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I'm currently a student and I travel between my parents' home and my boyfriend's home multiple times per week. Their eating-habits aren't exactly bad, but they're not that great either. At my bf's it's usually me who cooks. I'm also reliant on homemade lunch because we don't have a cafeteria or restaurant near the school and even the supermarket is ridiculously small for the number of people frequenting it. We're lucky we have one microwave for a student-body of probably more than 500. Problem #1: Breakfast It takes me a long time to get going in the mornings, so I don't have time to prepare anything fancy for breakfast. I used to eat cereals or muesli with milk or sometimes yoghurt, but that didn't feel too satisfying and it also gets quite expensive. If I only eat toast with jam or honey I'll be hungry again soon. I currently habe oats with nuts, raisins and yoghurt for breakfast, but I keep forgetting to buy more yoghurt, so now I'm looking for alternatives. I don't really eat eggs or bacon or anything savoury/salty for breakfast except maybe for weekends, and I'm running out of ideas... Problem #2: I'm a sucker for sweets and desserts. I love chocolate and cookies and cakes. I love to bake. But I have no idea how to get a good balance. I'm usually not eating as much as I used to, but I miss baking cakes. But I also hate feeling somewhat guilty for eating biscuits or chocolate to try and get me through a stressful day. Is there such a thing as healthy alternatives that won't recquire lots of fancy ingredients I'd have to get for lots of money at a specialised store? Because I still feel like my soul would appreciate these sweet moments in life. Problem #3: I'm a sucker for comfort-food. If I don't manage to prepare lunch or grab some leftovers I usually just quickly cook some noodles and throw some store-bought sauces or pestos and parmesan in. If I do manage to cook or have some leftovers, it's not unlikely for it to be something that may not be so very ideal as my go-to-recipes when faced with the question of what to cook. Jambalays probably isn't so bad, but Lasagna and Mac'n Cheese and pasta-bakes all have noodles in them again, which is usually recommended to stay away from in this forum as far as I've seen. I know that meal-prep is important, but I'm having trouble making it a habit because I feel like I have a rather limited repertoire of go-to-dishes while wanting more diversity, and also I keep forgetting about it and only remember that I should have cooked when I'm already supposed to be in bed because otherwise I won't get enough sleep and be completely useless the next day... Sorry for the long post, but I didn't want to spam the forum with multiple ones ^^" Any kind of help would be really appreciated

This is how I feel. This is also probably how I look - especially given how tight my clothes have gotten. I had a good excuse - several in fact. But no more. I am building the habit of eating right. This 4-week challenge will be perfect to get me started. I will be posting results weekly but following daily. THE RULES! 1- No shaming, no disgracing, no criticizing. I make a mistake, I move on and do not repeat it. This also means no weight measuring until after the four weeks. My clothes will be my judge. No comp. 2- Exercise every day. At least a little. It can be some biking, a BBWW, dancing, but it has to be at least 15 minutes, EVERY DAY. Yes, I am looking at You, Saturday, and You, Sunday. You will become workout days too! Comp allowed within a week. 3- At least 1 fruit or vegetable per meal and for snacking. Exception can be made with protein shake if no real dinner is eaten. Total of 3 fruits / vegetables (or portion of) is required per day. Comp allowed within a day. 4- Daily journaling. Because it heals my soul to put on paper the torments it endures and the feelings it experiences. Because choosing with care the little stickers I put in my daily box helps me process these emotions. And because it helps me reflect and accept what I feel. So back to 1! Comp allowed until the last day of the challenge. THE POINTS Note: to make it easier, I used 1 pt per fruit per day (5 pts total instead of 3), so I moved the negative comments to -4 pts. This is a 4-week challenge, so total of 28 days and I start with a small handicap, since I missed Monday. Breaking Rule 1 will take 4 points away, while following Rules 2, 3 or 4 will bring one point each per day (so if I do everything right, but I say "I look fat" instead of "I don't fit in that dress, let's change it", I get only 1 point for that day). Over four weeks the goal is 100 points, which means basically doing all right with Rules 2, 3 and 4, but failing to provide self love for 10 of the 28 days (more than 35%). THE REWARDS Note: rewards adjusted to fit 5-pt per day rule Nanoblooooocks! >99 points: ALL the Nanoblocks 67-99 points: 2 nanoblocks 33-66 points: 1 nanoblock <33 points: Start again next challenge. I WILL GO BEYOND! Over a maximum of 140 points over 28 days, if I gather at least 117 points, I will get MORE NANOBLOCKS!!!!! THE STRATEGY This challenge is really to help me get back on track after I lost myself in work last year (and gained 22 pounds, yikes). Rule 1 is so that I will stick to it and stop the downward spiral of "I am fat, therefore I can eat like a fat girl", Rule 2 is to build the habit before gradually increasing the intensity, Rule 3 is to help because nutrition is 80% of the battle and to get me into the habit of eating good foods, and Rule 4 is to remind me that everything doesn't have to be okay all the time. LET'S GO!!!!

I think I'm going to use this battle log to track my food, mostly. But I may change my mind. This week 1) This week I started to bring food to work: salads! Almost paleo, but with blue cheese which is my current obsession. One salad is obviously not enough, so I decided on fruit and sausages as supporting meals. So far so good. 2) Since I love all chocolatey things and I know I can't give them up (never gonna give you up, chocolate) I changed the kind I'm devouring. So every-possible-kind-of-chocolate became 64% cacao chocolate, which will next become 90%. 90% is good, I think I'm gonna stick to that. 3) I baked an aaaalmost paleo cake: 2 cans of red kidney beans2 bananas1/2 cup cocoa (unsweetened)1/3 cup brown sugar (cheat, I know)1/3 cup ground almonds1 teaspoon vanilla extract100 g chocolate chips 50% cacao (another cheat)50 g walnuts (gonna change it for pistachios next time)came out good, but not great. I need to work a little on the proportions. And substitute 90% cacao chocolate for 50% cacao chocolate chips. 4) I made a cheat every day. Some bigger, some smaller, but every day. Next week 1) buy 90% cacao chocolate (and maybe 70% with orange peel) 2) prepare something light for the evening when I'm exhausted and starving and need to eat something before sleep (because that's when most of my cheating occures). now "something" is not very specific. soup would be great, but I have no energy to cook after work. That one needs to be resolved quickly. 3) reduce cheats. I know I'm going to a confectionery on friday, so this has to keep me going all week.

Hey Rebels! It's been a while since I participated in a 6-week Challenge, but I know how important the support of others is when trying to accomplish something difficult. For this challenge, I'll be mostly focusing on building good habits that will help me sustain healthy eating and make future goals easier. Now then, the challenge! Main Quest: Lose Excess Body Fat. Specifically, get a Flat Stomach. Why: 2 reasons. 1) So I can look in the mirror with pride. 2) It's something I've never been able to do. No matter how athletic I was, my body never looked like a fit person's body. I feel it's a barrier I need to get over for my own confidence and personal growth. Goal 1) Diet: No Sweets or Bread-based items. Goal 2) Habit: Eat all meals/snacks at the dinner table. No screens while eating. Reading is ok but it still needs to be at the dinner table. Goal 3) Habit: Cut down on Internet Browsing: Take 1/2 hr each day to check facebook, blogs, etc. After that, only use internet for SPECIFIC tasks and don't browse. Side Quest: Find an apartment and move out of Parent's house. I've been working on this for a while so may as well make it an official side quest! Grading: Done on a week-by-week basis for each goal. I'll average them up at the end. A strike = 1 sweet; each meal or snack eaten in front of a screen; every half hour of Internet Browsing after the first. A = 1 or fewer strikes in any goal (Ex: 1 sweet eaten on Wednesday but no others through the week = A grade for Goal 1) B = 2 strikes C = 3 strikes D = 4 strikes *Emergency extra credit: Should I have a Really bad day where I eat all my meals in front of a screen and eat tons of Ice Cream and spend all day on computer, the rest of the week is not shot and I CANNOT use that day's failure to give up on the rest of the week. If I get right back up the next day, I'm brought back up from a D to C. Looking forward to the Challenge! Should be awesome! Also, guess who's signed up to go to Camp Nerd Fitness next fall? This Guy!

Hello there! It sounds so silly, but when faced with the question "what one thing is holding you back from completing your main quest?" I realized that I eat pretty well for my height, build, and fitness regime. The only thing that I'm finding difficult is cutting down on the chocolate! I think that these cravings are psychological but I'm finding it impossible to slay them. Its like a game boss that's really, unbelievably difficult to take down, and if I could take down only one of my demons right now - if I was only able to cross off one quest at all - it would be this one! If I go a day without it I feel moody, sleepy, irritable, and experience mild headaches. Every single day I; do really well with my diet and fitness, binge out on chocolate, feel guilty, swear off of it, then fail again the next day - rinse, lather, repeat. So does anybody have any tips? How can I eradicate chocolate cravings? Thank you, fellow rebels!

So, I come from a family that has always made desserts part of our weekly meal plan. I thought there's no harm in having a small piece, if I've saved up calories for it and had a smaller portion size and wasn't going over my sugar intake for the day, right? So I'd set one day a week when I could have something sweet and processed, while eating clean the rest of the week. But now I find that even just a couple bites in my stomach gets really upset and I can't finish it. I'm not sure why this is happening! Will I never be able to enjoy a brownie again?

Hi Everyone, I was wondering what you guys do when you feel tempted for certain foods. I'm on a low-carb high-protein diet, and I only let myself splurge once a week (on Sundays) with only one snack... otherwise I'll totally derail The problem is, I work at a big company and there's always a birthday celebration that includes cake and pizza, or at any given day someone brings bagels, cupcakes, cookies, homemade brownies ... you name it! All unhealthy stuff... I told one of my closest friends that I'm on a diet and avoiding all that stuff, but that didn't stop her yesterday to bring me a cafe latte from Starbucks... Thank God it was just a tall latte without sugar so I was able to drink it... It's been very hard for me to loose weight, so I definitely don't want to cheat, and I feel proud when I avoid the temptation, but is an awful battle... I'm to the point to lie and tell everyone that I'm diabetic so I can skip those birthdays and avoid all that unhealthy food... How do you guys deal with that?

I'm wondering if you feed your children paleo ? My husband and I have always been 'good' eaters and we both love cooking, so the junk food ratio has always been low here. No fizzy drinks, no fast food, no ready meals ... but we used to eat a lot of pasta and the kids loved it. Now we adults have both started paleo 'dieting' (we both want to lose a bit of weight). I don't want to scare off my kids but I'm feeling so much better that I feel kind of bad giving them their same old sandwiches and sweets. I've notice before that the more fruit I have in the house, the less sweets they eat. So I'm definitely throwing out the sweet box tomorrow (they'll never know, they'll think their dad has eaten everything :-)). But other than that, I'm not sure. DD eats at preschool four times a week, so I don't have to worry about that. They serve clean, healthy food with lots of veg but standard recipes with grains. DS takes lunch boxes to school - right now he still gets sandwiches every day. Am thinking of switching to 'real' bread aka bread from the 'artisan' bakery instead of packaged slices. I still want them to be able to eat cake at parties, or when they are at friends' houses. So i'm not thinking of banning any foods. Just some tweaking. Any thoughts ? :-) Any experiences ?

OK, here are my simple goals for the next challenge: 1) Exercise on Monday, Wednesday, Friday: squats, planks, push ups, pull ups, one-legged hip raises - 3 sets each 2) Eat no sweets, sugar, unhealthy snacks etc. Exception: one piece of dark chocolate OR one cappucchino per day. 3) Eat 5 servings of fruits and/or vegetables per day. 4) Write 20 Minutes per day.