What worked for you today?

AlexandraFindsHerself1971

When I got my Chinese takeout last night, I immediately split it in thirds, and put two of the containers in the fridge and ate one for dinner. Tonight after driving an hour each way to visit family, I wasn't about to cook a proper meal. So grabbing the leftovers was easy, I knew it was the same calorie count as yesterday, cause I'd measured it out then, and there wasn't any way to eat extra, cause I ate what was in the container, period. Win, win, win.

B_Plus_Effort

thanks for calling in mkculs13, you're on the air... ha ha, love your About Me, so took me years to realize that as humanoids we really do not need that much food to survive, and as Americanos we eat at least twice what we need, the portions at restaurants could feed a family in other countries, recently I was putting away grandmas fine china and realized those were not salad dishes but the plates they ate their actual meals off of, what does that tell you, everything got bigger over the years

having said that, the three square meals a day is a myth, we don't need to eat when the clock says a certain time, and what works for me, and may work for you is eliminating the "snacks" from your diet, not for ever just during the weight loss phase, when you think "snack" think "extra" so when you eat your food during the day do you really need two "extra" meals, no you don't (and don't get me started on protein shakes and protein bars)

anyway people will argue with me over it's better to eat five or six small meals a day vs three big ones, and by all means snack, blah blah blah, but go ahead and try it, don't "snack" for 30 days and get back to me, and we'll talk about the next steps

nexangelus

muszyngr wrote: »

thanks for calling in mkculs13, you're on the air... ha ha, love your About Me *snip*

Dude, this ain't preacher's corner....just sayin'

AlexandraFindsHerself1971

muszyngr wrote: »

thanks for calling in mkculs13, you're on the air... ha ha, love your About Me, so took me years to realize that as humanoids we really do not need that much food to survive, and as Americanos we eat at least twice what we need, the portions at restaurants could feed a family in other countries, recently I was putting away grandmas fine china and realized those were not salad dishes but the plates they ate their actual meals off of, what does that tell you, everything got bigger over the years

having said that, the three square meals a day is a myth, we don't need to eat when the clock says a certain time, and what works for me, and may work for you is eliminating the "snacks" from your diet, not for ever just during the weight loss phase, when you think "snack" think "extra" so when you eat your food during the day do you really need two "extra" meals, no you don't (and don't get me started on protein shakes and protein bars)

anyway people will argue with me over it's better to eat five or six small meals a day vs three big ones, and by all means snack, blah blah blah, but go ahead and try it, don't "snack" for 30 days and get back to me, and we'll talk about the next steps

To each their own. I agree with you that indiscriminate snacking can be an issue. But part of doing this is doing something that isn't hard and punitive, and for me, using an extra 100 calories at certain known points in the day makes things a lot easier to do. Mentally, two cookies and a cup of hot cocoa before bed is a comforting thing that resonates back to childhood, and that's just enough calories that I don't have trouble going to sleep because I'm hungry. I also keep 100 calories to eat just before I prepare dinner, so that I'm able to do so without piecing on the ingredients or being hangry at the people I'm cooking for. It's much more comfortable for me that way.

And, really, they aren't extra calories; they're the calories that I don't eat at breakfast. I haven't been able to eat a big full breakfast since I was in my twenties and had my kids. I have toast and that is okay til lunch. I would never tell anyone else to eat a light breakfast and a heavier lunch and dinner, but that is what works for me.

The beauty of the system we are using here is that it's so flexible and adaptable, and works for people who are doing all sorts of different eating.

fjaril20

When I reached a plateau I started running a couple times a week. Not far, just 1.5 miles, and pretty slow. I hated running at first, but now I find that 20 minutes gave me more energy later. It also gave my metabolism the nudge it needed to hit my goal weight.

alexmose

Going outside

debradylan1

Getting dressed down to my shoes. Playing Paul Simon's "Late in the Evening" and shuffling my feet while I folded laundry; made the bed; went outside to the little garden, playing more upbeat Paul Simon, and did my calisthenics. Bought a Kindle book that I've heard is hard to put down (for tomorrow night). Leftovers for dinner. No emotional eating today!

amart4224

Trying new food! I made spaghetti squash for the first time tonight and I loved it! Will definitely add it to my rotation of easy, healthy meals.

FourWindsWalker

What worked for me today is waking at 430AM, dressing warmly, grabbing the headlamp and going for a 45 minute walk. Sky was clear. Bright moonlight. My kind of morning.

mfponly519

Keeping my pie hole shut

AwesomeSquirrel

Yesterday I accidentally ate like it was a rest day even though I ended up doing about 4 hours of exercise. So today I gave myself the tools for long term success.

- I’m taking a rest day (yoga only)
- I planned a walking errand to get some steps in
- I allocated snacks throughout the day to get some extra calories in. Normally I just do my 3 main meals and a pre workout snack as needed.
- I scheduled my snacks with my workday in mind to make sure I had a level head and energy for the tasks/meetings that were daunting.

CaosCalmo

One hour run with my preferred music

LAT1963

Oatmeal for breakfast (made with milk for protein value), raspberries, blackberries, and canteloup on the side. Store brand clam chowder for lunch, shortbread cookies and raspberries as a treat. A stroll of a little over a mile, with an activity monitor.

Slightly under on breakfast calories, slightly over on lunch calories, leaves me right on target for exercise-adjusted calorie targets for dinner (negative adjustments authorized).

Today I hit the "lost 50 lbs" mark, though I expect to bounce up again for a few days before solidly going beyond that barrier; in my experience I first cross a psychological milestone (eg: any 10 lb milestone) due to hydration variances and it only becomes 'secure' a few days later.

mssue18

What worked for me today is upping my walking. I upped my time, my steps, my distance, and calories burned. Very proud of myself!

getitamb

Healthy snacks, water and eating one large meal.

FABRICWOMAN

Pre-planning meals on the week-end for the rest of the week. Staying away from fast food joints. No carbonated beverages just tea, coffee or water. Of course, journaling in My Fitness Pal. So far have lost 57 lbs. since July 17, 2020.

nexangelus

Pre-workout, an extra hour in bed (worked night/sleep in shift at work, am a care worker) when I got home early this morning, real ground coffee with double cream and sweetener and putting my head down and getting it done (90 minute weight training session at home on zoom with five other friends). I am tired and cold.

brenn24179

I had xmas cookies, ate 6, should have eaten 4 but I did give the rest away to teens next door, which is a win win. I wanted to throw the rest away but husb hates that I do that. (he was brought up poor). Anyway next time I am not telling him and throwing them away! I then wanted bagels and you can buy 2 mini at dunkin donuts so that was good. I think I am feeling holiday stress, families are complicated.

Steelkid

Keto

__TMac__

My spouse cooked dinner tonight. Instead of complaining that he chose to make something calorific, I thanked him for making it, then altered it to suit me. Swapped out chicken for chick peas and salad for most of the french fries.

Earlier today, he had suggested we get fast food while we ran errands. I talked him down to a poke bowl. Fish, veg, and brown rice.

Two calorie crises averted.

getitamb

Logging my snacks first.

AlexandraFindsHerself1971

Exercising in short bursts, when my body can handle it. It's okay to ride five minutes at a time if you do it six times it's 30 minutes.

wanderinglight

What worked for me today was having soup first for dinner before anything else. It’s cold and rainy here, and it was just a perfect meal. Once I finished it I realized I didn’t actually need to eat the big dinner I planned.

BraydanTaffy

I love to walk. The longer the distance, the better. I realized that if I add in 2-hrs of walking, which I enjoy, I feel so much better on any level... body/mind/soul. It also means I can eat a bit more calories & still be in deficit.

It sincerely helped that it was also 70-degrees today. Lovely walking on the beach.

sweet__kitty

I re-named extra meal slots, changing them from "snack" to "Overflow (from day before)" and "Backflow (from day after)" so as to give myself flexibility while maintaining the bigger picture.

If I go over my Calorie budget it goes into "overflow" on the next day's entry and in essence borrows that day's Calorie budget. If I was under on the previous day and want to include it in the budget of the current day, I enter Calories under the previous day's "backflow."

It really helps me to play the long game of averages while not forcing me to keep balance sheet of the week's totals to date.

AlexandraFindsHerself1971

Meal planning and the food scale. I have all the tools I need to get this under control.

wanderinglight

sweet__kitty wrote: »

I re-named extra meal slots, changing them from "snack" to "Overflow (from day before)" and "Backflow (from day after)" so as to give myself flexibility while maintaining the bigger picture.

If I go over my Calorie budget it goes into "overflow" on the next day's entry and in essence borrows that day's Calorie budget. If I was under on the previous day and want to include it in the budget of the current day, I enter Calories under the previous day's "backflow."

It really helps me to play the long game of averages while not forcing me to keep balance sheet of the week's totals to date.

I love this idea! Do you pre-log the following day then? Or do you just log that entry as "extra" or whatever?

__TMac__

It’s my husband’s birthday today. He wanted big burgers for dinner and Cheesecake Factory for dessert. I wanted him to enjoy his day AND stick to my calorie deficit.

I was able to participate and not overeat by choosing a veggie burger and some berries, whipped cream, and a few dark chocolate chips. Still delicious.

B_Plus_Effort

last day of swimming, so sad, they are closing the pool

for the record: lost 23 pounds in 8 weeks and went from 22% body fat to 18%

started out swimming 30 minutes then 45 for a few weeks, then built up to an hour none stop!

getitamb

Bringing snacks and a water bottle to work instead of sitting to eat a big meal