Grazing instead of eating meals

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RebeccaMaunder
RebeccaMaunder Posts: 171 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey everyone,

I am just wondering if there are others out there who find it hard to sit down and eat meals particularly breakfast and lunch. Supper is a little easier because DH and I like to eat together.
For those who are grazers as well how to make sure that A) you stay in your calorie count and choose smart things, and B) what kinds of things do you choose.

Thank you for your responses.

Rebecca

Replies

  • libbydoodle11
    libbydoodle11 Posts: 1,351 Member
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    I am not currently a grazer. However, I used to be... I used to snack throughout the day on cucumber slices, bell pepper rings, cherry tomatoes, roasted chicken, green salads, hummus and veggies, fruit salad, chili, any assortment of roasted veggies, yogurt, yams, and hard boiled eggs.
  • concordancia
    concordancia Posts: 5,320 Member
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    For me, forcing myself to sit down to eat has been part of my recovery process.

    That being said, I still have lots of small meals and snacks, I just plan them out and sit down to eat them.

    typical snacks are:
    Fage total yogurt
    fruit and nuts or nut butter
    1 serving of sweets
    hard boiled eggs and V8
    cheese and V8
    tuna fish salad scooped up with celery (I usually call this "lunch)
    roasted seaweed
    one serving tortilla chips with no fat refried beans, salsa and cheddar cheese (OK, that is more of a meal)

    Probably my most common breakfast is just a cup of milk warmed up with instant coffee, but then I have fruit and nuts before lunch. I love oatmeal with raisins and almonds or on the weekends I might make french toast with whole grain bread, served with turkey sausage and a tablespoon of maple syrup. I try to like an omelette made with one egg and one egg white, veggies and cheese, but I can't seem to swallow more than once every week or two.
  • Beploveshomer
    Beploveshomer Posts: 283 Member
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    I graze all day long. I can't have my diary set up as meals because they just don't happen. Not even snacks and meals, its like 80-200 calorie nibbles all day long. It kind of drives me nuts when I try to log, trying to find all the different things, and my food log is clogged up with all kinds of things I will probably never eat again. (I wish there was a way to delete several at once!)
    I wonder if I would be more satisfied eating solid meals? I don't know, worth a try some day I guess.
  • RebeccaMaunder
    RebeccaMaunder Posts: 171 Member
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    It is nice to know that I am not alone. Thank you for some really good suggestions for food. I always looking for more.
  • hamoncan
    hamoncan Posts: 148 Member
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    Whatever works for you - I find I do best with a very defined structure for meals and snacks with consistent calorie counts - the days I wing it or just let it happen tend to be the days I eat too much
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,150 Member
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    Pre-log your day and it won't matter how you get those calories in. So long as you're in a caloric deficit, you'll lose.
  • Blueseraphchaos
    Blueseraphchaos Posts: 843 Member
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    I used to graze....then i found that eating solid meals actually means i feel fuller and have an easier time consistently eating at a deficit.

    But i always made sure i had lots of fruits and veggies prepared so when i felt like grazing, i just grabbed the easy stuff. Keeping junk out of the house helped, too, just so i wasn't tempted by easy junk instead.
  • obscuremusicreference
    obscuremusicreference Posts: 1,320 Member
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    I think the problem with grazing is that you're within sight of any junk/easy-to-binge-on foods in the house. Can you get opaque containers for those? Even peanut butter or cereal--a tablespoon of peanut butter is not as large as you probably think it is ;)

    Measure/weigh and don't go in the kitchen without a plan!
  • RebeccaMaunder
    RebeccaMaunder Posts: 171 Member
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    I am getting used to measuring and weighing. The planning I am still having a hard time with. I am working on not buying any junk to bring in the house. Not helpful on the days you would kill for chocolate lol.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,150 Member
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    RebeccaMaunder wrote: »
    I am getting used to measuring and weighing. The planning I am still having a hard time with. I am working on not buying any junk to bring in the house. Not helpful on the days you would kill for chocolate lol.

    I have chocolate everyday!
  • RebeccaMaunder
    RebeccaMaunder Posts: 171 Member
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    Well that gives me hope.
  • SomeGirlSomewhere
    SomeGirlSomewhere Posts: 937 Member
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    I have chocolate everyday too....the secret is to keep it in the FREEZER! :)
  • steff274
    steff274 Posts: 227 Member
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    me 2 I have chocolate everyday!! :p I am maintaining so not trying to lose anymore am a massive grazer / snacker!! my breakfast is my largest meal of the day lunch and dinner tend not to be over 400 calories eat alot of snacks little and often works for me to maintain my weight!! ;)
  • brandyshopperj21
    brandyshopperj21 Posts: 12 Member
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    Chewing gum helps a ton! And "negative" calorie foods like celery, pickles, cucumbers, blueberries, lettuce etc that won't put you way over your calorie limit if between higher cal snacks.
  • sheepotato
    sheepotato Posts: 600 Member
    edited December 2014
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    I'm not a grazer per say, I usually eat 5-6 times a day so that I never go more than 4 hours without eating something. When I was calorie restricting I would eat 300-400 calories for a meal, and 100-200 calories for a snack.

    I liked to prelog for the day and adjust it later if anything changed. I like to weigh and pre-portion snacks in advance for a few days and try to keep a few individual portions of freezable meals on hand for when I am short on time so I'm not tempted to eat something out of convenience. Even though I'm not tracking at the moment I still break down any large containers of things (like chips, carrot sticks, berries, nuts) into single servings before I put them away.

    It works well for breakfast too, you can put one serving of quick oats, dried berries and ground flax seeds in a sandwich bag and keep those in the fridge. Then just dump them in a bowl with hot water in the mornings.
  • 999tigger
    999tigger Posts: 5,235 Member
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    what sheepotato said, try doing the smaller regular meals.
    I have chocolate everyday and a bag of chips. I do burn it off at the gym though.
  • LazyFoodie
    LazyFoodie Posts: 217 Member
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    I used to not eat all day to save up for a big dinner with the hubs but now that I work out in the mornings I graze as I get hungry. However I only have a few healthy things available to graze on, greek yogurt, cheese, fruit, beef Jerkey etc.

    I prelog the next day with the max portions/ calories I want to give to the snacks according to what I want to save for dinner and how macros work out with dinner.

    Logging is not hard even for lots of things when you are eating the on the same things everyday. I just do multi add from frequent foods.

    Then I eat them as I get hungry. I don't eat more than I have logged but if I am not hungry then I will eat less and have more cals for dinner and after dinner snacks.

    I've only been doing this for a few weeks but I am really liking it. The method fuels my workouts well, keeps me from being hungry during the day, allows me to adjust macros, and still gives me enough calories for dinner.

  • RebeccaMaunder
    RebeccaMaunder Posts: 171 Member
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    The logging I don't have an issue with. I log even my not good days. I just find that I am not overly hungry right now and so I find that grazing seems to work. I like that others are still having chips and chocolate. I know you need to burn it off but it does make everything feel a little more normal.
    I appreciate all the responses and ideas.

    Thank you :)
  • _Waffle_
    _Waffle_ Posts: 13,049 Member
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    Meal timing or grouping of food eaten doesn't really matter at all. Just log everything you eat. When you eat it isn't important.

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