Your thoughts on "saving" calories

AlsDonkBoxSquat

I don't forego meals to save calories, but I pick my lowest calorie options during the rest of the day so that I have more to work with in the evening, I get a couple extra calories in burn to up the ante, I put what I intend to eat in before I set out for eating and stick to it, and if I go over I don't feel badly about it because I rarely go over.

JoLeeFA

I think maybe you mis-understood my thread (or maybe I explained it badly) I don't mean to say you should stop doing anything you enjoy with friends or family, I'm simply saying that the most important thing to do to become healthy is to change how you feel about food, and because food is so closely tied to emotions many times (especially for those who are obese in many situations), that means dealing first with the emotions that cause the eating. If the time someone enjoys with friends and family happens to revolve around gatherings for food, I have no problem with that, but food shouldn't be your focus at the gatherings, until food is not your biggest factor, you'll still have problems.

I get what you are saying and thanks for your honest answer.
I totally get that I didn't get to 300 pounds by dealing with my emotions in a healthy manner. I am dealing with the emotions now rather than shutting them up with a cookie!

I have no intention of skipping meals. But instead having lower calorie meals/snacks.

When you are the hosting a dinner, the focus HAS to be what you are going to eat. In reality, it is better to host so I can know what I am eating. In the past, I have not provided snacks to have while we visit before supper (usually several hours), and the men just ran to the store to get chips and such. So I am being proactive. I have sliced cucmbers, yellow squash, zucchini, baby carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, and tomoatoes in the frig now. For dipping, I will have ranch dressing and hummus (for them, not me). Supper will be turkey burgers with whole wheat buns and steamed veggies. I am going to check and see if I have calories left, we will make sugar free ice cream with skim milk - - believe it or not, it works, but doesn't get real firm!

For me, food is not the FOCUS, but is going to be there, so I may as well make it healthy choices??

nibblerbigcat

Yes, and I think it's a healthy practice to eat lightly throughout the day when you know that you are going to have a large supper at night. Balancing your caloric intake is a healthy practice because it allows flexibility. Same if you unexpectedly eat a large dinner - have a smaller than normal breakfast and lunch and a normal dinner and it will counteract the extra calories from the night before. When I know that I'm going to be eating a lot in the evening, such as on Christmas, then I refrain from eating a normal breakfast and lunch. Maybe people counteract this by saying if you "starve" yourself all day you will be ravenous by the time you eat dinner and then overeat. Maybe true for some, but I usually don't eat a lot when I know I'm going to have a fantastic dinner. My guilty feelings go down and my calorie intake can be normal.