Please Help Me!!!!!

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I am not too pleased with my eating food diary for yesterday. We had a Thanksgiving Pot Luck yesterday at work so I estimated it was 1,300 calories. I had 2 slices of ham (Honeybaked Ham), 1 slice of turkey (Honeybaked Ham), green beans, 1 deviled egg, sweet potatoes, mac & cheese, & roll. The issue came in when I fixed my dessert plate. I had two homemade choco chip cookies, 1 snicker doodle cookie, 2 cupcakes. I have a major sweet tooth and do not know how to control it, especially if I am feeling down. Luckily I do not eat sweets like that daily but when I do........ it's trouble. I did walk yesterday on both of my 15 min breaks and went to the gym after work for an hr. But once I got home I had to feed my daughter so I cooked green beans, mashed potatoes and fried pork chops. I was not hungry at all after my workout but of course I ate. I haven’t eaten breakfast this morning because I am still full from last night.

How can I really get a grip on my eating habits? I know it won't happen overnight but I feel as though I could do so much better but it is so expensive to eat healthy. The skinny person in me wants to be revealed but the fatty foods & bad habits has her trapped inside.

P.S. I am working on getting a HRM but they are expensive. I am hoping to start JM 30 Day Shred on Friday.
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  • mistadj
    mistadj Posts: 43 Member
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    I am not too pleased with my eating food diary for yesterday. We had a Thanksgiving Pot Luck yesterday at work so I estimated it was 1,300 calories. I had 2 slices of ham (Honeybaked Ham), 1 slice of turkey (Honeybaked Ham), green beans, 1 deviled egg, sweet potatoes, mac & cheese, & roll. The issue came in when I fixed my dessert plate. I had two homemade choco chip cookies, 1 snicker doodle cookie, 2 cupcakes. I have a major sweet tooth and do not know how to control it, especially if I am feeling down. Luckily I do not eat sweets like that daily but when I do........ it's trouble. I did walk yesterday on both of my 15 min breaks and went to the gym after work for an hr. But once I got home I had to feed my daughter so I cooked green beans, mashed potatoes and fried pork chops. I was not hungry at all after my workout but of course I ate. I haven’t eaten breakfast this morning because I am still full from last night.

    How can I really get a grip on my eating habits? I know it won't happen overnight but I feel as though I could do so much better but it is so expensive to eat healthy. The skinny person in me wants to be revealed but the fatty foods & bad habits has her trapped inside.

    P.S. I am working on getting a HRM but they are expensive. I am hoping to start JM 30 Day Shred on Friday.

    I know it sounds bad to say "you have to have will power" but you have to. I used to have the same problem but had to learn to just walk away. I dont participate in office pot lucks anymore (unless i am prepared for what i see)... I think its no problem to have a snack...but as we spoke before...you have to have portion control and also spread some of that out...maybe 1 cupcake for the day...instead of all the other good stuff also?

    As for HRM, you dont have to get a really expensive one...check ebay.
  • jilllemar
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    Before I forget- what is an HRM?

    Same problem for me, food is my weakness. I started my journey in the middle of August and have been steadily losing weight since then with absolutely no hiccups or gains. I might have lost only .5 lbs on a few weeks, but I consistently averaged 2 lbs a week up until last week.

    Last week we had family come visit. We spend the two days in the house eating and playing cards. I gained 2 lbs over the weekend. Not a ton, but very scary when I've been doing so well. Especially since I didn't really think I was doing too too bad with the food. I figured it'd be another hold steady week. But I didn't log the food, and I didn't exercise.

    Monday at my weigh in I was very angry with myself. I knew when I was putting the food in my mouth that it was wrong but I did it anyway. I discussed it with my trainer and she told me I need to plan for those occasions or I am going to have a hard holiday season. What I should have done last weekend was bring my own yummy but low calorie food and ate that, with only one meal of the fattening stuff.

    Willpower is important, but it needs to be combined with a plan. She told me that at the stage I am at, I have to either have a plan or not go to the function. And for me at least, she is 100% correct. Maybe when I am in maintenance these things won't be so vital, but right now I can't afford set backs.

    So for our family Christmas party I know what will be there. Meatballs, ham, scalloped potatoes, cookies, those little hot dogs in bbq sauce, and a whole host of good stuff. Before we go I am going to decide exactly what I will eat and have an estimated calorie count, that way if there are different foods I can still accommodate and reach my goal. Same thing for my husband's Christmas party. For me sweets aren't a love so I will skip them all together. Chips are my biggest love in life, I think they might be above my family, not really sure. So I have to skip them all together too. I just cannot moderate when it comes to chips, I have one, I am going to eat the whole bag. Especially if there is dip. Mmmmm dip, gotta love that stuff. So if you are like me, maybe avoid the sweets like I avoid the chips? It's hard at the time, but I feel so proud of myself when I get home.
  • merkuri22
    merkuri22 Posts: 13 Member
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    Why do you want to lose weight? You don't need to tell us, but think about that when you sit down to eat. Is that piece of pie worth it?

    Watch your portions. You can eat all that stuff, but take only a small bit of each.

    Plan your meals ahead of time. Enter your foods into MFP before you eat, then eat only what and how much you entered.

    You can allow yourself one "cheat day" a week, but keep track and make sure it really is only one day a week. Keep looking at MFP to be sure you only cheated for one day. Plan your cheat days ahead of time.

    Exercise, and eat back those calories. Think of them as a reward for exercising. You can have a candy bar or piece of pie or whatever, as long as you work it off. Don't deny yourself all the things you like to eat because you'll be miserable. You have to feel happy with what you're doing if you want to stick with it.

    Don't lie in your diary. Write down everything you eat, even on cheat days. Estimate if you have to, but be honest about it. Lying in your diary is only lying to yourself and won't help you lose.
  • Quannicab
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    HRM = Heart Rate Monitor


    Portion control is the key but sweets is like crack to me. I gave up eating GiGi's cupcakes because MFP said one cupcake had about 740 calories or more. *tear* Maybe I should give up sweets all together, at least cupcakes & cakes because those are the sweets I forget about portion control. It would be nice if Jillian Michaels could move in with me for a month or so *giggles* until then I need to control my eating when I am at home. I need to only eat when I am hungry and not because I am sad, bored, and etc.

    I know I need to add more fruits & veggies to my diet but is there anything else I should add? I do need to start planning my meals ahead of schedule, I know that will help out a lot.




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  • jilllemar
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    How do I make my ticker show up with my posts?

    I have a confession, I don't eat enough fruits and veggies either. I only eat them like (ducks and covers) once a week. They are just so stinking expensive and spoil quick. But if health is what I am after I know I need to suck it up.

    I personally don't try to get creative. I eat the same exact thing for breakfast, lunch, and snacks M-F. Its just easier for me. Then I figure out how many calories I have left for dinner. I eat the same thing for dinner as the rest of the family, but I use measuring cups and make sure I don't go over in calories.

    I guess, reading this, it sounds totally anal retentive, but it works for me so screw it, I will be anal retentive. I will bring measuring cups and MFP app to family Christmas parties. Let em laugh, we'll see whose laughing next year! JK, I would never laugh, maybe a little internal congratulatory bootie shake, but no laughter.

    I hear you with the sweets being your personal cocaine. For me its chips. That little jumping man in my head who gets excited about things starts doing summersalts and rattling his cage when I spy or scent chips. I've actually had to toss them in the garbage before, open bag and dump in, cause you can always grab a closed bag and have at it. Our boss brings donuts every Friday for our morning meetings. THe first week that jumping man in my head was pissed that I said no. He griped at me all day ("they're right there on the counter" "you're just going to have one, one's not so bad", "you deserve it, you've worked so hard"). He's a sly little f----er. But I ignored him and had no donuts. You would think the next week would be easier but that little man flipped right out. I think I had the shakes trying to ignore him, but I did it. Now its so easy to say no. I don't even WANT a donut anymore, when I look at them all I can think of is that depressing feeling you get from too much sugar or the sugar spike then drop.

    Now if you are a food addict like me you get the little jumping man reference. If not, you think I am completely bat-*kitten* crazy. Both would be accurate. But I like to think of him as my little food devil enemy and every time I refuse a bad food I give him the internal finger and say f-you little devil man. So next time you see a cupcake think "f-you cupcake", it might make it easier to say no.
  • paxbfl
    paxbfl Posts: 391 Member
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    One thing that really helps me is eating "mini meals" throughout the day. I eat about 300 calorie "meals" every 2-3 hours, so I'm never hungry.

    If I walk into a feast like you described really hungry, I am going to eat way too much. It's just a fact. So eating like this keeps me on an even keel so I'm never really hungry and never feeling stuffed either:

    8am breakfast
    10am snack
    12:30 lunch
    3:30 snack
    5:30 dinner
    8:00 snack

    6 x 300 = 1800 calories/day which is well under my goal. It allows a little wiggle room if I go over somewhere. Sometimes I'll skip the last snack if my dinner was higher than 300 calories, which it usually is.

    Hope that helps!
  • merkuri22
    merkuri22 Posts: 13 Member
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    Try pre-portioning your sweets ahead of time. Pick something that's easy to measure, like M&Ms, then portion out 100 calories or so worth of them into baggies or small containers. Limit yourself to just one per day. Even better, require yourself to burn the 100 calories off by walking or doing stairs before you eat the candy. I don't have a sweet tooth, but salty snacks are my Achilles heel, so I do this with Cheez-its.

    Don't keep any other sweets in the house. If its not in front of you, you might not crave it as much.

    Do you drink coffee or tea? Even sweetened coffee or tea is lower calories than most pastries or candy, and because it's hot it takes a long time to drink. Try having a hot sweet beverage as a snack and see if it helps satisfy your sweet tooth with fewer calories. I do this, too - I have a 45 calorie cup of tea (calories are from the with honey and milk I put in it) if I feel like having a snack but don't have many calories left in a day.

    It may take some time, but if you keep going you'll find that you'll crave sweets less as time goes on.
  • Quannicab
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    In order to post your ticker on your messages, go to your profile page. Click "Add to your site" Copy the BBCode and paste it in the message box before you hit post reply.


    Well my little food devil enjoyed himself yesterday with the deserts. I need to start back eating every 2 hours so at the end of the day I won't go home and eat my fridge! *giggles* I need to find healthier alternatives for snacks other than fruits. I wish Whole Food Market was as affordable as WalMart.








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  • Jessicariggio
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    Quannicab,

    I was having the same problem as you. Have you tried Lean Cuisines? I know it sounds crazy but they are really good. I am currently eating the Roasted Turkey with Apples. Every single one I've tried, I really liked. Make your daughter dinner and then eat one for yourself. If you consider switching her to a more healthy diet, you will want to eat what she is having and you won't feel deprived.

    As far as the sweets- I FEEL YOU! I will kill for some chocolate. I will allow myself to have 1 maybe 2 Hershey Kisses a night. 1 kiss= 22 calories. It is a good way to get the sweet chocolate taste in your mouth without the guilt. If eating them puts me over my calorie count, I don't eat them.

    I wish you the very best in your weight loss journey. I know it can be hard and you want to do good all the time but if you mess up one day, that's okay, start back up the very next day. You will only do as good as you allow yourself.

    Sending happy thoughts your way! -Jessica
  • mistadj
    mistadj Posts: 43 Member
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    Why do you want to lose weight? You don't need to tell us, but think about that when you sit down to eat. Is that piece of pie worth it?

    Watch your portions. You can eat all that stuff, but take only a small bit of each.

    Plan your meals ahead of time. Enter your foods into MFP before you eat, then eat only what and how much you entered.

    You can allow yourself one "cheat day" a week, but keep track and make sure it really is only one day a week. Keep looking at MFP to be sure you only cheated for one day. Plan your cheat days ahead of time.

    Exercise, and eat back those calories. Think of them as a reward for exercising. You can have a candy bar or piece of pie or whatever, as long as you work it off. Don't deny yourself all the things you like to eat because you'll be miserable. You have to feel happy with what you're doing if you want to stick with it.

    Don't lie in your diary. Write down everything you eat, even on cheat days. Estimate if you have to, but be honest about it. Lying in your diary is only lying to yourself and won't help you lose.

    Ok, im not an expert but eating your calories back defeat the purpose of losing weight. it only helps if you trying to maintain what you have..but thats my opinion. I dont think you should eat calories back just because you think you can
  • Quannicab
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    Why do you want to lose weight? You don't need to tell us, but think about that when you sit down to eat. Is that piece of pie worth it?

    Watch your portions. You can eat all that stuff, but take only a small bit of each.

    Plan your meals ahead of time. Enter your foods into MFP before you eat, then eat only what and how much you entered.

    You can allow yourself one "cheat day" a week, but keep track and make sure it really is only one day a week. Keep looking at MFP to be sure you only cheated for one day. Plan your cheat days ahead of time.

    Exercise, and eat back those calories. Think of them as a reward for exercising. You can have a candy bar or piece of pie or whatever, as long as you work it off. Don't deny yourself all the things you like to eat because you'll be miserable. You have to feel happy with what you're doing if you want to stick with it.

    Don't lie in your diary. Write down everything you eat, even on cheat days. Estimate if you have to, but be honest about it. Lying in your diary is only lying to yourself and won't help you lose.

    Ok, im not an expert but eating your calories back defeat the purpose of losing weight. it only helps if you trying to maintain what you have..but thats my opinion. I dont think you should eat calories back just because you think you can


    I agree with you as well. I want to burn more calories than I consume.
  • mightdomightnot
    mightdomightnot Posts: 181 Member
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    Maybe every time you make a healthy choice about the food you eat or the exercise you do the little gremlin inside encouraging you to make bad choices gets weaker and weaker until one day it has no say at all.

    keep going
  • elrington58
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    I am reading a new book on my i pad called the Beck Diet Solution. It seems really good so far. It is written by the daughter of the person who developed cognitive behavior therapy. It deals with attempting to change your negative thoughts towards dieting and teaching you how to deal with sabotaging thoughts. It might be worth you having a look.
  • msshiraz
    msshiraz Posts: 327 Member
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    Yes, if you plan ahead you set yourself up for success. This time of year especially, there are tons of bad goodies being brought into the office every single day. I look at them, and think..........do you really want to burnt that off? I no longer mindlessly look at something high in fat, sugar, carbs, ect and just take it. I do think about what its going to do- how long it will take to burn off- and is this the calories I want to log into MFP. And I am telling you, this works really well, if I really want it, I cut off a piece- one or 2 bites worth. I am notorious for it now- who cut a donut into thirds? They know it was me!

    Is it worth gaining- think of that in each bite. Also think about if you are hungry- and maybe its time for a meal or a healthy snack. When I am not hungry, these treats are rarely a temptation anyway.

    Also- try not to beat yourself up, we have done that enough these last years that we self sabotaged. All you can do is what you did- log it, talk about it, and probably be prepared to see some gain no the scale. Now mentally rewind and ask yourself what you could or should have done differently- learn from it, so you'll do it next time.

    It takes time to break habits- not an excuse for bad habits, but if you make poor choices, accept them, and be honest with yourself by logging it in your diary- I promise you that diary is going to be your best motivation ever!! And on you days of success, when you look back and maybe you put in the notes- so and so brought in cupcakes- I went to my desk and ate my apple. You are never going to regret that decision later.

    Nothing, nothing tastes as good as being fit feels!!
  • Quannicab
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    Yes, if you plan ahead you set yourself up for success. This time of year especially, there are tons of bad goodies being brought into the office every single day. I look at them, and think..........do you really want to burnt that off? I no longer mindlessly look at something high in fat, sugar, carbs, ect and just take it. I do think about what its going to do- how long it will take to burn off- and is this the calories I want to log into MFP. And I am telling you, this works really well, if I really want it, I cut off a piece- one or 2 bites worth. I am notorious for it now- who cut a donut into thirds? They know it was me!

    Is it worth gaining- think of that in each bite. Also think about if you are hungry- and maybe its time for a meal or a healthy snack. When I am not hungry, these treats are rarely a temptation anyway.

    Also- try not to beat yourself up, we have done that enough these last years that we self sabotaged. All you can do is what you did- log it, talk about it, and probably be prepared to see some gain no the scale. Now mentally rewind and ask yourself what you could or should have done differently- learn from it, so you'll do it next time.

    It takes time to break habits- not an excuse for bad habits, but if you make poor choices, accept them, and be honest with yourself by logging it in your diary- I promise you that diary is going to be your best motivation ever!! And on you days of success, when you look back and maybe you put in the notes- so and so brought in cupcakes- I went to my desk and ate my apple. You are never going to regret that decision later.

    Nothing, nothing tastes as good as being fit feels!!


    Thank you for your encouraging words. I need to stop beating myself up & continue to vent.
  • msshiraz
    msshiraz Posts: 327 Member
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    On a really good note- you are young. You have lots of time to change your habits now and enjoy many good years to come. I didn't start getting my act together until I was 38! It will be much easier for you to lose now than in 15 years.
  • Quannicab
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    Quannicab,

    I was having the same problem as you. Have you tried Lean Cuisines? I know it sounds crazy but they are really good. I am currently eating the Roasted Turkey with Apples. Every single one I've tried, I really liked. Make your daughter dinner and then eat one for yourself. If you consider switching her to a more healthy diet, you will want to eat what she is having and you won't feel deprived.

    As far as the sweets- I FEEL YOU! I will kill for some chocolate. I will allow myself to have 1 maybe 2 Hershey Kisses a night. 1 kiss= 22 calories. It is a good way to get the sweet chocolate taste in your mouth without the guilt. If eating them puts me over my calorie count, I don't eat them.

    I wish you the very best in your weight loss journey. I know it can be hard and you want to do good all the time but if you mess up one day, that's okay, start back up the very next day. You will only do as good as you allow yourself.

    Sending happy thoughts your way! -Jessica

    I didn't want to try Lean Cuisine or Weight Watchers because the cost adds up. Besides I want to do things the natural way; portion control, exercising and saying "No" to Little Debbie!! I must learn to eat/cook healthy meals
  • meshashesha2012
    meshashesha2012 Posts: 8,326 Member
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    i have a major sweet tooth. i stopped fighting it and every day i allow myself something sweet to it.

    sometimes it's good quality chocolate that i break off and eat in sections for a few days, other times it's ice creams, other times gummi bears.

    also dont beat yourself up about not cooking, i didnt start cooking my own meals until dec 12 2011 when i was 40 :laugh: prior to then(as an adult) my meals were all take out. heck i didnt even have an oven that worked for 6 years and i didnt even realize it was hooked up until i had lived in the apartment for a year and that was only because someone else was visiting and wanted to make some food :laugh:

    how i started was to take 3-4 of my favorite take meals and learn how to cook them myself. and then as time went on, i added more meals to that until i was at a point where i had several things i can do with the same ingredients. i still have a ways to go, but i'm leaps and bounds ahead of where i was this time last year

    as for the lean cuisines and healthy choice meals i agree that they are kind of a waste, at least for me. not only are they expensive but they are usually not enough food (at least not for me) and they have way too much sodium.

    you can always buy those reusable divided containers, put in your own stuff, place in the freezer and defrost when you want
  • JennKie1
    JennKie1 Posts: 200 Member
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    Sweets are a huge battle for me too. I think that if you completely deprive yourself, you will want them even more. I've been bad lately, too. (Still a lot of evil Halloween candy floating around at work)

    However, what I found that works well is this: I bought a bag of Dove Chocolate Promises. I put them in a drawer that I don't use often (so I won't see them / think of them). Every Monday I take out 5 chocolates and bring them to work (one for each day). I let myself have just one each day (and let it melt in my mouth so it lasts longer). If I happen to eat more than one (or eat them all at once), then I have no more for the rest of the week (that keeps me from really over-indulging - 5 in one day won't kill the diet). I don't bring more to work later in the week - if I run out, it's my own fault. It seems to help (for the most part). Some days I don't even eat them. I actually have the same bag of chocolates that I bought October 8th (the receipt is still in the bag)! That in itself is a HUGE, AMAZING miracle. In the "old days", I would have had that whole bag gone in one sitting!

    Weekends aren't usually bad for me because we do so much running around that I don't think about all of the goodies I'd like to have. The holidays are going to be a challenge for me though. I love cookies, egg nogg, candy, etc.....

    Hang in there. You can do it! :smile:
  • merkuri22
    merkuri22 Posts: 13 Member
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    I didn't want to try Lean Cuisine or Weight Watchers because the cost adds up. Besides I want to do things the natural way; portion control, exercising and saying "No" to Little Debbie!! I must learn to eat/cook healthy meals

    Regarding doing things the "natural way", there isn't anything magical to Lean Cuisine or Weight Watchers meals. One of the main ways they work is by limiting the size of your meal. A lot of people who aren't watching their weight will say, "boy, that's not a lot of food," when they look at a Weight Watchers meal. Not saying they're worth the price, but they're not all that unnatural.