I really want to try to count my calories everyday. Its so HARD! I feel like its such a hassle to measure and add and write it down....that sometimes I dont eat because it just easier.... I know thats bad....Does anyone have a realistic solution to help me?
BUT my BIGEST problem is I can not stop eating everything in sight after dinner... It seems to be NO matter what I NEED to eat snacks! But I hate it... I tell myself if after the kiddies go to bed I NEED to eat it will be a salad or a piece of hard candy....no it turns into chips and cookies and ice cream....not to mention its the holidays and my husband loves homemade goodies in the house and love the smell of home baked goods.... Grrrr.... So much temptation....SO I need any all and tricks you gals have too NOT eat at night!! Help me!!
i have the same issue. it's all very well counting as long as you do keep it up every day and i dont. i'll do a week and be great then the next wek i'll be away with something and it goes completely for the entire week rather than just the day that i'm away.
I've found if I plan to have one treat in the evening I do better. I'll have a serving (yes a measly 1/2 cup) of ice cream or a couple of cookies. I'll have them about an hour after supper. Then after my treat, I brush, floss, and use mouthwash so my mouth is ready for bed. That seems to help me.
All I can say is WOW, I think y'all have been reading my mail!!
I start CC really good, track everything in my journal, get my veggies in, then BOOM the night time munchies/binge hit. It's almost like an alcoholic that is trying to quit drinking, I feel that the pull I get is as strong as that.
I'm ashamed, and I get SO mad at myself the next day. But while I'm eating the nighttime junk, I don't feel guilty, I try to tell myself what I'm doing is wrong, but I just don't care.
I started CC again today, I also started my exercise back. I'm determined to overcome this monster. I don't know what happens, and I wish someone could explain it.
The things I crave is chocolate, ice cream, cookies, brownies, anything that would be a "dessert." The richer the better. It would be different if I allowed myself a small treat, and could stop at that, but if I eat a little I feel I have to eat a ton.
It would be easy to say, keep all the stuff out of our house, but I have 4 children, 2 that are late teens, and a hubby that loves his ice cream.
I know this is not an excuse, but the food we do buy, I get it at Whole Foods, or other Natural Grocery stores, so the "junk" is at least "healthy junk" with no artificial colorings, flavorings, and whatever else.
But, yes I know that even healthy "junk" food has a lot of calories and fat. And I know that if you eat too much "healthy junk" it is still not good for your body, so like I said I'm not trying to make an excuse.
I have a small goal, and that is to make it till Thanksgiving day, without eating like a mad crazy woman at night, and to stay within my calorie range, and also to exercise these next 10 days.
Last year I was really doing good with my eating, and I was exercising. I could tell a HUGE difference not only in the way my clothes fit, but in the way I felt. I need to remind myself how good it felt back then. Since then I have gained back 10 pounds that I worked so hard at loosing.
But, like I said when I'm in the middle of eating like that I don't care how I try to convince myself, all I care about is the chocolate.
What could we do to help each other out in a positive way?
Anyone else up for the 10 day challenge?
From today till Thanksgiving no over eating, staying within our calorie range, and exercise as many days as you can.
I don't know if this will help but this is what I did before I started counting calories.
Basically I spent a couple weeks allowing myself to eat anything I wanted under the following two conditions:
1. Before food entered my mouth I had to ask myself "Why am I eating?" if the answer was not "I feel physically hungry" I had to put the food down. However, I knew that as soon as I felt that physical rumbling in my stomach I could have whatever I wanted to eat. Fried chicken, ice cream, didn't matter.
2. When I did eat I could only eat what would fit inside a 1 cup measuring cup. Once I finished eating I would wait one hour. If I was still hungry (or became hungry) after an hour I would eat another cup of food. I didn't count bulky vegetables like raw spinach or romaine lettuce as part of the "1 cup."
It really retrained my brain and now I find calorie counting pretty doable!
EDIT: To be clear I didn't count calories during this time nor did I track my weight. I simply focused on learning portion size and to eat only when hungry.
Hi, I don't know if this will help, but I have to tell you I know exactly where you are, because I've been there over and over myself. The only thing that I know for sure helped me was reading the book "The Flavor Point Diet" by Dr. David Katz. He says that the reason we want and crave certain foods is because we activate too many flavor sensors in our brain at mealtime, then we need to continue eating to "fill them up." He explains it very well, but the gist is that if we eat sweet and salty together, we will have to keep eating BOTH until both senses are "filled." So, while I used his diet plan and recipes for several months, I'm now calorie counting and using his principles to limit the number of flavor senses I activate at any given meal. It really works! I rarely crave anything, even chocolate or candy, so I rarely have a binge or off-plan day (it still happens every now and again, but usually I can figure out exactly what triggered it). I carefully read packages and try not to eat anything that has both sugar and salty for flavorings, but I also learned more about really eating healthier and more wholesome foods. I really recommend reading the book. It's probably available at the library.
As far as writing down calories and tracking what I eat, it's just becoming habit for me. I just became so disgusted with myself and I was in so much pain all the time that I finally decided that I had to do whatever it took to get healthier. Best wishes for you. We're all pulling for you!
Thank you all so much for your great concern and all your helpful hints and tips~~ Im going to try to implement them into my life style! This site really motivates me to keep going~!~
ronni62- Thank you for the recommended reading- I will be reading this book- I love to read!!
I'm wondering "out loud" if those people who really struggle with the night munchies are really looking for something specific. Bear with me - here is my theory.
All day long you do stuff for others. You do stuff for your kids. Your job. Your husband, bf, gf, the freaking PTA, whatever. So finally after 7:00pm or after midnight is your time. You want to do something for YOU. But you're so tired from doing for others that you just want to relax and do something you really like. Well what is more relaxing and fun than eating? Not a lot, really. I mean I think most of us here really enjoy food. And you can eat a candy bar with no effort and a pretty big immediate payoff. And after a long day boy does that sound good. Well up until you eat the candy bar. Now what? Now you still want something fun to do but feel guilty for eating so you either throw your hands up and go crazy eating whatever or you're miserable because of the guilt. So the next night you put stress on yourself to not eat so you don't feel guilty. But then the stress is the OPPOSITE of what you want and it becomes overwhelming so you seek comfort and ta-da! You are right back where you started from and so the cycle continues.
So I think the key is to start asking yourself what am I really looking for? Fun? Comfort? Relaxation? And then feed those needs with other stuff. A hot bubble bath with fancy candles, a subscription to Netflix, a video game, a pool table, a good book to read and a wonderful smelling candle and dim lights.
Eating at night is working for you. It's meeting some need, otherwise you wouldn't do it. So if you just stop eating at night that need is no longer being me and you're miserable. I think you've got to figure out what the need is and then replace it with something else that meets that need.
Jumping back on the CC wagon
i'll do a week and be great then the next wek i'll be away with something and it goes completely for the entire week rather than just the day that i'm away.
