I am over-shooting calorie intake everyday

soshiv
soshiv Posts: 13 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I am over-shooting/over-eating on a daily basis. I am having difficult time staying within the restricted calories.

I work out every day (5-6 times a week).

I am vegetarian.

Weekends are worse in my food intake (I hit 3K calorie this past sunday).
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Replies

  • Phaedra2014
    Phaedra2014 Posts: 1,254 Member
    What can you do to not overshoot calories every day?
  • devil_in_a_blue_dress
    devil_in_a_blue_dress Posts: 5,214 Member
    What's your daily goal?

    I would almost bet you it is too restrictive.
  • just_Jennie1
    just_Jennie1 Posts: 1,233
    Are you losing weight and/or inches?

    Perhaps you need to adjust your calories so that you're eating the amount you're "overshooting" by.
  • ChristiH4000
    ChristiH4000 Posts: 531 Member
    I struggle with this too (especially on weekends and find myself going above 3k) and find that it's usually a result of my own lack of planning. Try to plan a full day of food ahead of time and see if it's easier to stay at goal. I'll try to take my own advice and put it into practice too.
  • conniemaxwell5
    conniemaxwell5 Posts: 943 Member
    Opening your diary would help us give you better advice.
  • rustyguy
    rustyguy Posts: 51 Member
    Weekends are bad for me because my routine is different. I have to keep myself very busy and preoccupied to stay in the rhythm I follow during the week. In my case, idle hands find the cookie jar.
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
    That's nice.

    If you open your diary we can be more helpful.
  • BeanQueen3000
    BeanQueen3000 Posts: 161
    Opening your diary would help us give you better advice.

    This.
  • Maaike84
    Maaike84 Posts: 211 Member
    open your diary, so we can be more helpful.

    Other than that: when I was still a vegetarian, the culprit was usually cheese.
  • MorgueBabe
    MorgueBabe Posts: 1,188 Member
    Opening your diary would help us give you better advice.
  • AlongCame_Molly
    AlongCame_Molly Posts: 2,835 Member
    a. your calorie deficit is probably too aggressive.

    b. plan out your day with pre-made snacks and meals, and keep them readily available. Keep other foods difficult to access, i.e., close out the kitchen, avoid parties or get-togethers where you know there will be goal-blowing temptations, at least not without eating first.
  • SarahJains
    SarahJains Posts: 35 Member
    3000 is one hell of a lot of calories to take in ! Open your diary so we can see what you are eating :)
  • Holly_Roman_Empire
    Holly_Roman_Empire Posts: 4,440 Member
    Since you say you're working out 5-6 times a day, are you eating your exercise calories? You can, you know.
  • sch1994
    sch1994 Posts: 57 Member
    I log everything i eat just before my meal, and then i will not let my self eat to late, and to stop my hunger i drink allot of cold water or have a mug of hot chocolate made with water and a little milk, its hard but if you really want the weight to go you have to stick to them, as they know what they are talking about!
  • DawnieB1977
    DawnieB1977 Posts: 4,248 Member
    Are you eating certain really calorific foods that you could cut back on, or is it just lots of different things?

    What's your height and weight, and goal weight? Also, how many calories do you burn when you work out?
  • michellewelch2010
    michellewelch2010 Posts: 147 Member
    I always make sure I have packages of high protein meal replacement shakes with a blender bottle and protein bars that are not high cal (and that meet my 40% Protein, 40% Carb and 20% Fat goal) everywhere I go. This way if a meeting or my errands run longer than I expected I can have a quick meal rather than run to a restaurant. Protein will help curve your hunger. If you are a social eater, try to make plans for after dinner hour so you are not tempted to eat restaurant food.
  • soshiv
    soshiv Posts: 13 Member
    OK. I opened my food and please don't judge me too harshly. Many of the things are from Indian menu.

    I have gone "yo-yo" on weight. Up 1lbs. Down 2lbs. Then up. on a Daily basis. So pretty much remained the same since joining MFP (2 wks).

    When choosing food, I just added what was there in the MFP database. I erred on the side of MORE calories/servings instead of less.

    I am going to follow the advice on planning and writing down in MFP food before I actually eat.

    * At times, I know I shouldn't be eating but I just can't help it. Sometime on weekend, when whole family is eating, I have especially difficult time controlling, when others are eating.

    *I eat a lot of salad and don't count those points (just add salad dressing if it is not fat-free or things like mustard/vinegar).
    But I sometimes don't feel like eating salad.

    I have difficult time not-eating when not hungry. I am trying to find something else to do...like cleaning or finding a new hobbies to occupy me.

    What a struggle. It is depressing. I want to have total control over this.

    Thx to all for responding!
  • soshiv
    soshiv Posts: 13 Member
    5'6''. 180ish. Eventual Goal 150. Presently want to be in 170s.
  • PriceK01
    PriceK01 Posts: 834 Member
    Weigh everything and start logging accurately, stop guessing so much.

    Also, a quick glance looks like you're high on carbs and low on protein. Try incorporating more protein into your diet. It will help keep you from feeling so hungry, as well as help maintain lean body mass while on a caloric deficit.
  • bumblebreezy91
    bumblebreezy91 Posts: 520 Member
    What you do is go to 'settings' and open your diary so we can give you the more personal advice you asked for.

    Generic advice without seeing your diary: more water, fluctuations happen so if you're weighing yourself everyday and can't be emotionally detached from the number on the scale you need to stop, new exercise programs can make scale weight go up temporarily, less sodium, don't restrict your calories too much or you risk 3K-calorie binges, open your diary.
  • sassyjae21
    sassyjae21 Posts: 1,217 Member
    I'm no expert here, but your meals are pretty high calorie. Do you think eating half the portion size would be doable? That would help a lot. I don't know how big your plates are, but I would hope they were pretty big with that amount of calories. It may be possible for you to eat slower, and eat half of the portions instead?
  • lavaughan69
    lavaughan69 Posts: 459 Member
    It's really hard to give advice on how to control eating. I wish I had something I could offer up, but all I can really say is stick to it and try your best. Sometimes its a frame of mind that you have to get into. I started my diet off last spring by using the 5:2 method, which was taking two days a week, any days, and only eating 500-600 calories. It's not easy but it helps you put into perspective what real hunger feels like and it really helps with cravings.

    Another thing that I would do is drink a glass of water instead of snacking or drink a big glass of water before eating so you feel more full and eat less.

    I also found that looking through the success thread gave me inspiration. Spend some time looking at all the success stories and the results people get from logging everything and staying focused.

    Willpower is not an easy thing to master...if it were then we wouldn't all be dieting! :laugh:
  • sadieky1974
    sadieky1974 Posts: 4 Member
    Just doing a quick scan of the last several days, it looks like portion control is one issue. Actually, measure the foods you are eating so that you can decide if it's worth spending your calories.

    Also, it looks like a lot of the ethnic foods you are eating are very calorie heavy.
    One of two things to look at here:
    1) are these homemade? if so (and maybe even if its premade/storebought), the calorie count is probably different than what is on the database. You can go into the my recipes and customize and put your recipes in with your ingredients and get a more accurate number
    2) Once you have figured out the actual calorie content of what you are eating, look for lower calorie substitutes in your recipes. I see that you are already using skim milk, etc. See if you can make some substitutions.

    Don't give up. Make small changes and add more along the way. You did not gain the weight in a month and you won't take it off that fast either!

    Good luck!!:flowerforyou:
  • Confuzzled4ever
    Confuzzled4ever Posts: 2,860 Member
    As a vegetarian, do you eat any meat?? fish? poultry? Dairy? there are so many different kinds. If you eat fish, add tuna to your salad or if you eat eggs, cut them up and put on the salad. If not. Look up high protein vegetarian foods and add that to your salads.

    You are only getting 50g of protein a day. You'll feel fuller and more satisfied if you can increase this macro.

    What do you do for exercise?

    Have you calculated your BMR and TDEE? (If not google scoobys calculator and do it)

    Increase your water intake and decrease juice and other beverages. Orange juice tastes good but is generally full of mostly water and sugar, so you're not getting many benefits from it. It's better to eat rather then drink your calories, esp if you are always feeling hungry.

    Pre-plan your day and went you will eat. that helped me a lot. (My diary is broken up into time slots for this purpose. I know what I am eating and when. It makes it easier to wait out the half hour.

    Are you sure you are eating out of hunger? and not boredom? I used toe at to quell boredom. Terrible habit and it's hard to tell the difference sometimes. Over the summer i was slowly gaining some weight an I couldn't figure out why, until I realized I was "grazing" my way through the kitchen everyday. Those little bit add up.

    get a scale and weigh your food, so you know exactly what you are eating. Evidently if you are not losing, you are eating more then you think you are, even if you think you are over estimated your MFP entries.

    Use the recipe builder for things you make at home from scratch. You never know what is in the recipes in the MFP database and the calories are often vastly different.

    Log your salads!! Salads have calories! And they add up! I log everything, every day and my salads can be over 100 calories just on their own. If not accounted for this can add up to a lot of extra calories over time!
  • MorgueBabe
    MorgueBabe Posts: 1,188 Member
    Yeah it looks like you eat too much in one sitting. I think you need to start to weigh your food.
  • Confuzzled4ever
    Confuzzled4ever Posts: 2,860 Member
    I also noticed pretty high on the amount of sodium. Sodium makes you retain water, ergo causing weight gain (or stalling). Reduce sodium intake or drink two tons of water to flush it all out.
  • soshiv
    soshiv Posts: 13 Member
    Thank you all. I guess I need to learn more about how to use the information on Food tab (protein/sodium intake etc).

    Some really good suggestions. I will use time slots (in between meal, meals are my downfalls). Increase protein intake. Do portion control and use recipe builder. Plan the meals.

    I am going to fast (eat once) tomorrow and will report back.
  • MorgueBabe
    MorgueBabe Posts: 1,188 Member

    I am going to fast (eat once) tomorrow and will report back.

    What why?
  • daw0518
    daw0518 Posts: 459 Member
    I always eat 1 cup of cereal to 1/2 cup of milk & it's the perfect amount with no leftover milk. That's not particularly helpful, but 40 calories is 40 calories!
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
    Fasting is not the answer. You are falling into disordered eating patterns.

    You need to exercise control over your portions.

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