I keep eating too much

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tampabobby
tampabobby Posts: 9
in Motivation and Support
hi all - I have lost 86 lbs over the last 6 years. i used to weigh 305 now i weigh 218. at one point i got down to 197 but gained some back. i am still very flabby... i am 5'11" and would really like to get down to 190 - 195 so still about 30 lbs to go.

i am really struggling.. i eat healthy food all day and run 4 - 5 days a week but i eat too much, sometimes like 3000 calories a day.

i think i eat for emotional reasons and to go to sleep at night. if i stop eating when i am supposed to i am up all night. i have gotten through a few days eating 2000 calories but then i go back to 3000.

can anyone offer suggestions to get through the night w/o eating and stick to 2000 calories per day? do I just have to tough it out until it gets easier?


thanks,
bobby

Replies

  • mortuseon
    mortuseon Posts: 579 Member
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    Eat more protein, it will fill you up for longer.

    Also, choose low-calorie foods when you can - you have to eat more of it to ingest the same no. of calories, thus you will be fuller more quickly and will be able to resist temptation. :)

    AND try drinking unsweetened tea, preferably green tea - it helps to relieve hunger pangs (green tea also has the beneficial effect of speeding up your metabolism). I find that cinnamon tea is a yummy non-cal substitute when I get cravings for sweet things, particularly hot chocolate.
    If all else fails, increase the intensity of your workout to compensate!
  • Helloitsdan
    Helloitsdan Posts: 5,564 Member
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    Hows your protein intake first thing in the A.M?
    High protein and healthy fat in the morning will keep you feeling full longer.
    Check out prevention.com and grab some 400 calorie meal ideas!
    Then fill in the extra 400 cals with snacking throughout the day.
  • anubis609
    anubis609 Posts: 3,966 Member
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    It's usually easier to slowly cut your intake by 100 - 200 every [other] day, rather than just dropping your calories down by 1000 right away.
  • britishstar41
    britishstar41 Posts: 140 Member
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    I feel your pain. If I'm hungry when I get in bed, there's no hope for sleep. I don't have any advice for you other than to not eat RIGHT before bed. Are you drinking enough water to help keep you full?
  • tmcginley
    tmcginley Posts: 28
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    I have the same problem. I even wake up at 3 am sometimes with a ravenous hunger and eat while half asleep. Often as much as an entire loaf of bread. I've lost 45 pounds but I keep steadily putting on because of my increased hunger. Not really sure what I can do about it. So sorry can't help but might help u to know you're not alone!
  • Dave198lbs
    Dave198lbs Posts: 8,810 Member
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    the good thing is you have done it before ...you can lose weight...look back at how you used to do it...what is different now? and the other ideas about eating protien does help
  • eellis2000
    eellis2000 Posts: 465 Member
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    try mixing in some weight training with the running and see if that helps.
  • chevy88grl
    chevy88grl Posts: 3,937 Member
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    First off, are you eating back some of your exercise calories? If not, I would try doing that. It'll give you the extra boost in calories that you may need in order to make it through the day. If you're already eating them (or the majority of them) back and are still hungry - then I would really evaluate WHAT you're eating through the day.

    I have to eat before I go to bed or I will wake up starving in the middle of the night. When that happens, I tend to make REALLY bad choices (in large quantities too). So, having something right before bed is definitely beneficial to me.

    Raising your protein will help to keep you fuller longer. I find that what I eat in the morning has no bearing on how I feel later in the evening. So, I try and get my protein later in the day so I don't want to binge eat at night.
  • MB_Positif
    MB_Positif Posts: 8,897 Member
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    Hows your protein intake first thing in the A.M?
    High protein and healthy fat in the morning will keep you feeling full longer.
    Check out prevention.com and grab some 400 calorie meal ideas!
    Then fill in the extra 400 cals with snacking throughout the day.

    THIS! I LOVE the 400 calorie meal ideas from Prevention and I have found that when I eat a good portion of protein early in the morning I eat much less the rest of the day!
  • MinnieInMaine
    MinnieInMaine Posts: 6,400 Member
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    There's nothing wrong with having a snack at night but work on cutting it down to something small and more filling (seeds, nuts, greek yogurt, protein bar, popcorn, veggies & hummus).

    Also, I like anubis609's idea of making this a small change. If you try to drop 1000 calories from your day too suddenly, you're going to be hungry and too tempted and might just go ahead and keep binging. Make this a slow gradual change and it will likely be more long term.

    ETA: Think of what you can do to change your habit of emotional eating too. I'm an emotional eater on the weekends when I'm bored (and sometimes lonely if hubby is off doing something) and found that distraction is the key. I play a game on my phone or get out and go for a walk or read a good book. Not sure what you like doing but think about how this could work for you.
    TV can be the worst trigger sometimes if there are good cooking shows on. As much as I enjoy watching them, if they make me want to eat, I have to force myself to shut the TV off and go do something else.
  • TourThePast
    TourThePast Posts: 1,753 Member
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    I tried looking at your food diary to see if I could see what was going wrong for you, as 2,000 calories, or even 1500 calories is more than enough to keep even an active man from feeling hungry, but you have it set to private so I can't help.

    Generic advice: Eat non fatty protein, stop eating crap with sugar in, eat loads of vegetables, drink enough low calorie fluids - ideally water, cut out the alcohol.
  • Helloitsdan
    Helloitsdan Posts: 5,564 Member
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    I have the same problem. I even wake up at 3 am sometimes with a ravenous hunger and eat while half asleep. Often as much as an entire loaf of bread. I've lost 45 pounds but I keep steadily putting on because of my increased hunger. Not really sure what I can do about it. So sorry can't help but might help u to know you're not alone!

    Regulate blood sugar before bed.
    You wake up because your body needs the food!
    Unless you are doing I.F. try eating a small bowl of cereal before bed.
    I love a mix of special K and honey nut cheerios.
    This is how I beat insomnia also.
    Hugs!
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    You could try setting a time limit on eating (e.g. nothing but water after 7 or 8 p.m.) to lower your overall daily intake. This won't work if you just eat more earlier, but some find it helpful for late night snacking.

    You might also try alternating days you can eat more (e.g. on Monday have 3000 calories, Tuesday only 2000, Wed 3000, etc.). This might help you stick to the lower calorie days by giving you something to look forward to tomorrow, and will lower your weekly calorie intake by 3000 - 4000 calories (about 1 lb).

    If all else fails, then I'd suggesting working out more to burn off the extra calories until you can get your eating back on track.
  • TourThePast
    TourThePast Posts: 1,753 Member
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    Or... maybe you're not hungry at all? Mabye you're just comfort eating.

    You say you eat for emotional reasons.. Make a decision - that you'll keep overeating or that you'll do whatever it takes to get yourself sorted mentally so you're strong enough to say no to food that you don't need.

    You need to be in a position to be strong enough to say to yourself "Right, my whiny body, listen to this - you can go **** yourself, you've had more than enough food today, stop whining, you're not getting any more" then go to bed.

    Okay you might not sleep, but so what? You'll sleep the next night if you're tired enough, and if you're not over emotional it won't seem like so much of a big deal, and in any case you'll soon get used to eating less.
  • ogottwald
    ogottwald Posts: 60 Member
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    Last week 1 night I woke up in the middle of the night and had 1.5 cups of chex and a little 1% milk. After eating I laid down abd asked "what the hell did I just do?"

    I don't fall sleep if I'm hunger before bed.

    If hungry before bed I eat 100% cal microwave popcorn and a grapefruit. Seems to do the trick for me. Be careful on portions. get Tupperware that has cup measurements when dishing out food.
  • ElPumaMex
    ElPumaMex Posts: 367 Member
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    Eat more protein, it will fill you up for longer.

    Also, choose low-calorie foods when you can - you have to eat more of it to ingest the same no. of calories, thus you will be fuller more quickly and will be able to resist temptation. :)

    AND try drinking unsweetened tea, preferably green tea - it helps to relieve hunger pangs (green tea also has the beneficial effect of speeding up your metabolism). I find that cinnamon tea is a yummy non-cal substitute when I get cravings for sweet things, particularly hot chocolate.
    If all else fails, increase the intensity of your workout to compensate!

    Yes, excellent suggestions.

    If you feel you need to eat at night, keep the calorie count very low.

    Now, having said that: If you eat enough for the day, you should not feel hungry at night.
    Are you sure you are not starving yourself, eating less than what you are supposed to do?
    What does MFP's tools tell you should be your calorie target for the day? Is your target to lose 1, 2 pounds per week or more?

    If you make your food diary public, we could give you more advice !
  • tampabobby
    tampabobby Posts: 9
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    thanks everyone for the ideas. this is very helpful. i have made my food diary public for anyone that wants to take a look. i was camping without internet Friday - Sunday so those days are blank but Monday - Thurs last week are filled out completely.

    i really like what was said about not worrying about sleep. that is the only thing that has worked for me so far... i need to just say ok, i am not going to sleep right now and read a book or something. it will eventually work itself out. this week actually would be a great time to do it to since there is not much going on at work before the holiday.

    i will try adding tea to my snacks (sweetening w/ cinnamon sounds like a great idea since i heard cinnamon can curb hunger). also i am going to start lifting weights 3 x per week. i do eat a lot of protein so i think i am covered there but you can look at my diary to be sure. some of my meals are 500+ calories so i will try knocking them all back to around 400 or less since that is enough to fill me up for awhile. also I need to drink more water and gradually reduce my calories from 3000 to 2000.

    i think it will take a combination of things to break through this problem! i am looking forward to getting to 195 and feeling good at the beach next year!!!!!


    - tampabobby

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