How do I stop eating 6,000 calories??

As others have said, if you are used to eating like you did yesterday...Don't just drop to 1500 calories. It will cause you to be very hungry and just hate the idea of eating better lol. Your day yesterday was pretty much how I used to eat back in December, it took about a month to get used to the portion control but now I struggle to eat 3000 calories a day on big workout days.

If you want to eat more, you could add working out to allow for it also. I would recommend buying a food scale, it's the best purchase I made to help me lose weight.

Being honest here, I am seriously jealous of you guys who could eat 5000 calories a day. Your metabolism is way faster than mine. I gained on around 2700 a day, and that was a day I ate a lot.

OP:
First up, cut down on all your desserts. I saw M&Ms, chocolate chip cookies and other candy in your diary. Way too much for one day. Stick to one serving of one of those MAX per day. And try to cut it down to a couple times a week.

Second: work on your toppings and condiments. You want to limit the cheese and bacon consumption. Certainly not twice a day in full portions. Try to cut those down to a single serving per day

Third: Up your fiber intake. Add a big serving of veggies to every meal.

Fourth: start slow, it is really hard to change everything at once. Master one change and move on to the next one.

Everyone has already given lots of great advice. I will emphasize what I think is the easiest and most important--STOP DRINKING YOU CALORIES! The juice, chocolate milk, and beer are all basically meaningless calories and cutting them out won't make you feel more hungry.

Every time you feel hungry, drink a glass of water and wait 5-10 minutes. If you are still hungry, snack.

I don't think there's any harm cutting down to 2000 calories right away. That is probably more than you will want to end up eating ultimately, unless you are very very active, but you're not going to starve yourself eating less than 2000 calories.

You can do it. You eat a lot more when you aren't aware how much you are eatting. Keeping this diary will help. Also feel free to friend! Looking for supporters!

I looked at your diary of yesterday. a couple of questions; did you look at the actual packages for cal count or picked one out of the databank? did you eat peanut M&Ms twice? 36oz of amber beer =3 bottles, really? the reason I'm asking, there is a wide range between 2 slices of thick cut bacon in the database -from 60-110 cals per slice! Be as accurate as possible. I often use the barcode reader function of my phone -makes things a lot easier 9 but double check if what comes up compares to the pack!)
I would also suggest the go easy at first route. Like it or not, this is going to take awhile (if you want to do it the lasting, healthy, change-your-lifestyle kind of way!) Cutting in half seems a reasonable place to start. My motto has been: I can eat anything, just not everything of it! This is only going to work if you are ABLE to stick with it. If you deprive yourself too much too quickly, you are less likely to stick with it -trust me on that one!
Best of success to you!
Elke in MO

One step at a time... after looking at your diary - I would say you need to work on portion control... and cut back a bit on the snacks...

Research healthier, lower calorie higher nutritional alternatives for what you are currently eating -- it is doable, it is just going to take time, lots of dedication and commitment on your part... I do agree with an earlier comment, do not try to jump too fast to what it is recommended

Looks like you're making a serious run at it today, good luck!

That is a VERY manageable! Looking at your diary it appears that you eat a lot of junk food. Unless you are EXTREMLY active, you should not be consuming 6,000 calories a day!!

I would suggest you look very closely at what you’re eating and start cutting out the junk/fast food. That will help to lower your caloric intake. Also, look at your friends dairies and see what they are eating. This may give your ideas for replacements.

Another thing is to control you portion sizes! If you’re eating 2-3 portions of one item that would highly increase your calories.

Last thing I will say is to verify the info you are logging is correct. Although this is a great site, not all the info is correct. Verify nutrition against the back of your package.


These HAVE TO BE WRONG!!
Save on Foods - Medium Cheddar Cheese, 2 oz 240 calories
Western Family - Thick Sliced Bacon, 2 slices 270 calories

You may not be eating more than you think you are after all.

If 6000 is your normal, you should just start decreasing slowly because if you go straight to under 2000 and your body is used to 3x that much, it's going to freak out and put you into starvation mode. So try 4000 for a week then 3000 for a week and the 2000 and then what mfp says

I'm not gonna lie. When you're used to eating that many calories and you've never learned what's healthy and what's not, it's going to be tough. You're going to have to COMPLETELY change your mentality about food, and it's going to mean saying, "No!" to your body's physical addiction to processed food. The first week or two is the most difficult.

For starters, I would suggest cutting out all drinks except for water and 1 8oz. glass of milk per day (with a meal or use it in your cereal at breakfast). You'd be amazed at how many calories you're drinking every day. I'd suggest getting a 1 liter sport bottle and keep it filled all day. If you have diffuculty drinking water because it tastes too plain, try adding a squeeze of fresh lemon or orange (DO NOT ADD SUGAR!!).

Once you get a handle on what you're drinking, try eliminating white breads, pastas, rice, and potatoes. Then maybe move on to eliminating the salt shaker and stop adding sugar to everything.

Learn to read and interpret nutrition and ingredient labels. Remember that sodium, fat, and sugar content are just as important as calories (I would suggest tracking these as well as your calorie intake). Correct portion control is also VERY important. Don't try to do everything at once because that can be very overwhelming. Take it one step at a time. I would also ask your doctor about getting into a Diabetes education class (even if you're not diabetic) because they usually are very good about teaching proper nutrition.

Fresh fruits and veggies, lean meats like chicken breast and turkey breast, fish, etc... are best. If you eat breads and pastas, eat them sparingly and try to limit yourself to whole grains. If you eat nuts, eat unsalted, raw almonds and walnuts (sparingly). When shopping at the grocery store, try to avoid the center aisles as much as possible, keeping in mind that most boxed, pre-cooked, and canned goods are lacking in real nutritional value and are calorie dense.

STAY AWAY FROM EATING OUT!!!! ESPECIALLY fast food! When you eat at a restaurant, you have very little control over how your food is prepared and cooked. I would say don't eat out AT ALL for at least the first 3 to 6 months, or until you are more knowledgeable about nutrition....whichever comes first.

Overall, there are endless tips and tricks to help transition from an unhealthy, high calorie, junk food diet to a healthy, nutritious (and delicious), low calorie LIFESTYLE (try to refrain from using the word "diet"). MFP is a great learning tool. If you don't know something, ask an MFP friend who is more knowledgeable. I know it seems overwhelming, but it CAN be done. I know, because I'm doing it. It may be the most difficult thing you've ever done in your life, but it's the best thing you can do for your health. Your body will thank you later, even if it's fighting you every step of the way right now. Don't give up! Don't EVER give up! :flowerforyou:

Edit to add: Try logging your meals BEFORE you eat them. That way, if you're over your calorie goal for that meal, you can eliminate certain items or make changes to your portions BEFORE you put it in your mouth.

This has to be a joke, who eats over 5,000!calories??

I used to eat that in a single meal at McDonald's or Wendy's or Pizza Hut, EASY. You know that there are people on this site that aren't already into fitness and healthy eating, right?

Yeah I agree with the scaling-back-first plan; 1500 will be like going cold turkey! But DUDE (dudest, obviously that yoga pose is NOT you) good job on entering all that data for the calorie count! Look at this way: not only will you be eating healthier, but just think how simple that data entry will become. Good Luck!

This has to be a joke, who eats over 5,000!calories??

I used to regularly eat from macdonald's a 20 pack chicken nuggets with 4 sweet and sour sauces, supersize fries and a supersize chocolate milkshake. I work that out to be close to 2000 calories just for lunch. 2 litre coke per day 800 calories about.
Quite easy to eat more than 5000 calories. I now eat 1200 per day

I must say that my fiance and I started this new adventure together and I was blown away about how many calories I was taking in before I started. I am sure some days hit close to 7,000 calories and then I would go for days not eating and over the years I have messed up my metabolism, so I started this new life style last Friday and I have dropped 14 lbs so far. This is me who is on a 1390 calories daily. It is do able!!!! You have to convince your mind you are ready for changes and it will help. It will be hard I walked in today after school and my (skinny) daughter was using the deep fryer and making french fries, OMG it smelled wonderful and I probably could have ate the whole bag, but what I did I grabbed 4 french fries, and that is it. That damn will power will have to be strong, my mind was screaming inside but I controlled what I took, plus it help not to deprive myself also because then the "want" would have been more to fight. You can do it and I am definitely not a calorie counter and thank goodness to technology I love this app on my Ipod and it is making a struggle I had before so much easier.