does anyone feel guilty after snacking?
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MurrayElliot wrote: »I just avoid breakfast, fill up with water (or the occasional cup of tea). I found it amazing how rarely I actually feel hungry, and I certainly never get rumbling tummy or stomach cramps of any kind. Avoid thinking about food at all, focussing on other activities..
My suggestion is, go properly 'hungry', i.e. not just craving food, see what it feels like, it's not that bad, and I personally find I can go the whole day up to dinner on less than 300 calories quite easily, it's all a matter of not being afraid to feel a little hungry.
It's all about choices. You have choices to eat little and low calorie, or make excuses and go out and buy waffles and cakes (not really a surprise you're above 1000 calories is it?)
If you actively chose to fill up on rubbish then feel guilty about it, or bemoan the fact you are going over your limit, then that suggests you're not committed enough to the plan. It's a lifestyle thing, live it or don't, there's no successful middle ground here in my experience.
In summary:
a) It's ok to be hungry, it won't kill you. Drink some water.
b) Stop listening to your own excuses.
c) Instead of consuming high calorie food, find something else to do, e.g. exercise.
d) If you're really really hungry, a stalk of celery and a tiny bit of humous will fill the gap.
e) You're in control, you make the choices, all you have to do is to make the right choices.
It's hardly that binary. I generally choose to have a day like yesterday:
Plenty of snacks, loads of nutrients... no 'rubbish'. There is DEFINITE middle ground and no need for hunger at all.
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@estherdragonbat
Thanks for posting that. I knew I was being sloppy with my diary, but after seeing yours...You have it right down to a science. That's an inspiration to put some more work into my WoE. Thank You
Every post of yours I see, you put such good info out there.
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Awww shucks. Been at this for a couple of years and learned from those who've been here longer is all! Thanks! 3 -
I get that feeling as well. Today, I decided to treat myself to a portion of peanut M&Ms... I was drooling over them for a month. I am on a calorie deficit right now, so my total intake is 1200 calories and workout today too (legs). it was still within range, but I feel guilty because it is not a "healthy" option.1
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This is from last year.0
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LindsayAquilina wrote: »I get that feeling as well. Today, I decided to treat myself to a portion of peanut M&Ms... I was drooling over them for a month. I am on a calorie deficit right now, so my total intake is 1200 calories and workout today too (legs). it was still within range, but I feel guilty because it is not a "healthy" option.
@LindsayAquilina
What is not healthy is viewing some foods as off limits. It leads to feeling deprived and then rage-eating followed by rage-quitting. I have done that too many times.
I practice an 80/20 mindset now. I know my body only needs a certain amount of nutrients before most of the rest just ends up in my urine. I eat 80 percent nutrient dense food and the other 20 percent is anything I want. The 20 percent is healthy because it helps me to get healthier by keeping me from feeling deprived and wanting to quit. I do not measure it exactly. I just know that a small portion of my calories can be used for treats. I do not feel guilty and my health has done nothing but improve for the last 2 years. You would be surprised of all the treats I have had on my way to improved health.4 -
LindsayAquilina wrote: »I get that feeling as well. Today, I decided to treat myself to a portion of peanut M&Ms... I was drooling over them for a month. I am on a calorie deficit right now, so my total intake is 1200 calories and workout today too (legs). it was still within range, but I feel guilty because it is not a "healthy" option.
You had some nuts and some chocolate, perfectly reasonable foods to eat, in the context of a daily plan that is putting you at a deficit. Yeah, you wouldn't want to get all your calories from candy, but you wouldn't want to get all of them from broccoli either.6 -
LindsayAquilina wrote: »I get that feeling as well. Today, I decided to treat myself to a portion of peanut M&Ms... I was drooling over them for a month. I am on a calorie deficit right now, so my total intake is 1200 calories and workout today too (legs). it was still within range, but I feel guilty because it is not a "healthy" option.
Guilt is 100% optional. What does it help if we feel bad/negative? Nothing.
Food is just food. It isn't sin, so we don't have to feel guilty or make up for it.
It's a useful thing to get good overall, balanced nutrition. (Good nutrition is more about what we get into our eating - enough protein, healthy fats, plenty of varied/colorful fruits and veggies. It's not so much about getting things out of our eating. Further, nutrition is about the totality of our eating, not one individual food . . . at least as long as that food isn't poisonous, something we're individually allergic to, or something at odds with a medical condition we individually have.)
It's a useful thing to stick with a moderate, sensible calorie deficit in order to lose weight and achieve a healthy weight. There are lots of ways to get adequate macronutrients and micronutrients within such a calorie goal. Once that's pretty well in place, there's no reason not to have the occasional less nutrient-dense treat.
Peanuts are a nutritious food. (I eat peanuts or peanut butter most every day, and lost weight fine, and am healthy.) A little chocolate won't cause any problems, in the context of reasonable calories and overall good, balanced nutrition.
Repeat: Guilt is 100% optional. And it feels icky. Maybe you can talk yourself out of it?
Best wishes!1 -
Nope! Not one bit guilty! I’m human. Some days I’m hungrier than other days. Life happens.
But I’ve learned from it. I know those days will happen. I have snacks readily available. I used to keep individual small packs of jerky, nuts, peanut butter crackers in my desk at work. Things I like enough to eat, but only if I’m really hungry.
I also try to avoid hungry days as much as I can, knowing very well that I can NOT prevent them, only slow them down. For me personally, that means getting enough protein every single day, every single meal, every single snack. It will probably mean something different for you.
No need to feel guilty. It’s not a fail, it’s a life lesson. What can you do different next time?
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is it just me or are the people with the guilty feelings eating less than the recommended minimum 1500 cals per day?1
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is it just me or are the people with the guilty feelings eating less than the recommended minimum 1500 cals per day?
1500 is the minimum for males. For females the bottom limit is 1200. But yes, it does seem like you don't hear as much about food guilt from people getting sufficient calories.1 -
trulyhealy wrote: »tinkerbellang83 wrote: »Why not just have a more filling breakfast the next time, one day is not the end of the world and it certainly hasn't ruined anything.
What rate of loss did you choose and how much do you have to lose? You may have chosen too aggressive a rate of loss.
yeah i plan to go back to oatmeal rather than just a small smoothie and 1 pound a week. mfp told me 1200 but i’m aiming for 1,3500 and 1,400 at most. i think i feel guilty bc it’s unhealthy idk it’s so annoying
Oatmeal is Super healthy. Just get the steel cut plain kind. Add your own fruit and a bit of honey. Research oatmeal I think you will be surprised.1 -
is it just me or are the people with the guilty feelings eating less than the recommended minimum 1500 cals per day?
1500 is the minimum for males. For females the bottom limit is 1200. But yes, it does seem like you don't hear as much about food guilt from people getting sufficient calories.
Eating absolute minimum calories and eschewing treats, plus a sense of guilt and shame, is part of the too-common "getting fat was sin, so I must suffer to expiate my sin and lose weight" school of dieting.
Cut calories to the absolute minimum, demonize many foods one finds tasty, eat only things that fit some tortured definition of "clean", work out in ways that involve unpleasant activity done at an exhausting duration/intensity, etc.
Does that work, mostly? No. And that result validates the subject's perception of him/herself as an unredeemed sinner. Guilt, guilt, guilt.
Rinse and repeat, read some more dumb blogs, follow some more dumb IG-ers, rinse and repeat. Cry.
Alternative? Eat the right number of calories of foods one enjoys to lose weight gradually, and strive for reasonably well-rounded nutrition in the overall set of foods eaten. Do exercise that's at least tolerable, and not exhausting . . . or, if feasible, is actually fun and energizing. Treat slips from intention as a learning experience (i.e., not guilt-provoking), and use them to find ways to make the process more sustainable.
Works? Possible . . . . 5 -
I eat for the most part a little of everything. The way I do this is I weigh and limit to a satiating amount. Enough for a meal and not feeling that I'm denying myself. I try to no longer attribute satisfaction with food. I like what I eat and I'm not going to force myself to eat something because all things healthy is what you should eat. I'll have something along the lines of 5 oz portion of chobani non fat yogurt, ounce of pure elizabeth original, half a mango, coffee, cream, 1/2 orange several times a week(300 cals), but like today I made myself a brisket(4 oz all excess chub removed) taco on a flour tortilla with an ounce of avocado(400 cals). I have definitely cut out a few things. Fried, diet sodas, a lot of processed sugar, pizza(never was a big fan) and sweet sweet booze. I opened up my liquor cabinet a few days ago and everything has a fine layer of dust. Haven't had a drink since Nov. A big one is I also typically will not eat past 7 at night. My first meal also is not until at least 7:30-8:30 in the morn so I try to keep my meal window for 12 hrs out of the day. Doing this has helped me learn to have a better satisfaction in my overall relationship with food. I know that bigger is cheaper and you get more, but as an example that exposes you to having a gallon of ice cream in the freezer. On occasion I'll enjoy a small cup of blue bell(once a month I don't have a set time to have some). If you want to take it further stop at the gas station and get a single cup and avoid the temptation of having the 12 pack at home. I have kids so they eat those so its also helpful in getting them used to small servings and not triple scoop, pint servings that the ice cream places offer. So don't deny yourself just help yourself by limiting your cheats(and stop calling them that). I know some folks will be extreme and refuse anything that isn't all natural card board tasting and I won't knock that, but not everyone has that will power so to that I say modify to what is possible within your own self control. Baby steps. Cold turkey is an easy path to failure for a lot of folks...0
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Guilt is a symptom: It means you did something you don't want to. The trick is to use that and see why you did it. The wonderful, lovely thing about calorie counting is that if you mess up one day, tomorrow is a fresh start over. I try to use every time I've messed up to refine the way I am eating so that I can stay just under my calorie budget and keep losing weight, because I feel SO much better with every pound I lose.
It took me quite a while to figure out what was going to work for me for breakfast. On the one hand, since I had my kids I've never wanted to eat a lot first thing in the morning. I also don't want to properly "cook" first thing. What I've settled on is having an English muffin with butter and sugar-free jam. (I have a fructose intolerance.) If I know I'm going to spend the morning doing heavier physical work, I either just plan to eat about another 100 calories mid-morning, or I eat that muffin with some ham and cheese on it. Either will work in my calorie limit, and either will give me the fuel either for a gently active or serious work day, depending.
I keep a lot of stuff around that I know is about 100-150 calories and works for my body and my weird intolerances. I can't eat most fruit and vegetables. So I have some pudding cups in the pantry. I have trail mix, and it has a quarter-cup scoop in the jar because that's the right size serving. I know a cheese stick and three crackers is about 140 calories. I know two inch-square pieces of homemade sugar-free fudge are 80. So I can made intelligent decisions, and if I have an extra couple pieces of fudge because, well, TOM and I want ALL THE CHOCOLATE, it's 80 calories, it's not the end of the world, and a walk around the block will put my budget back in line.
It is a very bad idea to keep things for high-calorie binges that "sing" to you in the house. It is way easier to tell yourself, "I just had a good meal, I am full, I do not need a brownie" if getting the brownie means either getting off the couch and going to the store to buy it, or if it means you have to get off the couch and get down the mixing bowl, flour, sugar, cocoa, etc. and wait while they bake. It is exponentially more difficult when the brownies are sitting on a plate on the kitchen counter and you have to walk by them to get some ice for your water. I am a very good and inspired baker. But while I'm working on my 125 pound loss and body remodel, I'm not making cookies and brownies, because if they are around, I WILL eat them. I know that my idea of a portion of chips is "the bag". I eat chips, but I buy boxes of single-serving packs.
This isn't about self-punishment. This isn't about perfection. This is about loving yourself enough to make better decisions about what fuels your body and feeds your heart.3
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