Eating primally is great - but it is so hard not to overeat
kaiman1
Posts: 27
I actually have no problem leaving out processed foods, grains, sugar, etc.
I am even drinking my coffee black now and leave out most dairy.
Why is it easy?
Because I get to eat all the stuff I never got to enjoy before when trying to loose weight.
I can fairly easy keep to below 100g carbs per day, despite eating plenty of veggies.
However, those new, wonderful and healthy choices are also very densly packed foods, full of, among all the nutrients, also calories.
And that is where the rubber hits the road.
I overeat so easily on this stuff and it is just extremely frustrating.
So I am on here, logging everything I consume and do, just to make myself see.
But it seems to take just a few bites of some of that new, good stuff and BANG you are way over your limit.
I am even drinking my coffee black now and leave out most dairy.
Why is it easy?
Because I get to eat all the stuff I never got to enjoy before when trying to loose weight.
I can fairly easy keep to below 100g carbs per day, despite eating plenty of veggies.
However, those new, wonderful and healthy choices are also very densly packed foods, full of, among all the nutrients, also calories.
And that is where the rubber hits the road.
I overeat so easily on this stuff and it is just extremely frustrating.
So I am on here, logging everything I consume and do, just to make myself see.
But it seems to take just a few bites of some of that new, good stuff and BANG you are way over your limit.
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Replies
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I know what you mean - my favorite snack food is nuts...and you can very easily go over on nuts....
I actually manually set my calorie goal about 150 calories lower a day than where I should be so if i do have a few extra nuts or grab an extra piece of jerky or use some coconut oil to sautee and don't record it I am still within the Ok realm...
I do my best to track most everything I put in my mouth - but I was stressing to much over the little overages hence why I backed off a bit0 -
Two words: Intermittent Fasting. Miss a meal or two on some days and eat normal on other days. You're still restricting calories and if you go over on any given day it isn't so bad.
It all balances out.0 -
:happy:Two words: Intermittent Fasting. Miss a meal or two on some days and eat normal on other days. You're still restricting calories and if you go over on any given day it isn't so bad.
It all balances out.
+1 !!! IF has made a huge difference for me :happy:0 -
Same here! IF-ing makes life much easier! I eat from noon to 8pm and have been getting great results0
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Two words: Intermittent Fasting. Miss a meal or two on some days and eat normal on other days. You're still restricting calories and if you go over on any given day it isn't so bad.
It all balances out.
Some days I'm over my calorie goal and some days I'm under. I figure it all evens out. I also look at my weekly goal to see how it's working out and I'm usually still within the weekly goal.0 -
I just wanted to share a link that Feildsy4Life posted in one of his status updates:
http://www.eatrightamerica.com/erni-superfoods
You'll notice that the reeaaally nutriend rich food (its ranked per calorie) is reeaaaaly low calorie too. Maybe you could really beef up on kale, collards, bok choy and such? I bet it'd be hard to over eat on those guys!0 -
Yea, that's pretty much why I'm back to logging my food -- for awhile at least.
I was doing really great earlier last year and then went off the rails in October. Getting back on the wagon has been difficult this time around as it seems like my belly had turned into a bottomless pit. Logging has put my food portions back into check and I'm finally starting to lose the chunk I gained over the fall.
IFing helped some last year -- it was very liberating! But for now I think I'll cut down on the nuts and snacky type foods and stick with full solid meals. I have to remind myself to start with a small (normal) portion and go back for seconds if I'm still hungry rather than go all caveman on my meal.0 -
I find that I've cut out all nuts and all dairy and I eat very little fruit because yes, it was too easy to over eat. I also practice Intermittent Fasting (IF) and it is helping. In fact I try to eat only two meals / day. I don't mind the hungry feeling because it's not a frantic feeling it's just a noisy stomach feeling and I can stand outside myself and just observe the phenomenon. When I was carb dependent I was a lot more desperate, crabby, and cranky when I was hungry.
Being a woman of a certain age (OK I'm 59) I'm finding that I have to exist on a lot fewer calories than most other people, so I've set my calorie limit at 1100 -- I'm experiencing weight loss now whereas before I was just holding steady (which in itself was a big improvement).
I eat lots of big green salads with avocado and quite a bit of meat or fish. I drink bone broths when I have it available and I also make vegetable smoothies with my vitamix blender. I keep myself busy with craft work like crochet and knitting when I'm not exercising or working.
In the past during my low fat / vegetarian years when I restricted calories I used to develop cracks at the corners of my mouth and my fingernails developed Beau's lines and flaky layers at the tips. I also used to develop cold sores quite frequently. On Paleo my fingernails have remained smooth and strong and healthy and no sign of cold sores or mouth cracks at all.0 -
IF is what I do a lot of. Some times I think too much actually, because if I understand it correctly it would set up homeostasis again if it is done regularly. In other words, the body adjusts to it.
Overall I feel that I have not developed the correct recognition of when I start to overeat on stuff.
Oh, and "stuff" tends to be meat in some form or fashion for me. We eat plenty of veggies, but I would have to eat huge amounts to make up for what the meat does.
I think I'll just have to keep counting and visualizing what I am eating.0 -
Not to be redundant (I posted this before in another thread) but it took me a while to figure my appetite out and learn how to get satisfied with food. This is subjective; for me in means upping my fat intake. Tracking is really helpful especially in the early months to figure these things out and to make sure you don't over do it (like nuts-- I ate a lot more nuts in the early days. Um, too many!)
And learning how to be satisfied with my meals made me go from struggling to do an IF to effortless meal skipping in addition to significant limitations on snacks.0 -
this is really interesting, I'm having the opposite problem, I'm struggling to eat over 1000 calories a day unless I cheat a little or have pork!
I tend to fast until 1pm naturally as I work late and get up late (when small person allows). I'm not hungry for a few hours after I wake up.
I don't eat nuts though because I don't trust myself! I'll start having a few in salads though as they are getting a little boring at times.0 -
I have been eating this way for almost a month now and not once have I gone over my calories for the day. Weird. I am usually not even close and that includes eating at least 2 servings of fruit a day.0
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this is really interesting, I'm having the opposite problem, I'm struggling to eat over 1000 calories a day unless I cheat a little or have pork!
I tend to fast until 1pm naturally as I work late and get up late (when small person allows). I'm not hungry for a few hours after I wake up.
I don't eat nuts though because I don't trust myself! I'll start having a few in salads though as they are getting a little boring at times.
I'm about a month in as well and I'm having a hard time getting enough calories in. I'm always under the 1200 calories (default) that mfp has assigned me, and most of the time I'm under 1000.0 -
Very interesting.
Looking through my food logs I see that the real humdingers in calories are:
- meats, usually ground meat, ribs, sausages
- fatty fish (salmon, hering, makarel)
- olive oil (scary how much that adds sometimes)
- avocados
- eggs
- primal trail mix
- dark chocolate
- red wine
Nuts and seeds by themselves are not much of a problem as I don't eat huge amounts per day
Veggies are always present in copious quantities, but they don't amount to much (save the Avocados).
Seems to me you need to eat more meat and eggs, lots of olive oil on your salad, have some wine and chocolate along with some trail mix
I need to eat less of all that have more veggies :-)0 -
Apart from the IF suggested, if your like me and struggle not to eat, i find calorie cycling works great...I can hit 2600 cals one day and 1500 the next..2lb steady a week weight loss..0
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I have been eating this way for almost a month now and not once have I gone over my calories for the day. Weird. I am usually not even close and that includes eating at least 2 servings of fruit a day.
This is true for me as well. I started paleo in October, not tracking calories, and unintentionally lost an additional 10 lbs ( I was already at my goal weight when I made the switch). I started tracking food again in Feb/March of this year and I definitely find it hard to meet my calorie & protein goals each day in an effort to gain some of that back, hopefully as added muscle.
Just another part of the experimental learning process I guess!0 -
I thought primal and paleo were diets (meaning ways of eating, NOT ways to lose weight) that make it very hard to overeat. Maybe try focusing on nutrient dense foods. Before making the switch to about 80% paleo I have never eating such a large volume of food before in my life and been under 2000 cals.0
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Nutrient rich food is certainly key, but I find that the meat I eat really adds up on the calories.
I am currently trying to keep to below 1700 calories a day, with carbs at 100 or below.
That is working on the weight loss side, but I have to watch very closely what I eat, otherwise I just go over board with the calories.
And at some point calories do count :-)0 -
Very interesting.
Looking through my food logs I see that the real humdingers in calories are:
- meats, usually ground meat, ribs, sausages
- fatty fish (salmon, hering, makarel)
- olive oil (scary how much that adds sometimes)
- avocados
- eggs
- primal trail mix
- dark chocolate
- red wine
Nuts and seeds by themselves are not much of a problem as I don't eat huge amounts per day
Veggies are always present in copious quantities, but they don't amount to much (save the Avocados).
Seems to me you need to eat more meat and eggs, lots of olive oil on your salad, have some wine and chocolate along with some trail mix
I need to eat less of all that have more veggies :-)
I'm all for eating more! I do cook with oil and such like I think I eat a lot of meat *nom nom* and veggies. I'm always full!0 -
Very interesting.
Looking through my food logs I see that the real humdingers in calories are:
- meats, usually ground meat, ribs, sausages
- fatty fish (salmon, hering, makarel)
- olive oil (scary how much that adds sometimes)
- avocados
- eggs
- primal trail mix
- dark chocolate
- red wine
Nuts and seeds by themselves are not much of a problem as I don't eat huge amounts per day
Veggies are always present in copious quantities, but they don't amount to much (save the Avocados).
Seems to me you need to eat more meat and eggs, lots of olive oil on your salad, have some wine and chocolate along with some trail mix
I need to eat less of all that have more veggies :-)
I eat of lot of these as well. I usually don't have any problem getting in all my calories. I have an avocado a day in my salads at lunch. Some days cals are a little over and some are under.0 -
Very interesting.
Looking through my food logs I see that the real humdingers in calories are:
- meats, usually ground meat, ribs, sausages
- fatty fish (salmon, hering, makarel)
- olive oil (scary how much that adds sometimes)
- avocados
- eggs
- primal trail mix
- dark chocolate
- red wine
Nuts and seeds by themselves are not much of a problem as I don't eat huge amounts per day
Veggies are always present in copious quantities, but they don't amount to much (save the Avocados).
Seems to me you need to eat more meat and eggs, lots of olive oil on your salad, have some wine and chocolate along with some trail mix
I need to eat less of all that have more veggies :-)
Um if you are eating a lot of "primal trail mix", then you certainly are eating a lot of nuts and seeds almost by themselves I bet! This is probably the easiest thing to overeat and munch away on. Also, try opting for non-processed meat such as plain cuts, rather than processed ones like sausages and fatty cuts like ribs. Go for sirloin or roasts. Easy peasy. Or offal, which is super fatty but hard to eat a lot of. You can eat a nice huge 10oz sirloin for the same calories as like 5oz sausage, which is going to satisfy more? The salt in sausage really makes me crave too much of it.0 -
The biggest fault in the primal/paleo worlds (especially among guys) is that they think it gives them license to eat as much mat and fat as they want. We take the beautiful truth that red meats and saturated fats are not the bad guys and run away with the concept, massively overdoing it.
The basic truth is that, even with having steaks, coconut oil and bacon in our diets - the bulk of our calories should be coming from calorie sparse (and nutritionally dense) plants: all the leafy greens (especially kale), as well as the rest of the vegetable kingdom.
- that 12 or 16 ounce steak should be 6 ounces or less (figure roughly the size of your palm); then fill up with as much veg as you want;
- nuts are calorie dense; a handful can easily run 300 calories and are very high in omega 6s to boot. If you're eating trail mix that has fruit, raisins or choco in it, you're adding in sources of sugar that are also empty calories;
- sugar should not be a part of your life unless there is a plant surrounding it (meaning a whole fruit). No juices, etc.
Your food list is healthy - mostly you need to just change the proportions. You can make three eggs and a side of bacon for breakfast (500 cals) or two eggs and a big plate of sauteed greens (300 cals). You still are getting the protein and fat - but you are also getting a lot of bulk and nutrients for a lot less calories.0 -
The biggest fault in the primal/paleo worlds (especially among guys) is that they think it gives them license to eat as much mat and fat as they want. We take the beautiful truth that red meats and saturated fats are not the bad guys and run away with the concept, massively overdoing it.
Ain't that the truth :-)Your food list is healthy - mostly you need to just change the proportions. You can make three eggs and a side of bacon for breakfast (500 cals) or two eggs and a big plate of sauteed greens (300 cals). You still are getting the protein and fat - but you are also getting a lot of bulk and nutrients for a lot less calories.
That's basically where I am ending up with my logic as well.
As much as I'd like to basically live right next to my BBQ, I need to watch total amounts :-)
Trail mix, as some have suspected here, is not much an issue since I treat it as a snack only. However, even then the triple digit calorie count is noticeable.
Thanks everybody for your tips. It is much appreciated.0
