Where did my calories go?

rachierue170

I find myself using up all my calories by mid afternoon that i barely have any for dinner. Anyone run into this and have any tips to offer?

Rach

Lizakabibbis

How many calories are you eating a day and can you post a daily menu?

fitmom4lifemfp

Either skip dinner, or plan your meals in advance.

__TMac__

1) Pre-plan your day to make sure you keep enough available for dinner and, if you like, snacks. I do it while watching TV the night before.

2) If you're hungry because you're saving cals for dinner, look at whether you're eating satiating foods. Many people are less hungry when incorporating protein, fat, and/or fiber.

3) Earn more calories through cardio. But watch out for overestimating how much you're burning. Maybe eat back just 50-75% until you see if your weight loss is happening as you'd expect.

StaciMarie1974

Preplan/map out your day. Log dinner before you get to it. You can always go back and change items, quantities later. But consider what calories you have remaining in your budget when you contemplate extra snacking.

rachierue170 wrote: »

I find myself using up all my calories by mid afternoon that i barely have any for dinner. Anyone run into this and have any tips to offer?

Rach

TavistockToad

Pre log

ogtmama

Make sure that your calorie goal isn't too aggressive. I know It's exciting to lose as fast as possible but it's far more important to be able to stick to it.

JeanieWww

In time you'll learn to find foods that have less calories in them. Here are some "negative calorie" foods. I say negative because it takes more caloric energy to eat and burn them off than they actually have.
Celery
Oranges
Strawberries
Tangerines
Grapefruit
Carrots
Apricots
Lettuce
Tomatoes
Cucumbers
Watermelon
Cauliflower
Apples
Hot Chili Peppers
Zucchini

Still count the portions and calories, but you can rest in knowing at least something that you eat will be burned off! Like previously said, you can get more calories by exercising. Even moderate or light exercise can gain you extra calories, so log the things you do! If it takes 15 minutes to vacuum the entire house, log it and get the free cals.

JeanieWww

Look_Its_Kriss wrote: »

Time to stop blindly eating.
Preplan your meals and you won't have this problem

I don't think this is meant how it sounds. I think she meant instead of going to the cupboard or refrigerator and grabbing whatever to eat, think ahead of time of how many calories you can eat a day and divide it up. Other posts are correct in saying to eat more protein, as it will help you feel fuller. Drinking water, LOTS of water, will help you feel more full especially if you drink a glass before each time that you eat. keep a bottle of water near you to drink all day long. Refill as needed. You'll be surprised how much less you feel you need to eat. If you don't want it plain, add lemon to it.

LessCookiess

What's your calorie goal?

TimothyFish

JeanieWww wrote: »

In time you'll learn to find foods that have less calories in them. Here are some "negative calorie" foods. I say negative because it takes more caloric energy to eat and burn them off than they actually have.
Celery
Oranges
Strawberries
Tangerines
Grapefruit
Carrots
Apricots
Lettuce
Tomatoes
Cucumbers
Watermelon
Cauliflower
Apples
Hot Chili Peppers
Zucchini

Still count the portions and calories, but you can rest in knowing at least something that you eat will be burned off! Like previously said, you can get more calories by exercising. Even moderate or light exercise can gain you extra calories, so log the things you do! If it takes 15 minutes to vacuum the entire house, log it and get the free cals.

There's no such thing a negative calorie foods. (Well, maybe hay since we don't have multiple stomachs and the ability to chew our cud.) Many of the foods in the list have quite high sugar content and some varieties have extremely high sugar content.

CattOfTheGarage

xchocolategirl wrote: »

What's your calorie goal?

Yes, can you give us your details - how tall are you, how much weight are you trying to lose, and what is your calorie goal? It's very common for people to try and lose too fast and so they end up eating too little.

Tacklewasher

TimothyFish wrote: »

JeanieWww wrote: »

In time you'll learn to find foods that have less calories in them. Here are some "negative calorie" foods. I say negative because it takes more caloric energy to eat and burn them off than they actually have.
Celery
Oranges
Strawberries
Tangerines
Grapefruit
Carrots
Apricots
Lettuce
Tomatoes
Cucumbers
Watermelon
Cauliflower
Apples
Hot Chili Peppers
Zucchini

Still count the portions and calories, but you can rest in knowing at least something that you eat will be burned off! Like previously said, you can get more calories by exercising. Even moderate or light exercise can gain you extra calories, so log the things you do! If it takes 15 minutes to vacuum the entire house, log it and get the free cals.

There's no such thing a negative calorie foods. (Well, maybe hay since we don't have multiple stomachs and the ability to chew our cud.) Many of the foods in the list have quite high sugar content and some varieties have extremely high sugar content.

There is a better list here.

http://www.aworkoutroutine.com/negative-calorie-foods/

andrea4736

Tacklewasher wrote: »

TimothyFish wrote: »

JeanieWww wrote: »

There's no such thing a negative calorie foods. (Well, maybe hay since we don't have multiple stomachs and the ability to chew our cud.) Many of the foods in the list have quite high sugar content and some varieties have extremely high sugar content.

There is a better list here.

http://www.aworkoutroutine.com/negative-calorie-foods/

TavistockToad

JeanieWww wrote: »

In time you'll learn to find foods that have less calories in them. Here are some "negative calorie" foods. I say negative because it takes more caloric energy to eat and burn them off than they actually have.
Celery
Oranges
Strawberries
Tangerines
Grapefruit
Carrots
Apricots
Lettuce
Tomatoes
Cucumbers
Watermelon
Cauliflower
Apples
Hot Chili Peppers
Zucchini

Still count the portions and calories, but you can rest in knowing at least something that you eat will be burned off! Like previously said, you can get more calories by exercising. Even moderate or light exercise can gain you extra calories, so log the things you do! If it takes 15 minutes to vacuum the entire house, log it and get the free cals.

Just no....

JaydedMiss

if you can skip breakfast and feel okay id do it.
I was running out of calories early on and realized i much prefer to eat in the afternoon/evening anyway so i now start eating as late into the day as possible because once i start eating im hungry but as long as i fast from when i wake up i can often go until 1-3pm and still have all my calories. That way i have all my calories for bigger delicious meals and snacks. And honestly it helps my mindset, Knowing i still have lots of calories makes me feel much beter not eating right away.

andrea4736

@Tacklewasher I laughed really hard at that.

nowine4me

Plan, plan, plan. I pre-log my entire week on Sundays before I go to the grocery store, then make diary tweaks as I go about my week. With premium, you can track/plan meal-by-meal.

Tacklewasher

andrea4736 wrote: »

@Tacklewasher I laughed really hard at that.

Read more of his site. He is focused on body building more than I am, but is really sensible. I actually found his site before finding MFP and learned a hell of a lot.

joemac1988

rachierue170 wrote: »

I find myself using up all my calories by mid afternoon that i barely have any for dinner. Anyone run into this and have any tips to offer?

Rach

Eat food that isn't calorie dense; it will fill you up. For example, there's about as much carbs in a cup of rice as a single poptart. I'm not saying you eat poptarts (I do lol) but while I subscribe to IIFYM and don't avoid any certain foods, when my calories are reduced for a cut I tend towards cleaner food just so I'm not hungry.

bpotts44

You could try intermittent fasting. Skip breakfast and save your calories for lunch and dinner.