Does anyone else find themselves exercising just to enjoy something extra?

ccems1634

I just have to say I love this app!!!! It really gets me motivated to stay within my limits and to not eat high calorie sugary foods. I used to never drink water and now that's all I drink with the exception of my coffee because I don't want to waste my calories haha. I have my daily allotment broken down into breakfast 300 (includes my coffee) , lunch 400, and dinner 800 (includes usually don't use all these at dinner because I like to have something small before bed or I wake up in the middle of the night starving). I find myself exercising everyday just to be able to add that 2nd cup of coffee. Does anyone else do this?

Also I have trouble hitting my protein and fiber everyday. I'm always deficient in those categories. What are some low calorie, high fiber and protein foods I could eat to improve this?

annacole94

I exercise to have a drink - alcohol is just empty calories, and I really don't have any wiggle room for that unless I exercise.

As for protein, the obvious is meat and eggs. If my lunch has meat, I meet my protein goal. If it doesn't, I don't. Fibre: veggies, fruit, beans (a side of baked beans has a TON of fibre), high fibre cereal or bread

ccems1634

I know meat and eggs and I eat meat every night at dinner and a hard boiled egg everyday with lunch and am still deficient. I eat alot of veggies everyday between lunch and dinner including brocolli, green beans and mixed veggies and still don't seem to hit it.

annacole94

Greek yogurt is good for protein. What's your breakfast, usually? Open your diary and we can suggest tweaks specific to the foods you usually eat.

ccems1634

Breakfast is usually oatmeal or a banana plus coffee. Lunch is usually a salad or half a sandwich, a fruit and veggies. Dinner is usually a meat or stir fry with meat, rice and a veggie. Snack before bed is either string cheese or fruit.

cuadrado12

In general, fruits, vegetables, and whole grains will have fiber. Protein would be meat, fish, beans. nuts, yogurt, cottage cheese, string cheese sticks etc.

Spliner1969

I never was a cereal fan before now, but my breakfast is now usually some bran cereal with almond milk. It gives you a kick in the fiber macro to get things started. In the evenings if I am still deficient in fiber (and because I'm an addict) I'll eat Blue Bunny Sweet Freedom ice cream as a late snack. It's low calorie and very high in fiber. Those two things help me hit my fiber goal daily. I also have replaced most breads I eat with multi-grain versions which helps on the fiber front. As far as protein, without my morning shake which is 48g of protein for two scoops, I would not make my goal with protein. Even then I have to eat a lot of meat throughout the day to hit my goal (which is at least 180g/day). I eat a lot of chicken, turkey, and lean pork along with eggs and sometimes tuna for lunch infrequently.

annacole94

To make your oatmeal high-fiber, buy some wheat bran and stir a tablespoon/serving into the oatmeal before cooking. Adds 8 calories, bumps the fiber by 2 g.

If you can switch the banana to an apple, you gain another 2 g fiber (3 in a banana, 5 in an apple).

Add some black beans to the stir fry.

but at the end of the day, it doesn't really matter too much what your macros are - it's just that fiber and protein tend to be filling, so you'll feel less hungry if you get more of them.

ccems1634

Thanks for the suggestions!!! I forgot to add into my list the boiled egg. I usually do 1-2 a day between lunches and snacks. I think I need to get protein powder and try some shakes. Never tried them so it will be new. Today for lunch I'm changing it up. 1/2 cup rice with 3 oz steak strips I found at the store and a veggie so hopefully that will help boost the protein. I might try the Multigrain breads but to be honest I haven't been eating very much bread since starting this a week ago. Too many empty calories I'd rather use elsewhere. I did have a bagel last night but I felt guilty after due to wasting 260 calories on it when I could have used it elsewhere.

happysherri

I used to exercise more to enjoy extras. I have a training plan I follow and don't really add too much to it. Currently I do not practice this, however I do allow myself 1 "splurge" meal a week and I do look forward to that.

Chicken is awesome protein, heck, I will eat it as a snack or with my breakfast and there are so many ways to make it. I also eat a lot of egg whites, in which I put hot sauce on

Fiber can be found in a lot of different foods, it depends on what you like - google it

Keep it up!!!!!

annacole94

Yeah, I agree. I don't eat a lot of bread at the moment as other foods are more filling/satisfying. I've started eating overnight oats for breakfast - oatmeal with greek yogurt, chia seed, milk and then flavoring (jam or cocoa) and sweetener (stevia or splenda). I'd never tried it before, because it sounded weird, but it turns out I like it and it's a nice mix of macros to keep me going through the morning.

Spliner1969

ccems1634 wrote: »

Thanks for the suggestions!!! I forgot to add into my list the boiled egg. I usually do 1-2 a day between lunches and snacks. I think I need to get protein powder and try some shakes. Never tried them so it will be new. Today for lunch I'm changing it up. 1/2 cup rice with 3 oz steak strips I found at the store and a veggie so hopefully that will help boost the protein. I might try the Multigrain breads but to be honest I haven't been eating very much bread since starting this a week ago. Too many empty calories I'd rather use elsewhere. I did have a bagel last night but I felt guilty after due to wasting 260 calories on it when I could have used it elsewhere.

Sarah Lee makes 45 calorie per slice Multi-Grain bread. That's what we buy at the local Wal-Mart. Pretty good stuff.

JennyRATL

Short answer: yes!

Gotta have my glass of wine at the end of the day! Oh, yeah, health benefits of exercise, yada yada yada....

murph155

If you like the taste of peanut butter but don't want (or can't fit) the extra fat and calories, you could try mixing PB2 powder in your oatmeal. 2 tablespoons has 5 grams of protein and 2 grams of fiber. That's my go-to breakfast every day at work. Keeps me full and ups the protein and fiber. Win-win!

ccems1634

Spliner1969 wrote: »

ccems1634 wrote: »

Thanks for the suggestions!!! I forgot to add into my list the boiled egg. I usually do 1-2 a day between lunches and snacks. I think I need to get protein powder and try some shakes. Never tried them so it will be new. Today for lunch I'm changing it up. 1/2 cup rice with 3 oz steak strips I found at the store and a veggie so hopefully that will help boost the protein. I might try the Multigrain breads but to be honest I haven't been eating very much bread since starting this a week ago. Too many empty calories I'd rather use elsewhere. I did have a bagel last night but I felt guilty after due to wasting 260 calories on it when I could have used it elsewhere.

Sarah Lee makes 45 calorie per slice Multi-Grain bread. That's what we buy at the local Wal-Mart. Pretty good stuff.

I might have to try that!!!

ccems1634

murph155 wrote: »

If you like the taste of peanut butter but don't want (or can't fit) the extra fat and calories, you could try mixing PB2 powder in your oatmeal. 2 tablespoons has 5 grams of protein and 2 grams of fiber. That's my go-to breakfast every day at work. Keeps me full and ups the protein and fiber. Win-win!

I love pb!!!! Now this sounds yummy haha!

__TMac__

My husband was low on calories last night, so he ate a piece of chicken and a salad for dinner, skipping the potato. But he was still hungry afterward, so he weighed the potato, calculated how many extra calories he needed, and hopped on the bike for exactly the time required. Then he ate it.

Spliner1969

ccems1634 wrote: »

Spliner1969 wrote: »

ccems1634 wrote: »

Thanks for the suggestions!!! I forgot to add into my list the boiled egg. I usually do 1-2 a day between lunches and snacks. I think I need to get protein powder and try some shakes. Never tried them so it will be new. Today for lunch I'm changing it up. 1/2 cup rice with 3 oz steak strips I found at the store and a veggie so hopefully that will help boost the protein. I might try the Multigrain breads but to be honest I haven't been eating very much bread since starting this a week ago. Too many empty calories I'd rather use elsewhere. I did have a bagel last night but I felt guilty after due to wasting 260 calories on it when I could have used it elsewhere.

Sarah Lee makes 45 calorie per slice Multi-Grain bread. That's what we buy at the local Wal-Mart. Pretty good stuff.

I might have to try that!!!

Also for my mid-morning snack I typically make myself an egg/sausage/cheese mcmuffin. I use a Thomas Light 100 calorie Multigrain muffin, a large egg (fried either with light butter or a tsp of butter, or butter spray if I have it), a turkey sausage patty (low calorie high protein) and a slice of cheese (usually American, Great Value brand). Whole thing ends up being 390cal, 27 carbs, 8g fiber, 29g protein, 22g fat.

Add that mid-morning snack to my breakfast bran cereal and protein shake and before lunch I've hit almost 90g protein and 20g of fiber. Only way I can keep up for the day.

ccems1634

TmacMMM wrote: »

My husband was low on calories last night, so he ate a piece of chicken and a salad for dinner, skipping the potato. But he was still hungry afterward, so he weighed the potato, calculated how many extra calories he needed, and hopped on the bike for exactly the time required. Then he ate it.

I did this same thing last night for the bagel! Except instead of bike, I used the 30 min full body workout video on amazon prime! I burned 330 calories to indulge in that 260 calorie bagel lol then felt guilty.

solieco1

well YEAH

zyxst

Exercising to have treats puts me into a disordered mindset, especially if I've already eaten my treat. "Apple cinnamon bar was 147 calories. Better go run 2 miles." Not everyone is like that though.

What's your protein goal set at? I ask because much of the time people who can't hit their protein goal have a very high goal. Anyway, I eat Greek yogurt, hemp seeds, and protein bars (use them as dessert or a quick breakfast). I do my best to hit my protein goal first, then fill in the rest of my calories with stuff I want. For fibre, if I'm really bothered by a low number and I have the calories to spare, I eat a Fibre 1 bar (5 g of fibre).

annacole94

I have a pretty low calorie goal (1,300 for 1 lb loss/week) and set my activity level to sedentary. So if I want anything outside of 3 healthy, balanced meals a day, I gotta get moving. It's not a punishment mindset (I ate the donut and now I need to PAY for it), it's just the reality of my current situation and desire for the occasional beer or cookie.

Don't let guilty become part of it. That is where disordered thinking can make this pretty miserable.

ccems1634

zyxst wrote: »

Exercising to have treats puts me into a disordered mindset, especially if I've already eaten my treat. "Apple cinnamon bar was 147 calories. Better go run 2 miles." Not everyone is like that though.

What's your protein goal set at? I ask because much of the time people who can't hit their protein goal have a very high goal. Anyway, I eat Greek yogurt, hemp seeds, and protein bars (use them as dessert or a quick breakfast). I do my best to hit my protein goal first, then fill in the rest of my calories with stuff I want. For fibre, if I'm really bothered by a low number and I have the calories to spare, I eat a Fibre 1 bar (5 g of fibre).

My protein is set at 88 and fiber 25. It's the automatic setting I think when I entered weight, height and lb per week loss info.

Spliner1969

For help with your macros, try the calculators over at iifym.com. You'll see a huge difference in the way they are set. I've been using their calculators to set mine for about 1.5 years now and it's helped me reduce my body fat percentage greatly. MFP was setting my protein at about half of what it should have been to retain, and even gain, lean muscle.

H_Ock12

Ground flax mixed in with your oatmeal can add some fiber...a protein powder can add a substantial about of protein and you can mix it with a drink of your choice, yogurt, coffee, oatmeal.

Francl27

Every single day. Sedentary, I burn 1600 calories. If I make an effort to be active... 2400-2700. Totally worth it. Plus I love it. Win/win.

AnjaliSD

ccems1634 wrote: »

I have my daily allotment broken down into breakfast 300 (includes my coffee) , lunch 400, and dinner 800 (includes usually don't use all these at dinner because I like to have something small before bed or I wake up in the middle of the night starving). I find myself exercising everyday just to be able to add that 2nd cup of coffee. Does anyone else do this?

Maybe consider setting your baseline slightly higher? How tall are you? I recently got my body fat assessed by a fancy $10k machine at the gym and was told that at 5'4, with 38% body fat, I could easily be eating 1600 calories a day (to lose weight).

In terms of snacks, green peas are relatively high in protein for the amount of calories and fiber they also contain.
Veggies like broccoli and cauliflower and hummus will make you full, give you tons of fiber and a bit of protein, and save you calories for better snacks later!

M1ssdanni

Ahuh the only reason I went to the gym yesterday was so I could treat myself last night!

jennybearlv

I exercise because I enjoy the challenge and the results, but being able to eat 2000 calories some days is awesome.

amusedmonkey

I always exercise for food when I'm able. Being able to lose on 2000 calories doesn't even feel like dieting.

__TMac__

I need that on a t-shirt:

"Will exercise for food."