Mindful eating experiment

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leadslinger17
leadslinger17 Posts: 297 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
My big problem with my diet is snacking. I stay fairly healthy during meals, but then (normally at night), I'm idle and not even really hungry but snack and lose track of my calories.

So here is my idea I'm going to try. Whatever I want to eat I will count the calories before hand, divide by 10 and I have to do that many pushups before I can eat it. If I can't do them, I can't eat it. So for example, if I wanted to eat a 150 calorie serving of chips, I'd have to do 15 pushups first.

First of all this limits me to 400 calories for a snack because at the moment all I can do is 40 pushups in one sitting. Two it will make me think before eating. Three, I should get awesome at pushups :) What do you think? Anyone try anything like this before?
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  • lorib642
    lorib642 Posts: 1,942 Member
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    That's an interesting idea. I haven't tried that. Just tracking the calories makes me think a little more about them and if I have closed my diary for the night, for some reason I don't want to enter anything new. But, I need to move more. I can't do push-ups (yet), but maybe something like that would help me. I want to know how it goes
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,669 Member
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    I snack all the way up till 11:30pm every night. I just make sure I have calories left over for them.
    IF you get good at pushups, the amount of energy you use doesn't match how much you consume. For example say you do 100 pushups. You are now allowed to eat an extra 1000 calories? Don't think it will work.


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  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
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    synchrony7 wrote: »
    My big problem with my diet is snacking. I stay fairly healthy during meals, but then (normally at night), I'm idle and not even really hungry but snack and lose track of my calories.

    So here is my idea I'm going to try. Whatever I want to eat I will count the calories before hand, divide by 10 and I have to do that many pushups before I can eat it. If I can't do them, I can't eat it. So for example, if I wanted to eat a 150 calorie serving of chips, I'd have to do 15 pushups first.

    First of all this limits me to 400 calories for a snack because at the moment all I can do is 40 pushups in one sitting. Two it will make me think before eating. Three, I should get awesome at pushups :) What do you think? Anyone try anything like this before?

    What? You want to torture yourself in order to deter yourself from snacking? >:)

    I don't want to deflate your wonderful idea, but why not just work your snacks into your calorie goals? You know when you are most hungry- pre log everything and stick to it.

    There is nothing wrong with snacking. It's all about eating less calories than you burn, and you can do that while still snacking.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
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    ninerbuff wrote: »
    I snack all the way up till 11:30pm every night. I just make sure I have calories left over for them.
    IF you get good at pushups, the amount of energy you use doesn't match how much you consume. For example say you do 100 pushups. You are now allowed to eat an extra 1000 calories? Don't think it will work.


    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
    9285851.png

    Yeah....that one went right over my head. Add this to my post above. :D
  • leadslinger17
    leadslinger17 Posts: 297 Member
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    SLLRunner wrote: »
    What? You want to torture yourself in order to deter yourself from snacking? >:)

    I don't want to deflate your wonderful idea, but why not just work your snacks into your calorie goals? You know when you are most hungry- pre log everything and stick to it.


    Basically :) If I could do the pre-logging I wouldn't have a problem in the first place. Some people respond better to negative deterrents than others. For me at least, I think an immediate punishment would motivate me more than some long term promise that if I make the decision not to eat those chips like 10 times, maybe in a month I'll see one pound of weight loss.
  • leadslinger17
    leadslinger17 Posts: 297 Member
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    Think of it like a swearing jar... but instead of swearing it's eating, and instead of money it's pushups :) The purpose is not to offset calories.
  • plumsparkle
    plumsparkle Posts: 203 Member
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    I was just reading this on the bus on the way home from a course about mindful eating!

    i think anything that makes you aware of how much you are eating will be good, and if it makes you realise you don't want to eat it enough even better
  • meridianova
    meridianova Posts: 438 Member
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    synchrony7 wrote: »
    Think of it like a swearing jar... but instead of swearing it's eating, and instead of money it's pushups :) The purpose is not to offset calories.

    so are you saying that the problem isn't that you're going over in calories, but that you're losing count? i get the idea of "do this first, then reward later", i do it myself at the gym (complete full body workout, get 10-15 minutes in the massage chair). what about pre-bagging some set calorie amounts of various snacks? if you do any weekly meal planning and prep, you could set up little baggies of XXX calories worth of whatever snacks you like, then grab one each night after your designated amount of pushups. at least that way, you're not losing track.
  • kgeyser
    kgeyser Posts: 22,505 Member
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    I agree with niner and SLL that it would be easy to blow your calories that way unless you pay attention to how many calories you have left for the day.

    But as far as making a behavioral change for snacking in the evenings, it might help. The issue isn't pre-logging your day and wanting to stay within your calories, it's dealing with this habit that has been formed of snacking, and pre-logging won't change that. Doing the push-ups seems no different than drinking a glass of water before allowing yourself to eat, or setting a timer, or any of the other strategies people use to help them determine if they are actually hungry or just eating out of habit/boredom.

    No harm in trying the push-ups; if it doesn't work, you're exactly where you were before. Something else that might help is scheduling tasks or activities in the evening that keep you away from the kitchen.
  • ZombieMom79
    ZombieMom79 Posts: 70 Member
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    synchrony7 wrote: »
    Think of it like a swearing jar... but instead of swearing it's eating, and instead of money it's pushups :) The purpose is not to offset calories.

    I agree. It is not about the calories for me either. It the point that I am snacking when I am not hungry and it is not always healthy. MFP is not just about calories in calories out for me, I am trying to adopt an overall healthy lifestyle that does not include processed foods.

    I like your idea but since I am only up 10 pushups right now I think I will use jumping jacks or burpees.
  • besaro
    besaro Posts: 1,858 Member
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    i actually like the idea, its could be a fun way to increase your pushup abilities. You could mix it up with planking, sit ups, jumping jacks etc. As long as you have the calories for that 100-400 snack in the first place. I love games, I used the striv app to get me started walking and i still accept the challenges when i think of it.
  • 999tigger
    999tigger Posts: 5,235 Member
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    Im with the peeps that say you need to just log accurately. Why not do an equivalent amount of exercise to the food you are eaing and thereby protecting your deficit?

    1 Medium portion of McDonalds French fries is 330 cal and MFP has 1 pus up as burning between .5 and 1 calorie per push up. So youd be doing 33 push ups burning between 16.5-33 calories for a 330 calorie treat. Math doesnt add up and its willpower that you need to make sure you do your press ups.

    Better to work them into your overall calorie deficit plan and do a bit more down the gym imo. There are also some threads on snacking and healthy/ good value choices because you will still be eating calories you hadnt provisioned for.
  • I_Will_End_You
    I_Will_End_You Posts: 4,397 Member
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    If it deters you from overeating from snacking, go for it. But keep in my 15 pushups isn't going to burn 150 calories.
  • tulips_and_tea
    tulips_and_tea Posts: 5,715 Member
    edited October 2014
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    I don't think the OP is doing the push-ups to off-set the calories. The purpose is to make him more mindful of his snacking, per the thread title. Personal accountability. I say try it. Whatever works for you!
  • CdnRower
    CdnRower Posts: 28 Member
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    Mentioned this in another post the other day... Whenever I have sweets, I have a personal contract with myself that I have to do 100 burpees the next day. It will never offset the calories ingested, it's just meant as a deterrent :) I think this was what the OP was trying to say. Pushups and burpees are not a free pass for junk food but you could be doing worse things :)
  • tulips_and_tea
    tulips_and_tea Posts: 5,715 Member
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    CdnRower wrote: »
    Mentioned this in another post the other day... Whenever I have sweets, I have a personal contract with myself that I have to do 100 burpees the next day. It will never offset the calories ingested, it's just meant as a deterrent :) I think this was what the OP was trying to say. Pushups and burpees are not a free pass for junk food but you could be doing worse things :)

    Exactly! This is how I understood it, also. Regardless of the deterrent or "punishment" (although I wouldn't refer to it like that), the point to is stop and evaluate your body and mind prior to just mindlessly eating. I do this, too. Everyone is different. Find what works for you.
  • 999tigger
    999tigger Posts: 5,235 Member
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    Dont dispute its not a direct offset, but if he keeps making his target then your deficit is under threat. He will get better. Try it and see.
  • libbydoodle11
    libbydoodle11 Posts: 1,351 Member
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    I say report back and tell us how it works for you. It may sound good on paper but how doable is it? I have been known to do housework or leave the house and run errands to avoid snacking if I no longer have the calorie allotment. I usually have the calories so I tend to snack throughout the evening, up until just before bedtime.
  • MireyGal76
    MireyGal76 Posts: 7,334 Member
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  • leadslinger17
    leadslinger17 Posts: 297 Member
    edited October 2014
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    CdnRower wrote: »
    Mentioned this in another post the other day... Whenever I have sweets, I have a personal contract with myself that I have to do 100 burpees the next day. It will never offset the calories ingested, it's just meant as a deterrent :) I think this was what the OP was trying to say. Pushups and burpees are not a free pass for junk food but you could be doing worse things :)

    Thanks you got it. Other people might not respond to this type of thing, but I think I will. If I could just log accurately at night when I'm tired, yes it wouldn't be an issue, just like if someone was having trouble swearing and you told them "this swearing jar idea is stupid, you just have to stop swearing".

    Edit: I think I like burpees even better... those are harder than pushups :smile:

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