eat all my calories by lunch
LittleTikiBirdy
Posts: 11 Member
No matter what my calorie goal is set at - 1200, 1300, 1500, 1600, etc. I always eat all my calories by 2pm. Like, compulsively. Then I don't know whether to fast for the rest of the day, workout (again) or eat dinner too, and try again tomorrow (just to fail AGAIN). I tell myself every night "tomorrow, I'll have a smaller lunch" but I never do. What do I do (other than "just do it" - (I mean, like obviously I "should", "ought to" and "must" but by looking at my history, it just never happens.) If I don't eat, I'm miserable, if I do eat, I'm miserable. This whole thing is miserable. How do I do this? I don't know anymore and I seriously need help 
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Replies
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Plan ahead. Sit down tonight and log all your food for tomorrow. I set up times in my food diary and can't eat until that time has arrived.0
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What are you eating for breakfast/lunch that's 1600 calories?0
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Usually I take my left over dinner for lunch.0
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Pre log your food the night before. So you know exactly what your breakfast lunch and dinner are going to be and stick to it.0
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I usually preplan my breakfast, lunch, and snacks, although I don't prelog. One thing I've found helpful -- I've been using a Fitbit Charge HR which shows the calories I've burned throughout the day. When I look at it and see I haven't used up what I've eaten so far but I think I should have a snack, looking at that number tells me that I don't really need that food because I haven't used that many calories. So, I ask myself am I really hungry, or bored, stressed, need a glass of water? Because the number's telling me my body doesn't need those calories at that time. It also works the other way, too, if I feel run-down or fatigued, it's often because I've undereaten at that point in the day and need a snack.
If you don't have that technology, one rule of thumb is to divide your day into thirds, and try to consume a third at each meal if you eat 3 meals a day.
What is your height, weight, activity level, and weight goal? If you're so hungry, perhaps 1600 is too little if you're so starved?0 -
I am sorry! I can't see your diary to know what you eat, but How about if you took the pressure off and focused on getting in only nutritional foods for a couple weeks, and/or made just one small change that you would like to make with your eating/fitness.
Then just work with that and enter your calories and. Just live with what you have eaten. At the end of each day, you have still made strides to become healthier and in a couple weeks you can make another change which help you get closer to 1600 for the day.
I am making changes to my lifestyle that will be permanent, so I cheer myself on whenever possible to make the changes. I tell my self I am on the slow train to a healthy life. Some days I go over my food "coupons" but I am at least sticking with my eating behaviors that are my building blocks of healthy eating...they are my required elements so if I am going over my calories at a party, eating out, etc. I am going over my calories , but at least I can take comfort I am sticking with my nutrition values.
Good luck!0 -
Usually I take my left over dinner for lunch.
Then stop doing that.
pre-log and only est the plan.
Adjust your goal to just maintenance until you csn hit those targets consistently then increase the weight loss goal per week which gives you less calories.
Drink more water throughout the day.
Eat somewhere else to break your pattern.
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I agree with all the pre-planning advice. Plan what you're having, pre-prepare it and pre-log it. Try and get the most bang for your calories if you are a volume eater.0
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How much do you weigh? Maybe you're just not eating enough, period.
More protein, fat, fibre is more filling for me. Almost no chance I'm going to make it through if I start the day with a croissant (high cal, low value, not that filling). Eggs are more reliable (for me).0 -
I kinda have this same problem... But it's not like I usually have dinner anyway.0
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Either eat less early in the day or starve through the evening.
You could also try eating food that is lower in calories. Add more fruits and veggies. I cannot imagine anyone eating 800 calories of fruits and veggies before lunch...and certainly not every day.
Good luck!
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Maybe take foods you like less to work? If you love pasta but tolerate vegetables then take a bunch of veggies to work. Packing foods you crave and love may set you up for failure. Then save the foods you really like (measure our portions and put left overs in freezer for another day) for dinner.0
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Used to have a similar issue just more of a day fast then bulk night intake.. I recently read Mindful Eating by Jan Chozen Bays... was a pleasant read and is definitely helping with my behavioral approach to food and health.
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I have a strong appetite as well, and really struggled to make the right choices and find right portion sizes.
A step in the right direction would be to think ahead what you are going to eat and find foods you like which are big by volume but lower in calories. For example, 300 calories worth of granola with milk is pathetically little. On the other hand, 300 calories of oats cooked with water and sweetened with a bit of sugar free syrup is a huge bowl of porridge. Fried foods or cakes - 400 calories lunch would be tiny. Chicken and salad - 400 calories can become a substantial lunch.0 -
What do you eat for breakfast??0
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Have you considered trying 5:2 or a similar fasting plan?
I've only been doing it 5 weeks but it's really helped me to reset my thinking on what hunger rather than being bored actually is. It's easy to do, just eat 500 cals 2 days a week (they don't have to be consecutive) and eat normally the other 5 days. It feels effortless and I've lost 10lbs in 5 weeks, despite 2 blow out weekends.0 -
The first thing I do in the morning before breakfast is drink a 16oz of water. This helps my stomach feel fuller so that I don't over eat. After breakfast I do the same thing and that's keeps me content until lunch. In between breakfast and lunch I have a healthy snack. Before lunch I drink another bottle of water and the same rule applies for dinner.
( including healthy snack in between lunch and dinner). After dinner (30mins-1hr) I will drink another bottle of water. This really keeps me from over eating and at the same time I'm getting my water in for the day. The key to keep me from eating again after my dinner is to go to bed0 -
allenpriest wrote: »Usually I take my left over dinner for lunch.
Then stop doing that.
pre-log and only est the plan.
Adjust your goal to just maintenance until you csn hit those targets consistently then increase the weight loss goal per week which gives you less calories.
Drink more water throughout the day.
Eat somewhere else to break your pattern.
Why do you feel it's wrong to take dinner leftovers for lunch? I do it all the time. In any event, Elias wasn't even asking for our advice.
OP, I agree with those who said that pre planning is key. Log your food ahead of time and stick to that plan.
Good luck!
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Maybe fast in the morning to cut the habit of eating so frequently to lunch?
I had a similar issue and started IF till 11 am. Has helped me a lot. I wake up at 6/7 and have a cup of coffee and then sit tight till 11. Lots of water in between.0 -
booksandchocolate12 wrote: »allenpriest wrote: »Usually I take my left over dinner for lunch.
Then stop doing that.
pre-log and only est the plan.
Adjust your goal to just maintenance until you csn hit those targets consistently then increase the weight loss goal per week which gives you less calories.
Drink more water throughout the day.
Eat somewhere else to break your pattern.
Why do you feel it's wrong to take dinner leftovers for lunch? I do it all the time. In any event, Elias wasn't even asking for our advice.
OP, I agree with those who said that pre planning is key. Log your food ahead of time and stick to that plan.
Good luck!
She complained about what she was doing not working for her. So change what you are doing.
There's nothing wrong with taking dinner leftovers for lunch. - unless you blow your plan every day.0 -
When I am hungry and things look delicious, I often make bad decisions, so I have learnt coping strategies for this.
Never plan, prep, log or dish up food when you are hungry - it is the same as not shopping hungry. It is easy to kid yourself about choices and portion sizes when your stomach is screaming at you.
I plan my dinner, just after finishing a satisfying lunch. I plan my breakfast (and pack it) after finishing dinner etc.
I work full time, but there are things you can do to avoid prepping food hungry. I prepare a batch of overnight oats each week and split it into 5 portions, 3 of which I freeze. It defrosts nicely and is delicious and because I tracked the recipe on MFP, I know exactly what is in it. All I need to do is grab it, warm it and eat it in the morning - no calorie surprises, no dishing up based on my current hunger as each portion is already packed and weighed in its own container.
I prepare my lunch in advance and I often make use of leftovers. To avoid any temptation around leftovers, it is even better if I can weigh and pack it into a tupperware the night before. What that looks like is : Dish up and weigh your dinner serving (you already worked out earlier in the day how much you can have for dinner, so dishing up is easy). Eat it. While feeling full and happy, return to the leftovers and weigh and portion your lunch directly into a tupperware. Seal it with clingwrap if you are worried you might want to tuck into late night leftovers. That way it is ready to grab and heat the next day, calories already worked out. Using this system you could also put the lunch into the freezer and mix up the order in which you eat it.
Planning is everything, as well as recognising how weak most of us are in the face of hunger. When hunger comes, you want to be ready, not wandering into the kitchen for the first time.
I am a lazy cook and a convenience food fan but planning has brought it all together for me.
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Maybe focus on eating at maintenance every day for a couple weeks. Let's say MFP says your maintenance is 2300. Then after a couple weeks, decrease to 2200 as a goal. Then after a week, 2100.
Do you have MFP set to lose 2# per week? Second thought is change it to lose 0.5 per week. You just might not be able to tolerate a big deficit.0 -
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The person who said that she took leftovers for lunch was giving advice to the OP, not the OP.allenpriest wrote: »booksandchocolate12 wrote: »allenpriest wrote: »Usually I take my left over dinner for lunch.
Then stop doing that.
pre-log and only est the plan.
Adjust your goal to just maintenance until you csn hit those targets consistently then increase the weight loss goal per week which gives you less calories.
Drink more water throughout the day.
Eat somewhere else to break your pattern.
Why do you feel it's wrong to take dinner leftovers for lunch? I do it all the time. In any event, Elias wasn't even asking for our advice.
OP, I agree with those who said that pre planning is key. Log your food ahead of time and stick to that plan.
Good luck!
She complained about what she was doing not working for her. So change what you are doing.
There's nothing wrong with taking dinner leftovers for lunch. - unless you blow your plan every day.0 -
allenpriest wrote: »booksandchocolate12 wrote: »allenpriest wrote: »Usually I take my left over dinner for lunch.
Then stop doing that.
pre-log and only est the plan.
Adjust your goal to just maintenance until you csn hit those targets consistently then increase the weight loss goal per week which gives you less calories.
Drink more water throughout the day.
Eat somewhere else to break your pattern.
Why do you feel it's wrong to take dinner leftovers for lunch? I do it all the time. In any event, Elias wasn't even asking for our advice.
OP, I agree with those who said that pre planning is key. Log your food ahead of time and stick to that plan.
Good luck!
She complained about what she was doing not working for her. So change what you are doing.
There's nothing wrong with taking dinner leftovers for lunch. - unless you blow your plan every day.
@LittleTikiBirdy is the person who complained that what she was doing wasn't working.
@elias1609 is the person who suggested that the OP take leftovers for lunch. Further, @elias1609 never said that what she was doing wasn't working for her.
Do you even look at who's posting?
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the solution to your problem is planning yours meals ahead of time. You need to sit down and log low cal ideas for breakfast and lunch and a snack that you think will satisfy you. During the day when you are feeling "hungry" but you have already eaten enough, have a glass of water and force yourself to wait a little longer. The "hunger" will probably go away. Find ways to distract yourself too, so that your mind doesn't trick you into wanting to eat. You should also plan your dinner and log it, so you have something to look forward to. Commit to eating dinner around the same time each day.0
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Pre plan and pack your lunch. A lean microwaveable lunch or can of soup and an apple or yogurt fits into most people's calorie budget.
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Actually, (and this is just me personally), I found that pre-planning not always works out so well. I used to be the same - I would pre-plan, pre-pack, and take my lunch to work with me, but was still eating it all by about 10am. I knew I should wait, I knew I had a plan, but for some reason (lack of discipline) still find myself eating it all.
I actually found that a mixture of pre-planning and not kinda worked. So, I would pre-plan the morning and just take a few low-calorie snacks, then go out and buy lunch. This forced me to wait for food, and I also found I became more conscientious of calories already eaten and what I could fit in for lunch.
If you can't afford to buy lunch every day (I only needed to do this for a couple of weeks before habit and discipline kicked in and now I can pre-plan and NOT eat it all in the morning), then maybe try and store your lunch somewhere it is not easy to get to - I mean, this may sound a bit whacky, but if you're desperate you will try anything - but for example the gym I visit it just a ten minute walk from my work and I have a locker there, so on the way to work I would pop in, put my lunch in my locker, and then go and get it for lunch. As I said, sounds a bit nuts, but it did the job, I'm losing weight, and can now save myself when bringing food in (most of the time
). Good luck OP! 0 -
I LOVE FOOD. If I could sit and stuff my face all day everyday with my favorite foods I would, trust. BUT as I would be obscenely obese and probably dead if I did that, I'm working on my own personal self control. I realized I was eating A LOT of my calories as a morning snack/lunch/and my afternoon snack, leaving me almost always with only 200-300 calories for dinner which I can usually stay in most nights as my family is big on heavy, greasy dinners and, I am not a huge fan always. I'd ruin it with an ice cream or cookies while i was watching my shows though.
Now, from learning from my mistakes, I try to be more conscious of my meals throughout the day. If I'm approaching my calories for the day and its only after lunch, I try to skip my afternoon snack (even if I feel like I'm super hungry, I know that I'm probably just bored), and if I don't I go home after work and do 1-3 laps around my neighborhood to get the extra burn in. You have to condition yourself to do better. It is hard, I know it is. But in time it will get easier and0
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