I know this is dumb, any tips on staying under cal goal

Considering you carb load most days, if you drop carbs and increase fats and protein, you will stay full longer. Also, foods high in fiber will help. But with someone as close to their goal as you are, I would question why your calorie goal is 1200 calories. For someone with very little to lose, 1/2 to 1 lb per week should be your max. And depending on how much you workout, your daily intake could be 1700-2100, which is the average amount of calories to lose weight for a lot of women, or at least the ones I know of. I see you eat back your exercise calories which is good, but maybe setting a less aggressive goals, dropping carbs and increase fats, proteins and fiber will help maintain things a bit more.

Lots of protein and fiber will fill you up and keep you full longer. Eat enough fat also. Poultry, meat, fish, eggs, greek yogurt, protein shakes, veggies, fruit, beans, whole grains. All of those with each meal should help fill your tummy up.

Are you hungry or just see that you have calories and want to eat them?

Hungry you may not be eating stuff that makes you feel full.

If wanting to use those calories drop your recommended calories by 300.

Good Luck

Brush your teeth. I do this to stop myself from snacking as I hate the way things taste after brushing. Or I distract my self with things like painting my nails.

You should be eating to your goal everyday. You should not be leaving 100 calories or so left at the end of the day (for people who only eat back half of their exercise calories, its different). I didn't look at your diary, so I don't know how many calories you have left at the end of the day.

MFP is designed for you to lose x lbs a week if you eat y calories every day. So eat y calories every day and add some if you burn extra working out. There is zero need to eat less than y calories to lose weight. So eat your calories.

I also agree with pp about making sure your calorie goal reflects your weight loss goal. If you have less than 20 lbs to lose, you should have it set to only lose 0.5 lbs a week. Reset your MFP to match that goal and eat your calories.

Try giving yourself a range of calories instead of a hard goal. If you try to hit say 1500 every day now, aim for 1300-1700 and allow yourself to go to bed at 1300 if you want or eat to 1700 if you want.

And if you wind up eating to 1700 every day, don't beat yourself up, just recognize that as one more valid option for weight loss, just a pound or two a month slower than your original target.

Also, I find I'm most content if I can overshoot my goal a little so I aim low. If I aim for 1200 and achieve 1500, it's all good. I got my 'extras', my weight loss is still not derailed, win-win!

I can't really help with your specific issue because it's not one I have ever struggled with (which is to say the seeming compulsion to eat to hit my calorie goal even when not hungry). But I do have little psychological ticks that I've learned to adapt to and even exploit a little bit.

I routinely go over my calorie goal when I am trying to lose weight. I don't know why, but I feel happier when I break my goal barrier a little bit (and I am probably a bit hungry when losing or really just want to enjoy a nice glass of wine as my evening winds down, even if I technically don't have room for it). I like to rationalize this as "I am a bad boy who refuses to live by the rules!" :laugh: So I've just become accustomed to setting a calorie goal that is a few hundred cals below my "true" calorie goal. I am routinely over by a handful or several hundred, but I am secretly hitting the real goal I've set for myself. And sometimes I don't even hit the goal, and that's OK too.

Similarly, I really don't enjoy cardio work, but feel it is often necessary to lose weight at the pace I want to and still live my life in a manner I find more satisfying. I don't know why, but getting on an elliptical with a 45 minute goal is just awful. Getting on and setting a 20 minute goal, and knowing - *absolutely knowing* - I am going to set another 20 minute goal immediately upon completing the first (and then a cool down afterward) is infinitely more acceptable.

"Tricking" ourselves, even when knowing we're tricking ourselves, seems to have some real performance benefits, even for elite athletes. (Jack Nicklaus is said to believe, absolutely and unalterably, that he's never missed a three foot putt - even after being shown clips on TV of such misses -- I imagine this has some serious benefits in terms of his confidence over three-footers).

Wait, are you saying that you have calories you're calculated to be allowed to eat and you feel guilty for eating them? Or are you saying you see you have calories and go overboard with overeating at night?

with all the mind games, sounds like you'd be better off disconnecting the fitbit from mfp for a bit and trying to set a consistent daily calorie goal.

Personally, I enjoy thinking of what I will eat the next day when I go to bed. My next meal is mundane enough that my racing mind has somewhere to go without keeping me up.

Suggestions:
-Don't look at those as "extra" calories, see them as a bigger loss that week
-Chew gum right up until bed
-Mentally subtract however many calories FibBit usually drops (mine is about 50 so I know to leave at least 50)
-Let all those extra calories ride to the end of the week and have one super snack (like a CUPCAKE) instead of a week full of lower calorie ones

PS
If you're going to go for the super snack and you have the will power, buy it at the beginning of the week so it rememinds you what's waiting for you if you're good!

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