Keeping on Track! HOW?

lyanson

I'm having a hard time staying on track with my food diet! I love to snack! or tell myself its ok to cheat today. Any advice?

Mindful_Trent

Nothing wrong with snacking. Some people do better with several large meals and little to no snacking, others do well with smaller meals and more significant snacking (eating every few hours). You have to find what's best for you. Just make sure you keep plenty of healthy, smart snack choices on hand.

thelandofwin

What helped me was logging every single snack. It's shown me how many extra calories I'm eating which helps me make better choices in the future.

Mrs_TrimWaistFatWallet

Are you logging all your snacks? KNOWING if you actually can afford that 'cheat' might help keep you on track..

suzikelley

If I exercise early in the day, it helps keep me on track the rest of the day. I don't want to blow all of that hard work on chips or candy! Try to keep healthy versions of your favorite foods in the house. Make sure you have things that are sweet and salty for whatever craving might come up. Most of all... keep your eye on the prize! Make a list of reasons why you want to lose weight.. and post them around the house where you'll see them all the time. And there's nothing wrong with a "cheat" meal once in a while. It actually helps to shake up your metabolism! Try setting a goal/reward for yourself. Example: after 7 days of staying within your calorie goal, reward yourself with a cheat meal within reason. A whole chocolate cake obviously isn't reasonable... but a cheeseburger for dinner and a piece of cake (or whatever your dessert choice) would be fine. Good luck! You can totally do this!!

knowwhentoshutup

I found it easier if I built in some splurges for myself (into my daily caloric goal, that is). Planning is key for me staying on track.

I like to spread my meals out and eat every 2-3 hours - much more like snacking and it keeps my blood sugar in check ,and I never feel really really hungry or really really full.

My go-to healthy (or healthier) snacks are popcorn, pretzels, string cheese, fruit/veggies, yogurt, etc. Simple is good.

beamishcas

What helped me was logging every single snack. It's shown me how many extra calories I'm eating which helps me make better choices in the future.

I agree. No matter how small a snack just log it and then you can keep track better, then just have a smaller lunch or dinner. I always plan for two snacks during the day, They usually are just about 100 calories or so, Skinny Cow candy bar. or 100 calorie bag of popcorn, but it helps get thru the day.

sclosson

i eat whenever I want to. It's what I eat and how much i that is important. Drinking lots of water helps keep you filled up and maybe will take that snacking urge away.

Perfectlycrooked

Snacking's perfectly fine! Just make sure you're snacking on the right things! Get some celery, carrots, small apples, peaches, or some pretzels. Snack right(:

HeyLisa

Figure when you most like to snack and save calories for that time. I personally am an evening nosher... so I usually try to keep my breakfast and lunch to about 500 calories. Then I have about 900 for the evenings. Thats working with my timing and my net calories, but you get the idea.

jshmans

The fact that you have to log in everything you put in your mouth might help you convince yourself that "cheating" isn't so great. That said, snacking can be a really good thing; it just depends on what you're snacking on. If you're eating a family size bag of Doritos as a snack, that's bad. That means you were either really hungry for a meal or you are eating for other reasons. Either way, you have to learn to recognize when you're doing that and work on picking the choice that's really right for your body. My nutritionist heard my story and listened to what I normally eat and didn't even want me to count calories or carbs or anything at first - she heard that I was barely having more than a single meal a day and told me I need to learn to eat more often. AND she told me eat half a sandwich as a snack and if you're still hungry, eat the other half. This doesn't sound like your problem, but she did have great advice for snacking and eating small meals often to encourage me to eat better. She said every time you eat, you should have protein, some carbs (not a ton - 15-30 is more like a snack), and a little bit of fat. If your snacks have these things in a balance, then they're good snacks. If you've got a bunch of carbs, you will know that you're eating again in an hour or so because the carbs are only filling for a short amount of time (usually about an hour before you will feel hungry again). Protein and the little bit of fat take longer to break down which makes you feel full for longer. If it's your style to eat multiple little meals (or snacks) all day, then you should do that. Break down a snack into a little piece of chicken or other protein, with a little baked potato and a little dollop of butter in the potato. To make it a really great mini-meal add some quick frozen veggies. If you'd prefer less elaborate snacks, trail mix can be pretty good, too, but you really have to watch how much of it you're eating at once (it can be easy to eat a handful of trail mix really fast and not realize how much you're eating). It can even be a little package of yogurt as a snack. Plan ahead and decide which food you like most and make sure to have those things on hand in the house and not the stuff that isn't part of the balance. (I like potato chips but it's too easy for me to skip breakfast, lunch, and dinner in order to just eat a bag of chips so I do the best I can to buy them very rarely throughout the year.) Ultimately, you owe it to yourself to always be eating food that you really like that also fuels your body well. If you don't like peas and carrots, don't make those the veggies you eat on a daily basis. If you like green beans, eat them every day you aren't tired of them! I grew up the pickiest eater on the planet and I'm still pretty picky, but it's really worth it to discover that there IS food that tastes good that can fit into a great eating plan, just have to learn to figure out which foods they are and how they fall into the balance. Good luck. ^_^

MinnieInMaine

Agreed - snacking is not necessarily a bad thing, it just has a bad "rep" because most people equate snack with candy or cookies when that's more of a treat or dessert than a snack. As long as you're picking healthy or light choices and have room in your calorie budget, I say go for it! Try almonds, fruit, light popcorn, carrots and hummus, or even a square or two of dark chocolate if you have a sweet tooth like me!

bigislandgrrl

I think what Ive noticed most in the last 30 days is the quality of "fuel" I put in my body. I had been eating very well for 30 days, and to reward myself, had a big time cheat day. Lets just say, it wasnt pretty! I noticed that for 4 days after that I was sluggish and felt like crap during my workouts! I hadnt felt like that when I was eating healthier choices. Screw you waffles, you were SOOOO NOT WORTH IT!!!

cajode11

I make sure to log all of my snack to know how many calories I wasting on junk food, ect. I also keep fruits, yogurt and nuts on hand.
When I get hungry between meals and snacks, I drink 8-16 ounces of water and that helps a lot. I can usually cut my hunger cravings between lunch and breakfast with that to keep me from snacking.

Depending on your snacks and what you eat in your meals, it may not be all that bad to be snacking. They do say that 5 small meals is better than 3 large ones...

lyanson

Thanks everyone for the great advice!