Hi everyone ...
After months of debating weight loss methods, I've finally committed to Calorie counting. It seems to be the only logical way to go and I love the dailyplate. The website is so easy to use but, here in lies my problem

I have been faithfully logging everything I put in my mouth for 5 days and while my allowance is around 1500 calories to start ... I have consistently gone over by 300- 400 calories I'm so mad a frustrated with myself. I do really well until the kids are in bed and then my mind goes into snack mode. My problem is that I can't go to sleep early ... if I do I just toss and turn, so I am up every night until 1 am or later ...ugh.

Help.

Should I eat less during the day? How have some of you long time calorie counters made it though the early days of your journey. I am certain that this (calorie counting) is the way to go ... I just need a little kick in the rear.

I have a tea & a small snack... Will "save" calories for it... Other than that try to keep yourself busy.. Do you have any hobbies? Perhaps read at night?

Get up earlier in the morning and get your activity in earlier in the day. Don't nap if you are. Also, try to establish a bedtime routine that soothes you--like no TV after 8, a bath in lavender, reading, etc. Just like you I used to stay up until cRaZy hours and biologically, am a natural night owl. Unfortunately, it doesn't work for my waistline.

If you are naturally a night time snacker you will need to find a way to do it without blowing your diet.

First of all, there's nothing wrong with 1800-1900 calories. Perhaps you should try that for a week and see if you lose weight on it.

If you truly want to only eat 1500 cals, I'd find a way to save 300 for your evening snack. If you drop some from each of your meals, you can probably come up with those calories. Or try to find a 200-250 cal snack for evening.

Don't deny yourself the evening snack. You'll just end up bingeing.

Thanks everyone ... tonight, checking in here helped.
It's 11:04 PM and my snack was a small handful of green grapes.

Sorry for the title typo - I was a bit stressed when I started the thread.

I like the bath idea ... maybe that will help me relax and get to bed earlier.

Alley, First don't be too hard on yourself! It may take a while to fine tune everything! I'm about your weight, and much older, and find that I am losing on 1800 so you might give it a shot, you can always reduce your calories later. That might be easier than trying to stick to one drastic change.

LOL, I didn't even notice the typo until you mentioned it. HTH

Well the higher counts some of you are doing and still losing wieght is good news. I based my 1540 calories on what the dailyplate recommended.

Thanks for the comments, I guess the proof will be in the pudding ... in a couple of weeks ... or should I say the proof will be in the salad and fat free jello

Are some of your calories coming from liquids such as soda, alcohol, milk, specialty coffees? If so they are the easiest to cut out and won't make you feel hungery. Switch for diet soda and water.

One last thing you need to exercise to be successful. You won't succeed counting calories alone and you won't succeed exercising alone. You need to do both in conjunction.

what are you eating? I find that when I eat more protein and fat, I stay fuller longer and when I eat more carbs (both times eating within my calorie range) I am hungrier and tend to eat at the higher end of the range.

I do the same thing at night, not hungry during the day, but as soon as the sun goes down all I do is graze, usually on good stuff, but still its calories. So I allow myself one handful, not 10 of something like a piece of fruit,crackers, or cheese stick, and 1 glass of soy milk, which I slip slow and for some reason it satisfies my munchies.
Most of my weight is from bindging after 8:00pm

I was a Daily Plater, too, at first - but I've realized SparkPeople.com is much more helpful. It tells you how many calories you have had for each meal so that you can distribute them as you wish without having to calculate it yourself. Also, it tells you how many carbs/calories/grams of fat & protein you can have for the rest of the day. Have you tried logging your food in the morning/early afternoon so that you are sure to have room for a snack? I have found that logging it all early in the day is the easiest. That way, I can have something small before I go to bed and not feel guilty because I knew how much carbs/calories I was allowed to have. A favorite of mine is sugar-free Jell-o. Just 10 calories per serving!

I brush my teeth when I'm done with my planned meals for the day. (I try to not eat after about 8:30, depending on my schedule.) I find it really helps me keep from eating and snacking in the evenings. I brush again right before I go to bed

I plan my daily food in advance. When I've eaten everything I'm "allowed" for the day I stop eating. I'm a dictator to myself that way. But as a calorie counter, if I want something higher in calories, I can plan it into my week and enjoy every morsel.

When I get hungry late at night like that, I make a little salad.

I didn't read the whole thread, but 1500 seems low to me, for your current weight, and for just starting out. 1800-1900 is about perfect. Do that for a while. Practice eating smaller portions, but eat frequently, every 2-3 hours. This will help your stomach to shrink down some, so in time, you'll feel full with smaller portions. Save something for after the kids go to bed, whatever it is that you know you'll be craving, save that for nighttime, and have it, guilt free. In a few weeks, if that calorie count isn't still working for you, you can then find 50-100 cals a day to cut out then.