Eat throughout the day, then nothing is left for supper!

nickiejohnson
nickiejohnson Posts: 58
edited September 22 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi all! I just started this week and I thought I was doing really good! I eat a small breakfast and always pack either soup and a sandwich or soup and a salad every day for work. I know you're supposed to snack throughout the day so I always pack yogurt or reduced fat crackers to snack on. Well, if you look at my dairy, after eating my 'supposed' healthy lunch and 2 snacks, I hardly have anything left for supper! And by the time I get home, cook something for my husband I am starving! I don't feel that I eat too much, compared to what I used to through the day, but I feel like I am constantly starving or not being able to eat enough!

I know the more you exercise the more you can eat! I am going to begin exercising more regularly when I get my elliptical fixed, and I like going for walks but the last couple of days have been freezing and raining and I can't walk in that!!

I would really appreciate some tips!!

Replies

  • ka_42
    ka_42 Posts: 720 Member
    Okay so... I know everyone says not to do this but I eat some or not any of my exercise calories back. It really hinders my progress to eat them back especially because I don't have a heart rate monitor and I'm only estimating calories burned. With the winter months approaching I don't want to walk outdoors either! I've found work out videos to be really great. Jillian Michaels 30 day shred is amazing!

    As for having enough calories to eat throughout your day I try to make a plan to meet so many calories per "meal" For example, 300 calorie breakfast, 100 calorie snack, 250 calorie lunch, 400 calorie dinner, 150 calorie snack. I looked at your diary from yesterday, if I were you I'd make my lunch smaller and eat only the soup. Good luck to you!! Feel free to look at my diary- I'm not keeping up as well with it as I used to but some days are pretty decent~! :)
  • SP0472
    SP0472 Posts: 193 Member
    I found that it took about 2 weeks for the hunger to stop. There's no rule about snacking - if you're not hungry, you don't have to snack. I didnt see your diary so I don't know what you're eating, but I can say...eat back any exercise calories if you're hungry. If you're snacking but not hungry - don't snack and save those calories for dinner.

    I find myself snacking just out of habit/boredom and not out of hunger most days.

    Also, if you've set your profile to lose 2lbs a week, you can reset it for 1lb a week and that'll give you more calories to work with during the day.
  • Hey! :) I can relate to your post, as i am a CONSTANT snacker. i pretty much am eating all day long. I still manage to keep it to about 1500 calories a day though. One trick i used is switching most of my snacking to veggies and fruits. Fruits and veggies have the benefit of 1) making you feel full because of their fiber and water content (both of which are calorie-free, and thus give you more fullness for your food intake), and 2) being filled with great tastes and phytonutrients. Instead of crackers, you might try carrots, are crunchy as well but might be lower calorie for the volume of food eaten.

    Another trick is to make my meals into multiple small portions (like instead of a burger at noon, i'd eat 3 sliders and space them out -- 11:30, 12:00, 12:30, so i always have something to nibble.) I'm not sure what your diet or calorie goals are, but for me, a typical day might look like this:

    Breakfast
    Coffee (unlimited, with splenda)
    Egg white omelet with 5 eggs and veggies like mushrooms, peppers, spinach, etc (about 200 calories)
    3 plums (100 calories) 10 am, 11 am, 11:30 am per plum

    Lunch
    2 open faced sandwiches (one eaten at noon, one eaten at 1 pm) using:
    2 Morningstar "chicken" patties (total of 160 calories)
    2 slices whole wheat bread (total of 160 calories)
    1 head romaine lettuce split in half (one half for each sandwich) as the topper for the sandwich (10 calories)
    Mustard

    Snacks (at 1:30, 2, 3)
    2 apples (150 cal total)
    1 chocolate chip cookie (small, 100 cals)

    Then for dinner it's a huge salad with balsamic vinegar or lemon juice, salt, and pepper (about 50-100 calories total) or steamed veggies dressed similarly with a grilled lean protein like tuna, shrimp, or chicken breast (about 200 calories worth.) And more fruit and veggies of course!! :)

    best of luck :)
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