I KEEP slipping up by dinner time HELP!!!

Have you tried breaking up your total calories per day into the number of meals you plan to have each day including snacks? I plan my breakfast lunch and dinner as I'm eating breakfast and pack up two snacks and my lunch to carry to work w me. I don't eat meals I don't make myself. And my snacks are always 100 calories ish. Try planning your day out in advance so you don't fall victim to the oops factor. Good luck, and be patient.

Maybe eat allow yourself to eat more? It's kind of hard to tell, we can't see your diary. Be glad to give some tips though, feel free to add me!

It would help to be able to see your food log. But, here goes:

-How many calories is your goal? Are you eating back exercise calories? (Do! You earned them and it will help). Maybe you need to lower your goal to 1/2 pound lost per week for a while and get yourself into the habit before jumping to a higher loss goal.

-What do you snack on? Snacks can be a good way to fend off hunger, but it's easy to go overboard. Lowfat yogurt, a granola bar, or a boiled egg are all good choices (they have about the same calories). Or fruit or veggies. I love munching on celery, cauliflower, and red bell peppers with salsa or even a bit of ranch dressing (measure out 1T, that's only about 70 cal). A handful of nuts has a satisfying crunch and are good for you if they are dry & unsalted (not the canned kind) but measure your servings!

-Do you eat breakfast? While I don't subscribe to the whole "jump start your metabolism" theory, I know that on days when I miss breakfast I am much hungrier later and go overboard. Something sensible - a couple of eggs, or whole grain cereal (I love Cheerios or Bite-Size frosted mini wheats), or instant oatmeal or creamy wheat.

-What do you drink? I would avoid drinking calories as much as possible. Cut out soda and alcohol except for the occasional treat. Limit juice to 6 oz a day. Go with skim milk, and have only 8 oz at a time (and only 2-3 a day). Gatorade and other similar drinks are totally unnecessary unless you are working out heavily for over an hour. Same with protein drinks, in general (lots of them have extra sugar anyway).

-When you want to eat, stop and ask yourself if you're really hungry or if it's something else. Identify your triggers (I tend to eat when I'm nervous or upset, if other people are eating, or when I'm studying). Have a glass of water first - sometimes thirst disguises itself as cravings for sweets. Try chewing gum.

It's a process of changing your habits. I like to eat a lot in the afternoon & evening, so I have had to find ways to distract myself. I also have lighter breakfasts and lunches so that the evening snacking is possible within my calorie range. YOU CAN DO THIS!!

I can't see you food diary so it is tough to give you advice. Are you eating enough protein, do you eat every few hours, like fruit or veggies, etc? If you allow us to see diary, we might be able to give you ideas, but don't quit!!!!!

I plan the next days meals before going to bed and as I go through the day I change as needed for example if I don't eat something because I was full or not hungry I use that later for another meal, or sometimes I combine my snacks with my meals if I don't get a chance to eat them when I normally should, also I leave any junk food off until the end of the day, I have to eat the good stuff before I can add the junk, like cookies etc. We can be our own worst enemies so planning helps us give a line to follow and less room to screw up. Good luck you can do this!!

It would help to be able to see your food log. But, here goes:

-How many calories is your goal? Are you eating back exercise calories? (Do! You earned them and it will help). Maybe you need to lower your goal to 1/2 pound lost per week for a while and get yourself into the habit before jumping to a higher loss goal.

-What do you snack on? Snacks can be a good way to fend off hunger, but it's easy to go overboard. Lowfat yogurt, a granola bar, or a boiled egg are all good choices (they have about the same calories). Or fruit or veggies. I love munching on celery, cauliflower, and red bell peppers with salsa or even a bit of ranch dressing (measure out 1T, that's only about 70 cal). A handful of nuts has a satisfying crunch and are good for you if they are dry & unsalted (not the canned kind) but measure your servings!

-Do you eat breakfast? While I don't subscribe to the whole "jump start your metabolism" theory, I know that on days when I miss breakfast I am much hungrier later and go overboard. Something sensible - a couple of eggs, or whole grain cereal (I love Cheerios or Bite-Size frosted mini wheats), or instant oatmeal or creamy wheat.

-What do you drink? I would avoid drinking calories as much as possible. Cut out soda and alcohol except for the occasional treat. Limit juice to 6 oz a day. Go with skim milk, and have only 8 oz at a time (and only 2-3 a day). Gatorade and other similar drinks are totally unnecessary unless you are working out heavily for over an hour. Same with protein drinks, in general (lots of them have extra sugar anyway).

-When you want to eat, stop and ask yourself if you're really hungry or if it's something else. Identify your triggers (I tend to eat when I'm nervous or upset, if other people are eating, or when I'm studying). Have a glass of water first - sometimes thirst disguises itself as cravings for sweets. Try chewing gum.

It's a process of changing your habits. I like to eat a lot in the afternoon & evening, so I have had to find ways to distract myself. I also have lighter breakfasts and lunches so that the evening snacking is possible within my calorie range. YOU CAN DO THIS!!

I appreciate this... lots of good advice. I have problems with my blood sugar dropping, and that's when I'm in bad shape and likely to frantically eat everything in sight. I have to be very careful catch it before I'm shaky and starving. And to remember that I don't HAVE to eat everything in sight... it takes a while for the blood sugar to start to go back up and if I just have a small snack, sit down with a glass of water and wait, I'll feel better soon. Without having to mess up my entire day of calories!

And just drinking water saves calories AND money!

I try to save a really yummy snack for after supper... even a york peppermint patty ice cream bar. Then I know if I can make it through supper, I have a really good reward waiting.

Hang in there, everyone!

My friends tell me I've made this a full time job. But it's really not. I have a cabinet full of portion sized snacks, Like pretzels, baked chips, sugar free cookies, nuts, u name it. I buy salad goods on Saturdays and make them all up on Sunday for grab and go ease through the week. I have perfected the 57 calorie salad, don't know why restaurants can't do that. I bake an entire tray of chicken breasts on the weekends and cut it up in to bites to make stir fries w during the week, I scan the grocery shelves reading everything which btw i gotta say if the box clains its healthy weight blah blah w/e bank on it being horribly over priced and not the best choice for ones precious calories.

The other day at work a guy in the canteen was examining his apple and says I wonder how many calories an apple has. I looked at it for a minute and said it looks about 89. He looked it up and says hmm how do u know that? This food diary stuff is hard at first but trust me it becomes no brainer when u plan. I eat breakfast Btn 6-8 depending on the day of the week, snack at 10 & 3, lunch Btn 12-12:30 and dinner when I finally get to eat. Traffic in Orlando is a bear. Lol. Basically I have programmed my body to know that I don't need to store anything. You can do this too. It's easy!

Ok..I was the same way. I work all day (mostly sitting) and not ate much through out the day. Basically coffee all day and work thru lunch and EAT at night. Drank soda and no water. So here's my tip.... green tea, yogurt, bananas and oranges help get rid off belly fat. First I started A 1200 calorie daily count.

Start off with a banana/yogurt in the morning.
***also...drink a glass of water before any meal or snack. Helps lose weight and tricks ur mind and stomach.
Through out the day..eat an orange as a snack. Sometimes peanuts.

Then for lunch..be creative. Try to eat the most (but not over 400 calories)
Because ur body is moving more during this time) moderately but moving

I take 30 minutes of my lunch to jog up and down stairs(even walking). Which creates more calories to play with for dinner

At dinner..u can have anything u want as long as I don't exceed ur daily calorie goal.
I'm new at this but I've lost 32lbs in 1month without even really noticing.

I'll make a suggestion that you can take or reject. But you're describing hunger. And if you eat lots of protein and more good fats, less carbs, you won't be as hungry throughout the day. There's a decent book called The Low Glycemic Diet that you can get on Amazon or wherever you shop for books, maybe even the library. It has all the main details. I try to stay around 40/30/30 and I just don't get hungry between meals and really enjoy what I do eat. You might give it a shot. Nothing to lose --- but weight.

bump

My issue was portion control AND convenience. I love healthy food, the idea of "clean" food and organic foods... but sometimes being a mom, it's just easier to call in a pizza and eat the whole damn thing myself.

That said...

Prioritizing yourself is a must. Your grocery day needs to be just that -- ALL about food. The day before (or days before the trip) make out a meal plan of HEALTHY meals and snacks. Know your weaknesses -- salty? sweet? savory? Asian? Mexican? Conveniet? Plan for the weaknesses. If you like sweet, do NOT deprive yourself. This is how we screw up and binge or just give up. Instead of (just an example) buying a Hershey's bar, buy the 75% (minimum) dark cocoa bars or squares. They can come in a variety of flavors and are usually around 50 calories per square. Yes, you may want the whole container, but know you will only have one. Salty? Capers are great and are not full of salt! Add them to salads, tacos, anything that you can mix with. Pasta salads too. Need a crunch? Rice cakes, rice chips, soy chips, pita chips... just start with healthier options. They may still be higher in calorie than a rice chip, but get veggie chips if you have to. Or go in the natural section where there are really good whole grain chips. Start slow and work your way to healtheir options.

If you crave certain ethnic dishes, make one yourself once a week if you have to. Make large enough batch that you can have leftovers. Look at EACH ingredient in a dish and see if there isn't a healthier option. Need taco shells? Opt to wrap things in a romaine leaf instead. Or, switch to pita and slowly work to romaine leaves.

Remember the rule that -- whatever is white, is not right. White rice, white bread, etc. Don't eat it.

Once you grocery shop, wash and rinse every produce item. Know your meals. Will that meal need chopped carrots? Wash and chop them now! Want berries to snack on through the week? Wash them and stash them in 8 oz containers now. Portion control before you're even hungry. That way, throughout the week, you have already told yourself what you can and cannot have that day. You can have your snacks, but in the proper portions and proper healthy options.

Ziploc bowls (xsmall, small, medium, large) are really awesome to help portion control throughout the week.

Also, this helps with convenience so you're not chopping, washing, preparing, rinsing every day or multiple times a day. If you don't want to make eggs every day, begin to boil eggs for hard-boiled eggs while you're doing the food prep after grocery shopping.