Check out my diary - need some help! (Particularly if in UK!)

MissPootle
MissPootle Posts: 16 Member
edited November 19 in Health and Weight Loss
Need some tips to help me stop binge eating / snacking. I work long and irregular hours with a long commute. I try to eat healthily but I seem to go off the rails a lot. I am wondering whether it's just willpower that is lacking or am I eating the wrong things early in the day that is causing food cravings. I need quick and easy food with minimum prep and that can be carried around or easily bought near work.

Replies

  • Crazy1nsane
    Crazy1nsane Posts: 3 Member
    edited June 2015
    Well firstly I'm very impressed by your ability to stick with a "Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner + Snacks" meal schedule. The thing I'm seeing reoccur mostly is alcohol consumption in your snacks column over the past week, nearly if not every day in fact, and just cutting that out would mean you are at or under your calorie goal

    Otherwise personally I admire your eating habits, you eat a range of foods with low calorie values but yeah your snacking can be a bit problematic.

    When do you typically eat your "Snacks"? Night time before bed? Or during the day?

    P.S I hope you don't mind me mimicking your diary layout, mine just has everything in one column.
  • MissPootle
    MissPootle Posts: 16 Member
    Yes, alcohol was bad this week, a lot of socialising and not usual! I usually have snacks late afternoon or early evening (at desk or on train home). I rarely get home before 8.30.

    The diary layout was already present in the app. I find it pretty useful and it has made me realise the problem is snacking!
  • ariamythe
    ariamythe Posts: 130 Member
    I hated having to work alcohol into / out of my daily routine when I was actively losing weight, but losing the alcohol was a key to my success. It is surprising how something like a glass of wine can really add calories. I generally started drinking half-glasses, or just one beer, and skipping that nightly drink most nights. Also worth noting is that the body doesn't fully burn fat/calories while the alcohol is in the system. So it's a double-whammy to a diet: extra calorie load AND slower metabolism for the duration of the alcohol in the system.

    If you're socializing, consider non-alcoholic options. That way you can join in without looking out of place for not having a drink in hand.
  • MissPootle
    MissPootle Posts: 16 Member
    I know alcohol is bad for weight loss. I'm not constantly going out though, this week was honestly just a bad one and Beck's blue isn't always available! I don't have any social occasions for the next month and would like to knock the other bad snacking habits on the head too.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    The problem isn't snacking though..you are eating / drinking too many calorie dense items hence the hunger

    You have the basics down ..if you'd had one glass of wine or a diet coke you'd be able to snack easier

    As you say this was a bad week but you have been consistently over your calories so probably hit maintenance

    In terms of easy to grab foods .. Try the innocent veg pots over a bag of mixed salad ..I think they're now called BOL ..quick to microwave and filling for low calories.

    Make sure you log everything ...you logged 2 ounce of porridge, did you make it with water? Did you really eat it without sweetening in some way?
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    edited June 2015
    Do you get full on your pret lunches

    You don't seem to get that much protein or added vegetables?

    Eg when I grab a ready meal I tend to have it over a bed of salad leaves and log that too

    UK grab and go (assuming you have a microwave / fridge at work)
    Total 0% Greek yogurt and berries...low cal! filling cos great protein (18g in the 170g pot)
    The BOL pots I mentioned ...the lentil samba, thai coconut curry and the ramen are my favourites ...I always eat over watercress, spinach and rocket leaves
    M and S - love the taste of Vietnamese range ...chicken noodle bun cha is amazing ...and the teriyaki salmon

    At home a go to breakfast is based around two chicks egg whites - so easy and again the protein hit for satiety
    Slice mushrooms, splash Worcestershire sauce in micro for a minute
    Add around 80g egg whites and a triangle of laughing cow light and back in micro for a minute whilst thick sliced white bread goes in toaster
    Take out, fork up thoroughly, sprinkle 5g home grated mature cheddar and nuke for another 20 secs
    Tip on top of toast
    Lashings of fresh ground black pepper
    Big mug of coffee
    200 calories ..and keeps me full for a good 3 hours
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
    1. Try not to drink your calories (eat food instead).
    2. Get lots of fats and protein, as they help satiety.
  • DawnieB1977
    DawnieB1977 Posts: 4,248 Member
    I only looked at a few days, but there's a lot of alcohol. If you took the alcohol out of the equation, I doubt you'd be going over calories anywhere near as often.

    There's nothing wrong with getting treats into your daily calories, but some days they accounted for a lot of calories, like having an ice cream, and crisps, and chocolate. So maybe just choose one treat and stick to that.

    If you take lunch to work, make a chicken salad, that's quick, easy and high in protein. I'm a teacher with a 35 minute lunch break, so unless I want to eat school canteen food (which i don't lol)I make my own lunch. I take babybel lights for snacks, or a protein bar, and fruit. If I were buying food out I'd go to M&S and get something from their balanced for you range.

    I usually eat eggs, toast and ham for breakfast which keeps me full.
  • MissPootle
    MissPootle Posts: 16 Member
    I like two chick egg whites with mushrooms omelette but tend only to have at weekends. Thanks for the new idea using that. The Pret thing is convenient. I thought it was filling me up but maybe it isn't. I used to have salads with ready meals but no so convenient to eat on the train! Maybe the answer is more snacks like the total Greek yoghurt so I can wait to have a proper meal when I get home. I really don't like the innocent veg pots though and I tend to avoid chicken which is obviously a fab source of protein. I guess I'll have to revisit that,
  • DawnieB1977
    DawnieB1977 Posts: 4,248 Member
    Do you like tuna, prawns, ham, cottage cheese? They're also good sources of protein.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    MissPootle wrote: »
    I like two chick egg whites with mushrooms omelette but tend only to have at weekends. Thanks for the new idea using that. The Pret thing is convenient. I thought it was filling me up but maybe it isn't. I used to have salads with ready meals but no so convenient to eat on the train! Maybe the answer is more snacks like the total Greek yoghurt so I can wait to have a proper meal when I get home. I really don't like the innocent veg pots though and I tend to avoid chicken which is obviously a fab source of protein. I guess I'll have to revisit that,

    And this is where it boils down to personal taste ...don't force yourself to eat something you don't like just because of the macro hit ...what do you like?

    Pret is convenient ..but for the same calories I could bring in a chicken cacciatore and rice or veg stew and rice and cheese from home due to weekend batch cooking ...Tupperware is your friend

    Train eating LOL just realised ...that might not work

    I always eat about 200 cals straight after work to tide me over to dinner ..toast, cottage cheese, avocado and tomato is a good hit, or the yogurt and berries, or sometimes porridge
  • ariamythe
    ariamythe Posts: 130 Member
    MissPootle wrote: »
    I don't have any social occasions for the next month and would like to knock the other bad snacking habits on the head too.

    You might try to eat more cals during meals. For me, I had to do that in order to quell some of the snacking cravings.

    Also, eating regular small meals can help with that, but MFP is annoyingly locked into the Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner regimen. I do wish they let us add meals to the day instead of having to cram them all under "snacks".

  • athenasurrenders
    athenasurrenders Posts: 278 Member
    Go to home, settings, diary settings. You will see boxes where you can edit the names of your meals so you could have them spread out into six meals if it suits you better.
  • MsBonfire
    MsBonfire Posts: 12 Member
    Hi, I drink a lot of alcohol (1 bottle per day) and I realise if I really want to lose weight this needs to be the first thing to cut back on. I've decided that 250 ml per day is more than enough with maybe a few glasses more at the weekend. I've also upped my protein and eating it with every meal as I was not before and I was always hungry. What I see is a lot of snacking on your part. I would cut back on the snacks and eat something more filling at meal times. This way you can enjoy your lunch, dinner etc. without feeling deprived. I never had a good first week on this but the reason being I never actually changed any of my eating habits. I'm moving onto week 2 and this time I have pre planned my meals and I will be reducing my alcohol intake considerably. I have 13lbs to lose.
  • DawnieB1977
    DawnieB1977 Posts: 4,248 Member
    athenasurrenders wrote: »
    Go to home, settings, diary settings. You will see boxes where you can edit the names of your meals so you could have them spread out into six meals if it suits you better.

    Yep, I have mine in 6 categories.
  • MorganMoreaux
    MorganMoreaux Posts: 691 Member
    MissPootle wrote: »
    Yes, alcohol was bad this week, a lot of socialising and not usual! I usually have snacks late afternoon or early evening (at desk or on train home). I rarely get home before 8.30.

    The diary layout was already present in the app. I find it pretty useful and it has made me realise the problem is snacking!

    When I started I was 155 pounds and drinking two chocolate martinis a night. When I cut out alcohol I lost 35 pounds that months, without modifying anything else. I had no idea what an effect alcohol was having on my weight. I also sleep better now. I won't have alcohol anymore because of the effects on my weight. I still go out and have fun, but have water or tea. Just thought I would share my experience as I found the impact of alcohol on my weight was quite unexpected. Good luck to you!
  • MissPootle
    MissPootle Posts: 16 Member
    Alcohol isn't the issue. I gave up for a few months and it had zero impact on my weight. It's definitely the snacking that is problematic. And, as I say, this week is not representative of my drinking habits,
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    Lose the orange juice, while better than Coca Cola that's about all it has going for it.

    A protein based breakfast like bacon and egg or an omelette will set you up better than short lived carbs like toast or cereal.
  • ariamythe
    ariamythe Posts: 130 Member
    athenasurrenders wrote: »
    Go to home, settings, diary settings. You will see boxes where you can edit the names of your meals so you could have them spread out into six meals if it suits you better.

    I'll be darned. When did they add that?! I don't remember even having the option when I started (sometime in summer 2013). Thank you.
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
    You could change your diary settings to track fiber instead of sodium. The fiber in vegetables, beans, and nuts can satisfy hunger. Also your fat intake is fine, but some people do better with less sugar/carbs/fruit and more oils/fat/butter/cream.
    Do you like snacking or is it that your meals are not fulfilling? Maybe stick to three good sized meals a day and skip the snacks. Spread the food out over the day in a way that works for you.
    I cannot snack. Instead I have two meals a day.
  • MissPootle
    MissPootle Posts: 16 Member
    I thought I'd made some improvements but I'm still wavering between 134 and 137 pounds, with no real weight loss. This is very frustrating!
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