Stunned by how easy it is to overeat!
petitfilou
Posts: 21
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
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
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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!0 -
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 luck0 -
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!
Sandy0 -
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:0 -
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 works0
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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.0 -
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.0
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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.0 -
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 process0
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My first shock was the calorie content of the dreaded banana0
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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 lot0
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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.0 -
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.0 -
this is very good advice0
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i agree with the bigger snack smaller meal0
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Read labels and Measure everything. :noway:0
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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.0
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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.0
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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!0
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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!0
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ice cream always shocked me. I don't normally get ice cream. it's a rare once a month treat so when I do I get the full non-diet type. ½ a cup of haagen daaz. 230 calories!0
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I found through this website that on top of never exercising....I was overeating...........A lot!!!! On an average day I was eating 5-7000 calories!!! I reduce it to 2500, and as my weight got lower I reduce my calories even more. Today I eat about 1765 calories a day. give or take. Keep up the good work !!0
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Am I the only one who would have eaten the birthday cake and not felt guilty about it?0
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Plan ahead & log first. That's what I'm doing trying this week & it's working.0
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It is eye opening. I had no clue how many calories were in the foods I was eating when at my heaviest. I told myself " I don't eat that much". I might not have eaten huge volumes of food but what I did eat, was high in cals and fats.
I was doing WW when I lost my 60 pounds and now use MFP to maintain. I tracked my first week on WW and ate what I normally did and was chocked at how much I was really eating.0 -
I got an eye opener on Thursday. If you look back on that day on my food diary I went over 1000 calories over my allotment. It woke me up because that WAS my norm several times a week and then some if you add in about 5 more MT. Dews. I was upset at first but then used it as a jumping off point and yesterday I was below for the first time. I am finding myself thinking and measuring. Today will be another tough day, Sundays always are the hardest for me but I am going to do my best! That is all we can do!0
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It was definately an eye opener for me.... I was not exercising, snacking between meals and my portion sizes were huge... No wonder i need to lose at least 60lbs....
After logging all my food it made me realise how much I was eating. My main thing now is controling my portion sizes. That way I get to eat what rest of family eats, just not as much of it. Also when i do snack it makes me choose the healthy snack and not the choc chip cookies.0 -
Yeah for me it's definitely portion sizes and how much I actually should eat. Now, I eat my food on smaller plates and it def. helps.0
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The smaller plate thing definitely works! I eat my dinner from a cereal bowl and, more often than not, find it's enough. On the rare occasion that I have second helpings, it'll be one or two spoonfuls rather than another full-sized serving!
I have also discovered a magic breakfast that only "costs" 318 calories yet keeps me going for ages - 2 fresh figs, 1 tablespoon each of sunflower seeds and sesame seeds, a bit of goat's yogurt (MUCH nicer than cow yogurt) and some oatmeal. I started off with 3 figs but then realised how filling it was and that I didn't need 3. It's not my ideal breakfast (I'd far rather have last night's leftover macaroni cheese) but, given that I want to lose weight, it's nice and it seems to stop me needing my mid-morning snack.0 -
Am I the only one who would have eaten the birthday cake and not felt guilty about it?
LMAO!!! I would have totally eaten the birthday cake!!0
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