Calorie Hoarder

erinup

I am a calorie hoarder. I will eat fairly lightly all day, get a good workout in, and by the time I leave work I still have 900-1000 calories for the evening. When I get home I end up being lax because I get in the comfortable mindset of "oh I have 1000 cals available. I can eat this and this and..." I end up making less than stellar choices and even going over in calories for the day. I know this evening eating is not good for my weightloss progress. Anyone else struggle with this? Anyone overcome it and have some tips?
Thanks!

kaylou

oh my gosh...never realized that I was the same way!! Horarder...thats me and then I always go over by 200-250 calories!

ashlee954

I do this too. The hoarding part not the going over part. I like to eat when I am at home after work. Although it is best to disperse your cals throughout the day to keep yur metabolism up, as long as you don't go over you are fine as far as weight is concerned. I found I go over when I do not save extra for the evenings. If I'm going to eat a lot in the evenings anyway I might as well make it so I have enough not to ruin my day's efforts.

studentRNwant2Bthin

I thought I was the only one that did this. :yawn: I can't say I have stopped but I am gettting better! I make (and I mean MAKE) myself drink water in the evening so fight off some of the hunger. I will be checking back to see if u get any good suggestions. Good luck!!

deshaine

My suggestion would be to work to get in more of your calories in for breakfast, AM Snack and lunches... you have a better chance of seeing a weight loss because you're working off those cals throughout the day, also, your body can metabolize them while your awake, if you eat heavy at night and then go to bed a few hours later, your metabolism slows and stores your "good" (or not so good) foods as fat.

Plus, eating more cals throughout the day will change your mind about what is "ok" to eat once you get home...

HTH… GL

00trayn

I can definitely relate, and it's taken a few months to get my self control in check about evening snacking. I'll eat between 500-600 calories during the day at work (breakfast, lunch and sometimes a light snack) and with exercise it leaves me with 800+ calories left. 500 is dinner (protein shake and light meal) but I have to be careful that I don't get in that mindset of "oh, I have lots left, not a problem to eat a snack or two". I just make sure now to eat a filling dinner and the protein shake really helps. I rarely feel like eating my whole kitchen at night now. I just go with a light snack of greek yogurt or sorbet. You just have to make sure you're eating foods that keep you satisfied, like fiber and protein heavy foods.

GooBeGone

i'm a bit of 1 too sometimes. i've learned 2 keep a lot of low calorie foods in my pantry & to also have them meted out so that i can pick up a bag & b good. i'm actually thinkin abt writin the calories on the bag so if i wanna eat a certain amount of calories i can make a small hoard of it on the table when i get home & say 2 myself "this is the rest of the food i can eat 4 the day & that's eat" :laugh: :drinker: :flowerforyou:

islandnutshel

I was doing this as well, but I would end up hungry by evening and ravenous. So I started eating throughout the day and cooking tiny dinners. Works most of the time. I have to figure out how to beat PMS cravings yet.

RoadDog

If I fail, it's always because of the evenings. Lately, it's been terrible.

LisaGamerGirl

I find a big difference in the day depends on what I eat for breakfast. As was previously stated, what you have for breakfast will be burned off during the day with normal activity. That's why it's better to have fats in the morning than at night.

For example, sometimes I will have a yogurt and fruit for breakfast. This can be satisfying, but most times I find it makes a better snack than anything. My new fave breakfast is either an omelette or a homemade egg mcmuffin!

For the mcmuffin I use one english muffin (preferably whole wheat) and I beat an egg into a small round dish (so it holds that classic shape) and put some cracked black pepper on it and a cut up green onion before I nuke it in the microwave (for a minute on half the power). I then put a little light mayo and grainy mustard (a lot less sugar than ketchup - you don't want to crash) on the muffin, and put on the round cooked egg patty, add a little bIt of grated parmesan (a stronger cheese will make you use less) and one very thin slice of smoked ham. I put it in the toaster oven for a couple mins to crisp up and for the cheese to melt. I find it divine, and if you're still hungry (even though I find it satisfying) you can have a fruit with it.

You may check my food log for yesterday's breakfast if you're interested in the cal count.. It's very fair.

Hope that helps!!!

AnaNotBanana

Wow! I thought I was the only one that did this too! I think my mindset started out on days when I knew I was going out to dinner or going to have a big dinner so I hoarded. Then it became a regular habit. I have a friend who is going to a dietitian and she told her that our body are not designed to eat more than 500-600 calories per meal. I'm going to have to make a conscious effort to eat more of my calories during the day and not end up eating 700+ calories later in the day.

amysj303

I think it is a natural progression for many of us to have our big meal at the end of the day. I try 300 cals breakfast, 400 cals lunch, 500 cals dinner, and snacks as earned by exercise.

SHBoss1673

yeah, this is one of the points I make when I coach people on nutrition. Planning ahead is key.

Even though MFP and our own brains think of nutrition as a 24 hour cycle, our body doesn't. It thinks in terms of "how much energy is available in my blood at this moment". The 24 hour calorie clock is for our convenience. Thus even staying within your 24 hour calories, but eating large meals or going long periods of the day with no food, is not a good idea. The best way to do it is to have 3 moderate meals, with lunch being the largest, and having 3 (or 2 or 4 depending on how your calories break down) snacks in between. And estimating your exercise calories for the day when you plan out your daily nutrition is a big help for this. You don't have to get it exactly right, but most of us know we'll be working out that day, and most of us know about how many calories we usually burn for a given workout. Average that in, and base your nutrition on that, and you'll be much better off.

A side benefit of this is it kind of pushes you to not skip workouts.

erinup

Well, it's good to know I am not alone

I think the advice to better plan my food to include a bit extra for my workouts is spot on. Now the tough part - implementation. I thinkbi will add a heartier afternoon snack on workout days. Maybe some cheese or peanut butter. I love PB!

I'll keep trying and see if I can figure out a better balance.

jheller

Try inputting your dinner into the dairy BEFORE leaving work and BEFORE you eat it to see what that is going to set you back. You might not know the exact portion but I bet that if input one cup or 3 oz you probably have a better chance sticking to that.

JPotvin

I think it is a natural progression for many of us to have our big meal at the end of the day. I try 300 cals breakfast, 400 cals lunch, 500 cals dinner, and snacks as earned by exercise.

Interesting idea....I may have to try that...

cardbucfan

Well, I'll throw my 2 cents in here. I have 2 kids and a husband and the only time we are all together is at that all important family dinner. None of them are trying to lose weight and in fact the teenage boys need mega-calories because they are competitive swimmers. So I'm making healthy dinners and really watching my portions. I try to follow the Flat Belly Diet idea of three 400 calorie meals plus one 400 calorie snack as my guide. I usually eat a high protein breakfast after I workout that's around 250 calories, lunch around 350/400, a snack in the afternoon 200-300, dinner 400-500 and a snack after dinner-my treat. On average I'm getting my 1600 calories spread throughout the day so I'm never starving (and I've learned to always keep a low cal snack in my purse) and I'm consistently under my total calorie goal (I don't eat all my exercise calories). So, eating at night is not a bad thing, you just have to plan and like always, be aware of what you are eating. (and I've lost 12 lbs. since 8/22 doing this)

kdiamond

It doesn't matter when you eat your calories....calories in vs calories out. Some people can't do this, but for others it works awesome.

Take the athlete Hershel Walker for example...
(excerpt from article)

Herschel Walker’s daily routine is anything but typical. He starts the day off with anywhere from 750 to 1000 push-ups, and 2,000 sit-ups. From there, he doesn’t eat breakfast, and instead goes right into training for mixed martial arts, which includes wrestling, kickboxing, sparring and jujitsu. You would think that after 6 or 7 hours of hard training he would at least stop for lunch. Nope. Instead he continues to train even longer. He only eats one meal a day, and that’s dinner. When he sits down for dinner, unlike most athletes, and those he’s competing against now in MMA, he doesn’t load on the protein. In fact he may go several days without having more then a few grams of protein. Instead he eats mostly bread and salads. “I don’t worry about protein. I don’t worry about all that. I’m from old school. I grew up in south Georgia. They didn’t worry about cholesterol or protein. They went out and worked and lived a long time, so I don’t put a lot of worries in my mind. I just get it done,” Said Walker

If you don't believe me, take a look at his picture.
http://thenewsoftoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Herschel-Walker.jpg

This may not be for everyone, but I do this at least one day a week. It is called "The Warrior Diet" or "Eat Stop Eat". I like it, and I think it helps me maintain my sanity and I'm in better shape now than I ever was. Just my $.02.

erinup

Thanks again! I have started bringing an optional snack for the afternoon - if I do my workout I add in the snack. Today it is peanut butter to go with my apple. No workout = apple only. Yesterday I had cheese. I'll see if this helps....