How do I stop eating 6,000 calories??

Ri024

Some of your items are not correct - like 600 cal for 2 cup of spaghetti noodles - that should be around 200, and 2 slices of thick bacon should be under 100 cal.

Stop eating empty cal, like chips - or make sure you only eat one serving. Chocolate milk adds up too.

May I ask which brands you are referring to for the pasta and bacon? I tried to find pasta that was under 100 calories per cup but did not have any luck. The bacon was not that low, either.

ANeWcRe8N

Hello,

I am new to this. I put it in most of what I ate today and it is around 5,744 (I cannot remember everything) but this program says my goal should be 1,530.

Is this right? I know I eat more than some other people but is 1,530 really manageable? I am not very active but now I think I should start! Please feel free to send me any advice.

Well if I was you, i'd cut out about 2,000 calories and start there. Jumping that low makes no sense from your starting point. Over time decrease them as you lose weight.

Agree with this ^

chriscm70

I think it's great that you logged a "before" day of eating. I wish I had done that. I'm sure a had MANY days that were very similar to that one before I started on MFP. It's eye-opening. Good luck! :-)

garita93

Some of your items are not correct - like 600 cal for 2 cup of spaghetti noodles - that should be around 200, and 2 slices of thick bacon should be under 100 cal.

Stop eating empty cal, like chips - or make sure you only eat one serving. Chocolate milk adds up too.

May I ask which brands you are referring to for the pasta and bacon? I tried to find pasta that was under 100 calories per cup but did not have any luck. The bacon was not that low, either.

Don't know where you are from but is there an Aldi's near you? They have a Fit & Active line- 2 slices of the turkey bacon are 60 cals total and they taste yummy!!

soaps54

Looks like you've gotten some great advice already but I wanted to wish you well. Good luck, you can do it! :-)

sisierra

For starters I saw just do some simple substitutions.


Instead of the 180 calorie hamburger bun, buy some light bread, most brands have this with only 35 cal per slice.

Sub out pork bacon for turkey bacon, since I haven't had either in a while I don't know the caloric differences, but I know they're there.

For your cheese, I don't know if you're eating that with your bacon as a type of sandwich, but there are a lot of sliced cheese now that are 2% or even fat free

Outside of that, I'd suggest more water, save a cup of chocolate milk for lunch, and get some healthier snacks. Skinny cow, maybe? and Skinny girl cocktails. ;D

Hope this helps!


Edit: I also don't think you should automatically drop down to 1600cal, that would be a very sudden change for your body and I think the best thing to do is to find a number that you don't have too much trouble maintaining for a good while. I think 2,500-3,000 is a great range (just my opinion, I have no official capacity to recommend anything lol)

and Oscar Mayer has turkey breast thats only 60cal for 6 slices!

tvanhooser

Well I find it most useful to plan out what I am going to eat for the day including portion sizes in advance. I enter it all in my diary for the next day so it will calculate the calorie content and let me adjust things before I put one bite in my mouth. I can make minor adjustments through the day if I change anything like if I need to without significantly changing the calories but mostly just make the plan and stick to it. If you are used to eating way more than your body actually needs, (most of us are to one extent or another because supersizing fast foods and misleading product labeling about portion sizes have convinced us that we need more than we actually do), your stomach is distended and will tell you you are still hungry and need to eat when you actually do not. The key is to discipline yourself to stick to your plan and let your stomach shrink back to normal size so the hunger pains go away. If you keep eating every time you have the urge just because it's what you've always done or for comfort or out of boredom, your system will never adjust to the lower amounts. Yes, you will have to endure faux hunger pains at first as your body adjusts but if you step down your caloric intake a bit at a time you will find after a few weeks that you actually aren't as hungry as you thought you would be.

Byrdsong1920

Checkout this great video blog and t hey also have a fan page on facebook and on here. Great advice and helps you find idea caloric intake depending on your daily activity. http://www.youtube.com/user/EatMore2WeighLess?feature=mhee Eat More to Weigh Less

Also, here are some calculators to help you too: http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators.html

i would advise: As you start to log your food, pay attention to your #s and most importantly how you are feeling! Prepare your meals ahead as much as you can. I even try to type out my meals the night before and take my cooler to work with me. This way you save money and you are more confident about whats in the food. Alot of processed meats and fast food is loaded w/fat , sugar and sodium.

Add 'sodium' to your daily journey-that is biggest culprit of holding water weight. Enjoy yourself and remember this is a lifestyle and a race or quick fix. Its important we feed our minds, body and soul as well. I always say: we want our insides to be as beautiful as our outside. So eat nutrients that does that-which in turn will help your mind and soul.

All the best,happy journey!

Ri024

Checkout this great video blog and t hey also have a fan page on facebook and on here. Great advice and helps you find idea caloric intake depending on your daily activity. http://www.youtube.com/user/EatMore2WeighLess?feature=mhee Eat More to Weigh Less

Also, here are some calculators to help you too: http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators.html

i would advise: As you start to log your food, pay attention to your #s and most importantly how you are feeling! Prepare your meals ahead as much as you can. I even try to type out my meals the night before and take my cooler to work with me. This way you save money and you are more confident about whats in the food. Alot of processed meats and fast food is loaded w/fat , sugar and sodium.

Add 'sodium' to your daily journey-that is biggest culprit of holding water weight. Enjoy yourself and remember this is a lifestyle and a race or quick fix. Its important we feed our minds, body and soul as well. I always say: we want our insides to be as beautiful as our outside. So eat nutrients that does that-which in turn will help your mind and soul.

All the best,happy journey!

I eventually figured out you mean to say add sodium to my journal, not my journey LOL Thank you so much for your post, I'm finding those links to be very helpful and I wouldn't have noticed that I can track different nutrients in my journal if it wasn't for you! Still so many things to explore on here.

janegalt37

Some of your items are not correct - like 600 cal for 2 cup of spaghetti noodles - that should be around 200, and 2 slices of thick bacon should be under 100 cal.

Stop eating empty cal, like chips - or make sure you only eat one serving. Chocolate milk adds up too.

May I ask which brands you are referring to for the pasta and bacon? I tried to find pasta that was under 100 calories per cup but did not have any luck. The bacon was not that low, either.

I was rather surprised at the calculations for some of your foods, as well.

>>Get a food scale<<
This is the best I found for the money. Very accurate, has every feature you'll ever need, and very easy to clean.

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=salter+food+scale&hl=en&safe=off&prmd=imvns&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.,cf.osb&biw=1280&bih=845&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=9276879270521978042&sa=X&ei=ylLhT4uHHKWU2AWZ3aXsCw&ved=0CKYBEPMCMAU

>>Lower carb & high fiber pasta that's actually yummy<<

www.fibergourmet.com

>>Petit Jean Thick Cut Peppered Bacon at Walmart =70 cals per slice<<

I really look forward to seeing your progress with your diet. Please keep us updated - and a warm welcome to MFP!

{{hugs}}
Jane

janegalt37

On second look, if you go by the grams you entered, your pasta calories seem correct. Standard pasta is around 210 cals per 2 ounces. It's the "or 1 cup cooked" that was throwing people off, I think.

In that case, you're going to LOVE Fiber Gourmet pasta. it's only 130 cals per 2oz, and because it has a $&!#-load of fiber, it will fill you up longer, so you can eat even less that the 4 or 6oz you have been enjoying. Sweet!

Barbellerella

Great job hitting your calorie goal today! How did you feel?

BrienJD

Your diary looks like mine when I first started. Today's was much better. You can keep it up, just do like you did today and whittle it down to where your cals need to be. You can do it any way you want, but I gradually reduced my intake over the first week or so. That way I didn't go into food shock.

Sarauk2sf

Great job hitting your calorie goal today! How did you feel?

^^this - this is an excellent looking day - great target hitting of calories and macros

MrsButler82

I am like you. I eat like a sumo wrestler. I have been tracking everything for the last few days and it is nearly impossible to get to my 1640 calories a day. Today is the first day that I have been under. Cooked frozen shrimp and cucumbers have like no calories! (Found that out today). You just have to attempt to eat no processed foods. When I eat all real food and only sauces and dressings that are processed I can get really close to my goal calories.

cyberskirt

Hi,

I looked at your 6000 calorie day and suddenly saw what I was doing before... I did exactly what you do, eat a lot of carbs, cheese etc and that all adds up.

I know for a fact that I didn't change overnight, it took a while to make the changes, first I added vegetables, which cut down on the carbs, then I added fruit (the hardest thing for me to eat is fruit), then I started looking at better alternatives to a lot of things (popcorn instead of cheezies, etc) for snacks. I didn't even start logging in MFP until after I had already changed most of my diet.

Once I started logging I had to make a lot of other changes, portion sizes, pasta is not a regular occurrence, I changed my bread type, and the salad... my gods the salad. I know the first week I must have have freaked out something major at the change, I was 'hungry' all the time, ALL the time, and I was quite angry about it etc. I think now, my body was doing anything it could to try and get me back into high carbs etc because I was going through a withdrawal or something.

My calorie allowance started out at almost 2500 calories, and now I'm down to 1940 and I can honestly say, with a change to what I eat now, I am sometimes hard pressed to come up with 1900 calories worth of food because what I eat is more filling and satisfying in the long run than before when I would easily have A & W for breakfast, a bunch of pasta and sauce for lunch, and a pizza, cheesy bread and probably half a cake for supper...

The other day I actually had a binge moment (I went temporarily 'crazy') and it was hard to eat that much, it wasn't as much as I used to have.

But getting there took time, it required small steps and adjusting to a change in how I eat and what I eat.

Sarauk2sf

- the thought of life without chocolate milk is making me very sad so I am going to look into chocolate protein shakes

You do not have to give it up at all. Low fat chocolate milk actually compares pretty well to protein shakes. If you like the tase - do not worry about swapping that out and you will probably be surpised to find chocolate milk has lower calories and higher protein much of the time. Just be careful of portion size.

Dragongrl

Ever try chocolate soy milk? Really low in calories and good for your heart!

jennismagic

I have the opposite problem. MFP says I need to eat 2,290 calories to lose weight, and I'm always under. I hit 2,000 on Monday, and it was a struggle. Tonight, I was 700 under. It's tough to balance out. I'm used to eating 1500-1700.

marz42

Hello,

I am new to this. I put it in most of what I ate today and it is around 5,744 (I cannot remember everything) but this program says my goal should be 1,530.

Is this right? I know I eat more than some other people but is 1,530 really manageable? I am not very active but now I think I should start! Please feel free to send me any advice.

What did you put in as your goal of how many pounds you want to loose per week?
If you put in a higher amount per week you get a lower amount of calories. You might want to start with less per week till you get used to it, then go down. Once I started tracking in here, I realized I must have been eating 4,000 some days. Somehow I have been about the same weight for the past 15 years despite it, but I'm pretty overweight.
Also, try to do some exercise, it really makes a difference as it adds those exercise calories to your total.