Food diary

Yes, I always try to log in a vague idea of what I will be eating. Like right now, for example, I am putting in what I plan on having for breakfast tomorrow. Obviously things come up and it changes, but for the most part I try and stick to this. After I have breakfast in the morning I gauge how much I will be working out and that helps me plan the rest of my day. Hope this helps! It's really up to you and your schedule!

I do try to plan my menus out before hand....that way I'm less tempted to eat more. I try to eat as clean as possible.....lots of black beans, brown rice, Greek yogurt, homemade breads, lean meats (like turkey and fish).....Hmmmm!? Come to think of it....I haven't had any fish in awhile! I'll add that to my menu for tomorrow!

i usually prep plan my meals and most times and in the morn i already have an idea what the day's meal will be and i stick with it, and if i dont i usually have extra points to spare. 4 e.g 2day i had over 600 cals 2 spare that allowed me to attend my class party and have a tomato bread & macaroon. another thing is when u exercise u have extra cals just in case u decide to eat more and of course i work out more b4 if i plan 2 indulge

First, let me say that I thought I was doing a pretty good job eating today and then I went to log it into the food diary for the first time and couldn't believe how many calories I had consumed. What are you guys eating to be under your calorie limit? Any tips? I think I need to do better planning. Do you log your food before you eat to see if it will fit within your calorie limit? Thanks for the help, I'm a newbie!

In order to get the most nutrition from each meal, I fill in my meals before I eat them. I do this for a few days and see how I feel and then I basically repeat previous days meals (like a menu) if what I have been eating helps me stay active. I rotate the daily menus too so I don't get bored with what I am eating. Doing this helps me stick to a grocery budget, which in turn saves me money.

I work out on a regular basis, and I find it helps to eat 50%-75% of the extra calories I earn from exercising. But if you aren't feeling starved each day, you don't need to eat those extra calories you gain from working out.

It can be quite a shock to see just how much you may be eating once you start keeping a food journal. Don't feel bad about this though. If you find that you need to adjust what you're eating to incorporate more healthy food choices, it may help to slowly transition out certain less healthy food groups. For instance you could start by cutting out refined sugar one week, then the next week switching to whole grains, and the following week including more fruits and vegetables in your daily intake. I don't know what you're eating specifically, so these are just suggestions.

If you find that what you eat is healthy, but maybe you eat too much of those foods, you could take a few days to get used to eating smaller portions. Some tips include:

- Eat from smaller plates. Salad plates are often times a more appropriate sized plate when one is trying to keep portions sizes in check. Plus, your plate will look packed with food.
- Eat more frequently by having small snacks a couple times per day that include a lean protein, healthy fat, and some healthy carbs. These small snacks could be 100-200 calories depending on your needs.
- When I get in the rut of eating too much and I need to let my stomach get used to eating slightly less, I stick to the "rule of fist" trick. It means that if I am eating a meal, I only take a serving that would fill the volume of my clenched fist or the area roughly the size of my open hand. Doing this allows me enough food to not be hungry while allowing my stomach to get used to eating less. It also has helped me learn to understand what it feels like to be "adequately full" and not stuffed. After a few days of this, my body adjusts to the smaller meals and it makes it easier to stay within my normal intake ranges.
- I tend to do best with a higher daily protein intake. It makes me feel fuller when I eat about 20-30 grams of protein with each meal. You may have different needs of course.

Hope this helps! And good luck with your journey!

i stay away from bread even toast cuz it uses up lots of calories

Play with different food entry's. You'll get the hang of it. When you see something is high in cal, fat, sodium or carb. Think of how you could lower it, Maybe by choosing lower calorie bread like weight watchers. Cut portions, sometimes thats all you need. Adding lower carb fruits and vegies along with what your already eating can add fullness with almost no calories.
Get a food scale, you'll be surprised how different a real portion size is. you can get a cheep on on amazon. When you see how little a portion of what your eatiing should be, you'll realize why you gained weight in the first place. Go to recipes and create recipes of what you like to eat. You can put how many servings in each recipe and make sure you only eat a serving. also it lets you play with the ingredients to make it better for you. Make your own tomato sauce with lots of veggies instead of meat and add it to serving of pasta and 4 oz grilled chicken.... Veg. soups. Cut down on breading. instead of dregging and frying. Add a 1/2 tbl. of mayo. to 2 tbls. of breadcrumbs and put it on 4 fish filets or 4 chicken breast and bake it. You'll be shocked how good it is, without all the carbs and cal. of heavy breaded meats. Use cooking spray instead of a lot of oil when you can.
I have lost 23 lbs without feeling hungry. Oh and no exercise. Be careful when you go to the store. Stop buying things that will tempt you. If it's in the house you'll eat it! Keep lots of friuts, bag salads, popcorn ( jollytime has a 100 cal. full size bag) I usually
eat half at night and save the rest for snacking the next day. Keebler wheatables with 1 oz of cheese ( laughing cow) or an apple with a tablespoon of peanutbutter for dipping. 4 oz of yogurt with a cup of frozen berries ( thaw in microwave for a min). A salad at night with pleanty of vegies and only a tbl. of dressing, tbl of sherdded cheese. It's all about not giving up! Soon you'll be doing it without even trying.

I always plan my meals at least a day in advance. It's so much easier for me and I do try to mix it up a little so I don't feel like I'm eating the same things day in and day out. I think I have my food diary set to public so you're more than welcome to have a look and see what my eating habits are every day. I think the only thing I've struggled with is to stay under on sodium but I'm slowly working on tweaking that to stay under.