how do I overcome...

akitagirl16

Hi,
I recently joined & I have some common problems that I can't seem to overcome and I know it is why I can't stick with any type of plan for very long. I want this time to be different though. I was wondering if anyone could give me suggestions for overcoming certain pitfalls I have....

*Its a total struggle for me to log everything, especially when its something homemade and the recipe doesn't have the serving size or calories. I end up getting frustrated and not logging everything accurately.

*I get this overwhelming desire to eat a lot at night. I'm fine throughout the day and can practice self control, but at night everything unravels. This happens pretty much every night.


Any suggestions on how to deal with these issues would be awesome.

goingtobefit2015

I am constantly reading and listening to you tube about nutrition and goals. It helps keep me motivated daily. Plus the changes I've made in the last 6 months have reduced my body pain and plantar fictitious. Plus I've lost 22lbs. I don't ever want to go back to my old habits. I also am the type that has to cut things off "cold turkey" You can add me as a friend if you want too.

kgirlhart

If you make a dish you can enter it into the recipe builder. Enter it as 1 serving and then weigh the entire dish and subtract your serving. Then you can divide to get your amount. So if the dish it 800 g and you eat 200 g then you would enter your serving size as .25. (I made those numbers up for easy math.)

I usually try to have about 200 calories available in the evening after dinner so I can have a snack if I want one.

NikiChicken

Use the recipe builder to enter your recipes. It takes a bit of time in the beginning, but over time, it becomes quicker and quicker. Plus, over time, you will get more and more recipes saved and won't have to do this - instead you'll be able to just choose the correct recipe.

If you force yourself to log all of your food every meal, every day, no excuses, this will eventually become a habit. I think I read somewhere where it takes 3 weeks to make a habit. I don't know if this is true or not, but I've been logging 4+ years and now I can't imagine NOT logging. There is no trick to logging - it's just discipline until it becomes a habit.

Make sure you are getting enough to eat through the day in order to combat hungriness at night. Don't starve yourself because it will only backfire. Keep healthy snacks on hand so if you really are hungry and need something, you have something "safe" to go to.

Weight loss is really hard but so is being fat - just for different reasons. You need to pick your "hard." Unfortunately, there are no short cuts or easy buttons to losing weight (I wish there were though!) and you just have to put in the hard work if you want to do it and keep the weight off.

cookmtn

With the recipe issue: I use a food scale and weigh out all the ingredients beforehand, except spices and water. After the dish is cooked, I weigh the whole thing, minus the weight of the container. I divide the weight by 10 (easy number), so each serving is that weight. Input all the info into old recipe calculator and put the serving weight in grams in the title. Also, I snack slowly on popcorn in the evenings. Hope this helps.

ClosetBayesian

akitagirl16 wrote: »

Hi,
I recently joined & I have some common problems that I can't seem to overcome and I know it is why I can't stick with any type of plan for very long. I want this time to be different though. I was wondering if anyone could give me suggestions for overcoming certain pitfalls I have....

*Its a total struggle for me to log everything, especially when its something homemade and the recipe doesn't have the serving size or calories. I end up getting frustrated and not logging everything accurately.

*I get this overwhelming desire to eat a lot at night. I'm fine throughout the day and can practice self control, but at night everything unravels. This happens pretty much every night.


Any suggestions on how to deal with these issues would be awesome.

Eat at night. There's nothing wrong with that. Are you practicing self-control, or are you getting into the I-can't-eat-XYZ mindset? There's a difference. Plan for a lower-calorie snack at night - celery, peppers, cottage cheese, etc.

SarahD59

1: When using recipes, I try to divide things into approximate servings, e.g. "I could slice this meatloaf into about 8 slices, so when I put this into my recipe bank, I'll say it serves 8," or "This recipe makes about 2 quarts of soup (or 64 ounces.) That means it makes about 16 cups, so if I eat 2 cups at a time, it's about 8 servings." It's not exact, but it helps.

2. There are a lot of reasons you could be struggling at night, but I've usually been able to narrow my heavy nighttime eating to two reasons: 1: Being bored or tired and eating out of habit to fill that boredom. Or 2: Not eating enough during the day. If you're heavily restricting your calories, trying to "be good," you might not be getting enough calories throughout the day. Your body can't sustain that, and by the end of the day, it will demand food. Eating a reasonable amount at steady intervals throughout the day usually helps me with this.

dubird

- The recipe builder here is really really useful! If the recipe's online, you can put in the URL and it'll pull the ingredients from the site. It'll add it to your recipe tab so you can use it in the future.

- If you want to eat at night, go ahead. Time of day you eat has no bearing on weight loss. You can split up your calories however you want to, and if you want to eat most of them in the evening, that's perfectly fine. That's what I end up doing. I've got my breakfast and lunch set to a certain number of calories, and I can eat whatever I want within that limit. That leaves a large chunk of my calories for dinner and late snacks. I'm a night owl, so staying up late usually means I want a snack late.

- For logging, try just logging for a week or so. Don't worry about adjusting anything just yet, work on getting the habit of logging. The more you do it, the easier it becomes. Especially if you eat a lot of the same things as those will get added to your frequent foods tab and makes it quick to add them. If you're still struggling to remember to log, bribe yourself. Think of something small you want, some clothing or book or something you enjoy. When you log for 14 days in a row, you can get it. That's what I had to do to get into the habit of logging!

- One thing to keep in mind is that yes, this is slow. But you're in the process of retraining your brain and body to what a proper portion of food is, as well as changing established habits. That's really hard to do, so you're not alone! When you have an off day, log it, learn from it, and move on. Once you get some habits reestablished, this will become easier. And when you get to your goal, you'll have the tools and knowledge to keep the weight off.

angelwowings23

So, for the first "pitfall" you mentioned, I've no real suggestion. Pre-plan your meals. I do this on Sundays, sit down, log everything as I'm cooking away. With homemade meals you really have to log everything and determine a serving size, weigh it out. If you don't do this super important step, there's no way to hold yourself accountable to your calories and guarantee you have more going out than coming in. I found this daunting at one point, but doing it all on one day has really helped me through it. It feels like less of a mundane task when you just knock it out in one day of the week.

As for your nighttime cravings, totally get this. I have the urge to open the pantry and just gorge (probably like anyone else trying to eat healthy). What I do is have a "dessert" high in protein. It satiates my snacky tooth and fills me up so I don't want to raid the cabinets and fridge. My personal go-to is 4 tblsp of PB2 and 1/2-1 scoop of protein powder (depending on what I need that day to get my macros right). I mix it with water until I get my preferred consistency and stick in the freezer. Sort of like an ice cream this way and with it being frozen, takes longer to eat.

Afura

I find joining challenges (1 or so at a time) and having friends that will check up on me helps if I get into a zone of feeling MFP-burned out. I'll also second what @dubird said, all really good suggestions. Do the best you can, don't beat yourself up over a bad day.

akitagirl16

thank you for all the suggestions. I think the recipe builder is gonna be a lifesaver.

WendyLaubach

I don't often go to the trouble of the recipe builder. I pick something on the database that seems close enough, weigh or measure my food, and go with that. Over four months, I must have been close enough, because I've lost 50 lbs. By "close enough," I mostly mean "roughly similar in its composition of fat, protein, and liquid," because if those are close, then getting the weight right will be close enough. Of course you have to ignore anything in the database that isn't given in grams or ounces.

ekat120

WendyLaubach wrote: »

I don't often go to the trouble of the recipe builder. I pick something on the database that seems close enough, weigh or measure my food, and go with that. Over four months, I must have been close enough, because I've lost 50 lbs. By "close enough," I mostly mean "roughly similar in its composition of fat, protein, and liquid," because if those are close, then getting the weight right will be close enough. Of course you have to ignore anything in the database that isn't given in grams or ounces.

Yeah, don't let perfect be the enemy of good.

bebeisfit

I agree on the boredom issue for mindless eating at night. I find that if I have a larger size lunch, I'm less ravenous at dinner.

Once you load some recipes you can edit them the next time you make a meal. Swap out a vegetable or grain and it's easy.

sndrd49

"Mindless" eating at night isn't usually about hunger at all. When I get that urge, I have taught myself to take a minute and make myself think it through. Am I actually hungry? If not, what am I feeling? If I am hungry, do I have calories left and what can I eat that will fit in my goals and give me the most bang for my buck. If I plan out this snack I am far less likely to eat more than planned or eat mindlessly. Most important, when this works and you finish off the day feeling in control of yourself....Give yourself the credit and feel good about yourself for it! That will get you through the next night and the next...... Not to say you won't have rough patches, but there are always good people here to turn to.