'll eat 3 cheez-its or pretzels or something. 3 bites, 3 crackers, that's it. then I grab my healthy snack!

I lvoe CC-finding how much sodium, sugar, carbs and fiber i'e eaten. i'm addicted!It's addicting!

Portion sizes are what did me in. I did like fruit and stuff but I'd just eat vast quantities of everything. I used to wake up in the mornings feeling soo depressed and went to bed sad. I realized changing my eating habits makes me feel better!Waking up in the morning knowing I'm slimming and eating better and healthier and less, knowing I'm on my way to losing! I'm a lot happier. Not happy, but better than before.

i totally know what you mean. like i would make waffles every morning but now i'm eating like blueberry cereal and lots of fruits and i don't snack when i'm bored. its really awesome to see that change. :-D

my eating habits are completely different. when i was younger, i would eat 2 mcdonald's cheeseburgers, fries, and an apple pie for lunch. i'd eat double or triple servings of dinner and have really unhealthy junk for snacks. i got breakfast from burger king at least 3 times a week and i practically inhaled soda.

now i never touch fast food, i eat healthy stuff, and i haven't had soda since march. i actually have control over what i eat/don't eat and i feel much better. :)

hm... january was a hard month for me. ouch. most days i didn't eat anything, maybe a few strawberries or half a boca burger? but usually nothing. but then about once a week at night i would all-out binge on junk food, anywhere from 3000-8000ish calories at once. ugh, i was so miserable then. all the stress from the holidays and stuff.

now in the mornings i have eggs, toast, fruit, cereal, cottage cheese, yogurt, pancakes, whatever. i eat healthfully and consistently. i eat at night after dinner, but only smaller amounts, usually 300-600 calories. i also treat myself to ice cream or other sweets about once a day, which i never used to do. i've only had cheese four times, and i'd still like to eat that more. i've also only had butter a few times, and i need to work on that, but omg looking back on january... i've come a long way.

what a cool idea to look back at the beginning of the year!

Well I started eating healthy as of Jan., but I totally think the reason for me being overweight was undereating.  Honestly, I never felt hungry and only ate breakfast and dinner.  Now that I'm eating more, and healthier I lost over 30 lbs.  You definitely need to eat, to keep your metabolism healthy and running!