Came back from college for break and...

SueSueDio

PAV8888 wrote: »

Sabre1232 wrote: »

As mentioned before, I tend to eat the most during stressful times. College is very stressful with constant tests and projects. Sometimes after a harsh day I need a pick me up. So why not the smores or some ice cream? Is it really so bad

On the plus side I think we can all agree that you've grasped the problem.

On the down side it doesn't sound as of yet that you're ready to commit to doing something about it.

Why do I say this?

Because as long as you are feeling that this is somewhat of a right that is being taken away from you there is little point in going on a "diet".

If you do, you will inevitably fail.

Either you truly and deep down want to not gain weight or you don't.

The process is dead simple. Eat the same as you burn to maintain, or less to lose, or more to gain.

Implementing it in the middle of the night with a brownie inches from your mouth... is not.

Your inner beliefs as to what you "deserve" will either help you or sink you at that point.

All of this, but especially that last sentence. OP, we're all on your side here and want to help you, but none of the advice you're being given will work long term if you're not ready and you don't stick to it.

(You've been given some good advice on how to deal with stress, too... please don't fall into a lifetime of eating for comfort or stress-relief. Adulting sucks a lot of the time, so finding other ways of dealing with the stresses of life in general is important!)

daniip_la

Packerjohn wrote: »

SingRunTing wrote: »

courtneyfabulous wrote: »

Yeah ice cream is 270 calories per 1/2 cup and I bet the serving you're getting is more like 3/4 or 1 cup so betweeen 400 and 540 calories. To put that in perspective that's probably 1/3 to 1/4 of the calories you should be eating in an entire day.

What ice cream are you eating that's 270 calories for a half a cup? I buy just about every brand available in the grocery store and they're usually 140-170 calories per half cup.

I agree that she's probably eating multiple servings, but your calorie estimates are really high...

.5 cup Ben and Jerry's The Tonight Dough, 310 calories as an example:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/calories/ben-and-jerrys-ice-cream-the-tonight-dough-376635766?v2=false

I was going to chime in on this. The Ben & Jerry's brownie core that I get is around that, if not more.

rankinsect

PAV8888 wrote: »

Sabre1232 wrote: »

As mentioned before, I tend to eat the most during stressful times. College is very stressful with constant tests and projects. Sometimes after a harsh day I need a pick me up. So why not the smores or some ice cream? Is it really so bad

Is it bad? Most things in life are neither good nor bad. They just are.

Over-eating is not bad. Certainly it is not bad if you want to gain weight.

But if you don't want to gain weight, yes, over-eating is bad in terms of allowing you to meet your goal of not gaining weight.

Eating in response to stress = emotional eating.
Eating to reward yourself = emotional eating.
Eating to punish yourself = emotional eating.
Eating to celebrate when not hungry or eating because it tastes so damn good when not hungry = not eating to hunger cues.

Generally the result of all the above = ending up overweight or ending up obese.

I mean some peoples' hunger cues are **kittened** and even if they were to eat to them they would still have a problem. But, for most people, eating to true hunger cues will lead to weight stability.

Try it. It is the famous: am I hungry? Am I thirsty? Am I still hungry after I drink a glass of water? I just had food. If I wait 15 minutes will I still be hungry and wanting to eat more?

as @JaneiR36 said grab an extra piece of fruit or yogurt to have later; but only have it if you are TRULY hungry. Being bored, relieved, happy, stressed, or anything in between... doesn't count.

Instead of smores or ice cream try a walk, run, swim, or weight lifting session. It will be just as stress relieving and it will allow you to eat more calories without gaining weight. AND it will make you healthier.

On the plus side I think we can all agree that you've grasped the problem.

On the down side it doesn't sound as of yet that you're ready to commit to doing something about it.

Why do I say this?

Because as long as you are feeling that this is somewhat of a right that is being taken away from you there is little point in going on a "diet".

If you do, you will inevitably fail.

Either you truly and deep down want to not gain weight or you don't.

The process is dead simple. Eat the same as you burn to maintain, or less to lose, or more to gain.

Implementing it in the middle of the night with a brownie inches from your mouth... is not.

Your inner beliefs as to what you "deserve" will either help you or sink you at that point.

Emotional eating isn't necessarily a problem for losing or maintaining weight, as long as it's done in moderation. There's more to food than simply meeting our energy and nutritional needs. If there weren't, we'd be satisfied eating essentially the same meal every day, as long as it was balanced. Maybe we'd all be eating bags of "human food" right next to the bags of pet food.

Most of us would find that prospect very unappealing. Food is more than just about meeting your physical needs. There's absolutely nothing wrong with eating for pleasure, we all do it. That doesn't mean you can't eat for pleasure and still do so within calorie goals, too.

If ice cream helps after a hard day... have ice cream. But either plan to do so in advance and save calories for this, or make a thoughtful decision to exceed your normal calories for the day. There are a lot of brands of ice cream that are fairly low in calories.

courtneyfabulous

Saw this in my feed today, thought it might help:

Sabre1232

Hmmm so I'm back again. My most recent weigh in has me at 182 lbs. I tried to cut back and eat healthier, but it doesn't seem to have helped any.

leanjogreen18

Sabre1232 wrote: »

Hmmm so I'm back again. My most recent weigh in has me at 182 lbs. I tried to cut back and eat healthier, but it doesn't seem to have helped any.

But have you cut back enough? That was always my issue with maintenance. I knew to cut back and eat less I just didn't know how much less:).

Did you plug your numbers into mfp and stick to your calorie allotment?

Sabre1232

I'm not sure how to plug dinning hall food into mfp cause it is all made differently. I'm not sure if I cut back enough. I will try again when I go back. I stress eat a lot of food so that could be it.

leanjogreen18

Can you pick something similar in the database?

When I go out to eat I usually pick something similar in mfp database and add 1/4 portion to it. It hasn't stalled my weight loss, perhaps slowed it buy not being accurate but certainly hasn't stalled it.

Yes stress eating can ruin a deficit.