Keeping on Track! HOW?

What helped me was logging every single snack. It's shown me how many extra calories I'm eating which helps me make better choices in the future.

If I exercise early in the day, it helps keep me on track the rest of the day. I don't want to blow all of that hard work on chips or candy! Try to keep healthy versions of your favorite foods in the house. Make sure you have things that are sweet and salty for whatever craving might come up. Most of all... keep your eye on the prize! Make a list of reasons why you want to lose weight.. and post them around the house where you'll see them all the time. And there's nothing wrong with a "cheat" meal once in a while. It actually helps to shake up your metabolism! Try setting a goal/reward for yourself. Example: after 7 days of staying within your calorie goal, reward yourself with a cheat meal within reason. A whole chocolate cake obviously isn't reasonable... but a cheeseburger for dinner and a piece of cake (or whatever your dessert choice) would be fine. Good luck! You can totally do this!!

What helped me was logging every single snack. It's shown me how many extra calories I'm eating which helps me make better choices in the future.

I agree. No matter how small a snack just log it and then you can keep track better, then just have a smaller lunch or dinner. I always plan for two snacks during the day, They usually are just about 100 calories or so, Skinny Cow candy bar. or 100 calorie bag of popcorn, but it helps get thru the day.

Snacking's perfectly fine! Just make sure you're snacking on the right things! Get some celery, carrots, small apples, peaches, or some pretzels. Snack right(:

The fact that you have to log in everything you put in your mouth might help you convince yourself that "cheating" isn't so great. That said, snacking can be a really good thing; it just depends on what you're snacking on. If you're eating a family size bag of Doritos as a snack, that's bad. That means you were either really hungry for a meal or you are eating for other reasons. Either way, you have to learn to recognize when you're doing that and work on picking the choice that's really right for your body. My nutritionist heard my story and listened to what I normally eat and didn't even want me to count calories or carbs or anything at first - she heard that I was barely having more than a single meal a day and told me I need to learn to eat more often. AND she told me eat half a sandwich as a snack and if you're still hungry, eat the other half. This doesn't sound like your problem, but she did have great advice for snacking and eating small meals often to encourage me to eat better. She said every time you eat, you should have protein, some carbs (not a ton - 15-30 is more like a snack), and a little bit of fat. If your snacks have these things in a balance, then they're good snacks. If you've got a bunch of carbs, you will know that you're eating again in an hour or so because the carbs are only filling for a short amount of time (usually about an hour before you will feel hungry again). Protein and the little bit of fat take longer to break down which makes you feel full for longer. If it's your style to eat multiple little meals (or snacks) all day, then you should do that. Break down a snack into a little piece of chicken or other protein, with a little baked potato and a little dollop of butter in the potato. To make it a really great mini-meal add some quick frozen veggies. If you'd prefer less elaborate snacks, trail mix can be pretty good, too, but you really have to watch how much of it you're eating at once (it can be easy to eat a handful of trail mix really fast and not realize how much you're eating). It can even be a little package of yogurt as a snack. Plan ahead and decide which food you like most and make sure to have those things on hand in the house and not the stuff that isn't part of the balance. (I like potato chips but it's too easy for me to skip breakfast, lunch, and dinner in order to just eat a bag of chips so I do the best I can to buy them very rarely throughout the year.) Ultimately, you owe it to yourself to always be eating food that you really like that also fuels your body well. If you don't like peas and carrots, don't make those the veggies you eat on a daily basis. If you like green beans, eat them every day you aren't tired of them! I grew up the pickiest eater on the planet and I'm still pretty picky, but it's really worth it to discover that there IS food that tastes good that can fit into a great eating plan, just have to learn to figure out which foods they are and how they fall into the balance. Good luck. ^_^

I think what Ive noticed most in the last 30 days is the quality of "fuel" I put in my body. I had been eating very well for 30 days, and to reward myself, had a big time cheat day. Lets just say, it wasnt pretty! I noticed that for 4 days after that I was sluggish and felt like crap during my workouts! I hadnt felt like that when I was eating healthier choices. Screw you waffles, you were SOOOO NOT WORTH IT!!!