How To Reach Calorie Goal Without Bingeing?

amclain93

janellsosajs wrote: »

I'm just curious about something... Do you consider yourself an emotional eater? Do you tend to eat more because you are bored or stressed out when you don't workout? I would look at that first then look at the types of foods you are consuming. Adding more protein and fat to your diet will help you stay satisfied longer. Try eating ever 2-3 hours so your metabolism is constantly burning. Keep your snacks between 100-200 calories. You are more than welcome to add me for help if you'd like.

I actually tend to not eat at all when I'm emotional. I've always been prone to eating disorders (had to fulfill that anorexic cheerleader stereotype, after all), and the one habit i can't seem to shake is not eating as a form of self punishment. It's not even like a conscious thought in my mind, but i can guarantee that every low calorie day in my diary something happened to make me sad or mad or nervous. But that's a whole other can of cats that no one wants to open!

I've tried the small meals approach, but I'm a full time college student, with the budget and free time that come standard. In a perfect world that would be my preferred method of eating, but between a grocery budget of 100 bucks a month for a family of four and a full week of classes with a combined total of 45 minutes between said classes, and a backpack with no room to spare for snacks, it's just not a realistic plan, lol.

amclain93

Really though, all I was looking for were some ideas for calorie dense foods. I tried searching pinterest and it was all fancy crap that I've never heard of on toast made from fancy bread that i could never afford.

janellsosajs

amclain93 wrote: »

janellsosajs wrote: »

I'm just curious about something... Do you consider yourself an emotional eater? Do you tend to eat more because you are bored or stressed out when you don't workout? I would look at that first then look at the types of foods you are consuming. Adding more protein and fat to your diet will help you stay satisfied longer. Try eating ever 2-3 hours so your metabolism is constantly burning. Keep your snacks between 100-200 calories. You are more than welcome to add me for help if you'd like.

I actually tend to not eat at all when I'm emotional. I've always been prone to eating disorders (had to fulfill that anorexic cheerleader stereotype, after all), and the one habit i can't seem to shake is not eating as a form of self punishment. It's not even like a conscious thought in my mind, but i can guarantee that every low calorie day in my diary something happened to make me sad or mad or nervous. But that's a whole other can of cats that no one wants to open!

I've tried the small meals approach, but I'm a full time college student, with the budget and free time that come standard. In a perfect world that would be my preferred method of eating, but between a grocery budget of 100 bucks a month for a family of four and a full week of classes with a combined total of 45 minutes between said classes, and a backpack with no room to spare for snacks, it's just not a realistic plan, lol.

Well I am a single mother, full-time worker, part-time student (3 classes, only one online), and I spend about the same amount on groceries, so it's definitely doable. I buy in bulk and when meat is at a reduced price, prepare my meals ahead of time, and snack on fresh fruit like apples and bananas, nuts, protein shakes, sunchips, basically whatever I can afford and want. It still sounds like you have a bad relationship with food. Food should never be seen as a punishment it is something your body needs to survive. Not eating will slowly hurt you. Have you received some help for your eating disorder? I know on my campus there are nutritional classes plus the gym usually has people that are training to be personal trainers that study kinesiology and recruit people as an internship.

Cortneyrenee04

Are you weighing your foods to know that the calories you're logging are accurate? For me, when I can't weigh foods (or chose not to...) I figure in about a 15% margin for error. Because after weighing my food for a year, I still make mistakes. You could be closer to your calorie goal than you think.

In regards to being busy, pack fruits, veggies and (measured) nuts for your snacks. Everything is portable if you get crafty enough!

lemurcat12

amclain93 wrote: »

Really i just need to find a way to do this in reverse, and eat more on exercise days, and less on lazy days.

I think there's an issue with equating feeling good and not eating, perhaps, but this part of the issue is easy to solve. Average your workouts over the week, and pick a consistent goal -- that way you can eat more on off days and not worry about eating all your extra calories on the workout days.

I don't like to eat more on workout days and less on off days, so I eat 1700 or so every day.

(It's not at all hard for me to get to 1700, though.)

lemurcat12

amclain93 wrote: »

kirstenb13 wrote: »

What you are describing is not a "healthy" (whatever that means) attitude to food either. I'm sure you can physically eat more, or you wouldn't try to lose weight. If you starve yourself like this you may give up much sooner than if you ate what your body needs and keep you deficit low. Just add some higher calorie, nutrient dense foods to get close to your target, the goal isn't to lose the weight super fast but to learn better habits for the future.

I know it's not healthy? That's literally why I made this post, because it's not healthy and I wasn't sure what exactly those high calorie nutrient dense foods you mentioned are. I'm not going 'woo hoo, I only ate 800 calories and worked off half of those' or anything, I'm saying what i did, and tend to do, and looking for ways to prevent it from happening in the future.

Maybe it's helpful to think of the nutrient goals (carbs, fat, protein) as goals, and not simply part of the calorie limit? In particular, try to reach the protein goal. If you eat meat, meat is a way to do it, otherwise, dairy, eggs, beans and lentils, soy. Nuts and seeds and avocado are healthy sources of fat, and fat is calorie dense, and that would include any nut butters. Adding olives or cheese or a dressing with olive oil to a salad. Some fruits are an easy way to add some calories. (I can't see your diary right now, because the site said maintenance required, who knows why.)

diannethegeek

amclain93 wrote: »

Really though, all I was looking for were some ideas for calorie dense foods. I tried searching pinterest and it was all fancy crap that I've never heard of on toast made from fancy bread that i could never afford.

Did you try the stickied "must reads" post at the top of the Food and Nutrition board? There's some good information there. http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10142490/a-list-of-calorie-dense-foods

melissa6771

Hey, I just wanted to check in on you. Seems you haven't logged anything pretty much since the last time you wrote here. How are you doing?