Hello,

I've recently restarted counting calories and am finding that I eat about half my calories for the day during breakfast/morning snack. That's terrible! How can I stop myself? I guess I'm not going over my calorie range at the end of the day, but I'd really like to space things out better. Why am I so hungry in the morning and eating mindlessly? I want it to stop.

Oh , I forgot to mention.. I don't know if it matters, but my calorie range is 1200-1400 calories. Like i said, I quite frequently have half of that just at breakfast Help me stop!

MrsLovett

Morning is when you've been fasting all night and are breaking that fast. Hence breakfast.

The adage is breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, dinner like a pauper.
So... I don't necessarily think it is a bad thing. The idea is that if you biggest meal is first you have all day to help burn it off because you are being active rather than sleeping.

Though I suppose you could flip what you normally have as breakfast food and eat it for lunch or dinner?

A.

What are you usually eating? I find if I'm just STARVING in the morning I have 2 egg white omlettes with a little bit of goodies inside. They are about 125-150 cals each and keep me full for a while. (But you have to eat them slow or you will still feel hungry until it settles.) Thats only around 300 cals, my cerial I have is about that, and the omlettes are way yummier.

I don't think it's so bad - I have a really big lunch every day, so I am through 2/3 or more of my calories for the day after that. I have relatively light supper (300-500 calories) and ocassionally a snack. If you are satisfied with what you are eating and aren't forcing yourself to go hungry at night because you've eaten all of your calories already, I wouldn't worry that much about how you split them up throughout the day.

What do you eat? I start with an organic chicken hot dog. Then, I work out. then, I have some decaf coffee. I know that's not a lot of food, but I tend to eat a lot at night and that's what works for me. Also, are you drinking enough water? Are you eating out of hunger or out of emotions? Try to have a lot of fresh, raw veggies. They're low calorie and let you feel fuller and gives you that feeling that you're eating for a long time. I hope that helps and that you figure this out.

I do the same, but only cause that is how I want it. I am a big breakfast eater and love to wake up and start putting food in my belly. By lunchtime I am 3/4ths done with calories and it works great for me. If you like it, keep it that way, if not, journal out a plan and stick with it.

I don't think it's bad at all. My doctor actually told me to eat most of my calories in the morning. Personally, I can't. But I really try and keep all meals about the same. 300-400 a meal with snacks.

I always eat a big breakfast, about 500 cal. It's the biggest meal of the day for me. It is almost half my calories for the day, but I lost 65 lbs in 8 mo. doing it. My lunch is 300 cal and dinner is 200 cal. no later than 6pm. Then I have some calories left over for a snack(I always have fruit) It works for me and I feel great. So what your doing is a good thing!

Hi again and thank you for the replies.

I usually have cereal w/soymilk and peanut butter on a slice of whole wheat bread. It wouldn't be so bad if I weren't craving the peanut butter so badly. I wish I could just throw it away, but the rest of the family wants it. So anyway, that's 500-600 calories right there. I'm not going have snacks anymore. I'm cutting that out. My lunch must be around 300 calories and dinner is about 500 calories. My snacks had been about 100-150 calories each (two snacks - morning and afternoon), but that's too much so I'm stopping that now.

MrsLovett

I think you're assigning "bad" labels on very healthy practices. Eating a heartier breakfast is not a bad thing if it doesn't lead to overshooting your calorie alottment later in the day. 100 to 150 calories is NOT too many calories for a snack (and your snacks truly can be any size you wish, as it's the daily total that really matters, not how you distribute them). 1500 to 1700 calories is a very good calorie level for weight loss for most women, especially if you're exercising at all.


Distribute your calories the way that gives you the best emotional and physical results, because most of the research has found little to no difference between the ways to distribute calories. Eating more small meal/snacks may have a slight metabolic advantage over eating fewer/larger meals - but the difference is relatively small. Calories and where the calories are coming from is a lot more important to health and weight loss than when or how many times you eat.

As long as your eating patten is giving you enough energy throughout the day as you need it, without causing severe hunger - there's no reason to change your pattern, unless you just want to try something different. Which is fine, but that doesn't seem to be what your saying. It doesn't seem like you want to just try something different, it seem that you're feel bad about your eating pattern, and there's really no need to, because it's really a very good plan as you've described it.

At 5'4", your goal weight of 105 is underweight. Are you perhaps a model or a dancer?

The following may not be true for you, but it was for me. When I reached 103, at about 5'3", I found myself overeating at breakfast -- it began with adding molasses & other stuff to oatmeal -- and also bingeing on occasion. I did it in the very early mornings, in the dark, so no one in my family could see me. Breakfast was the most dangerous time.

To combat that, I kept upping my exercise, till it hit three hours a day. I believe that this happened because I'd been dieting & restricting too severely for too long. It was unsustainable. And part of me began trying to tell me that, while the other part panicked & became even more militant about eating & exercising.

Therapy finally got me out of that loop, but it took several years. I hope never to go through that again.

I exercise a bit too much now, still, I believe, but I am far more sane about food than I was back then & I am mindful that I have this tendency.

Nah, I'm not a model or a dancer. I wish that I was. I'm not pretty and I have "two left feet"! It's just that I've been at a lower weight and felt much better there. I do about 1.5 hrs exercise on some days, 2 hours others, and then I go a little overboard on a few. But I figure it's okay because I'm having fun and not burning that many calories anyway. I've checked.

I'm really not eating that healthy at all. It's probably almost bingeing. I don't know how to stop. I have been to therapy for the past several years as well. It's helped in some respects, but not in this regard.

Thank you for your help!

MrsLovett

1 cup of light soy milk: 80 calories
1 Serving Kashi Cereal: 120
1 piece of whole wheat toast: 80
1 tablespoon of PB: 90

Total: 370

How are you getting 500-600?

I have read a few articles that talk about how important a healthy breakfast is. http://stanford.wellsphere.com/healt...-winner/639788
If you want to eat a lower calorie breakfast you can try to do what I do. I eat a half cup egg beaters plus loads of veggies inside for breakfast. I also add a little sprinkling of cheese. It is a super filling breakfast at fairly low calories.

Are you planning your meal ahead of time? I find that helps me stay on track and my meals more balanced. I eat pretty much the same things at breakfast, so that also helps me stay in my calorie range. It is working out to be 300-400 calories per meal.