I do well for most of the day .... but than...

lchalmers
lchalmers Posts: 52
edited September 24 in Health and Weight Loss
I tend to eat a huge dinner! I'm doing great throughout the whole day, & tend to still have between 600-800 calories left by dinner time, but than I end up eating a HUGE dinner & end up going over my calorie goal...its not because I'm hungry! I just eat a lot during dinner time...any tips?!

Replies

  • msbanana
    msbanana Posts: 793 Member
    Portions my dear!!
    Figure out what a portion will be for your dinner, serve it up and then put the leftovers in a container and put them in the fridge BEFORE you sit down to eat.

    Also, Don't eat in front of the TV where you can space out and not pay attention to how much food you're consuming and ALWAYS drink a big glass of water before and with dinner.

    Those are at least somethings that help me. :)
  • time2runnn
    time2runnn Posts: 252 Member
    Maybe start your dinner with 1 to 2c of green veggies- such as steam broccoli first-- and then take time to savor what ever else is on your plate. That might give you a full feeling without the extra calories.
  • K3LLYSU3
    K3LLYSU3 Posts: 56 Member
    I am the same way, I do great all day but I save my calories for dinner because I know thats my big meal. But I dont usually go over calories. When you have that many calories left you should be fine. Plan more what is for dinner & measure everything out & no seconds. A large glass of water before dinner helps to.
  • MakingAChoice
    MakingAChoice Posts: 481 Member
    Smaller plate and measure out EVERYTHING. Self discipline is the only way to fix this problem. Saying you do fine they rest of the day, but can't control yourself at dinner sounds like a cop out. Especially if your not hungry, cut the meal down to somewhere near 400-500 and you will have room for a small snack before bed. I tend to eat a piece of 21-grain toast with peanut butter before bed. Every meal I eat is portion controlled though, there is no reason to not do it. If you do not have a kitchen food scale, get one. The scale makes it easier to measure things out. I also compile my plate and enter it all in MFP before or just as I am eating it. I generally know going in what the calorie total is roughly though.
  • MakingAChoice
    MakingAChoice Posts: 481 Member
    I am the same way, I do great all day but I save my calories for dinner because I know thats my big meal. But I dont usually go over calories. When you have that many calories left you should be fine. Plan more what is for dinner & measure everything out & no seconds. A large glass of water before dinner helps to.

    If you eat more calories in one meal that your body needs at that time it will store the extra as fat. Large meals are a bad thing, even if you have the extra calories for the day 'saved up'. Meals around 400-500 calories and snacks throughout the day will yield better results. Plus you are never hungry because you are eating something every 3-4 hours.
  • sabrinafaith
    sabrinafaith Posts: 607 Member
    maybe what you are eating for dinner is not as satiating as it should be.

    I eat about 5-8 oz of protein (fish, white meat poultry, or lean meat) with dinner, 1.5 cups of steamed or roasted veggies, and one baked medium sized sweet potato every night. This usually ends up being about 450 cals and 35-45 grams protein. I put everything right on to my plate (i don't use serving dishes at all unless my husband and I have company for a dinner) and sit down and eat my one plate of food. When I am done I clean dishes right away, which makes me feel like the meal is officially over.
  • 4theking
    4theking Posts: 1,196 Member
    Eat less during the day. I eat around 20% of my calories during the day and the other 80% right before bed. Losing weight weekly!
  • eates
    eates Posts: 334 Member
    Get a smaller plate. Then it feels like you're eating more so you might be able to trick yourself into thinking that you actually are.
  • hannahmayr30
    hannahmayr30 Posts: 93 Member
    Save your calories for dinner time or plan your dinner portions in advance...
  • hop3
    hop3 Posts: 61 Member
    I use Smaller plates and Drink a glass of water before I start dinner(more like a bottle). Another thing is to take your time eating. If you eat really fast, you aren't giving your body time to tell you it's full.
  • AmeMahoney
    AmeMahoney Posts: 232
    If you're not eating every 2-3 hours throughout the day, you will be ravenous by dinner. Make sure you are eating proper snacks and get 5-6 meals a day.
  • NeuroticVirgo
    NeuroticVirgo Posts: 3,671 Member
    Planning helps A LOT. I eat most of my food at night too. Dinner being my biggest meal because its the one I have to cook and serve to my family too. (and just saying "here's a salad" would so not cut it...bunch of whinners lol). I also always plan in a dessert/snack, because usually about 2 hours after dinner I'm hungry again (even though I just ate 800 calories! ).

    Also are you eating till you feel stuffed, or till you feel full. This was a battle for me. I have a hard time sleeping, and eating helped me sleep (along with it being my emotional trigger). I could lay down for bed, toss and turn for hours...get up eat a giant bowl of cereal so that I'm stuffed and then fall right to sleep. So it was habit for me to eat until I was stuffed at dinner time, and then go to bed.
  • RocketsGirl75
    RocketsGirl75 Posts: 648
    I know it may sound funny but I have noticed that if I put a regular portion on our regular dinner plates it looks like I don't have enough food, but if I put that amount on a smaller plate it looks like a large amount of food. It is just the fact that most dinner plates are way bigger than they need to be! So I trick my head and use the smaller plate and that makes me think I am getting a huge amount of food. This might not work for everyone but it works for me!
  • lchalmers
    lchalmers Posts: 52
    I know it may sound funny but I have noticed that if I put a regular portion on our regular dinner plates it looks like I don't have enough food, but if I put that amount on a smaller plate it looks like a large amount of food. It is just the fact that most dinner plates are way bigger than they need to be! So I trick my head and use the smaller plate and that makes me think I am getting a huge amount of food. This might not work for everyone but it works for me!

    I tried that for dinner today! I ate a lot less spaghetti than I normally would! Thank you so much for that tip :)
  • Podie75
    Podie75 Posts: 1
    If you are not satisfied after dinner it could be because you are not eating enough during the day. I used to be the same but since I started eating protein every 3 hrs I never get hungry anymore and I am satisfied with smaller meals.

    Think of the metabolism like a fire, you have to keep putting small logs on it all day to keep it burning. If you don't add fuel throughout the day then you'll stop burning fat. Once you start eating again it takes awhile for your body to catch up and realise that it doesn't need more food. By then you've probably already overeaten.
  • MzBug
    MzBug Posts: 2,173 Member
    I have been using 8" paper plates and filling it 1/2 full with vegies. A smaller portion of potato/rice and 4-5 oz of protein fill the plate up. Huge meal, but lower in cals.
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