Please explain: HOW do you make it fit your calories?
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Most of the comments have been related to portioning and preserving the freshness of the remainder of a package, or buying smaller sizes/individual portions.
One thing that hasn't been addressed is the general composition of the diet.
My diet now is different than it once was. I eat fewer carbohydrates overall and more protein overall than I used to and this has changed my overall satiation with the food that I do eat.
The old Doritos ads (I think? Or maybe it was Lays potato chips?) said "You can't eat just one" and that was very true for me before. But now, I actually can eat just one or just one portion (28g), which at one point seemed like a minuscule amount to me. I don't feel cravings to eat more than the portion that I measure out.
I have not read every entry, so I don't know if someone has mentioned this already: If I do want to have a particular treat (like hot cross buns the other day on Good Friday), then I will sometimes pre-log the treat at the beginning of the day (even if I'm not eating it until later on in the day). Having the treat pre-logged then allows me to work the rest of my daily calories around it. I may have to eat a bit less avocado or skip my dark chocolate or have a smaller portion of XYZ if I want to fit the treat in.
Hope this helps!
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I usually look for single serving items. They sell single serving chips, and single serving dip packets. For pies, we have 4 people in the house, so it's guaranteed to be eaten.
For bread, we usually eat pita bread so home baked regular loaf kind bread does go stale if we don't do something about it because we don't eat a lot of it. In this case, we usually have the loaf around for a couple of days, then cut it into slices, put little wax paper squares between them so they don't stick and freeze. Then whenever you feel like having a slice, just take one out and let it thaw.
Sometimes when one or two people want pizza and the rest don't we buy a personal pizza and split it.
We are usually not huge wine drinkers, so we only buy it on holidays and it's all gone that during the holiday, so I can't help you with that.
If I'm making a dessert for myself that is lower in calories (my family doesn't care much for lower calorie desserts) I only make 3-4 servings if possible which I can go through before they go stale. Some recipes can even be made into one serving.
For things like pelmeni and similar dough creations, we make them and freeze them raw in individual serving bags and whoever wants some they just take out a bag and throw the content into boiling water.0 -
I don't eat that kind of crap. Sorry. I get my calories from nutrient dense foods. I eat healthy fats. And get full fast. Besides your body better uses whole food calories for energy then things that are overly processed that can get turned to sugar and fat.0
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One more thing: You can always pawn extra food off on someone else.
I know you said that there are just two of you in the household, but if one or both of you are still working, then take the extra food to the break room at work. It will disappear within the hour or by the end of the day, I'm sure.
If you aren't working outside the home, if you don't want to freeze or otherwise preserve the food, if you don't want it to go to waste, and if you don't feel weird about it (a LOT of ifs!), then you could take extras to a neighbor (it depends on how friendly you are with your neighbors), or you could give them to a friend/relative, or you could dump the extras in the kitchen at your place of worship (if you have one), or you could give the food to a homeless person.
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When I hear "make it fit into your calories", I'm not thinking of how to fit in a package of food, but rather how to make the number of calories of the food fit into your daily goal.
For instance, knowing I'm going out for dinner, so I eat less for breakfast and lunch. Or bank calories throughout the week.0 -
Lots of people say you can eat any food you want as long as it fits within your calorie goal. I understand the concept but How, in reality, do you do this? Please be specific. For example:
Potato chips & dip. If you eat 10 chips and a spoonful of dip, do you throw out the rest?
A package of cinnamon rolls. You have one or split one, do you let the rest go to waste? Even if I planned one per day, which I don't necessarily want to do, they would go stale first.
A glass of wine at home-do you keep the unused portion of the bottle on hand for weeks or months, then throw it out when it gets too old?
A cake or pie-you have one small piece that you want, then throw out the rest?
A loaf of homemade bread, you have one or two slices then the rest goes stale?
There are only two of us & we're both watching what and how much we eat, so its not like I would just nibble off a stash that someone else will eat up.
Helpful suggestions only, please. No sarcasm and no attacks. Thx.
Potato chips, buy an individual package and eat it. 150 cal of my 400-450 lunch. Not every day, but when I really want it.
Cinnamon rolls: I eat one (or half) and freeze the rest until I want it again.
Wine: No idea. I am not a wine drinker. My husband and i have had the same six pack of hard cider in the fridge since November. I think we've each had one.
Cake or pie: Eat a piece and freeze the rest or bring it to work and give it away. Often my cakes get made into cupcakes now because the freezer is my friend and it's easier to stop at one cupcake.
Pizza: Half of a GF bacon and pineapple pizza is 450 calories from Domonos or Pie Five. I can eat that and a salad and have the other half for lunch the next day.
Cheeseburger: 93/7 beef, diced onions, red peeper flakes, quality cheese and no bun. Lots of things I used to eat on or with bread, I just skip the bread. It's the other stuff I really want to taste.
Good quality freezer bags and a Sharpie can be your best friend.0 -
My recommendation is if you know anyone who opens a bottle of wine has any left over, un-friend them immediately...0
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So...if you're NOT fitting it into your calories and just eating as you would like to, would you be eating the entire thing of cinnamon rolls and the whole cake? Probably not. Either other people help you eat it or you eat it over the course of several days until it's either gone or no longer good depending on how long it will keep.
I'm an obsessive pre-logger and I hate wasting food, so if I'm going to fit something fun into my macros, I'll make sure I have it pre-logged the following days as well so I don't end up buying something just to throw most of it away. If I can't fit it in over several days, I freeze it. Easy peasy.0 -
Most of the things that you mentioned I will just buy individual servings of that item. I can get individual cookies, two slices of cheesecake, or a cupcake instead of an entire cake from the bakery. They also have smaller cakes but since it's just me the items I mentioned are more than enough. I don't drink wine very often but when I want a glass I will get the small 187 ml (about 6 oz) bottles.0
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heatherwartanyan wrote: »I don't eat that kind of crap. Sorry. I get my calories from nutrient dense foods. I eat healthy fats. And get full fast. Besides your body better uses whole food calories for energy then things that are overly processed that can get turned to sugar and fat.
Unless you're eating more than you burn off, your body isn't going to turn anything you eat into fat.
And even if you eat a nutrient-dense and whole foods diet, you can still chime in with how you fit calorie-dense foods into your plan and account for potential spoilage. Nutrient-dense doesn't equal low calorie.0 -
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I'm amazed at people who can fit a slice of pie every day in a 1400 calories diet! For me it's a 'once a month' thing top, even at 1900 calories I can't fit more than 200 calories worth of treats or I end up hungry (and that means no bready thing either).0
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On a serious note, Plan, Plan, Plan. I agree that whole fresh food is better than anything packaged. I do make a 'paleo' muffin - blueberry, apple walnut, pumpkin spice, etc. - that's grain- and sugar-free, that helps my GF and me fill that 'baked goods' craving. Seems to work for us.
But overall I agree with others here, that planning ahead is the key.0 -
I try to purchase in reasonable quantities, make good use of my freezer0
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vikinglander wrote: »My recommendation is if you know anyone who opens a bottle of wine has any left over, un-friend them immediately...
I'm sure you mean well, but making mocking jokes about moderation in drinking supports the idea that it's OK to use peer-pressure and social bullying to get people to drink more than they should or more than they want. Yes, people are responsible for their own behavior, but that shouldn't be an excuse for bullying and peer pressure.0 -
heatherwartanyan wrote: »I don't eat that kind of crap. Sorry. I get my calories from nutrient dense foods. I eat healthy fats. And get full fast. Besides your body better uses whole food calories for energy then things that are overly processed that can get turned to sugar and fat.
I don't think anybody here on MFP eats crap.0 -
I try to eat super nutrient dense meals. Like lean protien and a crap ton of veggies. I don't snack during the day. Then, at night, I can see what I have left and have some wine or a beer and some snacky stuff, mmmm....snacky stuff. Nothing goes bad in our house. If I leave a half a bag of chips or an opened bottle of wine someone polishes it off eventually.0
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heatherwartanyan wrote: »I don't eat that kind of crap. Sorry. I get my calories from nutrient dense foods. I eat healthy fats. And get full fast. Besides your body better uses whole food calories for energy then things that are overly processed that can get turned to sugar and fat.
I don't think anybody here on MFP eats crap.
@Serah87 I agree, lorrpb threw this thread out there for suggestions and specifically asked for no sarcasm or attacks. As a very successful member of this community, I believe her post was meant to help others deal with these types of issues not as a means to tell anyone else how to eat.0 -
I do this too - just thought it was worth repeating. I also do it if I know I am going out to a particular restaurant.I have not read every entry, so I don't know if someone has mentioned this already: If I do want to have a particular treat (like hot cross buns the other day on Good Friday), then I will sometimes pre-log the treat at the beginning of the day (even if I'm not eating it until later on in the day). Having the treat pre-logged then allows me to work the rest of my daily calories around it. I may have to eat a bit less avocado or skip my dark chocolate or have a smaller portion of XYZ if I want to fit the treat in.
Hope this helps!
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I'm amazed at people who can fit a slice of pie every day in a 1400 calories diet! For me it's a 'once a month' thing top, even at 1900 calories I can't fit more than 200 calories worth of treats or I end up hungry (and that means no bready thing either).
I don't eat pie every day. I usually make pie a few times a year and give some of it away so I end up with half a pie. Then I'll eat that over a few days. For a few days every few months I'm happy to sacrifice some calories from my primary meals for the pie. And maybe I even have pie for dinner one day ...
Then again I don't have a huge problem feeling satisfied on fewer savory calories so it's pretty easy for me to have ~200 calories a day to spare.0 -
I pretty much just exercise so I can eat what I want or sacrifice eating one thing I love for another. I would eat all the bread all the time if I could get away with it but I like eating chocolate too so, instead of getting a sandwich, I'll just get the protein and either a salad or....just the protein.
I did have an 800 calorie piece of cake a couple weeks ago which was weighed and logged and had to not eat other things I normally would have eaten but also made it last the whole week (not really sure how I did that!).0 -
EvgeniZyntx wrote: »Most of those things stay fresh for a few days.
I also eat less packaged food and shop less in volume.
Use the freezer to break packs into smaller quantities you can prepare as needed.
Or buy smaller packages?
Or, I'll prep and freeze food.
But yes, some wastage does occur. With planning, I try to keep it to a minimum.
This. I if I buy a tube of cinnamon rolls or biscuits or whatever, I freeze the half I'm not cooking at that moment. I freeze a lot of foods, and buy smaller amounts of things, and make a point of not buying or cooking stuff if I'm not going to finish it. (This means I eat a lot of leftovers for lunch.)
That said, I'm also a big fan of calling my ex-husband or roommate over to the pantry and saying, "I have X, Y, and Z and it needs to be eaten before it goes bad. Want in?" Or I have friends over for snacks. Communal eating is a great way to spread the snacks without anyone having to go overboard. 0 -
I can't figure out if this is a serious question or not.
Like- how do you not realize how to save food and portion it out for the week?
The only thing I can't make really stretch is wine- my red wine goes icky after a few days- so I usually drink a bottle in 2-4 days.
but now that @Penthesilea514 posted that Vacu Vin- I might have to invest.0 -
I'm amazed at people who can fit a slice of pie every day in a 1400 calories diet! For me it's a 'once a month' thing top, even at 1900 calories I can't fit more than 200 calories worth of treats or I end up hungry (and that means no bready thing either).
sometimes it's a trade off.
I like to make the analogy
I have 25$ this week.
I can buy a lipstick- or I can buy food.
If I buy the lipstick- then I have no money for food. what's the option? Go hungry- or go into debt using my CC.
Same with the diet- only lipstick = pie.
You can either go hungry- or you can go into debt.
Sometimes I go hungry- sometimes I use the CC.0 -
heatherwartanyan wrote: »I don't eat that kind of crap. Sorry. I get my calories from nutrient dense foods. I eat healthy fats. And get full fast. Besides your body better uses whole food calories for energy then things that are overly processed that can get turned to sugar and fat.
I don't think anybody here on MFP eats crap.
I think there is a percentage of fecal matter that's allowed in ppb in processed chocolates and stuff. So I mean- technically I think we actually do.
#yourewelcome0 -
heatherwartanyan wrote: »I don't eat that kind of crap. Sorry. I get my calories from nutrient dense foods. I eat healthy fats. And get full fast. Besides your body better uses whole food calories for energy then things that are overly processed that can get turned to sugar and fat.
I don't think anybody here on MFP eats crap.
I think there is a percentage of fecal matter that's allowed in ppb in processed chocolates and stuff. So I mean- technically I think we actually do.
#yourewelcome
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heatherwartanyan wrote: »I don't eat that kind of crap. Sorry. I get my calories from nutrient dense foods. I eat healthy fats. And get full fast. Besides your body better uses whole food calories for energy then things that are overly processed that can get turned to sugar and fat.
I don't think anybody here on MFP eats crap.
I didn't think they did either but the food database says otherwise.
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heatherwartanyan wrote: »I don't eat that kind of crap. Sorry. I get my calories from nutrient dense foods. I eat healthy fats. And get full fast. Besides your body better uses whole food calories for energy then things that are overly processed that can get turned to sugar and fat.
I don't think anybody here on MFP eats crap.
I think there is a percentage of fecal matter that's allowed in ppb in processed chocolates and stuff. So I mean- technically I think we actually do.
#yourewelcome
Oh hell, so now when I say I eat a lot of crap, I really mean it? But...but...but...CHOCOLATE!0 -
If I want a cake I will make a mug cake. Any treat really I will just make a smaller serving from scratch. I won't waste and I'm too lazy to make it 99% of the time I'm craving it0
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heatherwartanyan wrote: »I don't eat that kind of crap. Sorry. I get my calories from nutrient dense foods. I eat healthy fats. And get full fast. Besides your body better uses whole food calories for energy then things that are overly processed that can get turned to sugar and fat.
I don't think anybody here on MFP eats crap.
I think there is a percentage of fecal matter that's allowed in ppb in processed chocolates and stuff. So I mean- technically I think we actually do.
#yourewelcome
Oh hell, so now when I say I eat a lot of crap, I really mean it? But...but...but...CHOCOLATE!
And chocolate also has insect parts! Yum.
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