What small changes made a BIG difference?

peachvine29

I was having a problem with being super hungry after work and when I got home from work. This would lead me to feel hangry and anxious about making dinner fast, as well as overeat at times. I recently started making an afternoon snack at 4pm a habit and have felt SO much better! I never planned to snack at this time, usually I would maybe snack if I felt like it during my second break at work at 3pm. Since making a 4pm snack a priority, I feel much better at the end of the day!

Anyone care to share any small changes that made a big difference for them?

jenncornelsen

I do not watch tv in the evenings in the living room. Was for whatever reason a major trigger it mindlessly eat. Since stopping i almost never nightly binge

heyjude0225

Increased water, decreased coffee

peachvine29

jenncornelsen wrote: »

I do not watch tv in the evenings in the living room. Was for whatever reason a major trigger it mindlessly eat. Since stopping i almost never nightly binge

Nice! Care to share what do you do instead? I'm having trouble structuring my evenings and am curious what people do besides watch TV.

jenncornelsen

I am a mom so often its just cleaning! Sometimes i will go for a walk. I also take really long baths most nights to relax. Also reading. Occasionally i watch tv but never in the living room! Probably a bit weird but it works lol!

LyndaBSS

Eating when I'm hungry versus on a schedule.

JeromeBarry1

Cardio while watching tv. In my case, the effort squelches the thoughts of snacking while watching the show and for a few hours afterward.

zebasschick

eating six smaller meals per day kept me from getting hungry or feeling bad.

when i started MFP in 2014 (a different account), the morning after i cut down my calories, i got out of bed and was so dizzy and weak that i almost fell to the floor. i literally had to lean on walls to get to the kitchen and grab a yogurt. and i felt weak all the time. i surely didn't want that to continue! having shorter time between eating and having a just before bedtime snack helped a lot.

MelanieCN77

JeromeBarry1 wrote: »

Cardio while watching tv. In my case, the effort squelches the thoughts of snacking while watching the show and for a few hours afterward.

My current version is a Minecraft world I can only play while on my stationary bike, though in the past I've also made certain shows treadmill only.

goldthistime

I know this isn’t for everyone, but avoiding treats most weeks and keeping my carbs at about 40% makes losing and/or maintaining fairly easy and enjoyable for me.

ETA: That, and daily exercise, minimum 30 minutes.

Pamela_Sue

I have started reading more, especially fiction for enjoyment. While it is easy to eat while watching TV, it is not something I ever do while reading.

k8eekins

peachvine29 wrote: »

I was having a problem with being super hungry after work and when I got home from work. This would lead me to feel hangry and anxious about making dinner fast, as well as overeat at times. I recently started making an afternoon snack at 4pm a habit and have felt SO much better! I never planned to snack at this time, usually I would maybe snack if I felt like it during my second break at work at 3pm. Since making a 4pm snack a priority, I feel much better at the end of the day!

Anyone care to share any small changes that made a big difference for them?

How you'd adjusted your 4pm refueling time, is how I'd figured out needing to too (meat-loading or fried deviled eggs) in the early hours of the morning even if I'd had my dinner, at least 3 hours before my AM trail-run at most. Sometimes, strangely, following my evening workout, I'll only hydrate and will postpone dinner 'til later. It's not too regular an issue which'll likely mess with how I might overthink it, but it works.

Otherwise, what has done wonders since I'd received counsel (through my sister @777Gemma888 from her man) are:

• Increasing beef consumption to my other meats/meat alternative proteins
• To QUIT coffee

Now, despite how rigorous our workout routines, I generally have minimal to zero issues with my body, with my ease of recovery, despite how fatigued I am for pushing past what I feel is my limit. Since, my zero-coffee discipline, any power-nap to my sleep have been amazing ... Restful every time, waking up without that need for a quick zing of a hot cuppa, rather, rearing to go, invigorated.

BarbaraHelen2013

jenncornelsen wrote: »

I do not watch tv in the evenings in the living room. Was for whatever reason a major trigger it mindlessly eat. Since stopping i almost never nightly binge

Pamela_Sue wrote: »

I have started reading more, especially fiction for enjoyment. While it is easy to eat while watching TV, it is not something I ever do while reading.

A combination of these two things have been game changers for me. Evenings, I sit in my bedroom, candles lit, cup of rhubarb tea, Netflix or Amazon Prime on my iPad and feel totally content. Other times I’m not actively busy I’ll sit in my bedroom reading. Something about being upstairs stops the urge to go to the kitchen.

corinasue1143

So many. Always having something ready or almost ready to eat. I always keep at least 1 TV dinner and 1 Voila type bag of dinner in the freezer. I have a list of “safe for me” fast food places near my house on the fridge.
When I look at the clock, I need to ask myself, am I looking to see if it is almost time to eat? If so, it’s time to get up and start cooking. If it hasn’t been long since I ate last, I may still need a snack.
Planning to eat every 4 hours or less. If I know I’ll have an early lunch or a late supper, I plan a protein heavy snack about half way in between, hungry or not. It keeps me from being hangry later.

Danp

Most of the changes that have had the biggest impact have been changes in my head.

The three biggest would be:
- Accepting that I'm fallible. Getting it wrong sometimes or not doing the right thing occasionally is more than just OK, it's totally normal and not a failure.
- Realising that I'm WAY better off changing my eating habits to suit me and fit in with my life instead of trying to change who I am and alter my life to fit a particular way of eating.
- Understanding that it's not what I do now that matters but what I do every other time. By this I mean it doesn't matter if I eat in a calorie deficit today if I'm eating in a surplus every other day I'll gain weight and on the flip side, it doesn't matter if I eat in a calorie surplus today if I'm in a deficit every other time my weight will go down. Results come from what ordinary not from the exceptions.

CSARdiver

Drinking 16 oz water 30 mins before meal times.

Establishing meal times.

Decreasing TV and reading more - eliminating the opportunities for mindlessly munching.

4legsRbetterthan2

eating breakfast late in the morning (I basically stumbled upon IF before I knew what IF was)
staying busy

shaumom

Small changes -
1. I play music when I do chores like laundry or dishes, and as a result I tend to dance when I do it, so it ends up being an extra few small sets of exercise when I do chores.

2. I drink water or tea made from fresh herbs, and pretty much nothing else. It's a huge cut down in calories from beverages.

3011sophie

Setting myself a goal range for my calorie intake rather than a single number. 1200-1400 means I can be flexible if I'm craving something sweet after dinner, so I don't then feel like I've "ruined my diet" and end up binging.

Cooking with oil spray instead of pouring a "glug" into the pan. I've got a bottle that dispenses 0.2ml per spray, so 5 sprays is 1ml (about 8 calories).

Also weighing in every day keeps me on track, it's become a little ritual every morning that sets me up with the right mindset for the day.

rhtexasgal

I ignored the advice of my doctor and trainer and skipped breakfast ... basically IF. I am not hungry in the morning and after I work out and get ready for work, I wait to drink my coffee until mid-morning (about 10:30 am) to break my fast since I use almond creamer and a little coconut sugar with my monk fruit sweetener. I typically don't eat lunch until 1 pm.

I really tried eating breakfast and found that I would get insanely hungry right after eating lunch ... it was becoming a problem. It took about 2 weeks before I got to my regular routine. So the take away is to listen to yourself first to determine what will work for you before deciding whether someone else's advice will be what you need. Breakfast is not always the most important meal of the day!

rhtexasgal

P.S. Prepare in advance! I keep a few packets of flavored tuna in my office drawer as well as no sugar beef jerky and peanut butter and I always buy portable fruit and veggies (apples and carrots are great and don't need refrigeration if you are in the AC). That way, if I am running late for work, I still have something tasty to eat so I don't get hangry!

nooshi713

Drinking more water.

Eliminating animal products.

Overcoming food cravings.

Learning to think of food as medicine and fuel instead of just for pleasure. I do love to eat but I don’t live to eat.

Eating way more vegetables.

cwolfman13

peachvine29 wrote: »

jenncornelsen wrote: »

I do not watch tv in the evenings in the living room. Was for whatever reason a major trigger it mindlessly eat. Since stopping i almost never nightly binge

Nice! Care to share what do you do instead? I'm having trouble structuring my evenings and am curious what people do besides watch TV.

I usually don't get home from work until around 6 most days. It's still light out right now at that time so I either take a road ride or trail ride on my mountain bike...get back around 6:45 or 7. Then it's help with the kids homework and getting them baths/showers and ready for bed. I usually start making dinner around 8 and my wife and I eat around 8:30...right now we are enjoying sitting on the patio outside to eat. After that, we watch about 30 minutes of t.v. and go to bed around 9:30 or so. That 30 minutes or so of t.v. is pretty much all we watch most nights unless there is a football game we want to watch.

cheryldumais

The one that has surprised me the most was adding a low calorie protein bar. I generally had a piece of fruit between lunch and dinner but have been substituting with a low cal (110 cal) protein bar and that crazy hunger I was experiencing has gone away. I guess I wasn't getting enough protein daily.

lgfrie

Learning to keep off-days limited to maintenance calories (2500 in my case) has been a huge advance for me. I haven't always succeeded but even when I don't, just having the idea in my head that a "break even" day is more or less the limit has prevented things from spinning out of control.

rainbow198

Closing the kitchen after dinner and getting in a walk instead of snacking.

Replacing sodas and juice with water and unsweetened tea.

Eating good-sized, balanced meals spaced out throughout the day instead of eating small meals and snacks all day. (Calories are the same, but I just feel better eating this way).

Planning my meals out in advance and tracking my meals, exercise and other info in my journal everyday.

seltzermint555

drinking a lot more water whether I feel thirsty or not...making it a habit

splurging & dining out on Saturdays but usually NOT on Fridays or Sundays (I can handle one day over my calories but not 3, which is what weekends sometimes used to turn into)

ordering black coffee, espresso, Americano, etc, instead of lattes & mochas

not having dessert all the time

eating plenty at lunch (typically 400+ calories and ample protein) instead of a tiny/light lunch and then getting hungry in the afternoons

this is a strange one, I know...but lately I feel like switching over to actual pajama sets that are in my size has improved my posture over lounging in baggy t-shirts and stretchy shorts.

DiscusTank5

Not snacking in the evenings has been a big one for me. I'll usually have a mug of tea, but that's about it.

CaitlinELaird

Honestly, I have closed out my diary before going for a walk and then decided to go for a 3.5 miles walk just for giggles and even at a slow, moseying with my dog pace, when I reclose my diary for the day, I will see a significant difference in the “What I will weigh in five weeks” section.
Just getting out for a walk is enough to move the needle on that rotten scale! Plus, it is helpful to destress at the end of the day and I find that I sleep better too.

noblsheep

Not keeping snacks in easy to get places.

The girlfriend buys loads of snacks and sweets, but I insist she keeps them in a cupboard instead of plain sight. That way when I'm hungry, I actually stop and think about what I'm going to eat, instead of grabbing the first thing I see.

In a similar thread, maybe keep healthy low-cal snacks in easy to reach places while hiding the chips.

nooshi713

Preparing meals in advance definitely helps. Especially on days where I work and have less time to cook, it helps to have meals ready to go!