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How committed are you??

vetvicki

Would love to know how others do this....
Do you follow your calorie allowance religiously every single day all the time?
Do you mostly follow it but when hungry choose something healthy and go over your allowance?
Do you just follow it on less stressful days and then abandon it when busy?

What have your results been?

Replies

veganbaum

vetvicki wrote: »

@AnnPT77 wow thank you so much, can you be my life coach please?!
Yes I've often felt fuller on carbs than protein so I'll do some experimenting. I also need breakfast and definitely can't just do the 3 meals/no snack thing. Right, this is more exciting now that I have some investigating to do! 😊

I'd suggest along with the experimenting that you be open minded to the meals and snacks thing. I used to do three meals a day, with a mid-morning and mid-afternoon snack. The biggest reason for that being that if I get too hungry, it can trigger a migraine.

Over my years on MFP, I've read the forums a lot. Knowledge and comments change over time. People used to push protein for satiation all the time; some still do, but it's not the overwhelming answer anymore. I used to try and try to eat more protein for more satiation and it just didn't work for me overall. When I say overall, I mean that I still need to get an adequate amount per day, or I have noticed I will be much more hungry the day following a low protein day.

However, after experimenting I found that fiber and fat are important for my satiation. After figuring that out, I was able to adjust my meals so that I typically eat three larger meals (calorie wise) than I used to when snacking, and I am now less likely to actually be hungry for a snack. I figured out a breakfast that I eat every work day, because I like it and it's filling and gets me through to lunch [50g thick rolled oats, one banana, 80g pumpkin, 5g hemp seeds, 5g ground flaxseed, 15g walnuts, 10g dried fruit, 10-15g blackstrap molasses, 4g unsweetened cocoa powder - add boiling water (I don't cook the oats)]. My lunch is typically a bean dish with veggies in the dish, or as a large mostly non-lettuce salad or baked veggie mix, and 1/4 - 1/2 avocado (all of this weighed). On occasion, I may still have a late-afternoon snack if I am hungry, but it's not every day. I have found that if my typical schedule changes for too long (such as if I go on vacation or something) and I get back into less regular meals, that can impact the desire to snack out of habit.

My point to all of that is just to say to be open minded even to the number of meals/snacks that you might think you need. You might be surprised by what works for you after some experimentation.

Duck_Puddle

vetvicki wrote: »

Would love to know how others do this....
Do you follow your calorie allowance religiously every single day all the time?
Do you mostly follow it but when hungry choose something healthy and go over your allowance?
Do you just follow it on less stressful days and then abandon it when busy?

What have your results been?

1. Most of the time. I don’t have “good” and “bad” days. I have days where I eat at/under my calorie allowance and I have days where I eat over (sometimes way over). I tend to follow a weekly goal and purposefully save some calories from most days so I can have a more indulgent day and still meet my weekly calorie goal.

2. If I’m hungry, I’m going to eat. Thugs don’t end well when I try to power through excessive hunger. That’s not the same as being hungry before a meal (that’s normal). Most of the time I make the best choices I can (meaning picking foods I find satiating, allowing for occasional indulgences so I don’t feel deprived, etc.)

3. I’m going to buck the trend here. I recognize there are times in my life when making excellent food choices and getting proper exercise are simply not my top priority. It’s exceedingly difficult to food plan/prep and make great choices (within my budget) when you don’t have a kitchen (or a refrigerator). When I was sitting with my mother in hospice, making good food choices was my absolute last priority. When I was caring for my two terminally ill parents, time for workouts didn’t always happen & food choices weren’t always perfect. My brother was in the hospital for a month th last summer and while I managed to keep up marathon training (sometimes running at midnight to get my miles in), I didn’t have the time to also do super duper food prep. When I had a miscarriage, I didn’t care at all for a few weeks. I’ve been here 7 years-I can list a whole multitude of times when I’ve had life situations where food/exercise choices were not my top priority.

That said-I don’t necessarily go hog wild. I log everything-days at/under goal and days where I have eaten 10k+ calories. I do the best I can. Sometimes-that’s 2,000 calories over maintenance because the only place to get food at the hospital at that hour is Dunkin‘ Donuts and they only have 1023 calorie muffins left no matter what time of day I go. Usually it means making the best choices I can make under the circumstances. But that doesn’t mean they are good choices or that even the best possible choices will put me under maintenance. But see #1-I don’t have good and bad days. I have days where I eat at/under my calorie goal (most) and days where I eat over (some). I do the best I can.

I was morbidly obese to start. My max loss was 86 pounds. I’m sitting a bit above that now.

jan110144

As @AnnPT77 writes ... "What I'd suggest is to figure out your personal best options via experimentation and diary review.

If you have a particular crave-y day, try to figure out why: Look for patterns. It may be eating, but it could also be stress, insufficient sleep, dehydration, exercise (day of, or day before), boredom, emotions, habit, social triggers. If the cause is something other than eating, the solution isn't eating: Gotta fix the root problem.

If you have an extra good day, or part of a day, again try to figure out why. Look at your food log: Did you eat differently? If so, what/when? Try repeating that pattern, see if it improves things. (Here again, the reason could be something other than food: Exercise, distraction, non-food indulgence, etc.).

Pay attention to how you feel when eating, and (especially) after eating. What sticks with you? What makes you want to eat more? What helps your energy level, and what tanks it? Try a new variation for a couple of days, and see whether it helps or hinders."

This is exactly what I have done. The first couple of months I "floundered" as I figured out what works for me. Once I conquered that learning curve. It has been pretty smooth sailing and I am easily able to be consistent. I have lost 50+ pounds since Aug 1 and am in my maintenance range.

MelanieCN77

I do my best to stick to it 90% of the time. I found that 4-5 days of eating well I can loosen up for a meal or have some extra snack or dessert and then get right back to it without any effects. This has been true for loss as well as maintenance. Probably equally as important as my daily total has been where in the day I "spend" the calories. As I work out in the morning I get starving for lunch, so when that is my biggest meal of the day I do better with overall adherence.

jryepin93

1. Nope, I would say it's more like 80/20 realistically.
2. If I'm hungry, I usually eat something that I'm in the mood for and track it accordingly. If I go over, I go over. I've learned to make healthier choices in the long run so my cravings have changed a lot.
3. Stress usually isn't an indicator of how I eat anymore. ( I used to be an emotional binge eater). I also pre-log my food pretty often so I don't even have to think about it.

I've lost 30 lbs doing this over the course of 5-6 months and I haven't felt hungry, deprived, or restricted.

mithion

I am on day 18 of a 90 day exercise program. I have been tracking my exercise and calories since day one of that with MFP. I have been eating much healtheir and trying to eat less. I do a 16 hour intermittent fast every 4 days. I am 36 y/o, 5"10 and when I started I was 198 and now I am 192. My goal is 165.

vetvicki

@Duck_Puddle I'm so sorry about the loss of your parents and your miscarriage. Thank you for sharing.
I'm impressed you still managed to keep your health a priority when you could.
Keep on truckin xx

vetvicki

@kshama2001 thank you for your reply, you've made an excellent point and the graph says it all. Yes I think you're quite right, my calorie allowance is maybe the issue. I was aiming for 1400 but think I'll see how i go at 1500 or 1600 if it means I'll stick to it better. I only have around 10kg to lose but I had wanted to do it fast due to going on holiday in 6 weeks time. However I am also wanting long term weight loss and steady maintenance so really I need to be thinking of that rather than fast results (which I won't achieve if I overeat).
Thanks again 😊