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EMMK130
EMMK130 Posts: 5
in Food and Nutrition
I keep going over 1200 calories and feeling frustrated! Any tips on how to stay under?

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  • maydianna
    maydianna Posts: 26 Member
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    Open up your journal for viewing so that we can give specific advice :)
  • MaryTheIceCube
    MaryTheIceCube Posts: 1,099 Member
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    I tend to check nutrition information labels before I eat anything these days, and in the case of not having the labels for certain foods, I try to look up nutrition values here on MFP before I make my food choices -- this tends to help with "budgeting" calories for each day, each meal, so that I don't end up going over very often. I hope this helps! :)
  • Rynatat
    Rynatat Posts: 807 Member
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    Although we can't see your diary, keep in mind that if you exercise, you'll hit your goal sooner PLUS you'll be toning & strengthening as you go which means you'll tighten & firm up and won't have to worry about too much excess skin folds or cellulite (yes, working out minimizes the cottage cheese :tongue: and my 35yr old thighs are proof!).
    Be careful of quick meals, protein shakes, meal replacement bars and processed foods: aside from just sodium overload, their cal contents often are too high and still leave you hungry which means you eat something else and your cals go up. I avoid the bars & shakes because while they'll curb my hunger for about 1hr, I'll be starving withing that 1 hour and have to eat real food:ohwell: Apparently, my body knows the difference between real nutrition & the "replacement" nutritions and prefers real :tongue:
  • Jendf
    Jendf Posts: 36 Member
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    My calories are also set to 1200. I usually stay on track or barely go over. If I have a small amount of calories left over by the afternoon I go put in a workout after work to earn more calories. I have found the most important thing for me is to avoid eating out. It's much harder to determine what is in the food and it's usually loaded with calories, fat and sodium. I try to have 5 or 6 small meals a day and space them 2 1/2 hours apart. I eat lean meats, fruits veg, whole grains and fat free or skim dairy products. It'swas a hard change for me to make, but you'll get there, have confidence!!
  • lisataborrice
    lisataborrice Posts: 2 Member
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    Ask yourself why you keep going over. I have to keep alcohol and salt out of my diet or my cravings get the best of me. Small meals, don't drink any calories and go to bed early! As soon as you calories are up for the day brush your teeth and get to bed asap.
  • sjcply
    sjcply Posts: 817 Member
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    If u exercise you will have more calories to go over with. Plus you are doing your body good! :bigsmile:
  • obifatkanobi
    obifatkanobi Posts: 190
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    Set up a daily menu. Sit down and write out everything you want to eat during the day, enter it in and adjust it until your at your calorie goal, or if your over, adjust your exercise. Doing it this way, you know first thing in the morning what you need to do to stay on track for the current day. We set up a weekly menu, to keep us inside our goals, cut down on food bills, and remove that problem of wondering what to eat, and then going for the easy stuff instead of the healthy. I will admit, we let ourselves slip with this, but after doing it for a while, we are still doing good. Even so, we are going to reinstate this into our diet plans.

    It sounds difficult, but actually it isn't if you eat similar foods everyday. For instance, breakfast for us is almost always cereal and milk, so we don't need to write it in to the menu unless it changes, we just figure in our highest calorie cereal every day. For lunch, we have a limited choice of foods, all in the same calorie range, so again, there is no need to list them. Our snacks are all set up to be the same for calories, so again, no listing them. All that's left is dinner. This can be a bit challenging, but over time, you have a list of old menus to look at and choose from.

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