Can u pls review my diary entry?

joowelz

I'm trying to lose 1/2 pound a week by staying under 1700-1800 calories per day, depending on my activity level that day. But I am failing miserably. I am blowing it at night after dinner when i still feel like eating. Last night i snacked three times. First i had a smoothie, followed by yogurt and fruit, followed by cereal.

I dont want to make any more major changes to the TYPES of foods i eat, and just want to know if i can make small tweaks throughout the day so that i am not dying to snack all night long.

My diary is open. I only logged one day this week and put it under today's date. Therefore please see the entry under today's date.

Thank you.

LyndaBSS

I didn't look at the diary but will tell you what works for me.

I fill out the food diary a few days in advance. If I want to eat some random thing, I look to see if I have the calories available. If not, I don't eat it.

Why did you only fill out one day?

apullum

Protein helps many people feel full, so you might try eating more protein and eating a larger proportion of your daily protein earlier in the day.

Fiber is another one that helps a lot of people feel full. If you want to increase fiber, though, just make sure you do it slowly. Increasing fiber too fast can cause digestive issues.

Finally, fat helps some people feel full. You seem to be getting plenty of fat, but it's a bit later in the day, so you could try shifting some of it to breakfast.

You can also budget calories for snacks. If you pre-log your meals for the day, it is often easier to stick to what you planned to eat. If you know you want a snack at night, then budget calories for it.

cmriverside

You don't really say how long you've been at weight loss and whether or not this calorie level has been working for you as far as your rate of loss? How much weight do you need to lose to be at a health BMI?

I know that when I didn't have much weight to lose, and when I was at the, "Lose 1/2 pound per week," stage like you are, I was really hungry a lot of the time. That's the way it goes at the end when there isn't much body fat reserve. I had to tell myself quite frequently, "You've had enough food." I also delayed breakfast for several hours after waking and I had 35-40g of protein with that breakfast.

It doesn't look like you really need to change your food so much as maybe try to get more protein earlier in the day. By dinner you had 67g of protein. After dinner snacking was another 39g of protein. Try getting more protein early in the day, it is very filling and satiating and that in itself may help you.

I had to make nearly every meal myself and use my food scale religiously when I was at the end of weight loss. I delayed breakfast, made sure to get sufficient protein early in the day, and after dinner I went to bed...my version of Intermittent Fasting.

joowelz

cmriverside wrote: »

You don't really say how long you've been at weight loss and whether or not this calorie level has been working for you as far as your rate of loss? How much weight do you need to lose to be at a health BMI?

I know that when I didn't have much weight to lose, and when I was at the, "Lose 1/2 pound per week," stage like you are, I was really hungry a lot of the time. That's the way it goes at the end when there isn't much body fat reserve. I had to tell myself quite frequently, "You've had enough food." I also delayed breakfast for several hours after waking and I had 35-40g of protein with that breakfast.

It doesn't look like you really need to change your food so much as maybe try to get more protein earlier in the day. By dinner you had 67g of protein. After dinner snacking was another 39g of protein. Try getting more protein early in the day, it is very filling and satiating and that in itself may help you.

I had to make nearly every meal myself and use my food scale religiously when I was at the end of weight loss. I delayed breakfast, made sure to get sufficient protein early in the day, and after dinner I went to bed...my version of Intermittent Fasting.

Hi! Thanks for the response. I've been at it for 1 year with some success and lots of setbacks due to depression and antidepressant meds. I know that 1700-1800 cals works for me to lose a half pound per week. I am 5'6 and weight 170 lbs. My goal is to be under 160 lbs. It's a good size for me.

Maybe i need to start eating a boiled egg with my oatmeal breakfast and a half cup of cottage cheese after lunch with my usual fruit??? Will this take the edge off at night?

cmriverside

joowelz wrote: »

cmriverside wrote: »

You don't really say how long you've been at weight loss and whether or not this calorie level has been working for you as far as your rate of loss? How much weight do you need to lose to be at a health BMI?

I know that when I didn't have much weight to lose, and when I was at the, "Lose 1/2 pound per week," stage like you are, I was really hungry a lot of the time. That's the way it goes at the end when there isn't much body fat reserve. I had to tell myself quite frequently, "You've had enough food." I also delayed breakfast for several hours after waking and I had 35-40g of protein with that breakfast.

It doesn't look like you really need to change your food so much as maybe try to get more protein earlier in the day. By dinner you had 67g of protein. After dinner snacking was another 39g of protein. Try getting more protein early in the day, it is very filling and satiating and that in itself may help you.

I had to make nearly every meal myself and use my food scale religiously when I was at the end of weight loss. I delayed breakfast, made sure to get sufficient protein early in the day, and after dinner I went to bed...my version of Intermittent Fasting.

Hi! Thanks for the response. I've been at it for 1 year with some success and lots of setbacks due to depression and antidepressant meds. I know that 1700-1800 cals works for me to lose a half pound per week. I am 5'6 and weight 170 lbs. My goal is to be under 160 lbs. It's a good size for me.

Maybe i need to start eating a boiled egg with my oatmeal breakfast and a half cup of cottage cheese after lunch with my usual fruit??? Will this take the edge off at night?

Thanks for the more info.

Yeah, that last 10 pounds (for me it was 15) were tough, joowelz. I was legit hungry. I had to continually tell myself that a little hunger was okay, I would make it to my next meal. I had to go fairly low carb (100-150g) and higher protein to get through it. I'm 5'7"-5'8" and 140 now, but I lost the last 10 pounds set at 1500-1600 (PLUS exercise calories. You don't mention how you're allowing for exercise calories.)

I had to delay my first meal for 3-4 hours, eat 35-40g of protein (I'm set at 90g protein for the day) and like I said, go to bed within a couple hours after dinner. I ate a largish meal at the beginning and end of each day, and then a 200-300 calorie midday snack. Midday I had a small snack with protein like deli meat and cheese on one slice of bread or cottage cheese and peaches with almonds or something similar. If I ate dinner too early, I would eat too many snacks after dinner and that just didn't work for me calorie-wise. I would rather be hungry midday than at night. At night my willpower is lacking due to being tired. In the daytime I can distract myself with other stuff.

I would really focus on that early protein, and hang on - those last ten pounds are difficult. I usually had a carb refeed day once a week where I ate at maintenance and had 300-400g of carbs.

dkeofkfbdjsgdvfl

Your meals look delicious. I'm going to copy that salmon dinner.

The one thing that stands out to me is that there are a lot of snacks. So...When are you eating snacks? And why are you eating snacks? Are you genuinely hungry, or bored?

Cutting half the snacks will have you well within your goal.

joowelz

cmriverside wrote: »

joowelz wrote: »

cmriverside wrote: »

You don't really say how long you've been at weight loss and whether or not this calorie level has been working for you as far as your rate of loss? How much weight do you need to lose to be at a health BMI?

I know that when I didn't have much weight to lose, and when I was at the, "Lose 1/2 pound per week," stage like you are, I was really hungry a lot of the time. That's the way it goes at the end when there isn't much body fat reserve. I had to tell myself quite frequently, "You've had enough food." I also delayed breakfast for several hours after waking and I had 35-40g of protein with that breakfast.

It doesn't look like you really need to change your food so much as maybe try to get more protein earlier in the day. By dinner you had 67g of protein. After dinner snacking was another 39g of protein. Try getting more protein early in the day, it is very filling and satiating and that in itself may help you.

I had to make nearly every meal myself and use my food scale religiously when I was at the end of weight loss. I delayed breakfast, made sure to get sufficient protein early in the day, and after dinner I went to bed...my version of Intermittent Fasting.

Hi! Thanks for the response. I've been at it for 1 year with some success and lots of setbacks due to depression and antidepressant meds. I know that 1700-1800 cals works for me to lose a half pound per week. I am 5'6 and weight 170 lbs. My goal is to be under 160 lbs. It's a good size for me.

Maybe i need to start eating a boiled egg with my oatmeal breakfast and a half cup of cottage cheese after lunch with my usual fruit??? Will this take the edge off at night?

Thanks for the more info.

Yeah, that last 10 pounds (for me it was 15) were tough, joowelz. I was legit hungry. I had to continually tell myself that a little hunger was okay, I would make it to my next meal. I had to go fairly low carb (100-150g) and higher protein to get through it. I'm 5'7"-5'8" and 140 now, but I lost the last 10 pounds set at 1500-1600 (PLUS exercise calories. You don't mention how you're allowing for exercise calories.)

I had to delay my first meal for 3-4 hours, eat 35-40g of protein (I'm set at 90g protein for the day) and like I said, go to bed within a couple hours after dinner. I ate a largish meal at the beginning and end of each day, and then a 200-300 calorie midday snack. Midday I had a small snack with protein like deli meat and cheese on one slice of bread or cottage cheese and peaches with almonds or something similar. If I ate dinner too early, I would eat too many snacks after dinner and that just didn't work for me calorie-wise. I would rather be hungry midday than at night. At night my willpower is lacking due to being tired. In the daytime I can distract myself with other stuff.

I would really focus on that early protein, and hang on - those last ten pounds are difficult. I usually had a carb refeed day once a week where I ate at maintenance and had 300-400g of carbs.

Hi again!

Jogging 30 minutes three times a week is the only activity i get currently.

Yeah, i snack because i'm anxious, bored, need comforting, etc. Sometimes i wake up in the middle of the night to pee and then realize i'm hungry so i head to the kitchen to eat cereal to help me fall asleep. The sweetness and milk are like sleep aids.

dkeofkfbdjsgdvfl

You need to stop eating at night. Seriously. That or go for something low calorie. A warm glass of milk alone.

You can try eating a little later in the evening to stop night cravings.

apullum

dkeofkfbdjsgdvfl wrote: »

You need to stop eating at night. Seriously. That or go for something low calorie. A warm glass of milk alone.

You can try eating a little later in the evening to stop night cravings.

There is no reason why someone shouldn't eat at night if it fits into their calorie goals and does not cause issues like acid reflux or difficulty sleeping. OP's problem is not that they are eating at night; it's that the nighttime snacking does not fit into their calorie goals. If they wanted to budget calories for a nighttime snack, that would work just fine.

lemurcat2

Adding more protein to breakfast and lunch seems like a good thing to try.

Another question is whether you want to stop snacking at night. I don't like snacking, as I find it not satisfying and for me it tends to be more about stress or habitual eating, not about hunger. So I just broke the habit of snacking. That I eat dinner pretty late made it easier, probably.

Some really like snacking, including in the evening, and so save cals. If a little cereal before bed helps you sleep and you like it, maybe eat less at breakfast (and the egg for more protein) to save cals for that. You could also keep it to low cal snacks. I used to break my not snacking thing around Christmas, but I'd snack on clementines and the overall calorie damage was pretty minimal.

Annie_01

I like snacking...ALL DAY! The only way that I control it is to just not bring snack things in to the house. I replaced it with fruit, yogurt, low cal pudding until I got it under control. I also shut down the kitchen and the pantry at 7pm(95% of the time). I put all of those calories that I saved from not snacking in to having larger meals. The other thing that I have learned to do is to just say NO.

On occasion I want salty, crunchy snacks. I get a bag...eat them...then go back to all of the above. I just found that doing all that snacking was preventing me from having a well balanced diet.

wilson10102018

I don't eat anything after dinner, but if I needed salty snack, there is nothing better than popcorn. Cook with Pam and 180 calories (60g unpopped) covered with powdered salt will do the job.

lg013

I make snack jars for us to avoid over snacking (really easy to eat more than you think on snacking). All over we have portioned out snacks in mason jars to keep us going throughout the day. 2 cups of popcorn, protein no bake balls, almonds/strawberries, a tablespoon hummus at the bottom of a jar with carrots and celery already chopped and in the jar, etc. Thinks we like to snack on that fit in our diet.

Considered packing snack jars that are already portioned out for those moments you need a quick fix.

lg013

wilson10102018 wrote: »

I don't eat anything after dinner, but if I needed salty snack, there is nothing better than popcorn. Cook with Pam and 180 calories (60g unpopped) covered with powdered salt will do the job.

Popcorn really helps me too. Sometimes I add franks red hot buffalo sauce to it to give my snack a kick!