HELP!!!! Overeating dinners:(:(:( any advice please?

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Zanda007
Zanda007 Posts: 22 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I probably will sound silly but I just started my fitness journey again after long long break. This is my second day back in gym and second day on my fitness pal. I find myself really good in morning breakfast and lunches, sticking to healthy food and all that and its easy as morning breakfast its just some high protein porridge or weetabix then for lunch my home made salad fruit etc... All good and well. I finish my work at 14.00 then go to gym for an hour but as soon as I get home in afternoon and looking for dinner I seem to eat all the fridge content:(:(:(:( could anyone give me some tips how to get in to habit to have that one healthy evening meal and thats it??????? Thank you!
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Replies

  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    What is your total calorie goal? Are you eating enough for breakfast and dinner?
  • rankinsect
    rankinsect Posts: 2,238 Member
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    Plan your meals in advance. I never go to the kitchen without knowing exactly what I will eat.
  • ElizabethOakes2
    ElizabethOakes2 Posts: 1,038 Member
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    Cook crockpot meals and then freeze them in individual servings, maybe? That way, you pull out one meal, eat it, and that's it?
    You might have to adjust your shopping to make sure you don't have a pile of easily munchable foods in the house, too.
  • katej37
    katej37 Posts: 56 Member
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    Have a bigger lunch with some protein to help fuel the exercise, plan a snack in for after the gym, choose dinner in the morning and log it. x
  • Zanda007
    Zanda007 Posts: 22 Member
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    my calorie goal on fitness pal is 1200 cal. My Breakfast and lunch is around 750-900 cal in total, so I am left with 300 cal for dinner, As I do burn around 300 cal in gym at least lets say my calorie intake for dinner could be 500 but I do end up by having at least a 1000 as I start binging on everything I see:/
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    Zanda007 wrote: »
    my calorie goal on fitness pal is 1200 cal. My Breakfast and lunch is around 750-900 cal in total, so I am left with 300 cal for dinner, As I do burn around 300 cal in gym at least lets say my calorie intake for dinner could be 500 but I do end up by having at least a 1000 as I start binging on everything I see:/

    That's a really aggressive goal. Did you tell MFP you wanted to lose 2 pounds a week? That isn't suitable for everyone -- try adjusting your goal to something more reasonable and you will get more calories to eat each day.
  • dubird
    dubird Posts: 1,849 Member
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    Measure out one serving to put on your plate, then put the rest away. If it's not there, you're less likely to keep adding more after you finish the first serving.

    If you find you're getting hungry more often in the evenings, look at how you've got your calories split up over the day. What I had to do was set a calorie goal for meals, and leave some extra for a late snack. That kept me from eating more than I should just because I was hungry at a specific time, but still allows me some flexibility in eating times.

    You might also have your calorie goal set to low. I have no idea what your stats are or anything, but that does seem to be a mistake a lot of people make when they first start out. Even just adding 200 calories back usually still keeps a person at a deficit, just a smaller one, but they're able to adjusting their eating to stay full for longer instead of getting so hungry they start grabbing what's there and eating extra.
  • katej37
    katej37 Posts: 56 Member
    edited March 2016
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    how much have you set it to lose? How tall are you? how much do you weigh now? How much do you want to lose? I'd probably increase cals by lowering the amount set to lose. I'm on 1500 set to lose .5lb a week and lightly active at 5ft tall. 1200 is the minimum mfp lets you have.
  • Zanda007
    Zanda007 Posts: 22 Member
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    thank you everyone for the good tips, the planning ahead does sound a great idea, also the freezing food, I definitely could do that:)
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
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    Zanda007 wrote: »
    my calorie goal on fitness pal is 1200 cal. My Breakfast and lunch is around 750-900 cal in total, so I am left with 300 cal for dinner, As I do burn around 300 cal in gym at least lets say my calorie intake for dinner could be 500 but I do end up by having at least a 1000 as I start binging on everything I see:/

    Are you feeling pretty hangry after going to the gym after work? You should make sure 1) that your MFP goal of 1200 is not too aggressive for your height, weight (you might want to adjust if more than 2 pounds a week 2) You should consider moving some of those breakfast/lunch calories to after your workout each day.

    Otherwise, you should plan in advance if at possible your dinners at night. I am the opposite, I plan everything else around the dinner I am having with my family each morning.
  • Zanda007
    Zanda007 Posts: 22 Member
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    I am. 160 cm and my weight is 58kg my goal weight 50
  • KorvapuustiPossu
    KorvapuustiPossu Posts: 434 Member
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    Since I'm on 1200 diet I can tell you that my breakfast and lunch are up to 500 kcal on big majority of days. (check my diary - not today though..it was a girls shopping day :D ) So to me that part seems a bit high if your biggest meal is dinner (mine is). Also I'm quite short and don't have that much to lose so I don't really struggle with 1200...if you are taller it might be that 1200 is just too aggressive approach for you. Slow loss is a good thing, it gives more time to learn how to eat better and live healthier.
  • Zanda007
    Zanda007 Posts: 22 Member
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    I put 2 pounds a week for loss and lightly active lifestyle. thats why i got 1200 but I am planning to exercise 5 times a week for 40 min to 1h each day:)
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
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    Zanda007 wrote: »
    I put 2 pounds a week for loss and lightly active lifestyle. thats why i got 1200 but I am planning to exercise 5 times a week for 40 min to 1h each day:)

    That's far too aggressive for as little as you have to lose. You should be set to lose 0.5 lb/week, AND eating back your exercise calories.

    That will give you about 500-750 cals extra before you add in exercise calories.

  • KorvapuustiPossu
    KorvapuustiPossu Posts: 434 Member
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    Zanda007 wrote: »
    I put 2 pounds a week for loss and lightly active lifestyle. thats why i got 1200 but I am planning to exercise 5 times a week for 40 min to 1h each day:)

    How much do you have to lose? It seems too fast...where is the rush? You didn't put on the weight over night so you can't get rid of it like that either. I at least hope you plan to eat some of those exercise calories back. Ultimately it's about health, and too fast weight loss and starving yourself while working out like mad is not good for you in any sense of way.
  • KorvapuustiPossu
    KorvapuustiPossu Posts: 434 Member
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    Also now that I know your stats 2 lbs/ week at 1200 will not happen... It is just that app doesn't ever give less then that so it will put 1200 even if you lower lbs lost per week. It is just that us, short people don't have much to wiggle room with calories... you will lose slowly, because less you have to lose, slower it goes. App doesn't put lower then 1200 for a good reason so don't ruin your health over trying to get a quick fix.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
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    KorvapuustiPossu wrote: »
    Zanda007 wrote: »
    I put 2 pounds a week for loss and lightly active lifestyle. thats why i got 1200 but I am planning to exercise 5 times a week for 40 min to 1h each day:)

    How much do you have to lose? It seems too fast...where is the rush? You didn't put on the weight over night so you can't get rid of it like that either. I at least hope you plan to eat some of those exercise calories back. Ultimately it's about health, and too fast weight loss and starving yourself while working out like mad is not good for you in any sense of way.

    She said above she wants to lose 8kg.
  • Zanda007
    Zanda007 Posts: 22 Member
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    Thank you girls, it does seem a little harsh for me when I first saw 1200 cal limit. I have 8kg to loose and now I do think I should eat exercise calories back and try and set up the limit to 1500 as that sound more realistic to me. My job is quite hard, I work in healthcare, so its quite busy and on feet all the time.
  • KorvapuustiPossu
    KorvapuustiPossu Posts: 434 Member
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    WinoGelato wrote: »
    KorvapuustiPossu wrote: »
    Zanda007 wrote: »
    I put 2 pounds a week for loss and lightly active lifestyle. thats why i got 1200 but I am planning to exercise 5 times a week for 40 min to 1h each day:)

    How much do you have to lose? It seems too fast...where is the rush? You didn't put on the weight over night so you can't get rid of it like that either. I at least hope you plan to eat some of those exercise calories back. Ultimately it's about health, and too fast weight loss and starving yourself while working out like mad is not good for you in any sense of way.

    She said above she wants to lose 8kg.

    Yeah now I saw... It won't happen. I have similar stats and MFP gave me 1200 diet for 1 lbs loss/week. And i lose just about that. If I put I want to lose 2 lbs it would also show 1200...it's just that it would not happen :)
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
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    Zanda007 wrote: »
    Thank you girls, it does seem a little harsh for me when I first saw 1200 cal limit. I have 8kg to loose and now I do think I should eat exercise calories back and try and set up the limit to 1500 as that sound more realistic to me. My job is quite hard, I work in healthcare, so its quite busy and on feet all the time.

    It can probably be even more than 1500. Put in 0.5 lb/week rate of loss and see what calorie goal MFP gives you. Still eat back a portion of those exercise calories (true exercise, not the daily activity from your job if you set yourself already as lightly active).

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