Staying under calories when up very early?

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Replies

  • Mav3rick54
    Mav3rick54 Posts: 180 Member
    Smaller frequent meals? I tried the intermittent fasting thing, but couldn't do it. I like to eat all day...I eat my 1500 to 2000 calories in 6 to 8 meals. Try a glass of water before each meal, too.

    ^^ This

    I am up at 4:00, gym by 5:00, work by 6:30 and in bed around 9:00 -9:30. I eat a protein bar before I go to the gym and then take my breakfast, lunch and two snacks with me to work. I try to eat something every 2-3 hours and I rarely feel hungry. I keep some almonds or similar snack handy in case I do get hungry.
  • xmysterix
    xmysterix Posts: 114 Member
    A banana in the early hours does wonders for me. Balances my blood sugar and keeps me going until my oddly snoozey preschooler decides to wake up for her unbelievably late breakfasts.
  • PrettyPearl88
    PrettyPearl88 Posts: 368 Member
    How do you do it? I'm still struggling with this! I tend to go to bed early (sometimes hungry, and it's part of the reason I go to bed early), unfortunately it means I'm often up early too (like 5am), and often hungry by 6am. So, I eat. Then I'm hungry for lunch at 10.30am... After that it's a struggle all day to leave enough calories for dinner (hubby doesn't get home until 6pm).

    Of course it doesn't help when it's one of those days when I'm just hungry anyway, but still... man I can't wait for maintenance!

    First thing I was going to say right off the bat was more fiber and protein. But I just looked at your diary and you seem to be getting enough of those. You can even afford to lower the protein a bit if you want. You're doing a good job with fiber and protein.

    I think your problem is that you're not spreading your calories out evenly enough. If having one big meal and the rest tiny little meals works for you, great, do that then. But it seems to NOT be working for you. So if I were you, I'd try smaller main meals and eating more snacks so that you're eating something every 2-3 hours. You could try something like this:

    5:00 am -- Wake up
    5:30 am -- Breakfast: 250 cals
    7:30 am -- Snack 1: 100 cals
    10:00 am -- Snack 2: 100 cals
    12:30 pm -- Lunch: 350 cals
    3:30 pm -- Snack 3: 200 cals
    6:00 pm -- Dinner: 400 cals
    8:30 pm -- Dessert: 100 cals
    10:00 pm -- Sleep
  • kbmnurse
    kbmnurse Posts: 2,484 Member
    I eat 5-6 smaller meals daily..

    Examples

    pre workout 6AM 1/2 whole wheat bagel with either PB, cream cheese or butter/jelly. workout for about 40 -45 min
    snack 9AM greek plain yogurt with berries and almonds or Special k cereal on top for crunch
    lunch noon 1/2 tuna sandwich usually on wheat toast and 14 stix pretzels or salad with protein (shrimp, tuna or chicken)
    snack 2-3PM salt free rice cake with PB or cup of tea with homemade biscotti or 1/2 serving of almonds (14)
    dinner 5-6Pm whatever we are having measuring/weighing correct portions
    snack-maybe 16 chocolate animal crackers or skinny cow ice cream sandwich

    I never let myself get hungry if I do you better nail down the fridge.

    I almost always stay under my calories for the day.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    How do you do it? I'm still struggling with this! I tend to go to bed early (sometimes hungry, and it's part of the reason I go to bed early), unfortunately it means I'm often up early too (like 5am), and often hungry by 6am. So, I eat. Then I'm hungry for lunch at 10.30am... After that it's a struggle all day to leave enough calories for dinner (hubby doesn't get home until 6pm).

    Of course it doesn't help when it's one of those days when I'm just hungry anyway, but still... man I can't wait for maintenance!

    First thing I was going to say right off the bat was more fiber and protein. But I just looked at your diary and you seem to be getting enough of those. You can even afford to lower the protein a bit if you want. You're doing a good job with fiber and protein.

    I think your problem is that you're not spreading your calories out evenly enough. If having one big meal and the rest tiny little meals works for you, great, do that then. But it seems to NOT be working for you. So if I were you, I'd try smaller main meals and eating more snacks so that you're eating something every 2-3 hours. You could try something like this:

    5:00 am -- Wake up
    5:30 am -- Breakfast: 250 cals
    7:30 am -- Snack 1: 100 cals
    10:00 am -- Snack 2: 100 cals
    12:30 pm -- Lunch: 350 cals
    3:30 pm -- Snack 3: 200 cals
    6:00 pm -- Dinner: 400 cals
    8:30 pm -- Dessert: 100 cals
    10:00 pm -- Sleep

    It's what I do a lot really. I just enter things in my diary depending on the time. Like I had lunch at 10.30am today but it was entered already so I didn't bother changing it, then I had the rest 2 hours later, but it was still technically lunch time.

    I need to figure out more filling 100 calorie snacks though.
  • PrettyPearl88
    PrettyPearl88 Posts: 368 Member
    How do you do it? I'm still struggling with this! I tend to go to bed early (sometimes hungry, and it's part of the reason I go to bed early), unfortunately it means I'm often up early too (like 5am), and often hungry by 6am. So, I eat. Then I'm hungry for lunch at 10.30am... After that it's a struggle all day to leave enough calories for dinner (hubby doesn't get home until 6pm).

    Of course it doesn't help when it's one of those days when I'm just hungry anyway, but still... man I can't wait for maintenance!

    First thing I was going to say right off the bat was more fiber and protein. But I just looked at your diary and you seem to be getting enough of those. You can even afford to lower the protein a bit if you want. You're doing a good job with fiber and protein.

    I think your problem is that you're not spreading your calories out evenly enough. If having one big meal and the rest tiny little meals works for you, great, do that then. But it seems to NOT be working for you. So if I were you, I'd try smaller main meals and eating more snacks so that you're eating something every 2-3 hours. You could try something like this:

    5:00 am -- Wake up
    5:30 am -- Breakfast: 250 cals
    7:30 am -- Snack 1: 100 cals
    10:00 am -- Snack 2: 100 cals
    12:30 pm -- Lunch: 350 cals
    3:30 pm -- Snack 3: 200 cals
    6:00 pm -- Dinner: 400 cals
    8:30 pm -- Dessert: 100 cals
    10:00 pm -- Sleep

    It's what I do a lot really. I just enter things in my diary depending on the time. Like I had lunch at 10.30am today but it was entered already so I didn't bother changing it, then I had the rest 2 hours later, but it was still technically lunch time.

    I need to figure out more filling 100 calorie snacks though.

    When I looked at your diary entries during the past 1-2 weeks, I saw large lunches. Most days, your lunches were between 500 and 700 calories and you had only 1 or 2 snacks. If your lunches are 500-700 calories on a regular basis...THAT'S your problem. If you're just listing half of that food under "Lunch" but you're actually eating half of the food you have listed under "Lunch" as snacks throughout the day, then that's good (though not very helpful to other people trying to interpret your diary lol!)

    How long has it been since you started eating healthier? Because if you're eating every 2-4 hours and you're eating the right foods (good proportions of protein, fiber, fat, and veggies), you shouldn't be starving unless you're either A) not eating enough, or B) you haven't been doing it for very long and you're just going to have to suck it up and deal for a bit until your body adjusts.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    How do you do it? I'm still struggling with this! I tend to go to bed early (sometimes hungry, and it's part of the reason I go to bed early), unfortunately it means I'm often up early too (like 5am), and often hungry by 6am. So, I eat. Then I'm hungry for lunch at 10.30am... After that it's a struggle all day to leave enough calories for dinner (hubby doesn't get home until 6pm).

    Of course it doesn't help when it's one of those days when I'm just hungry anyway, but still... man I can't wait for maintenance!

    First thing I was going to say right off the bat was more fiber and protein. But I just looked at your diary and you seem to be getting enough of those. You can even afford to lower the protein a bit if you want. You're doing a good job with fiber and protein.

    I think your problem is that you're not spreading your calories out evenly enough. If having one big meal and the rest tiny little meals works for you, great, do that then. But it seems to NOT be working for you. So if I were you, I'd try smaller main meals and eating more snacks so that you're eating something every 2-3 hours. You could try something like this:

    5:00 am -- Wake up
    5:30 am -- Breakfast: 250 cals
    7:30 am -- Snack 1: 100 cals
    10:00 am -- Snack 2: 100 cals
    12:30 pm -- Lunch: 350 cals
    3:30 pm -- Snack 3: 200 cals
    6:00 pm -- Dinner: 400 cals
    8:30 pm -- Dessert: 100 cals
    10:00 pm -- Sleep

    It's what I do a lot really. I just enter things in my diary depending on the time. Like I had lunch at 10.30am today but it was entered already so I didn't bother changing it, then I had the rest 2 hours later, but it was still technically lunch time.

    I need to figure out more filling 100 calorie snacks though.

    When I looked at your diary entries during the past 1-2 weeks, I saw large lunches. Most days, your lunches were between 500 and 700 calories and you had 1 or 2 snacks. If your lunches are 500-700 calories on a regular basis...THAT'S your problem. If you're just listing half of that food under "Lunch" but you're actually eating half of the food you have listed under "Lunch" as snacks throughout the day, then that's good (though not very helpful to people other people trying to interpret your diary lol!)

    How long has it been since you started eating healthier? Because if you're eating every 2-4 hours and you're eating the right foods (good proportions of protein, fiber, fat, and veggies), you shouldn't be starving unless you're either A) not eating enough, or B) you haven't been doing it for very long and you're just going to have to suck it up and deal for a bit until your body adjusts.

    I started a year ago. I just have days when I'm hungrier, lol. Yes I split my lunches most of the time. I just don't always bother putting them in the right place when I prelogged and have lunch a bit early, so some afternoon snacks still end up in the lunch category because it's still only 1pm.
  • sshintaku
    sshintaku Posts: 228 Member
    I keep a similar schedule. What works for me:

    Breakfast at 5:30am with coffee (black) usually 200-250 cal. Oatmeal with some nuts or a boiled egg.
    More coffee around 8am.
    Snack around 9-9:30, usually a Greek yogurt cup 100 cal
    Snack around 10:30, a fiber bar or a fruit with hot tea
    Lunch 12-12:30 try to keep it around 300-400 cal
    Snack around 2 or 3. A fruit, string cheese, cucumber and humus. Usually 100 cal
    Dinner around 6, usually around 500-600 cal.

    On average I'm doing about 1400-1500 cal, working out daily and loosing .5-1lb a week.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,455 Member
    About my deficit, yeah it could probably be smaller, but I tend to go over some days, so I figured I'd stick to a bigger deficit so I can be more lenient (mostly I never know how much oil or butter hubby puts in stuff sometimes, just that it's 'not much') and it's not a big deal if I go over (which I tend to do quite a bit). I'm not really sure what my activity level is, so it's hard to figure out my TDEE (I walk 3 miles 5 days a week and lift weights for 15-20 minutes 3x a week, but mostly sit the rest of the time). I don't eat back exercise calories, just following TDEE (deficit is either 20% or 15%, depending on what my activity level really is. I'm clueless).

    See, this could be your biggest problem, right here.

    You are almost at goal. In many cases that last 10-15 pounds is vanity weight. I'm not implying, I'm just saying. So you are technically probably in a healthy weight range right now, right?

    Your deficit should not be more than TDEE-10% at this point. Those extra 200-300 or so calories will make a huge difference.

    If you've been logging faithfully along the way, you should know your TDEE by now if you've lost 75 pounds. (Congrats, BTW!)

    If you don't know your TDEE, spend the next few weeks trying to figure it out.

    Have you read these?

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    About my deficit, yeah it could probably be smaller, but I tend to go over some days, so I figured I'd stick to a bigger deficit so I can be more lenient (mostly I never know how much oil or butter hubby puts in stuff sometimes, just that it's 'not much') and it's not a big deal if I go over (which I tend to do quite a bit). I'm not really sure what my activity level is, so it's hard to figure out my TDEE (I walk 3 miles 5 days a week and lift weights for 15-20 minutes 3x a week, but mostly sit the rest of the time). I don't eat back exercise calories, just following TDEE (deficit is either 20% or 15%, depending on what my activity level really is. I'm clueless).

    See, this could be your biggest problem, right here.

    You are almost at goal. In many cases that last 10-15 pounds is vanity weight. I'm not implying, I'm just saying. So you are technically probably in a healthy weight range right now, right?

    Your deficit should not be more than TDEE-10% at this point. Those extra 200-300 or so calories will make a huge difference.

    If you've been logging faithfully along the way, you should know your TDEE by now if you've lost 75 pounds. (Congrats, BTW!)

    If you don't know your TDEE, spend the next few weeks trying to figure it out.

    Have you read these?

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets

    I'm 12 lbs under the high end of normal weight now. My body fat is 24-25%. It's hard to tell though because I have a lot of loose skin on my belly, so I don't know how much belly fat I have anymore. Ideally though I should probably set my goal 5 lbs lower.

    I know I lost 3.5 lb last month eating 1600 a day, but I went over a few times too... and now obviously I'm 3.5 lb lighter. I use scooby but it's always been pretty vague (I mean I do more than 1-3 hours of light exercise, 5-6 hours is about right, but it's hardly moderate intensity, so it doesn't help!).
  • PrettyPearl88
    PrettyPearl88 Posts: 368 Member
    How do you do it? I'm still struggling with this! I tend to go to bed early (sometimes hungry, and it's part of the reason I go to bed early), unfortunately it means I'm often up early too (like 5am), and often hungry by 6am. So, I eat. Then I'm hungry for lunch at 10.30am... After that it's a struggle all day to leave enough calories for dinner (hubby doesn't get home until 6pm).

    Of course it doesn't help when it's one of those days when I'm just hungry anyway, but still... man I can't wait for maintenance!

    First thing I was going to say right off the bat was more fiber and protein. But I just looked at your diary and you seem to be getting enough of those. You can even afford to lower the protein a bit if you want. You're doing a good job with fiber and protein.

    I think your problem is that you're not spreading your calories out evenly enough. If having one big meal and the rest tiny little meals works for you, great, do that then. But it seems to NOT be working for you. So if I were you, I'd try smaller main meals and eating more snacks so that you're eating something every 2-3 hours. You could try something like this:

    5:00 am -- Wake up
    5:30 am -- Breakfast: 250 cals
    7:30 am -- Snack 1: 100 cals
    10:00 am -- Snack 2: 100 cals
    12:30 pm -- Lunch: 350 cals
    3:30 pm -- Snack 3: 200 cals
    6:00 pm -- Dinner: 400 cals
    8:30 pm -- Dessert: 100 cals
    10:00 pm -- Sleep

    It's what I do a lot really. I just enter things in my diary depending on the time. Like I had lunch at 10.30am today but it was entered already so I didn't bother changing it, then I had the rest 2 hours later, but it was still technically lunch time.

    I need to figure out more filling 100 calorie snacks though.

    When I looked at your diary entries during the past 1-2 weeks, I saw large lunches. Most days, your lunches were between 500 and 700 calories and you had 1 or 2 snacks. If your lunches are 500-700 calories on a regular basis...THAT'S your problem. If you're just listing half of that food under "Lunch" but you're actually eating half of the food you have listed under "Lunch" as snacks throughout the day, then that's good (though not very helpful to people other people trying to interpret your diary lol!)

    How long has it been since you started eating healthier? Because if you're eating every 2-4 hours and you're eating the right foods (good proportions of protein, fiber, fat, and veggies), you shouldn't be starving unless you're either A) not eating enough, or B) you haven't been doing it for very long and you're just going to have to suck it up and deal for a bit until your body adjusts.

    I started a year ago. I just have days when I'm hungrier, lol. Yes I split my lunches most of the time. I just don't always bother putting them in the right place when I prelogged and have lunch a bit early, so some afternoon snacks still end up in the lunch category because it's still only 1pm.

    Well, if that's the case and it's a regular thing for you to feel really hungry and deprived, you may not be eating enough. You may need to add a couple hundred extra calories to your diet every day.

    But if all of this only happens on some days...well, we all have days when we're feeling hungrier than usual. I usually just try to either power through those days or eat a little more on the extra hungry day and then eat a little less another day that week. Your weekly average is really what's most important.

    Congrats on your AMAZING work so far, by the way! And good luck on the (short) remainder of your journey! :flowerforyou:

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