How to be stricked

Thistimesforrealxox

Hi everyone, I'm finding it really hard to be strick with myself because of this I am barely loosing any weight. I'm very motivated in the mornings and look forward to being active and eating well. So throughout the day I do that.. Until the evening I suddenly loose all control and end up bingeing well over my calories:( any tips to stop this? I always keep well hydrated.

StealthHealth

Are you eating enough during the day? I've noticed that people that have aggressive loss targets (and so are lower calories) often struggle in the evening.

Another thing to consider is - If you know that evenings are your danger time, try to allocate yourself an evening snack that fits in with your daily calories.

kalm3

Story of my life. This week I've realized that veggies keep me full longer. My approach has always been to eat my usual foods but just a smaller amount, that always led to me with my hand in a cereal box late at night. Try adding greens (asparagus, broccoli anything you like) and see if it will keep you feeling full. Best of luck! You can do it!

Wickedfaery73

misskarne wrote: »

So it sounds like your issue is being too STRICT, rather than not being STRICT enough. (Sorry, I know we're not supposed to correct spelling but "stricked" really hits my buttons. "digestive track" instead of "digestive tract" also does the same thing.)

My best guess would be that you are not really eating enough in the mornings and thus are starving in the evenings.

Misskarne, That made me giggle =D

I agree though, OP, You are probably not eating enough during the day. I personally do better if I spread out calories and have snacks with more protein and/or fiber.

frankie_xox

I recently skipped breakfast because of the way my morning went and noticed that I wasn't really feeling hungry until lunch time anyway. If you know you're going to want to eat a bigger dinner and snack in the evening, can you try waiting to eat in the day until you actually feel hungry? I realized that I was "wasting" those early morning calories when I didn't even want them and the last couple of days I've found it easier to stay within my goal because I have the extra calories left in the evening, which I would have eaten anyway. Now I eat the calories at night and don't go over! (This is basically intermittent fasting, I think, but I have not done any research into that).

Need2Exerc1se

misskarne wrote: »

My best guess would be that you are not really eating enough in the mornings and thus are starving in the evenings.

This, or you are eating foods you really don't enjoy and by evening you are craving something you do enjoy. Or both.

My suggestion would be to include some treats in your day and/or save some calories for evening snacking. Make sure your goals are realistic.

If you are having a hard time sticking to your goal you might want to consider changing the goal to a slower rate of loss. Everyone wants to get to goal ASAP, but slow and steady sometimes is the fastest way to success.

nfpswife

I think it's hard to answer without seeing what you eat and how many calories you're taking in. Is your diary open?

ElizabethOakes2

There's a lot of really good advice in this thread.
You don't mention your activity level or what your daily activities look like. Frankie_xox mentioned above not eating breakfast and saving your calories for later in the day. Are you more active at night, or in the morning? You may need to balance your meals better throughout the day to correspond with your activity level- If you're particularly active in the afternoon, for example, but are eating a light lunch, it could be driving you to be more hungry at night.
Also, setting yourself up with a dinner meal and a snack beforehand- (I like to make crockpot meals and freeze them in individual servings for lunches, since I work from home and it's very tempting to just snack on everything in the fridge instead of eating a single serving.) That way, you have the mindset of knowing what you're going to eat?

AnnPT77

I want to generalize a point that several have offered specifics about: Though we generally all lose weight the same basic way here, calories in < calories out, there are a huge variety of different strategies to achieve that, and different ones work better for different people, to help them feeling satiated & energetic, thus making the weight-loss process sustainable over the longer haul.

So: Experiment with the timing and composition of your eating, to see what makes you feel best.

By "timing", I mean how many meals & snacks you eat throughout the day, and how you distribute calories among them. Some people have 1 meal a day (at least some days), others two (such as 'skip breakfast'), or the standard 3 (could be big breakfast, tiny dinner; the reverse; even calorie allocation among them; etc.) Some people do best with 3 meals and 2 or 3 smaller snacks. Some are better off with 5 or even 6 tiny meals, but closer together.

By "composition", I mean what types of foods you eat, and what macronutrients (protein, fat, carbs) you emphasize or minimize (with a healthy range, of course). Some people find protein filling, so eat relatively more of that; others find healthy fats more satisfying, and allocate relatively more calories to those. Some folks find it satisfying to eat visually large things (like salad) more often. Some do best with a larger proportion of high-volume low-calorie foods (typically high-fiber veggies).

Personally, I do best with a solid breakfast that includes plenty of protein, good protein through the day, and some hearty portions of lower-cal veggies. Most days I eat 3-4 meals, and include a sensible snack if I get hungry at an unusual time, plus sometimes something like home-made popcorn in the evening for munchies.

But you'll be different, in what you find filling, satisfying, tasty & energy supporting. Try a variation for a couple of days. If you like it, keep it. If it doesn't work, try something else. You'll find your best mix, and either get the binge-snacking under control, or find a way to fit in some workable snacks.

+1 to the idea that you should consider adopting a slower weight-loss calorie goal (i.e., target losing fewer pounds per week), in order to make it more achievable. That "declining commitment through the day" thing could well be either too few calories available, or even not getting enough sleep at night. A slower weight loss plan that you can stick with is way more effective than a fast approach that you can't accomplish in real life.

jgnatca

I have a personal philosophy that it's the people who make kind changes to their habits - not the strict ones - who sustain the change. Weight loss takes months. Who wants to be a kill-joy for that long?

Or look at will power as being a limited resource, like an iPhone battery. You can't stay away from a recharge of happiness for too long.

Good news, happiness can come in small packages, like a couple of M & M's. Knowing they are waiting for you at the end of the day - and they are "allowed" can make all the difference.