I need to handle this better

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ktsj2015
ktsj2015 Posts: 65 Member
edited July 2019 in Food and Nutrition
I’ve been back to dieting for a week and while I’ve been on and off for months I’m really determined this time.

One of the big issues I have is a Tuesday where I work away from home and spend the night in a hotel. I get a meal voucher so I have to eat in the restaurant.

Yesterday I downloaded the nutritional info from the restaurant and was horrified to finally nd the mean I normally have a Greek platter with chicken, salad olives etc is 1200 cals on its own. Looking at the menu there really wasn’t a much better option .. they even managed to make the salads 800 cals ...

So yesterday I had ... Porridge for breakfast, carrot/celery sticks and houmud for lunch ... but by the time I’d had dinner I was 400 cals I’ve maintenance!!

I can cope with one maintenance day a week ... but I’d rather not be 400 cals over!!

Even this morning for breakfast I’ve had small latte, 2 poached eggs and 1 slice of toast and that’s 460 cals which is more than I normally have for breakfast

This is why I derail.. I feel like if I can’t be perfect I might as well not bother!

Replies

  • manderson27
    manderson27 Posts: 3,510 Member
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    I think you are over thinking this a bit. Nobody is perfect and having one day when you eat at maintenance or a little more should not completely derail your overall weight loss.

    Perhaps you need to be looking at your weekly calorie intake rather than daily. You could still make the weekly deficit by cutting a little more during the rest of the week.

    And as @vick13091978 says you could do IF on that day and skip breakfast (this is what I do) to save calories for dinner. However this does not suit everyone and if you are a person who feels a bit ill if you don't eat at regular intervals then best to avoid it.

    But these are strategies you can use to even out your calorie intake so you keep to your deficit if not every day then over the week.
  • feisty_bucket
    feisty_bucket Posts: 1,047 Member
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    ktsj2015 wrote: »
    This is why I derail.. I feel like if I can’t be perfect I might as well not bother!

    Boo! Don't let "perfect be the enemy of the good", yo.

    The calorie-banking technique will make this not a problem anyways. If your calories are over one day, just carry the excess onto next day's log. You pre-ate that extra food. You'll eat less the next day. No worries.
  • BarbaraHelen2013
    BarbaraHelen2013 Posts: 1,940 Member
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    Other strategies might include asking for the salad but with no dressing, or the dressing on the side in a jug or small bowl. It might help if you feel in control of the amount you use. I’m willing to bet that most of the excessive calories are in the dressing. If not, I’m sure you can figure out the other calorie laden parts of it (olives, croutons, cheese for example) and maybe only eat half of those items. If the salad comes with bread, again, you can control how much of that you eat.

    Breakfast wise, and difficult without knowing what the menu consists of...is there a fresh fruit option, or cut down to just the one egg and toast. Maybe not the latte, try a black coffee?

    If you’ve really no option about where to eat, and you’re not happy simply skipping a couple of meals once a week then it is possible to still feel like you have enough control that you don’t feel disheartened and stop your efforts the rest of the week.

    Also, as has been said, one day a week over maintenance might slow your loss very slightly, but if you’re on track the rest of the time, it won’t halt it entirely.
  • Panini911
    Panini911 Posts: 2,325 Member
    edited July 2019
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    life happens. and we learn as we go.

    Be careful trying to under eat too much today, that can lead to a binge, restrict binge cycle. it's one bad day, eat maintenance today and move on with your routine.

    For eating out i'm learning to check calories ahead of time and pull apart a menu. Salad minus the heavy calorie items (or on the side so I can control). Dressing always on the side and I do the "dip don't pour" technique. Pick one protein not three (i.e. not chicken, bacon and cheese! one or two of those at most).
    Or i'll see if there is a grilled chicken entree, get that grilled chicken and then see what sorta grilled veggy option there is/is not and sorta make my own meal.
    Lastly, most restaurants service big portions so i'll eat less especially of the heavy calorie items.

    When travelling, plan some good snacks to have with your. portionned nuts, bars, fruit. Or i'll hit a grocery and grab some ready to go veggies/boiled eggs/cheese. that sorta stuff.

  • IwillLOSE40kg
    IwillLOSE40kg Posts: 317 Member
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    vick13091978 wrote: »
    Have you tried Intermittent Fasting? Look it up, there is a lot of info on Youtube (dr. Berg - Keto and Intermittent fasting). You could skip that meal if it hurts you that bad....

    Was just about to suggest this... It helped me anyway :)
  • ktsj2015
    ktsj2015 Posts: 65 Member
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    Tbh I did have the platter last night but I didn’t eat any of the rice, I logged the whole dish but without knowing the cals of the rice portion I didn’t really know how much to reduce it by so I didn’t bother .. so there are some logged but not eaten calories logged ... I just hate seeing the numbers red it makes me feel like I failed.
  • Panini911
    Panini911 Posts: 2,325 Member
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    Life happens. there are good days and bad. you didn't fail. this is a learning journey.

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10603949/big-overfeed-ruins-everything-nope/p1

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