I've been doing SO horribly with snacking recently! I'm shocked that I haven't gained any weight...it's that bad. I've been doing my normal workouts five days a week, and counting my calories into my normal range (1,650-1,700). But I've NOT been counting the extras...the Hershey's Kisses and mini Hershey bars that are PACKED in the fridge here at work where I store my yogurt...the handful of pretzels I pick up on my way back to my desk...the before-dinner snacks of cheese or crackers I can't STOP myself from eating when I get home.
I'm falling back into the pattern of mindless eating I found myself in at 220+ pounds.
What's crazy is that my rational mind tells me, "Now Mindi...if you're eating 100 or more extra calories a day in snacks you don't count, why don't you STOP snacking and ADD those calories in GOOD food?!" But I can't do it...I can't stand to see the number go above 1,699. It's a mental block...like I'm afraid if I SEE the actual number it'll be too high (even though that actual number is already being consumed every single day).
Maybe my mind is just broken!!! Someone help me with a kick in the pants, please!
Well, I haven't had this problem, but here's something you might try. At the start of the day, log the calories for 2 kisses, handful of pretzels, a couple crackers and a couple blocks of cheese. Then try to stay in your calorie budget (it will be tough!). Any of those things you *haven't* eaten those before dinner, delete from your log and recalculate.
That way, you will see those numbers and know the effect they have on your calorie budget and the impact they have on your other food choices if you try to stay on plan. Good luck!
This is what I think when I'm doing that kind of thing.
When I say I "can't stop" eating something, what that really means (for me) is I'm really not willing to stop eating it. Because I can choose to do whatever I want to. If I am eating something that I shouldn't it's because I'm choosing to eat it. If I don't eat it, I'm choosing not to eat it.
I can always do something different to keep my mind occupied. I know how it can drive a person crazy and it really does feel like you cant stop but I have forced myself to weigh out the options before I put something into my mouth.
I ask myself these questions first.
Is it healthy for me?
Is it going to impede my progress?
Is it a trigger food?
Am I going to crave more of it after just one?
Is it part of my plan for the day?
Does it fit into my calorie budget?
Is it worth really it?
If I'm going to lose this weight successfully and keep it off, I don't have to be honest about it with anyone else but me. If I cant be honest with myself then I might as well just stop what I'm doing right now cause it is not going to work.
Ever since I hit maintenance, it's been a problem for me...It's like I want to push myself and see how far I can go and NOT gain. I did so well for a while, and then the snacking began with something like banana bread at work. I ate a piece or two and didn't log it, and didn't gain weight. Then it grew to every day snacking and has just gone on. I know eventually I will hit the point where I DO gain from the snacking so I HAVE to stop it now.
I think logging the extras will just make me cut out the good things to stick with my self-imposed calorie limit that my brain can't get around. I'm stuck on a number and it's crazy! The best bet for me will be just cutting it OUT completely once again. I did it before and can do it again! I hope...
maybe...you should just let yourself see how much you can eat before you gain! just a thought. it might turn out that you can eat 1800 or 2000 calories to maintain. if you haven't tested your self-imposed limit, how do you know? that's not the same thing as mindless snacking. which, obviously, could be a problem (you know yourself better than anyone else, right? )
just thinking...could make maintenance a whole lot easier if it turns out your needlessly eating less than you could.
Maybe if you actually logged all the snack, saw that number your afraid of seeing and realized that if you keep it up you'll see a gain you'll LEARN the consequences of your actions and that will reinforce your healthy behaviors and make you leave mindless snacking in the dust.
Or, maybe you are just slipping up a little bit, like we all do. When that happens to me, I go back to the basics until I feel like I've regained my control.
I'm doing ok so far today with not snacking...like you said, Mango...it's back to basics. I'll allow myself a treat once, MAYBE twice a week, but I didn't LOSE weight by allowing myself to snack whenever and I won't keep it off FOREVER by doing the same.
I want to up my calories by at least 100 (of REAL food) and see what that does to me...but today isn't a good day to start. I'm eating as normal, but a low-cal supper has me at only 1,500 calories MAX today...short of my daily goal anyway. I'm cramming in all I can, but I won't make it...maybe tomorrow...
Also, keep in mind, it may just take a little time to catch up to you. Maybe even months. All the while you're thinking, hmm, how strange I'm not gaining. And then, you do. Creep creep creep. And then they don't come off as easy. Ask me how I know .
I kinda approach how I eat from two points of view. One has to do with my weight and what it takes to maintain it at a healthy place. The other is that the way (not just what) I'm eating is healthy. That food isn't an obsession or compulsion. So even when the scale is not going up, I still have other motivation not to be eating in ways that I feel are unhealthy (mentally or physically).
I think a lot of my current problem stems recently from a change in routine. My husband is also watching what he eats....and I'm helping him a LOT. Where I can eat 1,600 or 1,700 calories a day, he's eating 2,500-2,800 to LOSE. So he eats more for breakfast, lunch and 2 snacks than I eat in a DAY. It's hard to get straight in my head that HE can eat more than I can....I'm SO jealous of his calorie intake...
At your height and depending on how intense and long your workouts are, you might need to eat a little more...1800-2000calories maybe. But it's hard to say since everyone is different, like Julie said the pounds can creep up on you.
Well, I'd say either log it or don't eat it! You're playing a mental game, as you know, and one that's not going to serve you well.
What if you tried replacing those snacks with healthier calories? Like more ounces of lean chicken or a larger serving of lowfat cottage cheese or other protein foods?
Oh--I see--you don't have a craving for boneless skinless chicken breast...
C'mon now, MindiV, if it's more calories your body needs, you can do better than sneaking snacks from the work fridge!
You might actually need a little snack when you get home, but instead of mindless munching, fix a snack and sit down at the table and eat it slowly, along with a glass of water or tea or something.
As far as snacking at work, look at it this way, where were the fingers that were in the pretzel bowl before you, before they were in the pretzel bowl? EEEEWWW! And that candy, other people have been fingering it, even it is wrapped.
I'm not a germaphobe by any means, but maybe thinking about those snacks from a sanitary point of view will help.
I know, JayEll...I think it's just my MIND rebelling against the "all healthy" notion. I got off track with allowing myself SOME treats somewhere along the line and started thinking I was entitled to the treats on a daily basis. It's 2 pm here and I'm snack-free all day! That means I CAN do it...
shcirerf...you just posted the thought I had today....I'm going to start saving one of my snacks for when I get home. I've been eating plain yogurt in the mornings, but storing it in the fridge here at work only leads me to the temptation of the chocolate and snacks also in there EVERYWHERE. And I've realized I kinda prefer the yogurt in the afternoon anyway. So that's going to be my after-work snack, that I can mix up with whatever I'm putting in it that day (peaches, just Splenda, some sugar-free jelly or sugar-free Jello mix) and enjoy it slowly while watching the Food Network.
Oh--I see--you don't have a craving for boneless skinless chicken breast...
This made me laugh, because weird as I am, I DO crave chicken! I love chicken cooked with garlic. Don't get me wrong, I love chocolate as much as the next girl, but I LOVE chicken.
Mindi, I found these new Jell-o sugar free chocolate mousse whips at the grocery store this weekend. They are 60 calories per little cup, but it hits the rich chocolaty spot just right. And at maintenance, 60 calories shouldn't be too hard to fit in. It's less than a Yoplait yogurt.
Why is my brain not comprehending this?!
) 
You're playing a mental game, as you know, and one that's not going to serve you well.
C'mon now, MindiV, if it's more calories your body needs, you can do better than sneaking snacks from the work fridge! 
