Harder to eat right when home
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nicoleasouthworth
Posts: 2 Member
Does anyone else find it harder to choose the right foods when you are home on your days off? I eat great all week at work and even in the evenings when I get home. But on weekends it is so hard. I'm trying so hard but I cave and cheat a little. Hand full of chips here. A piece of chocolate there. And although I am not eating them like crazy the calories really add up. I know for me it is unrealistic to cut those things out of my life completely, but I am really struggling to not do it everyday.
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Replies
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I’ve been working from home since March, every coffee is accompanied by a biscuit.1
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I don’t keep those types of foods in the house. I will buy them once in awhile. It’s apple season for us, so we have a bunch of different varieties to eat.2
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Find foods you love that give you more bang for your buck and keep those. I buy myself two bags of bakef chips when I go to aldi sometimes. I know once they are gone that is it no more they do have waaay less fat then normal chips. I am pretty regular with my meals and snacks, but I have been a homemaker for a long time.
LORD JESUS bless 💟0 -
I never have those kind of things in my house. If I really want so.e chocolate or chips, i have to leave my house and go buy them. I will buy a small single serving of chips, or one candy bar. I eat less of it that way, and have to make an effort to get it. I have also found that i don't need it like I used to think I did.2
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I find it easier to eat healthier at home because I am in control. I have a kitchen to prep food and I can change my meal decisions because I am at home. When I’m not at home, I can’t 100% track my food accurately (more room for error) etc. Prepping my meals for the day the night before or logging in my food diary on the app the night before helps me stay on track and I can still modify accordingly because I am home and can whip something up.
If I have junk food in the house, sometimes I end up caving in and binging (usually very late at night). Last night, I ate 2 slices of costco pizza around midnight. Guess how many calories? 700 per slice when I logged it in! Ouch.
So yes, I try to not keep sweets and “junk” food at the house. If i indulge, I buy small portions and then toss the rest away so it’s not there the next day. This way, I am not tempted.
Works for me, maybe try it out? 😊3 -
I had some issues when I first had to start working from home, having free access to food instead of being limited to whatever I had brought with me to work.
For me, the best thing was to give myself 'rules' about my mealtimes. So for myself, I decided that I would eat breakfast, lunch and dinner, and my evening snack would be when I would have my treats (I always leave myself calories for an evening snack/treat, big or small depending on how many calories I have left). If I felt I needed and afternoon snack, a 100kcal pack of bread sticks or some fruit. Similar to days at work. No grazing. Since I know grazing doesn't work for me (I need a larger dinner and lunch to feel satisfied, which is impossible if I spend calories on grazing) it was easy enough to follow this rule and it became a habit very quickly.2 -
Don't buy it. If you can't control your self, don't have it around you.
I had this problem with Coca-Cola in the past. If I had one can, by the weekend, i would have a 6 pack of 2Lt Bottles next to me on the couch.
So i cut it off. Completely.
Once the cycle was broken, I allowed myself to have a coke when eating out, but never at home.5 -
Sweets are my downfall. Particularly chocolate.
I don't buy it. I don't keep it in the house. I buy junk food that hubby and son like, but that I can leave alone (chips for example, or other kinds of cookies that hold less appeal for me)
when I DO buy the stuff I cant leave alone, I will pre-portion out single serving amounts that I CAN have. I certainly eat sweets, but I do try to keep in in moderation and fit within my daily calorie goals.3 -
I totally get this. I put on nearly two stone between March and December while I was working from home.
I am by no means in a position to give much advice as I've only been trying to be more disciplined for the last two weeks. But what has worked for me has been:
-Every morning, I work out what my breakfast, lunch and dinner will be and I log those in MFP immediately
-I also log pre-planned snacks - so I'll log, say, a yoghurt between breakfast and lunch and, maybe a banana between lunch and dinner. Maybe another yoghurt after dinner.
Whatever I have left under my calorie goal for the day is then mine to play with. For me, it's not been as hard as I expected to stay in control during the day because I know how many calories I have to play with and that I can have sweets or crisps etc in the evening up to my calorie limit. And because I allow myself to consume any 'unused' calories on a Sunday, I find it slightly easier to stay in control in the evenings and make choices to stay maybe 100 or 150 cals under my calorie goal.
The other thing that has helped me is the mindset that I can have anything I want provided I log it first. Logging it before I've eaten it, not after, has really helped me. Seeing the calories remaining go down because I've entered a chocolate bar, for example, is a good check on whether I really want it and whether it's really worth it. Because if I have that chocolate bar now, I won't have any room for something sweet in the evening when I'd probably prefer it.
I deliberately chose not to throw out a whole pile of food left over from Christmas. And it is HARD to resist it. But I want to learn to be around food and not controlled by it, so I've left it in the house. And it's not forbidden - my only two rules are I need to be under my calorie allowance at the end of every day; and I have to log every single thing BEFORE I eat it.
It's only been two weeks, but this approach has been working for me in terms of keeping cravings under control.3 -
It was the opposite for me - the office always had candy and other junk food being passed out and there was the constant temptation of vending machines, snack bar, etc. At home I can control what I have easy access to. It's a lot easier not to eat the candy when I would have to drive to the store to get it first. So, as others have said, if you don't want to eat it, don't keep it in the house.2
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For me, denying any foods, never works. I learned moderation of all food. I overate a lot of food, not just chips and candy. I’m hoping this will be my new way of eating for life, whether losing or maintaining weight.1
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I was in the exact same boat! I tried planning my meals in advance and it did work mainly but when there a chocolate biscuit in the corner of your eye its hard to resist!
I high recommend making yourself work for the treat. At the start of the week set goals for each individual day. When you are craving something or even tempted by it write it down in a list and once you have completed your goal for the day treat yourself to ONE of the items on your 'tempted list'
Hope this helps.
[edited by MFP staff]
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Yes! And the days in particular when it's hardest for me is when my husband is home as well and I ask him what he wants for supper. 🙄 Then, I almost get this "date night" or "special day" mentality and indulge a little too much. Also, if I bake something, that usually spells trouble for me because anything homemade is usually darn good. You may say "don't bake then" but I've got four boys (17,15,12,11) and a husband who know what they want and ask for it! Sometimes it seems like all my restricted eating gets undone on the weekend. Not every weekend is like this though (thank goodness) and I have managed to lose 35 pounds...its just that some of those lbs I've lost over and over again! Keep plugging along! You'll get there!3
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1.) don’t keep it in the house if it’s a problem food
2.) if you do, log it beforehand and see if it fits
3.) retrain your taste buds to like other, healthier foods
4.) don’t completely reject certain foods. We all need the occasional treat.
5.) don’t beat yourself up when you do reach for the forbidden fruit, just acknowledge, learn, and carry on0 -
I strive to only have foods in the house that I can moderate.
(This works pretty well with prepared foods, but less well with foods I make myself.)0 -
I'm firmly in the "home is where I'm in control" camp. I do the shopping and the cooking so I know what's in my kitchen. I prepare snacks in advance and plan for them alongside my prepped breakfasts and lunches. On my WFH days, since I don't need to be on camera, I just stay in PJs all day - so running out for tacos or whatever requires also putting clothes on. My workplace also has a cafe down the hall from my office, so it's much easier to just run over there and grab a frappuccino or a sandwich or whatever than it is to eat something on the fly at home. If I'm home and I want a snack that I didn't prep in advance and plan for, I gotta do all the work to turn ingredients into food, and sometimes I don't want to chop carrots or whatever more than I want to nosh.0
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Counting the calories you eat is what counts most. I eat ice cream and some chips EVERYDAY. I just make sure to account for the calories I consume.nicoleasouthworth wrote: »Does anyone else find it harder to choose the right foods when you are home on your days off? I eat great all week at work and even in the evenings when I get home. But on weekends it is so hard. I'm trying so hard but I cave and cheat a little. Hand full of chips here. A piece of chocolate there. And although I am not eating them like crazy the calories really add up. I know for me it is unrealistic to cut those things out of my life completely, but I am really struggling to not do it everyday.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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For me it was actually easier to control myself at home, since I never have been someone to keep lots of snacky foods at home, vs work (where there's always stuff around -- or was at the time, in 2014). My main issue at home was evening snacking which I did sometimes, plus some degree of emotional eating which I struggled with again during 2020 and covid (trying to kick that even if covid isn't gone yet). For both, this is what I did too:For me, the best thing was to give myself 'rules' about my mealtimes. So for myself, I decided that I would eat breakfast, lunch and dinner, and my evening snack would be when I would have my treats (I always leave myself calories for an evening snack/treat, big or small depending on how many calories I have left). If I felt I needed and afternoon snack, a 100kcal pack of bread sticks or some fruit. Similar to days at work. No grazing. Since I know grazing doesn't work for me (I need a larger dinner and lunch to feel satisfied, which is impossible if I spend calories on grazing) it was easy enough to follow this rule and it became a habit very quickly.
I found it pretty easy to cut out between meal eating, and I tend to eat well at meals. I had a dessert (not every day, but sometimes, and only when I had the cals) immediately after dinner, and it could be anything from a piece of fruit to some good cheese to some ice cream (my favorite dessert to keep around, since I can moderate it and don't have to worry about it going bad).0 -
joyanna2016 wrote: »Yes! And the days in particular when it's hardest for me is when my husband is home as well and I ask him what he wants for supper. 🙄 Then, I almost get this "date night" or "special day" mentality and indulge a little too much. Also, if I bake something, that usually spells trouble for me because anything homemade is usually darn good. You may say "don't bake then" but I've got four boys (17,15,12,11) and a husband who know what they want and ask for it! Sometimes it seems like all my restricted eating gets undone on the weekend. Not every weekend is like this though (thank goodness) and I have managed to lose 35 pounds...its just that some of those lbs I've lost over and over again! Keep plugging along! You'll get there!
Yes, my problem is my husband. He is always bringing home chips and oreos. Even when I ask him not to. Makes it so hard knowing they are there and not dipping into it.1 -
But that's not his responsibility. He doesn't force you to put them in your mouth. One of the things I tell clients it that this is YOUR uptaking. Your responsibility. And while it would be nice to have your spouse be on board as well, you can't expect them to live by your diet. That can actually become contentious in a marriage. This is YOUR uptaking and not his, just like if you wanted to do a hobby you can't expect him to have to join you.nicoleasouthworth wrote: »joyanna2016 wrote: »Yes! And the days in particular when it's hardest for me is when my husband is home as well and I ask him what he wants for supper. 🙄 Then, I almost get this "date night" or "special day" mentality and indulge a little too much. Also, if I bake something, that usually spells trouble for me because anything homemade is usually darn good. You may say "don't bake then" but I've got four boys (17,15,12,11) and a husband who know what they want and ask for it! Sometimes it seems like all my restricted eating gets undone on the weekend. Not every weekend is like this though (thank goodness) and I have managed to lose 35 pounds...its just that some of those lbs I've lost over and over again! Keep plugging along! You'll get there!
Yes, my problem is my husband. He is always bringing home chips and oreos. Even when I ask him not to. Makes it so hard knowing they are there and not dipping into it.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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