eating too many calories and going out to eat

Maybe you could find low calorie snacks that you will like and eat those before dinner so your not consuming a lot. I find chewing gum helps me when I "seem hungry". Drink water, stay away from the kitchen when you feel like you want to eat. Go do a 10-15 exercise. If you still feel like eating maybe go for fruit or veggies sometimes I eat a piece of lunch meat and I'm fine. Find what works for you at those times. As far as going out to eat. There are way too many unnecessary calories in the food try to not go out to eat so much. Maybe limit it to one or two times a week to "treat yourself" for working hard all week. Um, since I started changing my eating habits I never go out to eat. I cook something at home because I know its better. I'm weird cause I don't have that craving to go to a fast food restaurant or sweets like I long months ago or last year. It takes time to calm it down and put in your mind like this isn't good for me and this isn't going to help me and to let it go. Give it time. Take it slow and gradually wing yourself off. Good luck to you.

You have to imagine the outcome and think of how you are going to feel as a result of over-eating. All i did to stop eating fried foods was to imagine them being cooked in that yucky grease and think ahead about how bloated they make you feel in the end. I no longer crave them. I haven't eaten ANY fried food in over 2 years and i don't want to anymore!

^ ditto to the above comment. You don't need to snack but i think we all enjoy snacking in between meals, that comfort of eating type of thing. Just try to make a mental note of why you're eating, it helps if you planned out your meals ahead of time as well. But often times it just comes down to will power

Well, I think you need to make it a priority. If you really want to get healthy and lose weight and get the right nutrition for your triathalon training, you just have to do it. Sit down on the weekend with a recipe book (or the internet) and plan out your meals for the week and then go to the grocery story for everything you need so it's handy. Hell, even prep and put everyting together that day if you want. Check out OAMC (once a month cooking) blogs - tons of recipes that are good for freezing so you cook one day a week or month, toss everyting in the freezer and you're good to go. If you live in a warm climate, you can do the same with grilling. Throw some meat in some marinade in the morning, throw it on the grill that night and microwave some veggies to go with it and/or have a salad on the side. It is so easy and not much less time consuming than going out to eat.

And maybe once a week or once every two week, you treat yourself with a cheat meal and go have that yummy food you like.

Look, I'm a foodie too - I get it, it's yummy and you don't want to give it up. And you don't have to give it up (I still eat pizza and chocolate). BUT you do have to learn to eat it less and control your portions. Otherwise, you're just going to keep spinning your wheels hoping to lose the weight but continuing to give in to temptations...and 10 years down the road, you'll wish you stopped when you should've. Trust me, that was me 3 years ago!

Another thing - exercise won't totally take care of the bad, but it will help! The more you do it, the more you can eat. That is a huge motivator for me!

YOU CAN DO THIS!!!

Yes to willpower. That's the hardest part.

Have you outlined goals for yourself? If you haven't established what you want to do, by when, and how you're going to get there, it's way to easy to think that each bad decision is OK. Especially since your end target is so far off.

If you've told yourself something like, "I want to lose five pounds in the next thirty days, and I'm going to do it by determining how many calories I should be eating every day in order to lose weight, tracking everything I eat to make sure I stay within my calorie limit, limiting eating out to once a week, and getting in at least 30 minutes of exercise each day", then it's much easier to stay on track. Each little decision has an impact on the goal you've set. I'd recommend that you set even smaller goals (like one per week or two weeks) since you're just starting out.

I view my daily calorie limit like money. I only have so much to spend each day, and if I go over, then I'm putting myself into debt. I wouldn't do that with my money, so I don't do it with my food.

I used to love fried food. But since I started on here, and saw how many calories it truly was, I tried like crazy to scale back as far as I could. Now I almost never have anything fried - the last two times I did (chicken fingers the first time, and deep fried sweet potato fries the next), it actually made me sick. Which is a great way to stop craving them!

Most fried foods can be baked if you make them yourself. Baked chicken tenders, or potatoes in any form (except latkes - those have to be fried), or whatever are usually very good and much better for you.

i had a similar problem. chewing gum and water didn't help me. i found that if i eat low calorie snacks in between meals it helped. it didn't happen for me in a day, it was gradual. logging my food every day and seeing exactly what i was eating put it in perspective for me. grapes are a great in between meal snack. you can eat a bunch for few calories. also, gopicnic has prepackaged meals for 3.99. i like to break them up as snacks during the day too. it isn't easy at first. but that is what worked for me. more foods that were low in calories. maybe that will help you too.

oh, and i also got a food scale. get one if you haven't already. take it with you if you like to eat out. i do, portion control. ; ) good luck.

**Also, juice fasts will allow you to lose weight, but it's a method that won't keep weight off unless you stick to your new allowance of calories so of course you gained it back.

http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm

try this and then hit the 'zig zag' method. it'll give you a varied amount of calories, but still a deficit at the end of the day.

Being healthy and looking good tastes wayyy better than those french fries!!

Just keep your eye on the prize! Mind over matter - your brain is a very powerful thing

Also, I leave all my money and cards at home so I can't stop at a fast food place on the way to or from work. Also, then I can't give in and go buy lunch or snacks throughout the day. I have cut myself off from crappy snacks and food.

Good luck to you! I know you can do it!

I plan out my food. In the beginning, it was the only way to make sure I stayed in my goals without being hungry all day.

For increased satiety, higher protein intake, smaller more frequent meals/larger less frequent meals, higher fiber intake, more water intake may be things that can help
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I hate the word willpower... That sounds like an invitation to failure. So my idea is to make sure I am never over hungry. I eat 6 times a day 300 calories every 3 hours. This does a couple of things for me. I am a type 2 diabetic so this keeps my blood sugar well under control. It also keeps me from feeling starved and shaky after 6 hours with out food.

Here's my deal. I'm 26, getting married next May, and have been battling this weight for years... I have always been a big girl (there's my brief intro hehe).

My biggest problem is that I eat too many calories. More specifically, i seem to eat most of my calories before dinner, and when it comes time for dinner...I eat! which puts me over my calorie limit...which makes me feel like ecrap and just eat more because "i'm already o ver my calorie count anyway..." and that bad habit doesn't allow me to lose.

How are you all staying within your calorie range? I know it sounds like a simple question, but I am looking for some tips. I just love food too much...

Also, eating out. I LOVE TO GO OUT TO EAT!!! Something about unhealthy, fried food just makes my mouth water. It's so bad. I hate it. I wish my brain would switch to bad thoughts when I think about eating out. Do you guys have any tips on how to keep eating out under control?

Thanks!

When I first started trying to lose weight, I found eating smaller, more frequent meals, to be a big help. It felt like I was eating constantly, but it helped a lot with resisting the temptation to snack. I found the default settings that MFP gives you for protein to be far too low for me, so you might find that upping your protein intake helps.

I agree with what a lot of people have been saying; it's all about willpower. It's hard at first, but gets easier as you form healthier eating habits. When I started on MFP I had every intention of planning the occasional 'cheat day', but 3.5 months in I simply no longer crave the unhealthy stuff that I used to eat.

Willpower

For increased satiety, higher protein intake, smaller more frequent meals/larger less frequent meals, higher fiber intake, more water intake may be things that can help

Agreed!

deja vu...i was a fast food addict...........but what did it for me was my gallbladder attacks and then having to have surgery to have it removed.....to avoid an attack i had to eat no fat-low fat foods and be super careful........my last attack i had burger king whopper meal large size for dinner!!!!! i had surgery 6.5 months ago...........now i hardly crave fast food anymore. but as far as something you could do...is go out to eat but get healthier options........even a mcchicken or fish filet , yogurt parfait, a salad. etc.