Mindful eating experiment

leadslinger17

My big problem with my diet is snacking. I stay fairly healthy during meals, but then (normally at night), I'm idle and not even really hungry but snack and lose track of my calories.

So here is my idea I'm going to try. Whatever I want to eat I will count the calories before hand, divide by 10 and I have to do that many pushups before I can eat it. If I can't do them, I can't eat it. So for example, if I wanted to eat a 150 calorie serving of chips, I'd have to do 15 pushups first.

First of all this limits me to 400 calories for a snack because at the moment all I can do is 40 pushups in one sitting. Two it will make me think before eating. Three, I should get awesome at pushups What do you think? Anyone try anything like this before?

lorib642

That's an interesting idea. I haven't tried that. Just tracking the calories makes me think a little more about them and if I have closed my diary for the night, for some reason I don't want to enter anything new. But, I need to move more. I can't do push-ups (yet), but maybe something like that would help me. I want to know how it goes

ninerbuff

I snack all the way up till 11:30pm every night. I just make sure I have calories left over for them.
IF you get good at pushups, the amount of energy you use doesn't match how much you consume. For example say you do 100 pushups. You are now allowed to eat an extra 1000 calories? Don't think it will work.


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SLLRunner

synchrony7 wrote: »

My big problem with my diet is snacking. I stay fairly healthy during meals, but then (normally at night), I'm idle and not even really hungry but snack and lose track of my calories.

So here is my idea I'm going to try. Whatever I want to eat I will count the calories before hand, divide by 10 and I have to do that many pushups before I can eat it. If I can't do them, I can't eat it. So for example, if I wanted to eat a 150 calorie serving of chips, I'd have to do 15 pushups first.

First of all this limits me to 400 calories for a snack because at the moment all I can do is 40 pushups in one sitting. Two it will make me think before eating. Three, I should get awesome at pushups What do you think? Anyone try anything like this before?

What? You want to torture yourself in order to deter yourself from snacking?

I don't want to deflate your wonderful idea, but why not just work your snacks into your calorie goals? You know when you are most hungry- pre log everything and stick to it.

There is nothing wrong with snacking. It's all about eating less calories than you burn, and you can do that while still snacking.

SLLRunner

ninerbuff wrote: »

I snack all the way up till 11:30pm every night. I just make sure I have calories left over for them.
IF you get good at pushups, the amount of energy you use doesn't match how much you consume. For example say you do 100 pushups. You are now allowed to eat an extra 1000 calories? Don't think it will work.


A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Yeah....that one went right over my head. Add this to my post above.

leadslinger17

SLLRunner wrote: »

What? You want to torture yourself in order to deter yourself from snacking?

I don't want to deflate your wonderful idea, but why not just work your snacks into your calorie goals? You know when you are most hungry- pre log everything and stick to it.

Basically If I could do the pre-logging I wouldn't have a problem in the first place. Some people respond better to negative deterrents than others. For me at least, I think an immediate punishment would motivate me more than some long term promise that if I make the decision not to eat those chips like 10 times, maybe in a month I'll see one pound of weight loss.

leadslinger17

Think of it like a swearing jar... but instead of swearing it's eating, and instead of money it's pushups The purpose is not to offset calories.

plumsparkle

I was just reading this on the bus on the way home from a course about mindful eating!

i think anything that makes you aware of how much you are eating will be good, and if it makes you realise you don't want to eat it enough even better

meridianova

synchrony7 wrote: »

Think of it like a swearing jar... but instead of swearing it's eating, and instead of money it's pushups The purpose is not to offset calories.

so are you saying that the problem isn't that you're going over in calories, but that you're losing count? i get the idea of "do this first, then reward later", i do it myself at the gym (complete full body workout, get 10-15 minutes in the massage chair). what about pre-bagging some set calorie amounts of various snacks? if you do any weekly meal planning and prep, you could set up little baggies of XXX calories worth of whatever snacks you like, then grab one each night after your designated amount of pushups. at least that way, you're not losing track.

kgeyser

I agree with niner and SLL that it would be easy to blow your calories that way unless you pay attention to how many calories you have left for the day.

But as far as making a behavioral change for snacking in the evenings, it might help. The issue isn't pre-logging your day and wanting to stay within your calories, it's dealing with this habit that has been formed of snacking, and pre-logging won't change that. Doing the push-ups seems no different than drinking a glass of water before allowing yourself to eat, or setting a timer, or any of the other strategies people use to help them determine if they are actually hungry or just eating out of habit/boredom.

No harm in trying the push-ups; if it doesn't work, you're exactly where you were before. Something else that might help is scheduling tasks or activities in the evening that keep you away from the kitchen.

ZombieMom79

synchrony7 wrote: »

Think of it like a swearing jar... but instead of swearing it's eating, and instead of money it's pushups The purpose is not to offset calories.

I agree. It is not about the calories for me either. It the point that I am snacking when I am not hungry and it is not always healthy. MFP is not just about calories in calories out for me, I am trying to adopt an overall healthy lifestyle that does not include processed foods.

I like your idea but since I am only up 10 pushups right now I think I will use jumping jacks or burpees.

besaro

i actually like the idea, its could be a fun way to increase your pushup abilities. You could mix it up with planking, sit ups, jumping jacks etc. As long as you have the calories for that 100-400 snack in the first place. I love games, I used the striv app to get me started walking and i still accept the challenges when i think of it.

999tigger

Im with the peeps that say you need to just log accurately. Why not do an equivalent amount of exercise to the food you are eaing and thereby protecting your deficit?

1 Medium portion of McDonalds French fries is 330 cal and MFP has 1 pus up as burning between .5 and 1 calorie per push up. So youd be doing 33 push ups burning between 16.5-33 calories for a 330 calorie treat. Math doesnt add up and its willpower that you need to make sure you do your press ups.

Better to work them into your overall calorie deficit plan and do a bit more down the gym imo. There are also some threads on snacking and healthy/ good value choices because you will still be eating calories you hadnt provisioned for.

I_Will_End_You

If it deters you from overeating from snacking, go for it. But keep in my 15 pushups isn't going to burn 150 calories.

tulips_and_tea

I don't think the OP is doing the push-ups to off-set the calories. The purpose is to make him more mindful of his snacking, per the thread title. Personal accountability. I say try it. Whatever works for you!

CdnRower

Mentioned this in another post the other day... Whenever I have sweets, I have a personal contract with myself that I have to do 100 burpees the next day. It will never offset the calories ingested, it's just meant as a deterrent I think this was what the OP was trying to say. Pushups and burpees are not a free pass for junk food but you could be doing worse things

tulips_and_tea

CdnRower wrote: »

Mentioned this in another post the other day... Whenever I have sweets, I have a personal contract with myself that I have to do 100 burpees the next day. It will never offset the calories ingested, it's just meant as a deterrent I think this was what the OP was trying to say. Pushups and burpees are not a free pass for junk food but you could be doing worse things

Exactly! This is how I understood it, also. Regardless of the deterrent or "punishment" (although I wouldn't refer to it like that), the point to is stop and evaluate your body and mind prior to just mindlessly eating. I do this, too. Everyone is different. Find what works for you.

999tigger

Dont dispute its not a direct offset, but if he keeps making his target then your deficit is under threat. He will get better. Try it and see.

libbydoodle11

I say report back and tell us how it works for you. It may sound good on paper but how doable is it? I have been known to do housework or leave the house and run errands to avoid snacking if I no longer have the calorie allotment. I usually have the calories so I tend to snack throughout the evening, up until just before bedtime.

MireyGal76

leadslinger17

CdnRower wrote: »

Mentioned this in another post the other day... Whenever I have sweets, I have a personal contract with myself that I have to do 100 burpees the next day. It will never offset the calories ingested, it's just meant as a deterrent I think this was what the OP was trying to say. Pushups and burpees are not a free pass for junk food but you could be doing worse things

Thanks you got it. Other people might not respond to this type of thing, but I think I will. If I could just log accurately at night when I'm tired, yes it wouldn't be an issue, just like if someone was having trouble swearing and you told them "this swearing jar idea is stupid, you just have to stop swearing".

Edit: I think I like burpees even better... those are harder than pushups

SLLRunner

synchrony7 wrote: »

CdnRower wrote: »

Mentioned this in another post the other day... Whenever I have sweets, I have a personal contract with myself that I have to do 100 burpees the next day. It will never offset the calories ingested, it's just meant as a deterrent I think this was what the OP was trying to say. Pushups and burpees are not a free pass for junk food but you could be doing worse things

Thanks you got it. Other people might not respond to this type of thing, but I think I will. If I could just log accurately at night when I'm tired, yes it wouldn't be an issue, just like if someone was having trouble swearing and you told them "this swearing jar idea is stupid, you just have to stop swearing".

Edit: I think I like burpees even better... those are harder than pushups

You realize how buff you'll end up if this push up burpee challenge works?

ninerbuff

For me it would have to be something I'd despise doing. So if I was challenged, then say I have to sit in church for an hour. Or do water class for an hour.
I would think the deterrent should be something that's unlikeable by the person.

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Liftng4Lis

MireyGal76 wrote: »

I LOVE This! In for Daffy and chocolate!

Foamroller

I use silly rules too, in order to prolong the time between thinking "I'm feeling peckish" to eating the snack. It's all about changing habits and prevent mindless "hoarding and eating".

As stated above it's not calorie for calorie. More a symbolic gesture to remind me of how fast I can shove 500 kcal of snacks into my body, compared to the roughly 1 hour of pretty intense workout at the gym I must do to burn it off.

Whatever works for you, hon