Came back from college for break and...
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I started by looking for more filling and bulky foods with lower calories to reduce the calorie count without reducing the volume.
A few years later I will say that the volume has also decreased. Without me missing it while I continue to eat bulky/less calorie ladden items.
I now only occasionally go to all you can eat buffets. I used to hit 2 to 5 a week.
Your meal plan as structured and as maximized by you seems like a daily all you can eat adventure.
Contrary to others I would not advocate reducing your meal plan.
Doing so will still leave you with the mentality of maximizing each meal.
You need to switch focus into having healthy and appropriate for your hunger level meals.
And learn to sneak out a piece of fruit to have later.
And that treats are... treats. Hard enough to fit in a daily treat and heck maximizing treats that fit in your plans is a must! But multiple treats a day? No way that ends well!
You will probably lose weight if you truly eat 2000 Cal a day given your active college lifestyle.
Your current meals sound closer to the 4k mark.
Nip it now instead of waiting 30 years to do so.1 -
I agree you need to slowly cut back on portions otherwise you'll be really hungry. Also wanted to add are you drinking enough water ? It sounds silly, but hunger and thirst can be confused.0
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I started by looking for more filling and bulky foods with lower calories to reduce the calorie count without reducing the volume.
A few years later I will say that the volume has also decreased. Without me missing it while I continue to eat bulky/less calorie ladden items.
I now only occasionally go to all you can eat buffets. I used to hit 2 to 5 a week.
Your meal plan as structured and as maximized by you seems like a daily all you can eat adventure.
Contrary to others I would not advocate reducing your meal plan.
Doing so will still leave you with the mentality of maximizing each meal.
You need to switch focus into having healthy and appropriate for your hunger level meals.
And learn to sneak out a piece of fruit to have later.
And that treats are... treats. Hard enough to fit in a daily treat and heck maximizing treats that fit in your plans is a must! But multiple treats a day? No way that ends well!
You will probably lose weight if you truly eat 2000 Cal a day given your active college lifestyle.
Your current meals sound closer to the 4k mark.
Nip it now instead of waiting 30 years to do so.
FWIW, I wouldn't cut down on the meal plan either.
I went to college and lived on campus every year. I had 21 meals in my meal plan and they were all from an all-you-can-eat buffet setup that I could stay at for up to 2.5 hours at each meal (e.g., dinner was 4:30-7 each night. I set specific rules for myself like dessert twice a week, eat a salad every day at lunch, limit pop to specific days of the week, etc.1 -
Problem is there is no scale in my dorm and I live with two other people. I'm kinda too embarrassed to explain this as we are not close. However, I just tried to put on a pair of pants I bought last year at this time. It is a struggle to get the pants up the thigh(as they are much bigger now), and it is about two inches away from buttoning around my waist. I may use these as a guideline and try to get them fitting again.1
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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...1 -
Problem is there is no scale in my dorm and I live with two other people. I'm kinda too embarrassed to explain this as we are not close. However, I just tried to put on a pair of pants I bought last year at this time. It is a struggle to get the pants up the thigh(as they are much bigger now), and it is about two inches away from buttoning around my waist. I may use these as a guideline and try to get them fitting again.
Using the pants as a progress indicator is fine. A scale is not required for weight loss, though I'm not sure why you'd feel the need to explain having one. Surely your roommates know their function.1 -
Honestly, I find scale weight the most frustrating part of weight maintenance. It's so variable. Individual data points mean nothing. Only trends reveal something significant. It's so inexact. I think a pair of "reference pants" is as good a yardstick for progress as any.
Full disclosure: I'm a data nerd and do weigh every day because the fluctuations are of interest to me. But still, scale weight is not the best or only metric.
Best of luck, OP. You have explained your situation in a way that totally makes sense, and you have the awareness and perspective you need to lose the fat you gained and to maintain thereafter. I will reiterate: don't plan on losing everything you gained over the break. It took you 13 weeks to gain it so plan on about that long to lose it. You will learn a lot about yourself along the way. Best to you!0 -
Definitely downgrade your meal plan or just make lower calorie choices at least.
But won't you feel kind of silly not wanting to "waste" food when it will cause you to waste money on new bigger clothes, trips to the doctor for diabetes medicine or high blood pressure medicine, etc? The cost of those yummy foods is actually quite high. You aren't actually saving $, you're just incurring future costs and poor health.0 -
Also think about how much nutrition you're getting... macaroni & cheese has very little. It's got a little protein because of the dairy but not nearly as much as in lean meat or cottage cheese or even yogurt. It's got a whole lot of fat though, probably more than you need in a day in just 1 serving. And the macaroni has carbs which you do need some of- but again it's probably half your carbs for the entire in 1 serving since pasta is so calorie dense. It's also not the "good" kind of carb- it's made from processed bleached flour which has all the vitamins & fiber removed. It's just empty calories.
You could still have it on occasion just to have a treat- maybe once a month or even go for 1 cheat meal per week. Or if you want you could have a smaller portion (and give the other half to a friend) and maybe even fit it into your daily calories and macros... but you'll need to balance it out by eating salad and yogurt and fruit and lean meat the rest of the day probably.
When you see fitness people eating donuts you know they eat steamed veggies and boiled chicken for dinner and do an intense workout to help burn off the excess fat & sugar too.
How many intense workouts do you do a week? I haven't heard you mention exercise at all despite several suggestions that you should utilize the gym that you doubtless have free access to as a student. You could actually eat a little more naughty foods if you worked out.0 -
Also check out this video if you have a minute- it's not long. It shows just how much exercise it takes to burn off the calories in just ONE Oreo. You might find it rather eye opening. To actually see how much energy calories provide and how much effort you need to expend to use that energy rather than have it be stored as body fat when you eat more calories than you need.
https://youtu.be/mVfSG3lV8Mk
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Luckily at your height and weight and age you burn about 1895 calories a day without any exercise, so you can eat a good amount of food for maintenance. But unfortunately every calorie you eat over 1895 must be burned with exercise or it gets stored as body fat. Every 3500 extra calories becomes a pound of fat. And if you want to lose already accumulated body fat you need to eat less than 1895 calories per day, or exercise, or preferably do both.0
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Problem is there is no scale in my dorm and I live with two other people. I'm kinda too embarrassed to explain this as we are not close. However, I just tried to put on a pair of pants I bought last year at this time. It is a struggle to get the pants up the thigh(as they are much bigger now), and it is about two inches away from buttoning around my waist. I may use these as a guideline and try to get them fitting again.
Using the pants as a progress indicator is fine. A scale is not required for weight loss, though I'm not sure why you'd feel the need to explain having one. Surely your roommates know their function.
Yeah... I'd get the scale. This is about to get serious now, OP, you're working towards your goals. Being embarrassed about getting and using a tool that's going to help you know if you're on track is just not necessary. You don't have to get one if you don't want it, but the reason you've given so far is kind of weak.0 -
courtneyfabulous wrote: »Luckily at your height and weight and age you burn about 1895 calories a day without any exercise, so you can eat a good amount of food for maintenance. But unfortunately every calorie you eat over 1895 must be burned with exercise or it gets stored as body fat. Every 3500 extra calories becomes a pound of fat. And if you want to lose already accumulated body fat you need to eat less than 1895 calories per day, or exercise, or preferably do both.
Given the OP's activity level BMR if she eats an actual 2000 Cal a day she will lose weight. She does not need to do something stupid like try to eat at 1200 in order to lose weight. She DOES need to do something about containing the weight gain and slowly reversing it. She DOES need to do something about attitudes towards food that will not necessarily work out well for her in the future.
Her college menu sounded just about like what I was doing at her age. Fast forward the lifetime of the OP and that led to a 280lb me.
The reason given for not downgrading the meal plan is exactly what I stated. The OP will spend a lifetime with easy access to food and the ability to buy a ton of calories for little money.
It is cheaper to buy a $0.20 muffin with my coffee at McDonald's than to buy the $2.25 fruit and maple oatmeal. The carrot muffin is 430 Cal. The oatmeal without the sugar packet is 230 cal and as a bonus contains 85% of a portion of fruits and vegetables (of which I try to eat 5 each day to avoid getting bored with maintenance
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The all you can eat fish and chip place will feed me for $9.99 including pop. ALL I CAN EAT. My maximum was 12 pieces of fish. And four orders of chips. I can also go to the Indian lunch buffet for $8.99 and load up on butter chicken and nicely fried samosas and did I mention the naan? Dripping with clarified butter? or the fried rice? And the sweets waiting to be eaten?
Somehow the OP has to learn to operate in a world that is full of yummy food.
Better now than in 30 years.2 -
courtneyfabulous wrote: »Luckily at your height and weight and age you burn about 1895 calories a day without any exercise, so you can eat a good amount of food for maintenance. But unfortunately every calorie you eat over 1895 must be burned with exercise or it gets stored as body fat. Every 3500 extra calories becomes a pound of fat. And if you want to lose already accumulated body fat you need to eat less than 1895 calories per day, or exercise, or preferably do both.
Given the OP's activity level BMR if she eats an actual 2000 Cal a day she will lose weight. She does not need to do something stupid like try to eat at 1200 in order to lose weight. She DOES need to do something about containing the weight gain and slowly reversing it. She DOES need to do something about attitudes towards food that will not necessarily work out well for her in the future.
Her college menu sounded just about like what I was doing at her age. Fast forward the lifetime of the OP and that led to a 280lb me.
The reason given for not downgrading the meal plan is exactly what I stated. The OP will spend a lifetime with easy access to food and the ability to buy a ton of calories for little money.
It is cheaper to buy a $0.20 muffin with my coffee at McDonald's than to buy the $2.25 fruit and maple oatmeal. The carrot muffin is 430 Cal. The oatmeal without the sugar packet is 230 cal and as a bonus contains 85% of a portion of fruits and vegetables (of which I try to eat 5 each day to avoid getting bored with maintenance)
The all you can eat fish and chip place will feed me for $9.99 including pop. ALL I CAN EAT. My maximum was 12 pieces of fish. And four orders of chips. I can also go to the Indian lunch buffet for $8.99 and load up on butter chicken and nicely fried samosas and did I mention the naan? Dripping with clarified butter? or the fried rice? And the sweets waiting to be eaten?
Somehow the OP has to learn to operate in a world that is full of yummy food.
Better now than in 30 years.
Interesting. So although she has the opportunity to downgrade the meal plan and save some $$, you're saying to spend the extra on a valuable life lesson? Wouldn't she still need to show some restraint each time she actually visits, even though she's not there as often? Following the fast food example, just because you get more for less money doesn't mean you have to do it. I typically refuse the "second sandwich for one penny extra" offers because I don't want it. Yeah it may "cost" more, but it's not an amount I expected to "save", anyway, and I wind up saving more overall by not visiting the fast food location as often.0 -
courtneyfabulous wrote: »Luckily at your height and weight and age you burn about 1895 calories a day without any exercise, so you can eat a good amount of food for maintenance. But unfortunately every calorie you eat over 1895 must be burned with exercise or it gets stored as body fat. Every 3500 extra calories becomes a pound of fat. And if you want to lose already accumulated body fat you need to eat less than 1895 calories per day, or exercise, or preferably do both.
Given the OP's activity level BMR if she eats an actual 2000 Cal a day she will lose weight. She does not need to do something stupid like try to eat at 1200 in order to lose weight. She DOES need to do something about containing the weight gain and slowly reversing it. She DOES need to do something about attitudes towards food that will not necessarily work out well for her in the future.
Her college menu sounded just about like what I was doing at her age. Fast forward the lifetime of the OP and that led to a 280lb me.
The reason given for not downgrading the meal plan is exactly what I stated. The OP will spend a lifetime with easy access to food and the ability to buy a ton of calories for little money.
It is cheaper to buy a $0.20 muffin with my coffee at McDonald's than to buy the $2.25 fruit and maple oatmeal. The carrot muffin is 430 Cal. The oatmeal without the sugar packet is 230 cal and as a bonus contains 85% of a portion of fruits and vegetables (of which I try to eat 5 each day to avoid getting bored with maintenance)
The all you can eat fish and chip place will feed me for $9.99 including pop. ALL I CAN EAT. My maximum was 12 pieces of fish. And four orders of chips. I can also go to the Indian lunch buffet for $8.99 and load up on butter chicken and nicely fried samosas and did I mention the naan? Dripping with clarified butter? or the fried rice? And the sweets waiting to be eaten?
Somehow the OP has to learn to operate in a world that is full of yummy food.
Better now than in 30 years.
Interesting. So although she has the opportunity to downgrade the meal plan and save some $$, you're saying to spend the extra on a valuable life lesson? Wouldn't she still need to show some restraint each time she actually visits, even though she's not there as often? Following the fast food example, just because you get more for less money doesn't mean you have to do it. I typically refuse the "second sandwich for one penny extra" offers because I don't want it. Yeah it may "cost" more, but it's not an amount I expected to "save", anyway, and I wind up saving more overall by not visiting the fast food location as often.
I see your point about still having to exercise restraint in spite of visiting less often and they may be valid and an even more accelerated version of what I'm preaching.
In thinking about my gut reaction some more, to my mind the downfall of restricting the meal plan and all-you-can eat visits is that it sets the bar even higher as she may be tempted to eat more during the fewer visits because she may see herself as not have the opportunity to go back in a short while if she becomes hungry.
Thus, in actual fact, and paradoxically, to my mind at least, once she controls the tendency to "eatz all the foodz JUST because they're available" having the option to eat as often as she wants to may lead her to eating smaller quantities at a time and focusing on hunger cues as opposed to food desirability.
The reality is that there is no single solution... other than somehow limiting the total calories consumed. Whichever sustainable way that may be achieved...0 -
courtneyfabulous wrote: »Luckily at your height and weight and age you burn about 1895 calories a day without any exercise, so you can eat a good amount of food for maintenance. But unfortunately every calorie you eat over 1895 must be burned with exercise or it gets stored as body fat. Every 3500 extra calories becomes a pound of fat. And if you want to lose already accumulated body fat you need to eat less than 1895 calories per day, or exercise, or preferably do both.
Given the OP's activity level BMR if she eats an actual 2000 Cal a day she will lose weight. She does not need to do something stupid like try to eat at 1200 in order to lose weight. She DOES need to do something about containing the weight gain and slowly reversing it. She DOES need to do something about attitudes towards food that will not necessarily work out well for her in the future.
Her college menu sounded just about like what I was doing at her age. Fast forward the lifetime of the OP and that led to a 280lb me.
The reason given for not downgrading the meal plan is exactly what I stated. The OP will spend a lifetime with easy access to food and the ability to buy a ton of calories for little money.
It is cheaper to buy a $0.20 muffin with my coffee at McDonald's than to buy the $2.25 fruit and maple oatmeal. The carrot muffin is 430 Cal. The oatmeal without the sugar packet is 230 cal and as a bonus contains 85% of a portion of fruits and vegetables (of which I try to eat 5 each day to avoid getting bored with maintenance)
The all you can eat fish and chip place will feed me for $9.99 including pop. ALL I CAN EAT. My maximum was 12 pieces of fish. And four orders of chips. I can also go to the Indian lunch buffet for $8.99 and load up on butter chicken and nicely fried samosas and did I mention the naan? Dripping with clarified butter? or the fried rice? And the sweets waiting to be eaten?
Somehow the OP has to learn to operate in a world that is full of yummy food.
Better now than in 30 years.
Interesting. So although she has the opportunity to downgrade the meal plan and save some $$, you're saying to spend the extra on a valuable life lesson? Wouldn't she still need to show some restraint each time she actually visits, even though she's not there as often? Following the fast food example, just because you get more for less money doesn't mean you have to do it. I typically refuse the "second sandwich for one penny extra" offers because I don't want it. Yeah it may "cost" more, but it's not an amount I expected to "save", anyway, and I wind up saving more overall by not visiting the fast food location as often.
I see your point about still having to exercise restraint in spite of visiting less often and they may be valid and an even more accelerated version of what I'm preaching.
In thinking about my gut reaction some more, to my mind the downfall of restricting the visits is that it sets the bar even higher as she will be tempted to eat more during the few visists because she may not have the opportunity to go back a short while later if she becomes hungry.
Thus, in actual fact, and paradoxically, to my mind at least, once she controls the tendency to "eatz all the foodz because they're available" having the option to eat as often as she needs to may lead her to eating smaller quantities at a time and focusing on hunger cues as opposed to food desirability.
The reality is that there is no single solution... other than somehow limiting the total calories consumed. Whichever sustainable way that is achieved... all good ;-)
Heheheh absolutely all good indeed.
As far as being hungry between meals, I know what I do at hotel breakfast buffets is to sneak off some fruit or a small thing of yogurt. Those options can be very portable, and easily tide me over until the next meal, especially when I'm busy.1 -
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
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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.3 -
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
Did you watch the Oreo workout video yet? And remember s'mores or ice cream have at least 5 times more calories than the Oreo. So to burn off that dessert you'd have to do that video 5 times through or the equivalent. But you can absolutely eat foods like that if you want- heck I had ice cream tonight, though I opted for Halo Top ice cream which is a low calorie alternative with only 70 calories per serving instead of 270... but if you don't want to pack on the pounds you've got to make room for that in your total calories for the day, or burn off any excess you eat beyond your calorie limit with exercise.
I'd be careful of stress eating though- it's not a good habit. It will only lead to a lifetime being overweight or obese, because I've got news for you... college might seem stressful, but it's not nearly as stressful as being a self sufficient adult. Yes you have homework and ptojects and tests... but you can skip class if you don't feel like it, you can get a C on a test and it won't really matter in the long run. But as an adult if you skip work for a day or only do C level work? You get fired. And then you can't pay the bills or the mortgage, and you risk losing your home, having terrible credit for life, etc, etc. now THAT is stress. And if you choose to become a parent you get no days off, no sick days, and have to be responsible for supporting another human emotionally and financially for at least 18 years but realistically more like the rest of your life. Real life doesn't give you the summer off or spring break or winter break... you get maybe 5 or 10 days off a year plus a couple holidays.
Honestly I never felt as stressed in college as I have in "real life". So it's only going to get harder and harder and if your reaction to stress is to stuff your face then you're going to struggle with your weight and eventually that will lead to becoming unhealthy and I can tell you this- the MOST important thing in life is your health. You can't enjoy anything if you're sick and feel bad all the time. You should do whatever you possibly can to treat your body right and keep in good health as much as possible (you can't always control that, but you CAN do your best).
I'd listen to others suggestions and find non-food ways to deal with stress. Walks, hikes, a workout, yoga, etc double as both a way to de-stress and get in some exercise.
And let's be real- you're not having ice cream once in a while after a particularly bad day... that would actually be fine... you're having it every night. That's not even really stress eating, that's just a bad habit.1 -
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=false0
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