Last night I went over my food diary trying to analyze the days I go over 1500 calories vs the days I go under. I saw a trend!
Often I take a bag of carrots (100 calories) with me to work. They sit on my desk and I snack on them at will. I eat about 1300 calories a day when I take the carrots and I eat about 1600 calories a day when I don’t. I looked over 3 months of food entries and this really held up. I will take the carrots to work with me more often now!
What have you found that helps you keep your calorie count low?
I eat less when I start the day off with steel cut oats with some nuts thrown in. If I start the day with something with sugar in it or flour, I'm toast for the day.
I don't count calories, but I do better staying on-plan on days when I have a substantial breakfast with protein. And when I get my 4.5 cups of veggies in. Eating a little something every couple of hours helps to keep me from getting ravenous, which is bad news.
I do better if I not just plan to make something for dinner, but do a little prep for it in the morning or the night before. Otherwise, I get home and think about how I could just go get a sandwich from Jimmy John's or something.
I also agree on the high protein in the morning. In a real itme pinch I will eat 15-20almonds. It sounds like such a small amount of food but I swear it keeps me from being hungry for hours. I try though to do egg whites early in the day even if they have to go in the microwave.
I will also eat oatmeal in the morning with ground golden flaxseed in it, a couple of dried apricots and maybe 8-10 almonds.
That's the worst time for me as well. I have to use distraction tactics, Thighs. This is when I do dishes, call friends, make appointments, go off into another room with a book. If I'm at the office, I go to the on-site gym immediately after logging off my laptop. (I have a rule, you see: I am not allowed to go home without going to the gym.)
You know I have been working out early mornings on the most part. I have been thinking to schedule my workouts in the evening though to see if it will deter my appetite.
I agree with Wendy. I've noticed that I do so much better when I have my steelcut oats in the morning. I've also noticed that I do so much better when there is no junk/sugar/processed snacks in my house. I catch myself doing the mindless pantry or fridge search when I'm feeling a bit stressed. If the junk isn't there, I will usually just close the door and wander back to my desk.
On weekends and on my work-from-home days (that's two days a week), I do work out in the morning, as you do. Actually, I prefer it, because then I get it done & out of the way & the rest of my day is clear. And if my day turns out to be crummy, well, at least I did that one good thing for myself, first thing in the morning, before it all went to h*ll.
For me, I don't think morning or evening workouts affect my appetite, either way. But the evening ones do take place during a time when I'm in need of distraction.
I don't know why, but that stretch from lunch to dinner is a hard one, even with a snack or two thrown in.
Helpful habits
