Over calorie limit. What do I eat?

mtzrose2001

What do I eat? I am over my calorie iimit by 1058. That's based on a 1840 callorie goal. I think I need help cause I keep binging on sugar and carbs. The worst cravings are at late evening which I realize is the worst time to eat. keep getting on track then off track. I can't seem to stay consistent with my eating habits. Any advice? Please look at my food diary and make some suggestions. I really need to know what to eat and at what times. And also what I can do toinimize the sweet cravings.
Thank you
Amanda

trogalicious

1. Meal timing doesn't matter. Stop worrying about the "late evening" food.
2. If you're binging on sugar and carbs, is it because you're restricting them too much?

As far as what you need to eat? Enough protein and fat to feel full. If you're not able to stay consistent, why are you trying to do something that's too un-stick-able in the first place? There's no magic food that makes you not want sweets.

scruffykaz

I can't see your diary

MityMax96

Need to open your diary for one thing.....

Are you keeping some balance to what you eat?
Not totally cutting out carbs? or fat? or protein?

nicoleisback

I cannot see your diary as it is only visible to your friends. As for your calories, your daily allowance seems quite high (I am 101kg and my allowance is set to 1300). I don't find this that hard to stick to with 2 full meals, a breakfast drink, snack and dessert daily. It is just about the choices you make. If you have a sugar craving, have a bowl of fruit with low fat yoghurt. If you are craving potato chips, try some dried veggie chips instead (just make sure they are dehydrated, not fried). You can even add some seasoning to them to make them more like chips flavours. Drink plenty of water. It will help flush out your system.

I too have sweet cravings at night. When this happens I drink some water and shew on some sugar free gum. If I am still craving after this, I either eat some fresh or naturally dried fruit. When you are having cravings, see if you can figure out what triggers them. Is it habit or a way to relieve the boredom? If you know your triggers, you will be able to better manage cravings. Distracting yourself is another option

Feel free to add me as a friend if you like, I love to swap motivation and encouragement.

Karrieif

I feel I would say the same things about myself.

I can also get sweet cravings, I am fine during the day, but after my evening meal, for about 20 minutes I can crave something sweet.

I do not keep sweet things in the house as a rule. If I have had a lot of desserts or chocolate, I need to go 'cold turkey' on them. This is impossible to do if you have a 'goody drawer' or a regular supply of biscuits in the house.

For me I always feel better if I stop eating earlier rather than later in the evening.

nicoleisme

The people above me have already given some pretty great advice! So all I have to say is a few points I think, Yes drinks looots of water! Helps a lot with cravings. Personally I'm the type who can't "go cold turkey" on sweets and I need my chocolate, so go buy some 90-100 calorie snacks that are prepackaged is my advice. I really like Fiber One Chocolate & Peanut Butter Brownies. I know it's not "healthy" but it's healthier then what I would usually eat! Five grams of fiber for a brownie so that's pretty awesome too. Eat slowly, savor it, and ask yourself if you're really hungry before grabbing more.

annakdavis

What I have found helpful is to have friends with open diaries. I have seen what works for other people, and have experiemented for myself. I have learned a lot by looking at what other people do.

amsipub

Sweets are also hard for me to give up. But I now only eat one square of dark chocolate a day and I have half a kind bar (it's sweet and has protein). The rest of the day I work on eating protein, fruits and veggies. Because I work on getting the protein into my snacks and meals, I find that I don't need to eat as much food. It sounds like you may be eating too many high calorie, low nutrition foods.

mazdauk

Try pre-logging your food for the day first thing in the morning - that way you can see if you're going to be over, and rearrange your plans.

I aim for three proper meals and two or three snacks - they need to be relatively healthy, but they are generally things like cereal bars, grapes, nuts/dried fruit (weigh it out into a small container). I also have a WW chocolate-covered biscuit with my last cup of tea, or else one square of Lindt dark chocolate - that is my "good girl" treat.

I make it a rule to only eat what I've taken into work, and then only eat all of it if I really want it - not because its there. So I do have a WW biscuit for "emergencies" which I've resisited since April!

Finally, if you "need" more calories then try upping your exercise - a Zumba class gives you 600 calories an hour, Aerobics about 400 (depending on intensity). I try to use my allocated calories for "good" stuff - meat, veg, fruit - and exercise calories for the less vital stuff (like wine). That way if I am naughty I've earned it by honest sweat!

Janeadd

I had evening cravings too - don't know if what I am doing will work for you but I found something that works for me. I now do a combination of one of the intermittent fasting methods which to cut things short involves cutting out breakfast (which I know some would not recommend) - I find it works fine for me as long as I eat healthy the rest of the time and I actually feel less hungry at lunch than I would if I had eaten breakfast. I then have a low carb but filling lunch - eg tuna salad with nice dressing or mayonnaise/coleslaw etc which I feel I can have as I have had no breakfast and which makes it so much more tasty. Because it is low carb I get no cravings in the afternoon. I then have whatever I like for dinner but usually it is a good filling meal. I don't eat any low fat. For some reason reason i don't get the cravings anymore. I think it is because I am eating plenty of food and I don't mind feeling a bit peckish in the morning. - I have lost a lot of weight doing this and by using my fitbit to encourage me to move more. Good luck.

dcsaky

One thing that I really like to eat when I want something sweet is frozen fruit. Some people like bananas or grapes but my thing is frozen sliced peaches. 1 cup of the 365 Whole Foods brand is 70 calories, but I only have a few slices.

Another snack which I love is air-popped popcorn.1 cup is 31 calories. Do you have an air popper? I get the corn kernals in bulk (again at WF) and then put them in my air popper. If i need a little flavoring, I might use a small drizzle of flavored olive oil and a pinch of sea salt or some other seasoning, like Chinese Five Spice or Cayenne.

I agree with the above post which says that if you're unable to stick with the calorie limit you set for yourself, perhaps you should up it a bit. If you consistently cannot meet it, it's going to make you feel bad about yourself, which I think will hurt your overall chances of being successful in your goal.

Could you perhaps incorporate more exercise instead? More walking? Parking farther away from the store, opting to take the stairs instead of the escalator, etc? Investing in either a heart rate monitor or pedometer has been SUPER helpful for me in terms of getting a realistic idea of how many calories I was burning in comparison to how many I was taking in.

Good luck!

LorinaLynn

It's all in the planning. Think of it like paying your bills and balancing your checkbook. You know you need to have x amount of money for your heat, x amount for your insurance, x amount for mortgage or rent. Same goes with food. You need to plan it out and budget your calories so you have x amount for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks.

If you're hungriest in the evening, have a bigger dinner later. Meal timing doesn't matter, so you might as well eat the most when you're going to want to eat the most anyway. I'm happiest with a big dinner (1000+ calories), and I'm perfectly comfortable having a 200 calorie protein bar for breakfast.

As far as sweets, that's more planning. I aim to have something yummy every day, so I plan a glass of chocolate milk at bedtime, or instead of a candy bar, I have protein bars. Same amount of calories, but with more protein they keep me full longer.

Personally, I don't have any medical conditions that are affected by sugar, so I ignore that. But I don't think of it so much as limiting my carbs, as making sure I get enough fats and protein. Again, back to the planning.

ChickenmommaMich

I tend to crave sweets right after dinner. I think it's due to years of regular dessert...Not such a good habit. Now I drink a cup of mint tea sweetened with stevia after dinner if I really want sweets. It's similar to brushing your teeth right after a meal so that you have a mint flavor in your mouth which diminishes that sweet craving. The hot liquid also fills you up a bit and feels more comforting than just brushing your teeth.

Gillibeech

You don't worry about it, you check your diary to see what you had and perhaps just cut down your portion size or cut out that glass of wine or that cake! We all have an occasional blip but its ok! Don't beat yourself up about it! Life is for living!

Jazzabelle100885

What helped for me: plan, plan, plan. Plan your meals every morning and try to fill it up with foods that will keep you full. This means: protein, good carbs, healthy fats! I always start by planning my dinners (usually 100g of turkey breast and some veggies) and my breakfasts (always a protein smoothie with banana and berries - keeps me full for hours!) and then I plan the rest - lunch and whatever calories I have left I fill up with snacks. I really stick to that and over time I notice that my body gets used to the routine and I don't get hungry in between meals anymore.

JaxDemon

If you have really bad sugar cravings have some pepsi max or something sim but sugar free. Think it's like 3 cals per 330ml of pepsi max and it's sweet enough to bust that craving.

TINAHUNTER1969

Try making pots of low fat jelly with chopped fruit in them to fill you up and satisfy your sweet cravings.

Also the snack bags of sliced apple or carrots help me - something to munch on and low fat/calorie.

Drink plenty of water too.

Log everything that you eat and try and do a bit more exercise to work off the extra calories, I enjoy going for a walk and the more you up the pace the more calories MFP gives you

Good luck x

NonnyMary

Two simple things -

Log in your days foods before you eat them and

Allow for the snacks

Eat some filling foods during the day

harleygroomer

HMMM

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you may need to rethink your goals. This is NOT a diet, this is a LIFESTYLE CHANGE. People fail at diets all the time and end up gaining more weight back. Make this your life goal and something you DO for life. If you look around, there are lots of things to use to break your cravings. Healthy choice makes a frozen yogurt that is 100 cals. Dannon makes an 80 cal greek yogurt and something I love for a night snack is Fiber One makes an 80 cals, chocolate cereal that I keep bagged and ready for a grab snack and they also make 90 cal bars that I use for breakfast when I don't eat my yogurt. Now if it is bread, at Walmart in the deli there is JOSEPHS FLAX AND OATBRAN Lavash bread. ( they are wraps). They make tortilla size and big sheets that are 50 cals a serving. I use those for everything and I even cut into bite size pieces spray with some EVOO and seasoning a little and toast them on both sides. These are great for chips or a low cal snack at the theater. Just look at your diary and see where your holes are and then decide when your worse snacking time is. But most of all--change your way of thinking--this is your Lifestyle change.

rkteal

Before you eat the sweets, eat a cup of applesauce or yogurt.
This fills you up a little and you will not eat as much sweets.
I do the same thing, junk food junkie.
Good Luck

BrandieRegalado

You basically need to try volumetrics. Since you are used to eating larger portions you need to start off by eating large portions of low calorie-high nutrient foods (veggies, fruit, whole grains) so you can fill up without adding pounds.

Try starting off your day with an apple and peanut/almond butter, cheese or almonds. A smoothie also works well to keep you full. Oatmeal packets have sugar but are portion controlled, quick and easy. Look for the high fiber variety to keep you full even longer. Also adding a piece of fruit, berries, or nut butter would help fill you up in the morning. I also like to use low carb tortillas, fat free refried beans and turkey bacon to pre make breakfast tacos to keep ready to go in the fridge.

For lunch or dinner try a large garden salad loaded with veggies, grilled salmon, chicken or shrimp. Don't skip the dressing because the fat in the oil will help your body absorb the nutrients in those veggies, just make sure to limit your portions by asking for dressing on the side. Also any lean protein with a side of veggies is always a great choice. I also like to have what I call snacks for dinner, I'll have some hummus and veggies, a few small slices of cheese, and olives. High protein greek yogurt is always a winner. Chobani and many other brands have dessert like flavors, my favorite is the chobani bite in the raspberry dark chocolate flavor.

I eat about 1500 calories a day and drink lots of water with chia seeds mixed in. The are great for keeping you full and hydrated. Please feel free to look at my diary.

janicelo1971

Im assuming your over your WEEKLY goal by a thousand? if so pull out the veggies and miracle noodles.....exercise more...cant see your diary...but I gave up refined sugar and most bad carbs 5-7 years ago....I do low carb substitutes now that don't ever cause me to binge...u never hear someone say im going to go binge on turnip fries or cauliflower pizza crust! LOL....find alternatives....also track in a journal when you have cravings and what happened prior to the craving....you can usually sense a pattern....then try to avoid that in the future..ie go for a walk, call a friend, drink water....etc...think of you food intake like a bank account...you have to deposit a certain amount, but spend it wisely....

unapologetically_crystal

your diary isnt open. but here are my suggestions. eat every three hours. eat proteins. when you eat protein it keeps you feeling full and should stop you from wanting to go crazy! i also agree you are probably restricting too much so you want to binge. i repeat.. eat every three hours. even if you aren't hungry. because your body thinks you are gonna starve it.. so if you keep feeding it your metabolism will be burning and your brain will stop with all the crazy mixed signals. good luck.

jonnythan

If you crave more food at night, eat less during the day and have your biggest meal at night.

That was easy.

DebbieLyn63

What do I eat? I am over my calorie iimit by 1058. That's based on a 1840 callorie goal. I think I need help cause I keep binging on sugar and carbs. The worst cravings are at late evening which I realize is the worst time to eat. keep getting on track then off track. I can't seem to stay consistent with my eating habits. Any advice? Please look at my food diary and make some suggestions. I really need to know what to eat and at what times. And also what I can do toinimize the sweet cravings.
Thank you
Amanda

What you are describing sounds like a carb addiction. Many people will claim there is no such thing, but there really is. The processed carbs turn quickly into sugar in your body, spiking your insulin levels, then you have the crash and need more sugar to stay on that sugar high. You have to find a way to break that cycle.

You can do it cold turkey, by simply cutting out all processed sugars, grains, and starches for a few days. You might have headaches and feel like crap for 2 days until it gets out of your system, but after 48 hrs, you should feel better and the cravings will mostly be gone. After a week, start adding back in 1-2 servings of fruit, and then slowly add in some whole grains if you like.
Some people prefer to wean off the sugar more slowly. If you can moderate yourself, this is the less painful way to do it,but it does take longer. Planning and logging is the key. If you normally have 400g of carbs per day, then try sticking to 300g for a week, then lower to 200g, etc.
Eating more protein and healthy fats WILL keep you fuller and feeling better.

If you don't mind artificial sweeteners, they can be great to get your sweet fix in without the actual sugar. Atkins makes some great bars that take care of my sweet tooth. The ones with the whole nuts in them are the best. Hazelnut, coconut almond crunch, peanut roll, caramel nut roll, are all really good.

I also use sugar free coffee syrups in my coffee, and a late night sugar craving can be fixed with a cup of decaf with a shot of pumpkin Pie spice and caramel Torani syrups. A tsp of light cool whip on top is only 5 cals.

But the first thing you MUST do, is get your mind in the game and commit fully to making a lifestyle change. You have to get past the mindset of restricting cals for a few days til you get hungry and tired of depriving yourself, saying screw it, then eating everything in the pantry.
We have ALL been there at some point in our life. It is a vicious cycle that will only lead to more weight gain.

When you commit to finding out what you can do consistently, and decide that whatever it takes, you will make it happen. THEN it will happen.

You can do this. There are too many people on here who have proven that it can be done. You just have to be consistent and patient.

Koldnomore

Well, since you have only logged ONE day of food but you signed up a while ago I am guessing you are just starting back to MFP. Great first step!

I will urge you not to get all freaked out about going over your calories for a while. The first while here should be just getting used to logging food again so that you can look back and see what you need to work on. From your diary for the one day I would suggest making small changes to start with - don't try to cut out everything all at once or you will just be miserable and binge.

From the one day I will give a couple of ideas for you.. If you eat like this regularly I will suggest to you to start adding more protein. Cravings for 'sweet' things many times points to a low protein intake - which is quite obvious from your diary of 2800 calories you got only 176 (1g = 4 calories) from protein. That's crazy low. I would suggest instead of banana bread etc for breakfast you have eggs or oatmeal (NOT packets, just plain) or Greek yogurt with fruit (I have all 3 LOL)

Also, your refined sugar is insanely high - most of it from drinks. If I were you I would honestly start there. Cut back on the Mt. Dew and Slurpees - that will save you 600 calories right off the top. If you can't live without it start small. Switch to 'diet' and have a small Slurpee instead of 32 oz one. Start drinking water, keep a bottle with you and keep sipping on it all day.

It's not easy to get back on track when you have been gone for a while but if you just start small and work up to it you will find that you can stick to it much better than if you just try to change everything all at once. Send me an invite if you are committed to making the changes you need to make and I'll do my best to help you out.

Welcome back

mtzrose2001

Thank you for all the great advice. I realize now that I needed to open my diary. It is now open. Just to clarity, my calorie intake was 2840 for yesterday. I think someone was unclear on that.

I was walking every morning for a month. Ive been able to maintain my weight pretty good this summer because im verry active and into sports. Then I got sick and stopped excersizing for only 5 Days and gained over 5 pounds. I guess I need to do more workon the diet part. I always ate lots of sugar and carbs even as a kid. I was able to maintain a very thin figure up until I had my first child. That slowed me down a lot!

Also. I take Ritalin during the day for my ADHD which supresses my appetite during the day. I wonder if I should be eating more durring the day. I just don't know what to eat when I go to grab something. Maybe ill need to keep charting and play with my diet. See if I can get the evenings under control. This diary entry is me just eating on a normal day without paying attention to what foods I'm eating.

MexicanOsmosis

Might want to consider having more protein. It keeps you full longer.

lavaughan69

I went to your diary and it only had one day filled in. Perhaps this was day one of your diet?

Here are my suggestions to help reduce your calories:

For breakfast you had banana bread and cranberry walnut bread. You could have just had the banana bread and added some yogurt or fruit.

Lunch, well three packets of oatmeal seems like a lot. I usually have one packet of regular unsweetened oatmeal but I add fresh fruit to it. The oatmeal was already sweetened so there was no need to add 4 tsp of brown sugar to it. You really need to cut out the mountain dew and swap it for water. Even if you had a crystal light single to the water would be better. So try one packet of oatmeal with blueberries or strawberries, mini carrots or cucumber, any veggies you enjoy. Some almonds or laughing cow cheese...think healthy.

Dinner....oh where do I start about your dinner. A Slurpee?? I assume you're trying to lose weight? DON'T DRINK YOUR CALORIES! Water water water! Kentucky fried chicken is so high in sodium. They offer the skinless bbq chicken now. But if you are going to choose to eat a piece with the skin then you need to compensate by giving up something else. Instead of the mac and cheese you could have had a side salad. And say no to the brownie. And one biscuit would have been enough.

Losing weight doesn't mean giving up everything you love, but it does mean finding a balance in life. You can't eat everything you love in one day. You may have to adjust breakfast and lunch to make room to have KFC. You're trying to develop a lifestyle that you can follow for the rest of your life, so start looking for healthy alternatives to the things you enjoy. Take the time to look at other peoples food diaries to give you some food ideas.

And as for the carb and sugar cravings, I found when I reduced the processed foods and kept my carbs to one or two servings a day and only had sugar in the form of fruit that after a week I wanted them less and less.

I hope this was helpful.

iamafoodaholic

During September I only saw that you logged only one day. The suggestions that I have are don't drink you calories. On the day you logged you drank 641 calories. Try making your own oatmeal instead of packaged oatmeal. I cook mine in no sugar added apple juice with some type of fresh fruit or raisins. Make small changes and they will add up. But to know your real habits you MUST log everyday and then you can see where your problems might be, or why you are not losing, or why you might be gaining.