I think I need some help.

throwingpaint

I am really struggling with this calorie watching. I've been tracking all my meals, and noticed a huge fluctuation in my intake. Some days I am only consuming around 500 calories and today I'm over 1000 calories over my aim. I don't feel like i'm eating too much or too little. Is anyone willing to add me on here and give me a bit of guidance? I am honestly trying to watch what I eat, but it's all going very wrong.

Fesse

Sure I'd love to help you anyway I can...... feel free to add me if you'd like

chriscleary

you do have to stick to it for two weeks, and its not easy, but then you see a change on he scale and how you feel,
I did not feel blotted anymore it takes a few weeks before you really see the difference. Dont give up yet, it has taken me
10 months and I have lost 23lb, and I am keeping it off. plus by the next season your clothes wil feel looser

Mamapengu

Feel free to add me, if you want? I found a site where a woman set a menu which she kept to for 1-2 weeks with small variations and that has helped me. http://fitfamilymeals.blogspot.com/2010/12/sample-week-1-and-2.html She did 1600c/day which was a little more than I was looking for, but then I used some of her ideas and substituted smaller calorie counts for other meals.

rileysowner

I would suggest planning out things more carefully. By that I mean you should sit down with a pen and paper and write out what your meals are going to be for the coming days so that your calories are within your calorie budget. I suggest this because while the really important number for your calorie budget is the number of calories in the week, with fluctuation like that you are not retraining yourself in how to eat correctly, but are likely doing the same things you did before that resulted in your extra weight. Plan things out specifically and get yourself used to eating regular meals.

cls0824

I just took a look at your diary and the first thing I noticed was cutting out your Pepsi consumption. I used to be a HEAVY Coca-Cola drinker and now...NO coke for me and if I do it's a Coke Zero. The way I look at it is...I want to chew my calories. I know it might sound funny. The other thing I would suggest is eating smaller meals more frequently. I TRY to eat 6 times a day, Breakfast, AM Snack, Lunch, Afternoon Snack, Dinner, Evening Snack. This is one thing that has helped me keep closer to my calorie goal because I'm not as hungry when I eat so I eat far less than I would have.

Add me as a friend if you'd like and I'll do everything I can to help.

johnnythebaptist

Feel free to add me...I would stay at 1200 calories....Eat if you eat less it not good for you.

http://blogs.webmd.com/pamela-peeke-md/2009/07/stop-starving-yourselves.html

Feel free to look at my diary!!!

Losing2Live69

The best way to prevent going over or under is to pre-plan your meals and log them before you eat. Anything that is 400 or 500 calories is way too many calories for one meal. That is nearly half of your daily allowance. You should be eating 3 meals a day and 3 small snacks (meals around 300, snacks around 100....a little more if you are eating more than 1200 calories). Exercising also helps with overage. You can send me a friend request if you want. I can keep an eye on your diary and give you feedback.

Wangenstein

Some else asked how others were 'doing it', so I'm reposting what I said there:

"I get 1,720 calories per day in order to lose a pound per week. (I figure I can do at least that much; anything more is a bonus.) I've found that as far as eating goes, adding some fruits and vegetables to my daily routine has made a huge difference. I tend to graze in the evening, so having a pint of strawberries (110 calories), a banana (105 calories) or a navel orange (85 calories) instead is an excellent and filling substitute. (A refrigerated orange is amazingly satisfying. It's like dessert!) Heck, just realizing that I graze in the evening was a huge help. I was now aware of it, and so I could decide I wasn't really hungry (or make healthier choices in my snacking).

As for exercise, I don't have the stamina to run or jog, but I can walk for days. I have a set course around our neighborhood where I know the distance (2.4 miles = ~240 calories, your calories may vary). Even better, I recently bought a treadmill, and INCLINE is where it's at. Each 1% of incline increases the calories burned by 10%, so a two mile walk at 5% (just 30 minutes at 4 miles per hour) burns 300 calories instead of 200! This way, you can burn 600+ calories in just an hour. I keep a good floor fan pointed at me to keep me comfortable and music, a book-on-tape, audio course or TV show on my iPod to keep me entertained.

Also, use the internet to look up the calories in some of your favorite junk foods. That'll be an eye-opener for sure. It won't mean you can't have them, it just means you'll have to plan for them.

On days where my calories are going to be close or over, I make sure I get some walk/treadmill time in to balance it out. You'll need to figure out what your weaknesses are (my big ones are evening grazing and soda), what you can substitute (fruits and ice water) and what kind of exercise you enjoy (walks and treadmill).

Ultimately, there's no real secret. It's just calories in - calories out.

(Oh, and if you do any kind of weight training, eat a banana about a couple of hours beforehand (or after, but I find before works best). It helps keep you from being painfully sore the next couple of days. Apparently, it has something to do with the potassium in the banana, so it's possible that other potassium-rich foods would also work. I just happen to like bananas.)"

I hope this helps. Don't lose hope. You're doing it the right way (dietary changes and exercise), you just need to work out the kinks!

Starting Weight: 197.4 (5/8/11)
Current Weight: 191.4 (5/27/11)
Goal Weight: 160 (before 1/1/12)

throwingpaint

Thank you everyone. I didn't realise I was consuming so many calories in each meal. I know I very often skip breakfast and have a big lunch which probably isn't good. I'll definitely start trying to break things up more. And I know the pepsi is bad but it's so convenient!!! This is much better than what I used to drink... about 2l a day! I'm trying to drink more water.

veggievixen

Planning ahead of time will help a lot, and the reasons for the big swings in intake would help in offering guidance. Looking at the days you've logged so far, are there any correlations to the highs and lows? Examples like, stress (for both over and under), being too busy to sit down and eat, unexpected social situations are all things that can "upset" an otherwise balanced day. Your best bet is to find 5-10 different breakfasts, lunches, snacks, and dinners that all have similar balanced nutritional profiles, you enjoy, and can make at home, (or buy if there are good options) and rotate. You need a plan to get through the day, once you get a routine going then figuring out how to manage the unexpected gets a whole lot easier. Starting up here is a huge reality check at first but it gets easier. Knowing what works for you is more than half the battle. Feel free to add me or ask away as needed.