Is it worth it

SnuggleSmacks

I'm all for making room in my caloric budget for treats, and in fact have taken a break from worrying about it the past couple of days (pizza and ice cream and buffalo chicken, oh my!) because I'm celebrating an anniversary with my beloved.

That being said, it does seem as if you're spending an awful lot of your calories on what may be less than optimal choices. It looks as though you're a busy person who eats out a lot rather than cooking, and that's fine. One thing you might want to do is look up the nutritional info for your favorite restaurants, the ones you frequent, and see if there might be some better choices.

For example, at Taco Bell, the Dorito tacos and the chicken soft tacos are about 200 cals each as long as you don't ask for supreme. At Starbucks, the oatmeal without all the dried fruit, or one of the egg white sandwiches, would be a much better choice.

I'm not saying you have to make the better choices every day, and give up all the foods you love, but maybe stick to one high-calorie item per day, and eat sensibly the rest of the day. That will make it much easier to fit more nutrition and bulk into your diet, keep you full, and still be happy and not feel deprived.

MelodyandBarbells

Running your numbers you could do 1850 calories per day and lose 1 lb a week. 1600 per day 1.5 lb. add in exercise calories and you'd be able to eat so much more food than 1400 calories per day and still lose at a comfortable pace. I hadn't reviewed your food choices which could maybe stand to be improved, but I almost feel like I eat more food than you and have less weight to lose. If there's a quality of life issue here, as someone else suggested I would change to a less aggressive weight loss goal than 2 lbs a week and if there's anything exercise related you've ever wanted to do, try that out and eat back about half the calories from the exercise as a starting point (MFP estimated exercise calories can be a bit high)

AliceDark

Your diet would send me on a blood sugar roller coaster -- I would be starving and murdery, just all the time. Adding in some protein and cutting down on the sugar will really help you stay full longer and should help even out your moods.

bookworm_847

Is it worth it? Only you can answer that question. You can get all the information, support & help this site has to offer - but if you don't have the fire to make it happen - it won't happen for you.

Read these links. Educate yourself about how to have a healthy body. Learn all you can and then do the work.

The choice is yours. Will you decide you are worth it? Only you know.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1175494-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819925-the-basics-don-t-complicate-it

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/ihad/view/the-path-of-success-631437


ETA: I'm sure you are not happy with the way you are treating your children. With kids, you never get a do over. Make some changes or talk to some one about your anger.

This along with what the others have said.

You can still make room for the goodies and have a good diet... balance is the key.

Also, OP, this is totally off topic, but my husband has the same pic as the background to his phone that you have in your profile pic. I don't know what it's from, but just thought it interesting.

Good luck to you!

Meerataila

I would be starving and murdery, just all the time.

:laugh: Me too. And this is why I had to switch over to healthier food choices. Jail would suck!

woodml1

There's lots of great advice for you regarding food choices in this thread. I hope you take it to heart because it *IS* worth it :flowerforyou:

jstout365

That is not hungry that is hangry....

why are you hungry and grumpy all the time?

I am looking at your diary...

4 cookies @ 1800 calories? yah that wouldn't keep me full either

There are lots of days with cookies, chips etc where you are way over goal or you eat steak and chips are within goal but so little food...

I don't say this very often but you need to look at your food choices...fast food is one thing but everyday? yah you are going to be hungry with so little protien and filling foods.

For example yesterday you had tea and 5 hour energy in the morning, apple juice for dinner, then a slurpee...food was a bun, raisinettes and half a bowl of teriyaki chicken...holy heck.

Start eating real food...don't drink your calories with slurpees and eat cookies all day.

I while losing weight at 1600 -1700 calories most of the time (TDEE so that includes exercise) and I was never hungry...ever because I chose lean meat, lots of protien, filling veggies even when I ate out. Lots of greek yogurt, eggs, bacon, toast, cereal milk etc.

QFT - and not even sorry for the huge quote again.

I think at this point you need to decide for yourself if you are willing to make a bigger effort to eat healthy to minimize the Hangry Monster that you feel you have become or just continue to eat the same foods, but to a point that you might be eating over your maintenance, and potentially start gaining weight again.

This whole food thing comes down to choices. You can eat calorie dense foods that put little in the way of volume or nutrition into you, be hangry all the time because your body thinks it still needs more, or you can decide to put the effort into eating foods that fill you up and provide the nutrition you need. I could easily eat a Dunkin' Donuts Bacon Egg & Cheese biscuit (470 cal) with a large Iced coffee with Cream and sugar (250 cal) for breakfast, Chick-fil-a chicken sandwich, medium fries, and medium sweet tea (970 cal) and leave myself with 110 calories for the rest of the day if eating at 1800 calories. Would I get hangry doing this....you better believe it. Instead, I chose to make most of my meals and eat an egg white, bacon, cheese and avocado breakfast sandwich for breakfast, chicken, quinoa or beans, and 100+ grams of veggie for lunch, 100+ grams of meat at dinner with salad or veggie, dressing, sweet potato. All that AND I still have between 400-600 calories left in the day for additional snacks like quest bars, smoothies, fruit, chocolate, and even the occasional ice cream. So much food, so little hunger.

You don't have to give up the foods you like, but you do have to use some decision process and decide if eating that particular food is in your best interest at that point of time.

TL:DR - you can either eat like crap and get little food or decide to eat healthier foods and eat to fill you up.

devil_in_a_blue_dress

All things in moderation.

I don't see a ton of moderation in your food diary.

Nothing is worth being a nasty jerk to your kids.

JustSomeEm

Definitely what Stef said. Start eating some veggies and fruits, and drink water... and coffee.. I'd kill someone without coffee. But you would be absolutely amazed at how much you CAN eat, and how satisfied you'll feel if you cut out some of hte sugary drinks and add in fruit and veggies. You can still have the sugary stuff, just not so often. I'd be cranky too, if all I got to eat were some raisinettes and a bun in a day. :flowerforyou:

MelodyandBarbells

Calories are calories and protein is protein even when it comes from Taco Bell, right? Except when it comes from Taco Bell :grumble:

SnuggleSmacks

Calories are calories and protein is protein even when it comes from Taco Bell, right? Except when it comes from Taco Bell :grumble:

Calories are indeed calories, but it will definitely make a difference in your hunger level if you eat a giant mound of low-cal foods as opposed to a single pastry with the same number of calories. In other words, for the whole day, would you rather eat an omelette and toast and chicken stir fry with a ton of veggies and a spicy shrimp wrap with veggies, or would you rather eat 5 cookies for the whole day?

MelodyandBarbells

Calories are calories and protein is protein even when it comes from Taco Bell, right? Except when it comes from Taco Bell :grumble:

Calories are indeed calories, but it will definitely make a difference in your hunger level if you eat a giant mound of low-cal foods as opposed to a single pastry with the same number of calories. In other words, for the whole day, would you rather eat an omelette and toast and chicken stir fry with a ton of veggies and a spicy shrimp wrap with veggies, or would you rather eat 5 cookies for the whole day?

Not the five cookies for the whole day, no Re-reading the thread, there wasn't as much Taco Bell sucks as I thought :laugh:

bajoyba

That is not hungry that is hangry....

why are you hungry and grumpy all the time?

I am looking at your diary...

4 cookies @ 1800 calories? yah that wouldn't keep me full either

There are lots of days with cookies, chips etc where you are way over goal or you eat steak and chips are within goal but so little food...

I don't say this very often but you need to look at your food choices...fast food is one thing but everyday? yah you are going to be hungry with so little protien and filling foods.

For example yesterday you had tea and 5 hour energy in the morning, apple juice for dinner, then a slurpee...food was a bun, raisinettes and half a bowl of teriyaki chicken...holy heck.

Start eating real food...don't drink your calories with slurpees and eat cookies all day.

I while losing weight at 1600 -1700 calories most of the time (TDEE so that includes exercise) and I was never hungry...ever because I chose lean meat, lots of protien, filling veggies even when I ate out. Lots of greek yogurt, eggs, bacon, toast, cereal milk etc.

I'm going to quote this too, because it's good advice.

I am 100% in favor of eating the foods you like and fitting treats into your day. But a balanced diet is very important, and a little moderation goes a long way when it comes to diet adherence and overall satiety. Start looking at other food diaries with calorie goals similar to your own and get some ideas for some new meals and food choices you can add to your normal day. My dairy is open if you want to have a look.

Shalaurise

Not every day is a cookie day, but without a log of what I ate before I started trying and logging my food, you can't see that even the cookie days are an improvement. At the end of the day I am an emotional eater. A day filled with chocolate or the like, it was guaranteed to be a bad day that I spent hiding from life. Before I left my last job, I was the girl who kept the candy dish both full and empty. I snacked all day on something. Sometimes M&Ms, sometimes caramel rice cakes, sometimes chips... Since mid April, my calorie intake has dropped for somewhere around 4-5k calories (on average) a day to what is showing now. It was worse years ago before I made the switch to diet soda.

I choked down the 5 hour energies this week due to only getting about 3 hours of sleep on what should have been Sunday night but ended up being Monday morning before work. I have been recovering from our move this weekend and last for some time.

The fast food is mostly due to the fact that is all that is near my work and in my price range. Only place within walking distance of work on my break is Taco Bell and Starbucks. Taco Bell is cheaper. There is a 7-11 as well, but I don't think that is an improvement over the other options.

Last night's apple juice... that is fun. I had food... I saw it... I smelled it... but I didn't get to eat it. Instead of coming home to kids and having dinner, I got to commute in rush hour traffic (both ways because I am that kind of lucky) to get the kids, then back home. The person that was supposed to get them hadn't bothered and claimed to be leaving fetch them when I was on my way home. I drove past the house and they still hadn't left. By the time I got home it was past the kids bed time and I still had to do work in an effort to find our thing among the boxes we are currently living in. Last night I found the couch, the computer desks and troubleshot an electrical issue. After that I passed out. My goal tonight is to find plates, bowls, possibly cups and my inhaler. Inhaler has been on the list all week though, so I'm not holding my breath for that one.

I am an amazingly stupid picky eater. Foods with certain texture gag me. I tried cheesecake once years ago and threw up before I was able to swallow the bite. Things that crunch that I don't think should freak me out. Grew up around too many cockroaches and that has its own side effect. Yogurt is a food I want to like. I want to like it so much, but it is nasty. Super gross. I don't know how my kids eat it. I want to like fish because it is generally pretty good for you, but being near anyone even cooking it makes me nauseous. Milk products periodically cause bad things to happen so cereal of any sort has been removed from what I eat since kid #1. I am a red meet and potatoes kinda girl and most the time I can't afford that either. I used to go to a local place at my last job and have salad nearly every day... but they caught fire and didn't re-open before my job move. Eating protein is expensive. I am just a lowly employee at a school district and count my blessings that my child care costs currently include their meals while they are there. I try to get the best things I can with what I have available, but what I have doesn't last a month if I pay more than $5 or so for lunch. At this point I am not sure even the $5 is going to be sustainable.

In my efforts to maintain a relatively nutritious household for my kids, they are not overweight at all. In fact due to my ex-husbands metabolism that my son ended up with, he usually comes in under weight. I am a HUGE hypocrite when it comes to food and the kids. Just because I eat it, does not mean I let them have it. I get a diet soda or tea with most my meals but make them get juice, milk or water. I want desert, I get a cookie. They want desert they get some sort of fruit or yogurt. I refused to let them have anything but milk, water or watered down juice for the first few years of either of their lives. No chocolate, no soda, no candy at that point. Now days they drink some soda, but usually still get milk, juice or Gatorade. The bubbles burn and they don't like it. I am painfully aware that it is a lot easier to develop healthy habits than it is to break an addiction to food and sugar.

I spend so much time stressing about making sure they are active and eating right that I basically get whats left that I can tolerate the taste of, be it what they don't eat or what I have the energy to make/care about. Cooking right now is impossible. My kitchen is covered in boxes. I am sure that my dishes are around there somewhere, but even if I found them it wouldn't matter, cause the stove is buried. I won't eat most pork, or any fish. I have someone in my house allergic to poultry and fish. If we eat any more red meat my husband is going to die of a heart attack.

When not living out of boxes I tend to cook dinner. Typically two veggies (cause I compulsively feel the need for there to be a green one, so even if it is corn season we still have broccoli, artichokes or zucchini with it too), a carb of some sort and a meat. Inevitably, everyone overeats. I have an easier time controlling the quantity of food that both my husband and I eat, if we eat out.

How do people work full time, cook multiple meals every day, manage to have something to bring as a lunch, raise small kids and have any time for anything other than cooking, cleaning and then the paying job? at least half the time I am tapping my foot at the toaster in the morning, waiting for waffles to pop up so I can hand them to the kids and have them eat them in the car while we rush out of the house... cause "No, you can't have syrup with them. You will turn out like me."

Francl27

Look up websites about cheap eating. You can eat way better than Taco Bell for less money with eggs, beans, frozen veggies, and packing your own lunch.

And I don't know what you're using MFP on, but if you really can't afford food, you should probably drop Internet or your cellphone.

gypsy_spirit

It sounds like you have a full plate for sure.

It takes a lot of planning, organizing and more planning to pull off a day in the life of parents with small children. It is never done by anyone to perfection. But the preplanning and organizing are an integral part of making it seem easy for some. The chaos and stress of always running behind, not being able to find things, and general disorganization make life almost impossibly stressful for the whole family. Children especially feel the stress. That would be my first goal. To work on getting unpacked and then getting a solid routine in place for the whole family.

The other thing is that children look to Moms and Dads for guidance in what and how they should eat, manage their bodies, well, everything. Making your children eat healthy is great, but remember that what you DO as a parent has more impact than what you SAY. Modeling good healthy eating and exercise will be a terrific teaching tool for you.

Best of luck as you get on track. Read the links in this thread. Absorb the information and put it to use. The healthier you become, the better able you will be to relax and feel some pride in how you are parenting.

edited for my atrocious spelling

bookworm_847

Once you get unpacked and get the kitchen put together, would it be possible for you to cook ahead for the week? That would save you some time and make it a little easier to make good choices about eating.

I hope things settle down for you so you can get to where you'd like to be.

SnuggleSmacks

A fairly decent option for little money is canned soup. You'll get a bunch of sodium, but if you're relatively healthy with normal blood pressure then the sodium is preferable to being overweight in the grand scheme of your health. You can eat a ton of soup for 300 calories or less. Eggs are another good option. Egg sandwiches or wraps, with some sort of veggies, can come in at 300 calories or less...200 if you're careful about bread selection and throw out the yolk. Personally, I love the yolk, but whites are fine if you throw in fresh herbs and spices.

lemurcat12

Leftover dinner for lunch is a timesaver for me. It's no harder to cook more servings of the same meal and then I immediately pack them for lunch.

I get the move making it harder, but the dinners you cook shouldn't make portion control a problem. Vegetables are low calories--plan to eat as much as you like, and frozen are cheap and healthy, and depending on where you live in-season might be available at a reasonable price (sounds like you know this). Corn is really more like what you are calling a carb than what is traditionally considered a vegetable (all vegetables are carbs, however). I love corn and eat lots when it's in season here, but I wouldn't eat it AND potatoes, but even that's not your issue. Meat and veggies plus a starch is going to be a LOT more filling than what you have been eating lately, just portion out the amount of meat and starch you eat to fit your calories and make extra for the next day. Also, whatever you make, pack it up immediately so people don't end up eating it with dinner. I bought (really cheap at Walgreens or CVS) a set of plastic containers to bring food to work and they make this super easy.

larrodarro

If you have a freezer and microwave at work, you can eat for a lot less than $5, and it be healthy and taste good. Almost every night at work, my supper has stir-fry veggies, mixed veggies or green beans in some combination. It helps that I love them. But you can find something you love and is healthy too. And eating good makes you feel good. It would be worth it for that alone.