When You're Out of Calories and it's only 5pm...

2

Replies

  • tmr57
    tmr57 Posts: 22 Member
    I used this method once before and I am going to use it again here to track my food and it might work for you. Because I am hungrier at night I will use dinner as my first meal, then track breakfast and lunch the next day to make up my 24 hour period. I find that I can more easily eat light for breakfast and lunch if need be. Does this make sense?
  • 1223345
    1223345 Posts: 1,386 Member
    Pre-plan, if not then have the willpower and discipline to suffer.

    Yes. Of course, if more of us had that will power and discipline more people would look like you. :flowerforyou:
  • SeahorseDolphin
    SeahorseDolphin Posts: 131
    One more vote for pre planning.

    Also I recently changed my goal from 2 pounds a week to a less aggressive one, which gave me more to eat. The funny thing is that now I actually lose 2 pounds a week and I'm no longer hungry as opposed to before when I was starving and the scale was barely moving.
  • Willowana
    Willowana Posts: 493 Member
    On the RARE day that I don't pre-plan, I divide my calories up. No more than 300 for breakfast, 500 for lunch, and the rest for dinner and late night snacking.

    ....and I say no to crap food unless I'm absolutely sure it won't short me on calories for the rest of the day.
  • sappermarc
    sappermarc Posts: 2
    the worst thing you can do is to eat high-glycemic carbs - dooom. What you want to do is to eat low-glycemic index carbs so they release slowly and don't result in the devastating blood-sugar crash.

    search on YouTube for 'Quinoa Breakfast Recipe' by Heather Nauta.

    This is a good example. You can eat 500 calories of breakfast cereal (hi gi) or eat 500 calories of this recipe. The difference is obviously not the amount of calories.

    You eat the cereal and it will race into your bloodstream, start turning to fat and then soon you'll be hungry as your blood sugar crashes. Part of these calories have already gone to fat stores and your body doesn't want to cash it in!

    Eat the low-gi porridge and your blood sugar will rise slowly. Lets say it's getting on lunchtime and you're starting to feel hungry but for some reason you can't stop to eat - you'll find that your blood sugar doesn't crash, it just keeps letting down slowly.

    Do you want to have a miserable diet experience? Go ahead and eat 500 calories of bread for breakfast.

    To sum up using an example - instead of rice, lentils will keep you going much longer. You just have to be patient after eating as your blood sugar levels rise more slowly than you're used to.

    Hope this helps - works for me!
  • Willowana
    Willowana Posts: 493 Member
    the worst thing you can do is to eat high-glycemic carbs - dooom. What you want to do is to eat low-glycemic index carbs so they release slowly and don't result in the devastating blood-sugar crash.

    search on YouTube for 'Quinoa Breakfast Recipe' by Heather Nauta.

    This is a good example. You can eat 500 calories of breakfast cereal (hi gi) or eat 500 calories of this recipe. The difference is obviously not the amount of calories.

    You eat the cereal and it will race into your bloodstream, start turning to fat and then soon you'll be hungry as your blood sugar crashes. Part of these calories have already gone to fat stores and your body doesn't want to cash it in!

    Eat the low-gi porridge and your blood sugar will rise slowly. Lets say it's getting on lunchtime and you're starting to feel hungry but for some reason you can't stop to eat - you'll find that your blood sugar doesn't crash, it just keeps letting down slowly.

    Do you want to have a miserable diet experience? Go ahead and eat 500 calories of bread for breakfast.

    To sum up using an example - instead of rice, lentils will keep you going much longer. You just have to be patient after eating as your blood sugar levels rise more slowly than you're used to.

    Hope this helps - works for me!

    If you aren't going to finish that bread.....can I have it?
  • patti04005
    patti04005 Posts: 16 Member
    Try to log everything you eat no matter how painful that is! I think if you make yourself log what you decide to eat over your calories you will choose better options and you can make yourself accountable for what you are doing. Pick up some natural peanutbutter if you like peanut butter and scoop a tablespoon out and eat that with a couple celery sticks or just by it's self off the spoon. Sometimes that does the trick to feel satisfied. Good luck!
  • Nayelifierros
    Nayelifierros Posts: 1
    Even though I just recently joined, I've already lost 40 pounds alone by eating more frequent meals and snacks. Try apples. I was an apple freak. Crunchy food that are good and filing for you. Instead of a cupcake or what not try carrying things like carrots and health bars around.
  • keem88
    keem88 Posts: 1,689 Member
    i always have lower cal filling versions available incase something comes up at work, like a birthday and i have more than i have planned to already. something that always fills me up for usually less than 200 calories is a big old shirataki noodle stir fry. not everyone likes the noodles bc they are a slimy texture, but the entire skillet with a crap ton of veggies, and a protein added like tofu, chicken etc with a little soy sauce can keep you full for hours. that way if i am over i can always fall back on a lighter dinner without having to feel hungry all night.
    how many calories is your goal for the day?
  • freelancejouster
    freelancejouster Posts: 478 Member
    Happens. As long as it doesn't happen every day (or every other day) I don't see it as a problem. Try and stay close to maintenance (find out what yours is by a TDEE calculator) today and the week will work itself out.
  • sappermarc
    sappermarc Posts: 2
    Hnyuk
  • freelancejouster
    freelancejouster Posts: 478 Member
    Actually, after having read more of what you originally posted, the eating for maintenance is probably a good way to get out of the 'cheat day' mindset.
  • yuckidah
    yuckidah Posts: 290 Member
    I'm a calorie hoarder for this very reason- I never ever want to be at 0 before the day is over.
    So far so good - 16mths and haven't run out yet - but if I did (& was still hungry) I'd probably have a big salad and allow myself to go over by a couple of hundred rather than starve :smile:
  • moodyshannon15
    moodyshannon15 Posts: 39 Member
    I try to know head what I'm going to eat and plan for those calories. I known breakfast is x amount, lunch is x amount..and so on. I don't eat back my exercise calories. If I have a special occasion. I go knowing I can only eat small portions and start with fruit and veggies (if available) restraining myself is hard but its gonna be worth it!
  • Elliehmltn
    Elliehmltn Posts: 254 Member
    One cheat day leads to another. Sounds like you're having trouble with impulse-eating. I highly recommend this blog post on this subject.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/southcarolinaguy/view/what-i-learned-about-myself-on-the-way-to-fitness-513567

    I have been doing a whole lot better with a whole lot less impulse-eating since I read it. Especially the third paragraph -- describes me exactly. The old me, anyway. I'm not that eater anymore since reading this!
  • holothuroidea
    holothuroidea Posts: 772 Member
    1) Learn from your mistake. Pre-plan your food, limit your intake of treats on treat-y type days (stop at ONE cupcake, or half if it's big). Etc.

    2) Know what your TDEE is. You can go over on your calorie goal and if it's still below your TDEE you will not gain weight from it. If you have a day where you end up using up all your calories early and are still hungry, call it a maintenance day and aim for your TDEE.

    4) If you get hungry, eat. Try eating lots of veggies, raw and cooked, to help fill you up.

    5) Take it in stride and move on. You have not sabotaged all of your efforts. It is not a road block. It is not a problem. Just move on to the next day.
  • bnorris2013
    bnorris2013 Posts: 256 Member
    If i ate breakfast every day then I would have a problem with my calories - But I skip breakfast to make sure I have room for my meals and if I am low on calories nothing 10 minutes on the eliptical won't be able to give me room for
  • muddynicola
    muddynicola Posts: 41 Member
    Why don't you eat the extra calories first then do a workout to burn them off once you've got your blood sugar back on track?
  • SteelySunshine
    SteelySunshine Posts: 1,092 Member
    This is what works for me calorie wise (I struggle with getting my protein macro goal met)

    1. I delay breakfast if I get up significantly earlier than usual. Otherwise I know I will have no deficit at all by dinner and then I will go over.

    2. Soup, lots and lots of vegetables and yummy spices.

    3. And I will exercise if I am in serious danger of not having the deficit that I want. That is actually my motivation to move more. MFP has me at a 1950 calorie goal and if I think I am going to go over it my dog gets an extra walk. I try to make sure whatever I do that it is something fun. If nothing else my cable has lots of music channels and I can dance for a half an hour to an hour and get that extra 600 calories if I need them.

    4. I know that it's not considered a good strategy, but I will go to bed sometimes ravenously hungry, but usually just a bit hungry. My strategy is to not have huge stretches of time during the day where I will be horribly hungry. So, I might for example be somewhat hungry for a while in the morning not more than a half hour though and be hungry at night for a couple of hours, but not so much that I go crazy if that's the case I will make a salad. So far that is working for me.
  • HRLaurie614
    HRLaurie614 Posts: 260 Member
    Log it anyway. At worst, it might help you make different decisions in future.

    ^^^ Good advice!
  • SteelySunshine
    SteelySunshine Posts: 1,092 Member
    Whoops one more thing. I don't log my daily calories before the day. I do all my calorie planning at the grocery store. If an something I want isn't going to fit into my eating goals I don't buy it. I leave all the junk at the store so even if I do have a craving, it's unlikely I will go to the store to give into it. And even if I did go to the store to give into it that is a 30 minute walk so, I have earned at least a part of those calories. So, mostly it's a matter of going to the grocery store and making sure my cart is full of mostly non processed foods and things that are healthy. That being said sometimes I come really really close to going over my MFP plan.
  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 8,008 Member
    Log it and do a cardio session to earn back some calories.
  • KaraAlste
    KaraAlste Posts: 168 Member
    I can relate to not wanting to work out at night. If I were you, I would do my best to choose a low calorie dinner like fruits and veggies and a fried egg or something. Then, the next morning I would work on a plan for the day. I would double check my calories to make sure they are high enough for a realistic life. I would see when I could squeeze in that extra walk w/the kids or self defense class. And voila', back on track. :happy:
  • Tabitha81
    Tabitha81 Posts: 14 Member
    I think I might give this a try to help combat cravings due to not being prepared!
  • MrGonzo05
    MrGonzo05 Posts: 1,120 Member
    I eat early, so this is pretty normal to me.

    I get worried when I'm out of calories at 5 am. :laugh:
  • leonaedithlewis
    leonaedithlewis Posts: 75 Member
    I make sure to track everything I ate even if I am blowing my calorie target. I believe I can't "make up" for eating large amounts of calories early in the day with skipping meals late in the day. So if I run out of calories by 5pm, I just go over calories that day with a healthy low calorie Meal and start over the next day. If you are starving then you are more likely to give up. And if you dont track, you have no way of measuring progress with healthy eating and coming up with solutions to problems like impulsive eating. It's all about continuous improvement, not perfection.
  • TheStephil
    TheStephil Posts: 858 Member
    One day isn't going to destroy you. Some days I'm hungrier than others so I eat a reasonable meal and track it. Eat a little less the next day. Overall it's better to look at your calories for the week, not daily. Calling the day a loss and just eating whatever you want won't help you in the long run. However, if you eat an extra 400 calories one day and then eat a few hundred less the next few days. An extra few hundred calories once in awhile won't destroy your weight loss journey.
  • pumpkinspice84
    pumpkinspice84 Posts: 160 Member
    Like others have said I pre-plan my meals and log them in. That way I know what snacks I can have. I also work out and that helps. If I know I am going to have a bad day like from a party, holiday eating out I plan for it. If I was going to use a lot of calories before dinner I would plan a light dinner that night. If I go a tad over I don't make a big deal over it. Just work out hard the next day and make better choices.
  • splashblob
    splashblob Posts: 249 Member
    I had the same problem and now I revert back to my old eating habit before I started gaining weight. Eat 2 meals a day, start the first meal of the day at noon/afternoon. If I have breakfast or eat something early, I will get hungry throughout the day.

    If i'm out of calories early...I drink or eat the lowest cal food I have at that time-usually a cup of non fat yogurt, and if possible, go to sleep. I found that in my case, sleep kill appetize/hunger and when I get up, I don't even feel hungry also.
  • kellymiller23
    kellymiller23 Posts: 16
    I find it much easier to pre-plan all my foods and to already have them logged. That way I know that my calorie and macro goals are going to be met provided I don't binge on something else. This allows me to spread out my meals however I see fit.

    I do this every night for the following day. It really helps to have my day planned ahead of time. I plan something yummy (yet healthy) for later in the day so I have it to look forward to, and help fight temptation.

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