long days

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lilbuddytatertot
lilbuddytatertot Posts: 57 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
i have trouble staying under my calorie goals on days that i have school and work. i wake up at 5 to get to school by 8,( and they say to eat breakfast and not put it off) and then i leave school at 7 to get to work around 8:30 or so and work untill midnight or 1 in the morning....thats a really long day and it feels impossible to stay under.. any suggestions or ideas for foods and any input in general would be nice.

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  • Brittney24
    Brittney24 Posts: 105
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    Do you exercise somewhere in between? If you do you get to eat back the exercise calories which increases your overall amount you can eat for the day which would help.

    Exercise may also wake you up a bit which would be good for the super long days.

    Eat small meals to keep you fueled as well. Even if you eat a fruit every few hours on top of small meals that'll help keep your energy up.
  • ineednapkin
    ineednapkin Posts: 151
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    On days like that I try and drink a lot of water to keep me from feeling really hungry, and I bring snacks with me such as granola, nuts, string cheese, carrots, etc. Try and grab stuff that has a good amount of protein to keep you feeling full longer. Packing meals and snacks definitely helps becuase you already have food and don't feel as tempted to get the junk food. :) Hope this helps!
  • fuhrmeister
    fuhrmeister Posts: 1,796 Member
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    I agree with the girls above. alway shave healthy snacks on you. Fiber one or generica fiber now bars are great b/c the fiber keeps you full. I also like greek yogurt and peanut butter to keep me full. Also sipping on a 11.5 oz can of V8 all morning helps to keep me satisfied. you just have to watch your sodium with V8. Good luck!
  • AngelicaDulas
    AngelicaDulas Posts: 196
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    So what you really have is a day and a partial! :) i would say to change your MFP setting to maintainance on the really long days, tehn back to your 1lb or 2lb deficit on normal days. That way you can eat a bit more and not feel so stressed about it... That fact that you are doing sooo many more things during the day than other days (and being awake longer, your body burns more calories) you need a little more to keep from crashing! Even if you consume only a couple or 300 cal more! Try it for a while and see how you do/how you feel?
  • drfalktorres
    drfalktorres Posts: 30 Member
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    Here's how I combat this exact issue (just started doing this a week ago and it is working AWESOME!!!)

    I start counting my calories at 4 pm...(when I get off work)-- so if I eat 600 kcals from 4 pm until I go to bed, I know that I can only pack 600 kcals worth of food to work for me in the morning...and I am able to survive those long days, because I know that at 4 pm, my calorie slate is wiped clean and I get to start over.

    It works out awesome for me-- and is really all about the mind game..it's a lot easier to go to bed without hunger pains and wake knowing that I only have a few hours to make it until I get to start my calories over again. I used to eat moderately in the mornings and come home from work raging hungry and completely blow it...now I come home hungry, use the calories that I need and spread the remainder out for breakfast and lunch the next day-- it is working like nothing I've ever tried!

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