Calorie binge v. Starvation HELP!

I have to eat about 1800 calories a day, so I aim for 400 calories at each main meal and then around 100calories for my snacks...NOw i"m not perfect and can't always follow that, but I try my best to follow it to those standards.

To me it sounds like you need a better set of rules for yourself. What's really been helping me is not concentrating so much on what I'm eating but how much I'm eating. The less you eat, obviously the less calorie dense the food will be. It's a good sign that you are not feeling like you have to eat all the time because your stomach has gotten smaller.

I was just talking about this with hubby tonight! I find myself not eating enough and it's worse when I have earned more calories from exercise. I had cut out all bread from my diet so I think I may go back to having one slice of 12 grain bread with my breakfast.

Maybe you could just use some fresh idea's on food choices to eat?? Feel free to friend me if you like and you are welcome to view my food diary. I am finding that small meals through the day help me reach my goal, better than three main big meals. I have also been eating more omelets because I can add sausage, ham, and veggies to it to up my calories without feeling like it's too much.

The best thing I made for the first time was a frappe' drink using Chocolate Almond milk (1/2 the fat and sodium of other milks and full of great vitamins) When I am short on my intake of calories I'm going to make one and sip on it, in place of some of the water I'm drinking.

Chocolate Almond milk - 1 cup
Brewed, cooled coffee - 1 cup (use decaf at night)
Hot Cocoa Powder Dry mix - 1 TBLS
Ice, 1 to 2 cups, crushed (depending on how thick you want your shake)

Put all in the blender and use Frappe button until mixed and thick.

you could also try little things, such as using oil when you cook. adding avocados into meals, or handfuls of nuts. the body is a strange and weird thing. feeling hungry when it sholdn't, and not when it should. i hear a lot of people saying they can't eat as much as their calories allow, and they just aren't hungry. well, sometimes in order to help your body realize when it should be hungry, i think you need to force it. it gets used to a routine pretty quick. i used to only be hungry around my usual eating time, which was once a day pre-MFP. now, i am hungry every couple hours. but it took making myself eat. so if you set up a schedule, just stick with it. eventually your body will start to realize it's ok to be hungry, then you wil wish for the days when it wasn't. lol

Since you've opened up your diary I've noticed you eat a lot of snacks and not so many meals and then somedays you have two or three lunches. Try to force yourself to do medium sized, three meal days but of course don't beat yourself up if you want a snack. Definitely try things brown rice and veggies or gluten free (heee heee I know you) bread and peanut butter or lean cuts of meat.

I think it's really important to analyze the source of those calories; to find out how much 'food' is actually in your food. Like you could eat 300 calories of Snickers bars and be just as hungry 5 minutes after as you were before. However, take those same 300 cals, spend them on Black Beans and some lean protein and you'll be full literally for hours. Not all calories are the same.

Exactly right. Calories are technically calories but they were not created equal. Protein and fiber calories will help you feel full longer.

Well, if you need to boost your calories, you should do it with things like seeds, nuts and dried fruit - healthy oil and fibre and some carbs. I want to have these healthy snacks (ie. not wheat based stuff that has high GI) and I find I need to be very careful to not go over the calories.

Peter Dingle is a good author who has a bit of advice for healthy diet.

The other comment is that when you've exercised really hard, sometimes you feel like you can't eat. Fair enough and I don't feel that you should force yourself.