Recent learnings about my eating habits

yellow_pepper

1. Size of breakfast does not affect my mid-morning hunger

Usually, I have half a cup of oatmeal with splenda and cinnamon for breakfast (160 calories) and I get hungry about 3 hours later (11 AM). One day this week, I tried having a whole cup with the same flavorings (320 calories) to see if I'd get hungry later. Nope! I still got hungry around 11 AM.

So I'm back to the 160 calorie breakfast, and yes, I am hungry. It's 11:25 AM. But I'm going to wait until lunch. As I've learned that the surest way to spoil my eating plan for the day is to have my lunch too early. Then I get hungry for my afternoon snack earlier, and and up having two snacks before dinner! Or three!

2. It's not at work that I lose control! It's after work!

I thought I had to watch what I ate at work. There's a delicious bakery, and several cafes right in the building, and yes, I USED TO avail myself of the bakery on a daily basis. But I stopped, and I'm still not losing weight. Even though I rarely go over 1,000 calories by the time I leave work around 7 PM. No, it's dinner and drinks that do me in. Dinner with the boyfriend, drinks with the girlfriends... I really need to develop better portion control at the end of the day, since I'm right on track from morning to evening.

yellow_pepper

1. Size of breakfast does not affect my mid-morning hunger

Usually, I have half a cup of oatmeal with splenda and cinnamon for breakfast (160 calories) and I get hungry about 3 hours later (11 AM). One day this week, I tried having a whole cup with the same flavorings (320 calories) to see if I'd get hungry later. Nope! I still got hungry around 11 AM.

So I'm back to the 160 calorie breakfast, and yes, I am hungry. It's 11:25 AM. But I'm going to wait until lunch. As I've learned that the surest way to spoil my eating plan for the day is to have my lunch too early. Then I get hungry for my afternoon snack earlier, and and up having two snacks before dinner! Or three!

2. It's not at work that I lose control! It's after work!

I thought I had to watch what I ate at work. There's a delicious bakery, and several cafes right in the building, and yes, I USED TO avail myself of the bakery on a daily basis. But I stopped, and I'm still not losing weight. Even though I rarely go over 1,000 calories by the time I leave work around 7 PM. No, it's dinner and drinks that do me in. Dinner with the boyfriend, drinks with the girlfriends... I really need to develop better portion control at the end of the day, since I'm right on track from morning to evening.

MattySparky

take it from me... you probably aren't eating frequently enough... if your body is giving you the hungry sensation then you should be eating a small meal before this happens. I had a similar problem until I started eating 6 times per day literally (7 or 8am, 9 or 10 am, 11am or 12 pm, 1 or 2pm, 3 or 4pm and finally 5 or 6 pm) with nothing after I eat dinner accept workout and water with the occasional tea or super light snack of rice cake or something like that but hardly ever anything after dinner. I find that by keeping my body satisfied, not full there is a difference, I have a consistant energy level throughout the day and I dont find myself feeling hungry. The rest is self control really.

yellow_pepper

I eat often.

Breakfast
Lunch
Mid-afternoon snack at 2:30
Mid-afternoon snack at 5:30
Dinner
Sometimes a later snack

I really don't think that's the problem.

My father eats 3 square meals every day. He (a 5'9 man) has weighed 135-145 since he was my age. So... I tend to agree with the traditional notion of "don't spoil your appetite" with snacks, because you just end up making yourself get hungry sooner since your stomach expects it.

I've become a classic case of eating too much in the evening because I'm out socializing with people at restaurants that serve rich food. Learning how to control yourself in that environment is not easy. I also go out for dinner with a 200-lb man, and I need to remind myself (and him) that I cannot eat as much as he does unless I want to weigh as much!

12by311

yellow_pepper, I used to really have trouble with my "after-work" eating. I have done really well with this the past couple of week's though. I am like Matty, I try to eat "constantly" and never feel hungry. But it hard to do if you are going out more often...I understand that totally! I usually don't eat out during the week at all. So, that is a big help to me.

yellow_pepper

12by311 - I fully agree. And when I didn't go out as much, I weighed a few pounds less.

But I need to go out a lot - not just because of social invitations but for business. And in the event that I have a dinner with colleagues and clients, I need some calories saved up for the occasion. So for me, eating constantly throughout the day is not an option.

I don't have a problem with hunger. In fact, I enjoy it. To me, it means that my body has fully used what I've given it and that it NEEDS more food, as opposed to me just eating because I feel like it.

dothompson

I've read numerous articles about late night eating and most of them recommend "front loading" calories which translates into bigger breakfast. I would consider adding a mid morning snack at about 11 ( before you think you're hungry). Something light, 150-200 calories. Maybe some fruit and string cheese, or a protein bar. But if you are getting hungry at 11:30 and have to tell yourself to wait until lunch it's a clue your body is telling you. Listen.

miasuperstar

this brings up an interesting issue that i also have trouble with and have ended up coping with by avoiding it all together, which is going out and having a good time. I don't want to redirect this thread too much but it sounds like yellowpepper is struggling with not eating too much when out; drinks have a lot of cals and its hard to know what exactly is in restauraunt food. So how do we cope with this? Anyone have any suggestions? Since i started watching what i eat in Jan i almost NEVER go out because i'm scared it'll ruin my all hard work- but this isn't how a lifestyle should be. :frown:

kerrilucko

this brings up an interesting issue that i also have trouble with and have ended up coping with by avoiding it all together, which is going out and having a good time. I don't want to redirect this thread too much but it sounds like yellowpepper is struggling with not eating too much when out; drinks have a lot of cals and its hard to know what exactly is in restauraunt food. So how do we cope with this? Anyone have any suggestions? Since i started watching what i eat in Jan i almost NEVER go out because i'm scared it'll ruin my all hard work- but this isn't how a lifestyle should be. :frown:

It's ok to go out, it truly is. Even going out a couple times a week can work for you! If possible give up alcohol. If not, choose alcoholic beverages that are low in calories- red wine is a good one, pre-plan your meals out! It's very easy as most websites list nutritional info on their websites. even if they don't, try to choose healthier options - avoid cream based items, avoid words like fried, sauteed and battered. Choose words like grilled, and baked. Lastly, always package about 1/2 your meal to take home. Even if your meal isn't all that healthy, taking 1/2 a 1500 cal meal home for later (or for you husband) means you're only have a 750 cal dinner... which isn't so bad, especially if you threw in an extra workout that day for the extras calories it earns you. :flowerforyou:

LuckyLeprechaun

My suggestion is to add a little lean protein to your breakfast- Even one hard boiled egg (without yolk is only 17 cals) can make a big difference in how soon I get hungry after breakfast.

To address the "going out" question, I still go out, I just order one cocktail and nurse it slowly, instead of pounding them back the way I used to. And I remind myself that while I am in "weight loss" mode, I will have less calories to use than when I have met my goal and I am in "maintenance" mode. Right now we are undoing the damage from too many trips out, too many cals consumed and not burned away. So there will be a period of "paying the piper". But when that is over, maintenance is a whole different thing. Maintenance will mean I will be able to go out and have a nice restaurant meal, as long as I accommodate for those calories with a workout, or by reducing the other days during that week to allow for the "splurge" . It will not be like this forever, and the more faithfully we stick to the plan now, the sooner the day will come with that goal weight looking up at you from the scale.

1Corinthians13

Yes I agree with Kerri. A lot of restaurants share their nutritional info online, so I usually choose what I want before I go.

Panera, Bone Fish, Starbucks, Olive Garden, Papa Johns...just to name a few. Google the restaurant with the word "calorie" after it and see what pops up.

I have a glass of wine, usually one a night. Sometimes, if I've been good, I have 2. It's my treat to myself. And when I know I'm going out to party, I admit I starve myself all day and enjoy my drinks at night. Hard licquor is actually less calories than wine or beer if mixed with a diet drink.

miasuperstar

good ideas, gals. It seems like planning ahead would really help open up options later in the evening. And forntunaley i can only really handle one or two glasses of wine so maybe i should stick with that. Its the fattening beer that i like so much that gets me into trouble. I went out for brunch last weekend and just ordered a salad cuz i didn't know about all hte other stuff on the menu but 1/2 portions is always a good thing to keep in mind.

staceyw37

my answer is contrary to everyone else. and might annoy you...
at your current height and weight, your bmi is already in the normal range. at 125 and 5 8" your bmi is 19, just .5 above underweight.
and 1000 calories is way low. go to this link
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/calorie-calculator/NU00598 to calculate your daily calorie needs to maintain your current weight. it's way more than 1000 and so even to lose weight, you wouldn't be as low as 1000 calories/day.
my point is that your body's hungry, b/c it's HUNGRY. please reconsider your weight and calorie goals to have a healthy body.
i'm not trying to be unsupportive or judgmental--just concerned for your overall well-being.
take good care of yourself--

yellow_pepper

I live in a large city with an enormous variety of restaurants, most of which do not post nutrition facts online. However, I've started making more conscious healthy choices: salmon instead of duck, for instance. The first time, my boyfriend asked if there was anything wrong, but now he's also getting into healthier mode - ordering fish instead of steak when we go out for French food. He's French, so we do that a lot! Most items on the menu tend to be rich - even the salads! The portions are actually rather small in size - it's just that there's a lot of butter hidden in there.

I may suggest that we go out for Japanese food more often, as that tends to be lower in calories. As for the alcohol, I tend to drink one or two glasses of wine with dinner, and two or three times a week. So there's not much more improvement to be made there.

I think that my weight - 137 lbs - may just reflect a lifestyle that includes a fair amount of dining out! I could make a judicious effort to order everything prepared without butter. Maybe I'll try it one of these nights, though I would risk a confrontation with the chef!

yellow_pepper

my answer is contrary to everyone else. and might annoy you...
at your current height and weight, your bmi is already in the normal range. at 125 and 5 8" your bmi is 19, just .5 above underweight.
and 1000 calories is way low. go to this link
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/calorie-calculator/NU00598 to calculate your daily calorie needs to maintain your current weight. it's way more than 1000 and so even to lose weight, you wouldn't be as low as 1000 calories/day.
my point is that your body's hungry, b/c it's HUNGRY. please reconsider your weight and calorie goals to have a healthy body.
i'm not trying to be unsupportive or judgmental--just concerned for your overall well-being.
take good care of yourself--

I'm 5'5" and 137. I'm not sure who you're addressing, but it's definitely not me!

Also, I eat 1,000 calories between 8 AM and 7 PM - AND THEN I HAVE DINNER!

staceyw37

whoops! for some reason i thought you were 5 8 or 5 9". i get it now. so so sorry.

sassyredgirl

What i do is when i know im going to be going out somewhere i look them up online and check out the menu so i know ahead of time what im going to order and how much i can eat. works for me..