What to do when you hit your allowance too early.
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^this0
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It's OK to be hungry once in a while when you're eating less than you need, too.
I had a hard time learning this ^^^ lesson!
Same here! It does get a bit easier after a month or two as you get used to it!0 -
Eat your peanut butter on the apple instead of on bread. You can probably afford to have more than a teaspoon, and the protein and fat in the peanut butter will keep you full longer than the bread.0
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I did 1200 calories diet for 2 months. I switched all my regular foods to fat-free, surgar-free, diet or lite versions wherever possible. This cut down on many calories.
Invent low-cal recipies: instead of pizzza i melt fat-free cheese on a racecake in the microwave; and then put on sliced jalapeño peppers and garlic. Gross? maybe but its only 80 calories instead of 350 calories for a 5 inch cheese pizza.
I stopped eating foods that are incredibly hard to stop eating. i.e. CHIPS of all kinds.
I exercised EVERY day. If an hour is too long for me I break it up into two 30 minute workouts or 3 twenty minute workouts. etc. and then I ate back ALL of my exercise calories. This gives me 200-400 calories.0 -
I don't think it sounds gross at all. It sounds good! (The jalapeños would be too hot for me, but tomato instead would do the job.)I did 1200 calories diet for 2 months. I switched all my regular foods to fat-free, surgar-free, diet or lite versions wherever possible. This cut down on many calories.
Invent low-cal recipies: instead of pizzza i melt fat-free cheese on a racecake in the microwave; and then put on sliced jalapeño peppers and garlic. Gross? maybe but its only 80 calories instead of 350 calories for a 5 inch cheese pizza.
What a great idea!!0 -
I've never been good at pre-logging my foods (I always change my mind when mealtime comes), but I do try to pre-log my cals... i.e. I'll budget 350-400 cals for breakfast, around 350 for lunch and about the same for dinner. That leaves a bit for snacks... I choose high volume, low cal, high protein snacks (like cole slaw mix--dry--with seasoned tinned tuna and balsamic vinegar, or zucchini spirals/'noodles' with a lean meat sauce, or a light cheese with rice crackers). This helps me stay "around my goal" for each time of day right up to the end.
Like others here, I've been known to sneak in a walk to bump up my calorie allotment for those "extra hungry" days.0 -
Hi all.
Thanks for all the great advice. Acouple things i should have mentioned earlier that ive noticed from replies:
My stats are: 20 years old, 151cm and 88kg. Id prefer not to open up my diary as im not 100% proud of what ive had to eat the last few days... Im getting there though!
My strawberry and banana smoothie consists of: raspberries, strawberries, banana, yogurt, milk, protein power and a fibre supplement for medical reasons.
Ive tried prelogging, but something always seems to come up to put that off track (for example today i forgot to eat breakfast and when i got to uni i ate breakfast at the cafe... 650 cals later!!!!)
When i have peanut butter, i only have a teaspoon
Anyone able to duggest some good other snacks?
So your BMR is actually 1677, so you could be eating a lot more. Even at lightly active, your TDEE comes in at 2306.
If you ate your BMR every day (which gives you significantly more calories to consume) you would still be creating a deficit of 629 calories per day and able to lose 1.5lbs per week.
You would also have a better chance at a better fat to muscle ratio so that your body composition will be better at the end of your weight loss.
So i should only be eating 1677cals per day? I put my stats in mfp and it gave me 1370... Strange. Maybe ill manually change it.
On a side note, i have to make lasagne tonight... What do I do to avoid those unspeakable numbers of calories?!? Any advice?0 -
For the lasagne I think you have a few options. You could make it the regular way and eat a tiny portion (no fun). Or save some of the mince/tomato mix to eat with mixed vegetables while the others eat the lasagne. That's what I would do as you get a big plateful of food but skip the pasta and creamy sauce. I think there is a way to make lasagne with sliced veg and low fat sauces but that's too complicated if you are cooking the family meal.0
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Eat your peanut butter on the apple instead of on bread. You can probably afford to have more than a teaspoon, and the protein and fat in the peanut butter will keep you full longer than the bread.
Except a lower calorie, high fiber, whole grain slice of bread has fewer calories, less sugar, and the same, if not more fiber than an apple.0 -
I plan and log all my meals and snacks a day in advanced so I know exactly what I'm having and at what time.. And I even leave myself 200-300 calories for an unplanned night time snack knowing I'll probably get a little hungry sometime after dinner.. That's the only way I've made my calorie limit spot on each and every day..0
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Go for a 3 mile walk before dinner that will give you more calories
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Fruit is great but i find it's very little "bang" for its caloric buck. It keeps me full for about 4 seconds. I could eat some grapes for 70 calories, or i could eat an ounce of cheese which satisfies for way longer. Not saying cut out all fruit of course, but perhaps change up your eating to include more satiating foods?0
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If you really love peanut butter like I do try tweaking it so you get the flavor but it's lower cal.
Ex. blend your pb with some canned pumpkin. (get in some nutrients and perfect for fall! )
or have you ever tried PB2? that saves a lot of calories as well.0 -
Instead of noodles, try long thin slices of zucchini.
- shorter cook time
- its in season
- definitely lower cal.0 -
I think the better question to ask is "What can I do so that I DON'T hit my allowance too early?"0
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I just try to get in a bit more cardio if I see I'm not going to have enough calories left for the rest of the day.0
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Work out more and earn back some exercise calories!0
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May not be the answer you want but PLAN. Since your diary is closed I'm not sure what your daily allowance is and I can't suggest alternatives to what you're eating to help you "afford" more food later in the day. Eating if you're still hungry after your calorie allowance has been met (as has been suggested) is all well and good but if serious weight loss is your goal, then you absolutely MUST get in the habit of planning your food for the day so that you have some left at the end for an evening meal. I am on the upswing from a small setback (summer of "eating when I'm hungry" and not enough planned exercise) but in the past and currently, I am most successful when I put in the time and effort to log my planned food for the day the night before. It prevents me from snacking on unhealthy crap during the day (one of my bad habits) because "I think" I can 'afford' it. This is not to say I don't eat constantly. I do. Seriously. If I'm not teaching I'm munching....but on the right things. Having little things to snack on in between meals helps me to not feel like I'm starving despite only having a calorie allowance of under 1500. Planning ahead also keeps me from picking up fast food I can't afford or reminds me to plan an extra long workout to make up for the extra food/calories if I know I'll be having a big supper/eating out/etc.
Try it for a week. See how it works for you. I promise you won't regret it. I know we all get busy sometimes, but being busy is no excuse not to make an effort to plan if your goal is to be healthier/eat healthier/ look better. It's worth the extra time when you see and feel the results you get.0 -
Plan better.Ive been on here and other tracking sites a while but I always seem to have the issue of running out of my allowance before dinner.
Yep. There's nothing else to do in that situation, if you're serious about hitting your targets.So please tell me, what do you do when you hit your limit too early in the day? Do you just stop eating anything?0 -
That's what I do too. Figure out what I'm going to want to eat, and do enough cardio to pay for it.I just try to get in a bit more cardio if I see I'm not going to have enough calories left for the rest of the day.
I can avoid needing to do this for the most part if I plan ahead, but sometimes I'll have my day pretty well planned out, and then decide that I'm going to need to drink a few beers that evening. So, I might spend some time jumping rope or maybe go out somewhere that has dancing.0 -
Better planning? Also, if you find yourself in that situation, do some physical activity to allow more calories to be eaten.0
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If I'm hungry, I eat. Don't usually bust a calorie limit (usually under my number), but if I'm hungry, I'm eating.
You could rearrange your calories so that you eat fewer during the day and more at night. If you're eating junk food, you could replace it with low-cal fruits and veggies. You can fill up nicely on those for very few calories! If you aren't eating a balanced diet, try balancing it out. You could be hungry because you are craving something you're missing. Take your vitamins, too!
Nature Valley Crunchy granola bars are extremely filling, not really high in calories and taste very good. Check them out!
If you're just wanting to snack and don't want fruit, wait half an hour. It will probably pass.
If it's a bad habit, break it. Gets easier as time goes on. It's OK to be hungry once in a while when you're eating less than you need, too.
Exercising more and eating some of those burned calories back is great. The exercise is good for you (yay!) and the extra calories will be a blessing. My personal opinion is that MFP is overly ambitious when they give you the total of calories you burned, so if it were me, I wouldn't eat them all back.
Suggestions like this are going to be highly individual - for me, those bars taste good, but they're not filling at all. I have a box of them sitting in my desk at work and have been trying to work them in around more filling foods so I don't waste them. Dumb, I know - I should just put them out for freebies in the lunch room.
OP, find the foods that keep you satisfied the longest. Try higher fat, higher protein, higher fiber, higher carb - find what works for you, and that's what you should eat during the day so you have something left for night.0 -
Plan ahead what you are going to be eating so that you don't go over before dinner. Then, if something comes up, yep I would suggest going for a walk until you earn it. That's what I used to do, because I would feel so guilty for going over that I would make sure to work out, walk, or WiiFit step during TV until I earned enough to be within limits.0
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Try increasing your next day's exercise to offset the food increase. Don't go faster, but longer - and youi'll get a double benefit. Like my old coach said, walk it off.0
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Some else mentioned it, but in your post about what you had for lunch, it included quite a bit of fruit (530 cal). While fruit is healthy, it is more calorie dense and has more naturally occuring sugars (carbs) which will not keep you satisfied for very long.
I've found that what helps me, is to incorporate veggies with every meal (even breakfast). Most veggies are low on calories, but big on bulk and so it will allow you to "eat more" without going over your calories.
so my suggestion would be to skip 2 of the 3 fruits for lunch and add a salad (with a little bit of dressing) or a bag of carrot sticks or whatever other vegetable that you want.
for the lasagna, you can add spinach, zucchini, and/or other cooked vegetables. Use less cheese, use lowfat cottage cheese in lieu of ricotta cheese, less mozzerella or if your family won't tolerate any of those changes, take a smaller portion of the lasagna and pair it with a large serving of vegetables, salad, etc.
Even your smoothie, you could ditch one of the fruits and add kale (if you chop it fine enough, it's not very noticeable in the taste).
Good luck!0 -
Maybe you should sit down with your mom and discuss the benefits of planing meals in advance for the entire week and doing a weekly shop. That way you know in advance what you're eating. You can plan ahead for your calories. Your family will know what's for dinner each day. Your mom will actually save money by shopping weekly instead of going to the store daily and shopping willy nilly. And, you'll probably save time making dinner as well because you'll be able to do some prep ahead of time.
Make sense?0
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