Over calorie limit. What do I eat?

I just saw your one day of tracking and I can see why you overate. There's so many carbs in one day. I don't know where to begin. I can see how you ate all those calories. Like others said, don't drink your calories. A better breakfast would have been a piece of toast, an egg, and a fruit. Even better veggies mixed into the egg. That would have kept you feeling more full longer than the two pieces of bread. Instead of 3 packets of oatmeal, how about a real lunch? A salad, or soup, or something with a protein and veggies. As for KFC, that's not exactly the place you want to go for a healthy dinner. I can't stomach that anymore. It makes me feel so physically bad now.

Like others said, it's a lifestyle choice that you need to make. Even when I'm not tracking I still prefer to eat the same way as I do while tracking.

How did you feel after eating it all? I can't imagine you feeling full of energy. I know that I would feel bloated, tired and anxious (Mountain Dew).

Your body is the only body that you have. If you fed it the best foods available you would feel so much better. I know because I've been there. I used to eat a lot of carbs and wonder why I felt hungry all the time and tired.

My favorite thing to do is to go to like skinnytaste.com or cookinglight.com and find recipes that look yummy, pin them to my pinterest board and try them. It's amazing how many new dishes you can try and find out you love that's good for you.

I went to your diary and it only had one day filled in. Perhaps this was day one of your diet?

Here are my suggestions to help reduce your calories:

For breakfast you had banana bread and cranberry walnut bread. You could have just had the banana bread and added some yogurt or fruit.

Lunch, well three packets of oatmeal seems like a lot. I usually have one packet of regular unsweetened oatmeal but I add fresh fruit to it. The oatmeal was already sweetened so there was no need to add 4 tsp of brown sugar to it. You really need to cut out the mountain dew and swap it for water. Even if you had a crystal light single to the water would be better. So try one packet of oatmeal with blueberries or strawberries, mini carrots or cucumber, any veggies you enjoy. Some almonds or laughing cow cheese...think healthy.

Dinner....oh where do I start about your dinner. A Slurpee?? I assume you're trying to lose weight? DON'T DRINK YOUR CALORIES! Water water water! Kentucky fried chicken is so high in sodium. They offer the skinless bbq chicken now. But if you are going to choose to eat a piece with the skin then you need to compensate by giving up something else. Instead of the mac and cheese you could have had a side salad. And say no to the brownie. And one biscuit would have been enough.

Losing weight doesn't mean giving up everything you love, but it does mean finding a balance in life. You can't eat everything you love in one day. You may have to adjust breakfast and lunch to make room to have KFC. You're trying to develop a lifestyle that you can follow for the rest of your life, so start looking for healthy alternatives to the things you enjoy. Take the time to look at other peoples food diaries to give you some food ideas.

And as for the carb and sugar cravings, I found when I reduced the processed foods and kept my carbs to one or two servings a day and only had sugar in the form of fruit that after a week I wanted them less and less.

I hope this was helpful.

THIS!

As several others have said, don't drink calories. They don't fill you up and the sugar crash is going to make you want to eat too soon later. The slurpies have to go unless you are treating them as a treat...and then realize one drink is an entire meal of calories. I also saw you drank juice this morning. Skip juice....eat the fruit instead and drink water. Too many juices have sugar added that again just eats into your allowance for the day.

If you must eat out, then you need to start only getting grilled and watch the carbs in the buns. Avoid if you can or only use half the bun. Any kind of bread will need to be in moderation. Those biscuits you had were 180 calories each. Two of them were 20% of your calories for the day. I have to be very careful with any kind of biscuits/muffins. Better off eating the veggies instead.

NOT potatoes, unless in moderation. The starch/carbs eat up too much of your allowance for the day.

Plan your meals in advance to the extent you can. While you don't have to eliminate carbs, you need to make conscious decisions on what you are going to eat. Log in before you eat it so you see what it does for the rest of the day. Also weigh your food whenever possible so you see how much you are eating.

One of the posters mentioned something about how you felt after eating all that. I agree as I've been there and I know the awful bloated feeling and all it did was make me tired and not want to move. Speaking from my own experience, I ate like this because I ate FAST. If this is you, slow down and take your time. When I first started, I found if I worked out a bit before I ate (elliptical or walking were my primary exercises) I wasn't as hungry when done. I set out what I would eat on my plate in advance, logged it and stopped when it was gone. Until I got myself under control, my kids said I was the family garbage disposal so we didn't have to worry about leftovers.

One meal at a time. A day at a time. As mentioned before, this is a lifestyle change. I can eat anything I want....but I have to stay close to my calories for the day. Once I realized that the carbs didn't go far enough, it made it a lot easier to focus on the protein and veggies. For me the battle wasn't with my stomach.....it was with my brain.

Frozen yogurt in a tube. (GoGurt is the go to at my house because my 7 year old likes it.) I put the whole box in the freezer when I bring it home. He puts it in the lunch box and it's thawed but still cold at lunch. I eat it at night when I just need something sweet. It's only 90 calories, but it's very satisfying.

during the day, just cut back on the things you like. 1 biscuit instead of two. skinless grilled chicken instead of fried. (Easier said than done, I know. There is a KFC near my house and sometimes just the smell is enough to make me feel like I'm starving.)

Someone mentioned eating Kind bars - those and Luna bars are my go - to "sweets" during the day. skip the soda altogether - replace it with flavored water. My diary is open, take a look. Today was a fairly typical day for me. So was yesterday. I eat lots of salad and lots of fruit with peanut or sun butter. I eat 1/2 servings of the butters, though, they pack a high calorie punch for the whole thing.

Thank you all for the advise. I think that looking at some other journals is a good idea. I'm defiantly going to do that. Again tonight my cravings are so bad. I don't understand how I'm good all day and then have these crazy cravings in the evening. I'm like grinding my teeth trying not to give into my rumbling tummy. Whats going to help this? Doing good with the journaling today. I'm trying to decide what to grab now. Craving chocolaye. Like Krave cerial, brownies, cookies, yummmm! I did outmeal for supper so I totally have a lot of carbs alredy. Maybe ill try some like raman noodles or rice. I'm definatly not turned on to the thought of any fruits orveggies right now. Plus I got some ectra cals in the bank. Woohoo!

It's not easy at first and yes there's gonna be cravings for the first week or so. There's no trick, it's just about will power. You know fried chicken, a slurpie and brownie aren't good for so why are surprised you went over your a calories?

Thank you all for the advise. I think that looking at some other journals is a good idea. I'm defiantly going to do that. Again tonight my cravings are so bad. I don't understand how I'm good all day and then have these crazy cravings in the evening. I'm like grinding my teeth trying not to give into my rumbling tummy. Whats going to help this? Doing good with the journaling today. I'm trying to decide what to grab now. Craving chocolaye. Like Krave cerial, brownies, cookies, yummmm! I did outmeal for supper so I totally have a lot of carbs alredy. Maybe ill try some like raman noodles or rice. I'm definatly not turned on to the thought of any fruits orveggies right now. Plus I got some ectra cals in the bank. Woohoo!

Might be your monthly friend coming to pay a visit, too. Every month I have mad cravings for carbs, regardless of my protein/fat intake. If I'm not feeling fruits or veggies, I'll eat a small bowl of Special K cereal/skim milk with a packet of Splenda thrown in to help the sweet tooth. Ramen noodles rock, just keep in mind that a brick is actually two servings, so don't be fooled by the calorie count on that

I would recommend starting every meal (except breakfast, I guess?) with a big salad full of baby spinach, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, celery, carrot, capsicum, etc. Drink lots of water with it too. Then wait 20 minutes or so.... and have your main meal. You shouldn't need to eat as much to feel full. Also, you're getting lots of good nutrients that you probably weren't getting before.

I would also echo those who recommended planning your days in advance. If I know I am going out for dinner with friends, I'll make sure to have a low calorie breakfast and lunch, and get in lots of protein to keep me full. I'll also try to go for a walk or do something physical to "win back" calories.

Feel free to add me as a friend so you can see my diary and what I eat. You'll notice that today I'm having pasta for dinner (yay carbs!) but the portion size is small, my other meals are low calorie, and I've done some exercise. I hope this helps!

1. Meal timing doesn't matter. Stop worrying about the "late evening" food.
2. If you're binging on sugar and carbs, is it because you're restricting them too much?

As far as what you need to eat? Enough protein and fat to feel full. If you're not able to stay consistent, why are you trying to do something that's too un-stick-able in the first place? There's no magic food that makes you not want sweets.

Good advice. Here is mine:

Plan ahead. What are your goals? Plan your week ahead to make them happen.

Cook and prepare meals in advance so you always have a healthy option on hand.

Eat plenty of Protein and fat. For me, I need to keep my sugar intake down, it just makes me want more. If I don't have too many added sugars, I don't crave them.

If you really want more advice, open your diary so that people can see - it's hard to comment when there is the "unknown".

Stop overeating. Seems logical, but hey, if you are trying to lose weight, stick within your 1800 calories.

Join the binge group here for added support.

Drink more water.

Have you tried popcorn?

Have you tried popcorn?

Sod popcorn! That's no bang for buck at all.

Meat! Eat meat! Have an omelette for lunch. Scramble some eggs. Have cheese on toast.

Let everything you eat make you full.

Sugar lights your brain up just like a junkie. That's why you want it. Do get away from wanting it you have to stop eating it. For 3-4 minimum days eat vegetables, lots of them, learn proteins, lots of it, healthy fats like avocado and olive oil. Drink water, lots of it. When you want sweets, eat an apple with cinnamon sprinkled on it. It will take you a few weeks to break free of the junk, but you can do it. I went through that each time we went on vacation and I would eat whatever I wanted. But when I came home, all I wanted was the same junk I had been eating. Your taste buds want what they had the day before. Be tough, you can do this! Good luck!

Have you tried popcorn?

Sod popcorn! That's no bang for buck at all.

Meat! Eat meat! Have an omelette for lunch. Scramble some eggs. Have cheese on toast.

Let everything you eat make you full.

It depends on the problem. If I have the munchies, I'll go for popcorn or celery. Not very nutritious but it's enough to get me through those stages of 'i just need to eat everything in sight!'. If I'm actually hungry, I agree on the protein to fill me up.

yes, I admit - fair call. If you have the nibbles then popcorn without butter is a good idea (terrible idea with butter). so are carrot sticks and so forth.

But if you're out of calories and you're starving: protein's really cheap. Egg whites are 16 cals each. Chicken breast is almost nothing.

On a couple of occasions I've blown my calorie count and wondered what to have: I've gone and had a chicken stir fry, but without the rice. Saying no to vegetables is ridiculous, and saying no to healthy chicken meat is equally silly given how few calories it is, and how good for you it is. I can fill myself up for 200 cals, and while I do it I'm reaffirming the fact that I'm letting go of the mistake that sent me over in the first place. Does that make sense?

Who would know what she eats? She's logged two days in the last two weeks. She needs to log every da, and THEN try to fix where she is over-eating.

I know they say that, but I find it very hard to believe that you can burn 600 calories in an hour of Zumba, even though it is pretty intense.

Try pre-logging your food for the day first thing in the morning - that way you can see if you're going to be over, and rearrange your plans.

I aim for three proper meals and two or three snacks - they need to be relatively healthy, but they are generally things like cereal bars, grapes, nuts/dried fruit (weigh it out into a small container). I also have a WW chocolate-covered biscuit with my last cup of tea, or else one square of Lindt dark chocolate - that is my "good girl" treat.

I make it a rule to only eat what I've taken into work, and then only eat all of it if I really want it - not because its there. So I do have a WW biscuit for "emergencies" which I've resisited since April!

Finally, if you "need" more calories then try upping your exercise - a Zumba class gives you 600 calories an hour, Aerobics about 400 (depending on intensity). I try to use my allocated calories for "good" stuff - meat, veg, fruit - and exercise calories for the less vital stuff (like wine). That way if I am naughty I've earned it by honest sweat!