Stunned by how easy it is to overeat!

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petitfilou
petitfilou Posts: 21
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi everyone

I am new here, and I am finding it so useful being able to track everything I eat by calories. (I have never counted calories before and this could well be why i have never succeeded in staying slim before.) But, my God, how shocking to see how easily the numbers can add up!

Yesterday it was my sister's birthday and I overate by 655 calories ... and that was only because I went for a run in the morning and skipped dessert at her birthday meal! Had I not run it would have been 1,000 calories, and had I eaten dessert (yummy home-made chocolate and pear sponge - it pained me to refuse it), another 400 at least.

I'd love to hear from others and find out how this site has changed the way they do things.

Love PF x
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Replies

  • MaraDiaz
    MaraDiaz Posts: 4,604 Member
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    I'm noticing that making food at home is just as many calories as any restaurant, it's all in the portions. It may sound silly that I thought restaurants had some secret fattening ingredients to throw in their food, but you know, unconsciously, I really did think that!

    Now I know. It's not necessarily where the burger was cooked, it's how big the burger is!
  • Pinkmaddycat
    Pinkmaddycat Posts: 175 Member
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    i was the same when i started......also little slips can cost dearly....the amount of times ive been to a meeting and has just 2 biscuits...come home log it and its hundreds of calories.

    Even potatoes and pasta, if i eat then log rather than log first i always end up eating way more calories as i forget how many are in them!

    Good that you are already being good though! good luck
  • quiksandy
    quiksandy Posts: 246 Member
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    I was struck by the same epiphany when I started on MFP. I also remember being very hungry when I first started staying within my calorie limit. VERY. But I think eventually my body got used to smaller portions and I learned to eat things that were low in calorie yet filled me up. Now (on workout days) I actually sometimes find it hard to eat the calories I'm supposed to. I never thought that would happen.

    Anyway, welcome to MFP. Stick with it. It does get easier!

    Sandy
  • SDkitty
    SDkitty Posts: 446 Member
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    Yes! I think our misconceptions about portions and the factual calories in certain foods is the biggest reason people have a hard time losing weight (besides just being lazy of course). I never counted calories before MFP and now I can't imagine losing the last 12lbs without it!

    LLAP :flowerforyou:
  • MCDKI
    MCDKI Posts: 16 Member
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    I still think food at home is better in calories and easier to keep tract of. I find there are better days than others and that each day just keep logggin in and it works
  • engineman312
    engineman312 Posts: 3,450 Member
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    you should start serving your foods with measuring spoons, and buy yourself a food scale. a regular one will cost $20. this is 80% nutrition, and in my opinion, the money is better spend on things like that, then on an HRM at first.

    make sure your calorie goal is set right. if you have it at 2lbs per week, it might be too much to handle at first. ease into it, and set it at 1 pound per week. it'll be easier to succeed and slowly learn new eating habits. go to the home page->goals->change goals->continue. make sure all the date is correct.

    my biggest hurdle was portion control. one of the ways i tackled this was pre-logging all or most of my food the night before, especially if i was working. i would make my sandwich, pack all my snacks, know what i'm having for breakfast and for dinner. usually i'd go over by a few calories, but thats ok, because i had to ability to NOT eat something. eating first and then logging is an easy way to go over.
  • sizesixorbust
    sizesixorbust Posts: 114 Member
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    first week was so difficult for me! i had to ease into it by doing more exercising to get rid of my calories... but the easiest way i've found to stay under is drink water and eat more filling foods! additionally, my snacks are larger and actual meals are smaller than they used to be which i'm guessing helps with metabolism? but for me it just helps so i don't over-eat at meals.
  • dalgirly
    dalgirly Posts: 280 Member
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    I was actually shocked at how well I typically do eat (minus snacking). So the one big thing I've done is switched my snacks to things like celery and cucumber and plain popcorn. My snacking is what always put me over the edge. The cake at work, or whatever snacks at work.

    Its only been 2 weeks, but I hope I will start to see a change in a few months.
  • kerrylou45
    kerrylou45 Posts: 60 Member
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    I've been on here close to three months now. I find that I mainly just portion control now and now i'm also starting to learn what are high in calories and what isn't. I find it easy to look at it go hmmmm maybe not and pass it by. For me I'm way to lazy and most of my weight is due to pure lasziness. So I'm having to learn that when I'm bored I need do something, instead of watching tv, playing games on computer or my phone. I'm getting there but its a slow process
  • Picola1984
    Picola1984 Posts: 1,133
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    My first shock was the calorie content of the dreaded banana
  • VeggieFace
    VeggieFace Posts: 56
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    You're right i had a similar experience when I started. I started looking at serving sizes and was surprised at how many servings I would unknowingly eat! Keeping track of what i eat has helped a lot
  • Mompanda4
    Mompanda4 Posts: 869 Member
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    Hi, I too was stunned by the number of calories I consumed for what I ate on a daily basis...even when I was on the south beach diet. I am zoo happy I found this site by accident and have been using it all the time.

    Instead of eating and logging what I ate, I would log ahead of time before I would eat something...(especially during Thanksgiving). Then, I know what and how much I could eat. If I really wanted that piece of cheesecake, I know how much more exercise (cardio) I needed to do before eating the cheesecake. I opt to not eat it.

    After a month and a half of logging everything I eat, I h ave a good idea what my meals are going to be without logging in ahead of time. But, if I go out to eat, I would google the restaurant and log in the meal of my choice, and then decide if I really want that meal, I would have to 1) cut back else where during the day, 2) have a smaller portion of that meal and take the rest home, 3) choose something else that's just as good, or 4) exercise harder so I could enjoy that meal without guilt.

    Hope this helps you....and good luck...add me as a friend if you like.
  • sonyapowell
    sonyapowell Posts: 38 Member
    Options
    you should start serving your foods with measuring spoons, and buy yourself a food scale. a regular one will cost $20. this is 80% nutrition, and in my opinion, the money is better spend on things like that, then on an HRM at first.

    make sure your calorie goal is set right. if you have it at 2lbs per week, it might be too much to handle at first. ease into it, and set it at 1 pound per week. it'll be easier to succeed and slowly learn new eating habits. go to the home page->goals->change goals->continue. make sure all the date is correct.

    my biggest hurdle was portion control. one of the ways i tackled this was pre-logging all or most of my food the night before, especially if i was working. i would make my sandwich, pack all my snacks, know what i'm having for breakfast and for dinner. usually i'd go over by a few calories, but thats ok, because i had to ability to NOT eat something. eating first and then logging is an easy way to go over.
  • sonyapowell
    sonyapowell Posts: 38 Member
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    this is very good advice
  • sonyapowell
    sonyapowell Posts: 38 Member
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    i agree with the bigger snack smaller meal
  • tegla
    tegla Posts: 132
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    Read labels and Measure everything. :noway:
  • jarredondo
    jarredondo Posts: 297 Member
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    I have found that, when I am tracking it always amazes me how fast things add up. just by tracking it make me rethink a doughnut that someone brought in the office or the extra slice of pizza from a lunch meeting.
  • jennmoore3
    jennmoore3 Posts: 1,015 Member
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    So true! Drinks are so big in wasted calories! I now drink only water. Not to mention water is FREE! LOL I started here doing nothing different and logged everything I normally ate. I was WAY over 3000 calories in 1 day! It was amazing! I did buy a food scale at CVS for like 20 bucks. best money I ever spent.
  • petitfilou
    petitfilou Posts: 21
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    Thanks for the advice! The bit about logging before eating has been extremely useful indeed - the days when I have not done this have inevitably been the days when I have gone over my total. I'm fairly new here so haven't yet worked out how to friend up to people (!) but if anyone wants to friend up to me then that would be great!
  • winodini
    winodini Posts: 135 Member
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    Measuring out my food was a huge eye opener for me. It is amazing how small food portion sizes are when you first start!

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