Food Journal Blues

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irasonrisita
irasonrisita Posts: 101
in Food and Nutrition
I thought today was a good food day, but as you can see from my food journal, I totally went over my calories. Any tips? Can someone just give me something to eat for breakfast? I am stuck :(

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  • janesmith1
    janesmith1 Posts: 1,511 Member
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    1/2 cup of a normal cereal like Raisin Bran, Corn Flakes, etc plus milk will put you right.

    Looking at today's food diary I see you had 2 quesadillas which = 540 cals, thats the reason right there. Don't worry though, it's your first day here, my first day I went over.

    It takes a while to get the hang of it. In fact I try to put what I'm going to eat on my Food diary (which is open) before I eat it, even sometimes days in advance. it's all about planning.

    In the future, you will learn that you can have quesadillas but you have to learn to PLAN for them. Heck I had full fat Pesto pasta for 2 days in a row and lost weight on both of those days due to PLANNING.
  • irasonrisita
    irasonrisita Posts: 101
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    I thought today was a good food day, but as you can see from my food journal, I totally went over my calories. Any tips? Can someone just give me something to eat for breakfast? I am stuck :(
    Will definitely trry this! thanks so much :)
  • bonnymom
    bonnymom Posts: 107 Member
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    I agree that a serviing of normal cereal with some milk would be a good breakfast. You could also add some fruit too. :)

    I have a suggestion with how some of the info is entered into your food journal. Instead of selecting Quesadillas - Chicken and Cheese from the food database, put in the ingredients that you used, ie: 2 tortillas, x amount of cheese, x amount of chicken. Unless you enter it that way, you won't know if the calories are correct. :)

    I have had several instances where putting in the individual items ended up less calories. :)

    Good Luck on your journey!
  • yellowdog77
    yellowdog77 Posts: 64
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    Try planning your meals the night ahead of time. As I pack my lunch for the next day I put my foods in myfitnesspal. I also measure out breakfast if it is cereal or oatmeal. I also add what I have planned for dinner. Preplanning is the key for me. Hope it works for you.
  • imagineaballoon
    imagineaballoon Posts: 44
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    It takes a while to get used to what has the most calories -- I had no idea bread had so many, for instance! Don't beat yourself up too much, just take it all in your stride and learn from it.

    For breakfast -- and I am not a big breakfast person at all -- I generally have either a bowl of oatmeal with soymilk and fresh fruit, or two pieces of whole wheat bread with peanut butter. Both keep me feeling full until lunch and are pretty low cal.

    Cheese, bread, chips, etc are all full of calories and sodium (and quite a bit of fat, too, in the cheese and chips.) Try and eat as little processed food as you can -- stick to fresh fruit and veg, and homecooked meals as much as you're able to. Processed foods have SO MUCH sodium and usually a lot of calories, too. My diary is public if you want to take a look through and see how I plan my meals out.
  • krishkake
    krishkake Posts: 11
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    I find that spreading your food out helps, or forcing yourself to wait an hour before you're allowed that second quesadilla. I try to make it so that I eat around 100 (more or less) calories ever hour. For example, I eat:

    8am: Piece of toast w/ cream cheese
    9am: Half a banana
    10am: Other half
    11am: Some Carrots
    12pm: Half a sandwhich
    1pm: Part of an Apple (My school serves slices)
    2pm: Part of an Orange (My school serves wedges)
    3pm: Usually nothing
    4pm: Small portion of leftovers from the previous night's dinner, or Sometimes cereal, or Sometimes popcorn.
    5pm: Perhaps more leftovers/a granola bar
    6pm: Usually nothing
    7pm: Small portion of whatever is for dinner
    8pm: Usually nothing
    9pm: Yogurt and Banana/ Sometimes nothing depending on how much I ate for dinner. Sometimes more dinner.
    Then I'm done, and I'll usually be around 1200-1500. It's good to spread stuff out. Plus, sometimes you'll realize a few minutes after you've eaten that you're not hungry enough to eat that third slice of pizza or whatever it was. -shrug- Just something to try.
  • MomoLambkin
    MomoLambkin Posts: 2 Member
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    Hi there,

    The other person here made a good point about cereal. If you start off right (I'm trying out Special K which has nicer flavours now) you'll find that it'll last you a long time. Looking at your food diary, it looks like you are not balancing your starch with other things like protein and veggies. Protein and raw veggies can fill you for a longer time because it takes your body longer to digest.

    What's been helping me stay on my caloric target (which you'll see I failed today... it's hard to eat out and stay on target) is snacking on low caloric things when I'm hungry. I am hungry a lot - every 2-3 hours in fact. I used to eat a lot of junk food like candy, muffins, bread, starchy things, but now I eat a small carton of low fat yogurt or rice cakes or oranges. What also helps is low fat milk or almond milk - that stuff can be very low in calories and helps me tide over between meals.

    You'll find that before long you'll get used to thinking about calories and doing the analysis in your head. As long as you stay on your caloric target, it doesn't matter what you eat (like the person before me alluded to). So, if you want to eat something high in calories, you'll have to really watch what you eat other times of the day. Don't worry, you will work hard and get the hang of it soon!

    Lastly, don't forget to give yourself a break - you didn't really "break the bank" so to speak, so try harder tomorrow (or make it up by doing some exercise)!

    Good luck and keep up the good work!
  • fitnesspirateninja
    fitnesspirateninja Posts: 667 Member
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    Sometimes it helps to look at other members' diaries - that way you can get ideas for meal planning and recipes. I am not very good at planning ahead, but I am good at gauging how many calories are in a meal. I also enter my food before I eat. Some people plan and enter the whole day. You'll find a method that works for you.
  • doutri2
    doutri2 Posts: 186 Member
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    So, I looked at your food journal and my first question was: "Where are the veggies and fruit?" Today seemed to be a heavy carb day. Is this normal for you? Instead of a 2nd burrito, you could have heated up a can of black beans and ate about 1/4- 1/2 cup.

    As for your breakfast question, here is a suggestion: 1. Buy a small container of egg substitute. 2. At the beginning of the week, chop up 1/2 of an onion and 1/2 of a pepper. Keep them together in a small air-tight container.

    Saute 1 Tbsp of onion and 1 Tbsp of the pepper in a 1 tsp of olive oil. Once they are soft, pour in about 1/4 cup of egg substitute till it lightly covers the bottom of the pan. Cook it like an omelet or scrambled eggs.

    If you have to eat and run, wrap it up in a tortilla with some salsa or put beginning two pieces of whole grain bread.

    If you like cheese with your eggs, try a part-skim mozzarella or reduced fat shredded cheddar.

    Good Luck to you in your journey.
  • liscar
    liscar Posts: 311 Member
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    Try planning your meals the night ahead of time. As I pack my lunch for the next day I put my foods in myfitnesspal. I also measure out breakfast if it is cereal or oatmeal. I also add what I have planned for dinner. Preplanning is the key for me. Hope it works for you.

    that's what I do ---- plus I don't wait until the end of the day to enter everything in --- I enter breakfast and lunch while I pack it in the morning, any snacks go in the lunch box as well. Then I already know that when I get home, I have x-amount of calories left, it's not a lot, I go for a long walk to add some to dinner. Then I enter dinner BEFORE I eat it.

    I went over a bunch......it takes getting into a routine ---- it takes 21 days to form a habit :)
  • momofssc
    momofssc Posts: 11 Member
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    I try to stay away from the cereals, even though I could have it every day for every meal, because it has loads of carbs in it. It's best to have a high protein breakfast to boost your metabolism for the rest of the day. For breakfast I try to have 4 egg whites (less carbs), a piece of whole wheat toast and 2 slices of turkey bacon. This is a great meal to jump start your day. There's not a whole lot of carbs in this breakfast, it's mostly protein. I find I can get my workout in after this breakfast and not feel bloated, then have a banana after my exercise to feed my muscles with the cals, carbs my body needs to re cooperate. When I get tired of this, I replace my toast with another "bread" based food item; waffle, pancake, oatmeal, etc. Try your eggs a different way each morning to mix it up; scrambled, fried (use olive oil; less fat), etc. And the bacon, well who doesn't love it? But if you don't, try low fat sausage links or patties. Hope this helps.
  • irasonrisita
    irasonrisita Posts: 101
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    You guys are all completely right
    I think my mini goals will be to eat more fruits and vegetables.
    I only pay attention to the calories! That's my biggest problem. I will be looking at all of your journals.
    It's hard for me because I'm so young, still in high school. I can't always plan EXACTLY what I'm going to have. But I will try planning before, eating more vegetables, and eating more fruits.
    Thanks so much for the advice
    :)
  • Pandorian
    Pandorian Posts: 2,055 MFP Moderator
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    I've seen the special K flavours mentioned a few times here. I don't see them as any savings, at least for me locally. Box of plain ol' special K is maybe $5 for ... 750g or something. Just tossing numbers out, the flavoured stuff here is $6 for 400g... Personally I'll stick to the big box of plain stuff and add my choice of fruits on hand, I've got frozen raspberries, blueberries, grapes, have raisins, almonds, cinnamon, vanilla... I can flavour it myself rather than dealing with whatever the extra processing gives.
  • janesmith1
    janesmith1 Posts: 1,511 Member
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    I try to stay away from the cereals, even though I could have it every day for every meal, because it has loads of carbs in it. It's best to have a high protein breakfast to boost your metabolism for the rest of the day. For breakfast I try to have 4 egg whites (less carbs), a piece of whole wheat toast and 2 slices of turkey bacon. This is a great meal to jump start your day. There's not a whole lot of carbs in this breakfast, it's mostly protein. I find I can get my workout in after this breakfast and not feel bloated, then have a banana after my exercise to feed my muscles with the cals, carbs my body needs to re cooperate. When I get tired of this, I replace my toast with another "bread" based food item; waffle, pancake, oatmeal, etc. Try your eggs a different way each morning to mix it up; scrambled, fried (use olive oil; less fat), etc. And the bacon, well who doesn't love it? But if you don't, try low fat sausage links or patties. Hope this helps.

    Carbs aren't bad for you.....link is from Harvard
    http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/carbohydrates-full-story/index.html

    Best is to eat what you want but log in everything and watch the cal count!!!
  • doutri2
    doutri2 Posts: 186 Member
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    You guys are all completely right
    I think my mini goals will be to eat more fruits and vegetables.
    I only pay attention to the calories! That's my biggest problem. I will be looking at all of your journals.
    It's hard for me because I'm so young, still in high school. I can't always plan EXACTLY what I'm going to have. But I will try planning before, eating more vegetables, and eating more fruits.
    Thanks so much for the advice
    :)
    [
    /quote]

    Seeing that you are still in high school, you are right that you have a little less control of what comes in your house or is available at the cafeteria. I think one lesson to follow is "bring it, don't buy it". As much food as you can bring from home, try to do that. Ask the person in your house who buys the groceries, to help you out by buying quick and easy breakfast foods that are still healthy. Foods such as English muffins, bagels, waffles, even instant oatmeal would be better for you than a Starbuck's scone. Even a Starbuck's smoothie would be better than a scone if in a pinch. Spread a little peanut butter (maybe jelly?) onto the bread items and you can take them to leave. They will keep you feeling fuller longer until your lunch hour.

    Also, see if you can bring some fruits and veggies from home: apples, clementine oranges, baby carrots, celery sticks, sugar snap peas. These can help supplement the food you buy in the cafe. Does your cafeteria have nutrition info by the food choices? Have you considered eating their deli sandwiches or their soups or salads? The best bet is to bring your own lunch if you can. This could be a lesson for you nutritionally and financially.

    Healthy eating is a lifestyle and you are not too young to follow the basic principles. Good Luck to you.

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