i work as a waitress 4 days a week to pay for school. the junk food money is on my swipe-y card through my dorm. i do not spend my own hard earned money on it. and yes i did write a similar question a month ago, (why does everyone always search through everyones past threads? :/ ) and i guess that problem just never got solved. i just came here for some advice.
Well, looking at someone's past threads shows a pattern. You've been struggling with this same issue since at least a month ago and people gave you a lot of advice about it. They are giving you advice in here too - but there's only so much advice people can give before it is up to you to take it and act upon it. We can tell you what you should do, but we can't physically stop you from exiting the dorm room and going down to the store. Like I said, check your username, and make it true to yourself.
Forgot to ask, on a practical level: do you need to have the swipey card? Is it tied in to your meal plan or some necessity? If not, maybe it would help if it weren't so easy to buy things at the c-mart. If you have to have it, load it with just enough money for the things you need so you don't have leftover for junk food.
i guess that problem just never got solved. i just came here for some advice.
The problem will never GET solved all by its lonesome. You need to be WILLING to solve it. You need to be willing to take the steps TO solve it. It won't "clear up" on it's own.
You've gotten some good advice, but you must than proceed to take that advice.
I think you need to set yourself some limits. Make yourself some rules. . Set some boundaries. Decide once and for all that you ARE going to conquer this.
But you have to realize there will be some uncomfortable moments involved. You're going to have to learn to tell yourself no. You're going to have a craving and NOT give into it. And it will feel uncomfortable. But that's okay. It's just temporary. It will get easier each time you do it. You've got to get past the discomfort stage as your old habits die down and the new ones form.
Stop giving yourself permission to buy that stuff. It's no longer something that you do. Tell yourself over and over and over again, "I just don't do that anymore, I just don't do that anymore, I just don't do that anymore".
Make sure that you DO have other healthy foods on hand - lots of water, hot tea, a sliced apple, 100 calorie popcorn, grape tomatoes.
And also have activities in mind to do. Specific ones.
Set yourself up for success.
Challenge yourself. Push and push and push yourself. Stretch. Reach. Grow. Prosper.
Well eating at night is not a bad thing it's what your choosing to eat. If you are always having a sweet tooth there are health snacks that are sweet.
But one of the biggest thing will be getting to a place within yourself there isn't anything that we can't acomplish once we are at that place mentally the emotional and mental aspects of a person, when combined, leads to better self improvement.
I had the same problem and wih every to sole them we must digg deep.
I'm sure you've gotten lots of good replies, I haven't read through them so sorry if I'm repeating.
I'm also a night time snacker. This sounds lame, but one of my favorite activities is to sit in front of a movie in the evening and eat. That is pure heaven to me, haha. I tried very hard to force myself into the "right way to diet." As in, 5-6 mini meals and no eating after 7pm. I was, in a word, pissy. I was always hungry and really missed my night time snacking. It just wasn't sustainable to me, and the trick to all of this is finding what will work for you.
So I compromised with myself. The days of eating cake (as in...half the pan), or a huge bowl of ice cream, or candy, or all the leftovers of whatever I made for dinner in the evenings were over. I simply couldn't do that and lose weight. I wanted to lose weight more than I wanted to continue eating those foods. But, like I said, I truly love eating at night. So I still eat at night, but I eat lower calorie foods and I do not eat as much earlier in the day.
My eating schedule looks like this:
7am: Black coffee
12:00pm: 100 calories
2:30pm: 250 calories
6:00pm: Big dinner, 450-550 calories
7:00-bedtime: 400-500 calories of snacks
Total: I like to stay around 1400cal for the day
Snacks might include one or a combo of: veggies dipped in ranch, bowl of oatmeal, HUGE bowl of popcorn, some leftovers, a sandwich, etc. Basically, this is a meal but I like to break it up so I can eat throughout the evening. Sometimes I'll "splurge" and eat a treat that's still within my calorie limit. A Wendy's Frosty, for example, can fit in there. It's rare, but the fact that the option is there, guilt free, makes me feel better. The fact that I can eat dinner and know that I still have 500 calories left to use is a comforting thought to me. I never go into that panic of "oh my gosh, I still have hours before bed and no calories left!" because that thought process is when I say "screw it" and binge. I let myself snack in the evenings, but I take control of it and do it in a planned way which keeps me on track.
So if night time snacking is your thing, I don't think you should have to fight it. But to lose weight, you will have to compromise what you're eating and maybe change the routine a bit.
This is a familiar battle that I've fought for years. When I first started school, I gained the 'freshman 15' my first semester. Between partying, eating after partying(ie after 2am), and dining hall food, plus a lack of structure like I had before college, the cards were stacked against me. My question to you is this: what were your eating habits prior to school? Same? Different? Also, are you taking any meds that might contribute to your cravings? I ask this because I learned that Ambien, for example, is a definite appetite enhancer. Does your body tell you that you're full, but your brain says "EAT"?
I want to help.
I tend to follow mkendrick's philosophy. I, too, get extremely hungry at night and that is the time where I always used to binge and go way over in calories. Everyone recommends spreading out your calories, eating a 200-300 calorie breakfast and lunch, etc. So that's what I tried to do. I was trying to do what everyone said was healthy. But then I realized, it's not healthy if I do that and then eat 700 calories after dinner. It's better for me to eat a lot less during the day and then use most of my calories up at night. I eat enough to keep me energized and feeling well and drink a lot of water, I just don't eat 3/4 of my calories BEFORE dinner. As mkendrick stated so well, I get panicky when I eat dinner and then know that I can't eat anything else until the next day.
I'm a college student as well, so I know exactly where you're coming from. Being on campus is a hard place to be when you're trying to lose weight. A lot of others have given you some good tips on replacing the junk with healthy food. And generally, you should try to do this. But maybe, knowing that you CAN eat 1 junk-ish thing every now and then will keep you from going crazy. As long as it fits into your calories, it's ok once in a while. Anyway, good luck with everything!
You are having an issue, a very common one by the way, you asked for help with I think you got some good feedback. By asking for help though, you have to be prepared to hear everyone's take on the matter. Which I think is a good thing. When you yourself are in the situation, it's hard sometimes to see certain things and we just kinda pointed them out. It may not be what you expected to hear, but I do think you needed to hear it and I hope you were able to see some ways out.
You said you will try to do better. I urge you to not only try to do better, but please, please, set yourself up to do better, by making some self imposed rules and setting some boundaries for yourself and by planning things out. For me, that is a big factor. Planning. Planning. Planning. Also try not to focus on what you can't have, but on what you can have.
Eat a fixed small portion of something that satisfies -- a few crackers, a handful of nuts, a slice of cold cut turkey. Then brush your teeth immediately. The mint from the toothpaste should kill your appetite. Visit my biography to know me better
its not my parents money, it is my own money because i am paying for college myself.
and yes, my swipey card is through my dorm meal plan.
and i will try to do better. sorry to upset you girls by posting this thread :/
I agree with you that some of the replies on your thread are a tad bit snarky, but I certainly don't think you need to apologize for posting this topic on a weight loss support site! You are having a hard time not binge-snacking at night, and it is an ongoing problem for you. Sounds like a "normal" problem to seek advice about on this type of forum to me!
I'm the one who asked where the swipey card money comes from. And I am still genuinely interested -- is it just one flat fee for your meal plan, and then you can also get whatever snacks at the store you want for that same flat fee? If so, that is one h#ll of a bargain! Some of us could really get our money's worth out of a plan like that! If not, then it is indeed your hard-earned money you are using toward the snacks, money that I'm sure can be put to better use for your future.
I guess my advice for your problem would be that there is no "easy fix". No one can just push a button and say, okay, it's fixed. You have to be prepared to squirm a little, but I will tell you as someone with horrendous eating habits who has really made the change to healthy eating habits in the last several months, it's really only painfully uncomfortable at first. It also takes a lot of planning, having healthy stuff to go to when you are starving. There's really no way around that one, because if you get the munchies and there is nothing proper to eat right in front of you, then you are going to wander down to the store and find something. Even if you have the best intentions of getting something lighter, those old familiar snacks are going to be taunting you and callin' your name -- and when you are hungry, they have a lot of power and a really loud voice!
The convenience of the little store right downstairs, coupled with the fact that you are probably justifying to yourself "I am a really hard-working girl and I have a lot on my plate right now, I am going to eat these d&^m snacks because I deserve them after the day I had" (at least that's what I always told MYSELF) make it hard to say no. But take it from someone who's almost 40, with a family and a full time job -- there will never be a time when you don't have easy access to food and when you won't be a hard-working girl who deserves a treat. Now is the time to change that mentality, because it only gets worse from where you are now.
BIG to you!!! Even though some of the posters sound a little frustrated about your struggle, I don't think there is anyone here who doesn't know what you are going through in some way, shape, or form. Keep on posting and venting as you work your way through it!
i work as a waitress 4 days a week to pay for school. the junk food money is on my swipe-y card through my dorm. i do not spend my own hard earned money on it. and yes i did write a similar question a month ago, (why does everyone always search through everyones past threads? :/ ) and i guess that problem just never got solved. i just came here for some advice.
Quote:
Originally Posted by neveragainbabe
its not my parents money, it is my own money because i am paying for college myself.
and yes, my swipey card is through my dorm meal plan.
and i will try to do better. sorry to upset you girls by posting this thread :/
I guess this is why your thread is upsetting to me. Honesty is the best policy...
If not, then it is indeed your hard-earned money you are using toward the snacks, money that I'm sure can be put to better use for your future. 
to you!!! Even though some of the posters sound a little frustrated about your struggle, I don't think there is anyone here who doesn't know what you are going through in some way, shape, or form. Keep on posting and venting as you work your way through it! 
