Dieting, so frustrating sometimes.

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Blackjack200

Lifer
May 28, 2007
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I carefully track and control my calories, it's worked pretty well so far, I've lost thirty pounds and plan to lose at least another twenty.

Yesterday my sister flew into town with my brother in law and my four month old niece. I drove up to my folks place to visit, and my mother served lasagna.

I had no way of knowing what went into it so I was very conservative, charging myself 1000 calories for a modest portion. 'No big deal', I thought, 'I'll miss a few calories but get right back on track tomorrow.' This has happened before.

I stayed the night, but had to get up early to go to work. 6 AM, in fact. Well, my dad gets up before me and makes me steel cut oats (he's really into that). I was planning on just declining since I eat 3 eggs and cottage cheese every morning, but I realized that I really couldn't say "no dad, I don't care that you got up at 5:30 AM to make me oatmeal, put it back in the pot." So I ate the goddamn oatmeal. Of couse, I have no idea how many calories that is either, so I charged myself almost 400 calories.

TLDR: I could eat my fucking shoes I'm so hungry right now. I'm still a half hour from lunch, and I doubt my hunger will really fade for a while since I keep myself in a significant caloric defecit. So I'll still be hungry after lunch, after dinner, and probably not until I have breakfast tomorrow will I start to feel a little better.
 

Charles Kozierok

Elite Member
May 14, 2012
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TLDR: I could eat my fucking shoes I'm so hungry right now.

From your descriptions, you likely "overcharged" yourself. I've done that myself.. it's part of the "danger" of eating complex or prepared foods made by others. 1000 calories is quite a bit unless the lasagna was especially greasy. And 400 calories is quite a lot of oatmeal, unless it was heavily sweetened or topped with stuff like butter or cream.

If you calorie count daily, do you keep a "balance" that you carry over from one day to the next? It helps with these situations.
 

Blackjack200

Lifer
May 28, 2007
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From your descriptions, you likely "overcharged" yourself. I've done that myself.. it's part of the "danger" of eating complex or prepared foods made by others. 1000 calories is quite a bit unless the lasagna was especially greasy. And 400 calories is quite a lot of oatmeal, unless it was heavily sweetened or topped with stuff like butter or cream.

If you calorie count daily, do you keep a "balance" that you carry over from one day to the next? It helps with these situations.

I seem to be following you around :p

Yes, I'm sure I overcharged myself. The problem is, without knowing how much I overcharged myself, I can't really compensate.

I do track for the entire week, and I do have a bit of a cushion, so I might go over by ~200 calories today if the hunger really doesn't subside.
 

Saint Nick

Lifer
Jan 21, 2005
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I eat 3500 per day...and when I miss a meal it sucks. When it comes time to cut, I wll be in severe pain
 

Blackjack200

Lifer
May 28, 2007
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I'd think that if you're bulking you can compensate for that missed meal and don't have to be as careful, no?
 

M0oG0oGaiPan

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Dec 7, 2000
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Here's a couple of things you can do. Buy those prepackaged bags of salad and eat the whole thing with ~3 - 4 tbsp of fat free italian or something like fat free ranch.

The whole bag is 60 calories 16c 0f 4p. Dressing is around 30 calories 6c 0f 0p. It's pretty filling. full of fiber and pretty cheap. ~$1.50 for the bag. Dressing will last a while.

They also have sugar free jello snacks you can pick up. They're around 5calories 0c 0f 1p. You can top with fat free/sugar free whipped topping. I think macros are 20 calories for 2tbsp. Probably all carbs. Helps cure those cravings for sweets.

I love the texture of steel cut oats. It's kind of like eating a bowl of rice. If you have a pressure cooker, you cook a batch up real quick.
 

Wyndru

Diamond Member
Apr 9, 2009
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I started using the "Lose It" app on my phone, and it helps me with days like this by calculating weekly deficits/surpluses. That way if I overdid it a few days, I know I have a few more days to try to balance it back out.

I also like the UPC scanning for when I'm not eating my regular meals, just scan the package insert # of servings and submit. (which obviously only really helps for items that come out of a package though).
 
Mar 22, 2002
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Honestly, there are times you can take a short break from a diet while on a trip or on a special occasion. The main thing is you just can't go for it with reckless abandon. You have to be responsible. Who cares if you go over your caloric maintenance 200cal for a few days? You'll be right back in a 500cal deficit per day when you get back on the diet. I know it's hard to shift from diet mode to regular and then back, but sometimes it helps with staying sane.
 

Saint Nick

Lifer
Jan 21, 2005
17,722
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I'd think that if you're bulking you can compensate for that missed meal and don't have to be as careful, no?
Pretty much...but for me, it's tough to make up all those calories in one sitting. When it happens I usually end up making some sort of high calorie shake so it is easy to digest and will have room for more food sooner than normal.

Cutting time is going to be tough for me...definitely.

Anyways, stick with it OP. I think the hunger pains lessen as time goes on. You could also try different variations to see what works best for you, such as Keto or even IF. :)
 
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Blackjack200

Lifer
May 28, 2007
15,995
1,686
126
Here's a couple of things you can do. Buy those prepackaged bags of salad and eat the whole thing with ~3 - 4 tbsp of fat free italian or something like fat free ranch.

The whole bag is 60 calories 16c 0f 4p. Dressing is around 30 calories 6c 0f 0p. It's pretty filling. full of fiber and pretty cheap. ~$1.50 for the bag. Dressing will last a while.

They also have sugar free jello snacks you can pick up. They're around 5calories 0c 0f 1p. You can top with fat free/sugar free whipped topping. I think macros are 20 calories for 2tbsp. Probably all carbs. Helps cure those cravings for sweets.

I love the texture of steel cut oats. It's kind of like eating a bowl of rice. If you have a pressure cooker, you cook a batch up real quick.

Good suggestions. Thanks.

I started using the "Lose It" app on my phone, and it helps me with days like this by calculating weekly deficits/surpluses. That way if I overdid it a few days, I know I have a few more days to try to balance it back out.

I also like the UPC scanning for when I'm not eating my regular meals, just scan the package insert # of servings and submit. (which obviously only really helps for items that come out of a package though).

Yep, that's what I'm using. The problem is that I'm at a 1,000 calorie daily deficit, or just 1866 calories a day. (I do log my exercise and eat to compensate for it) So making up a 500 calorie overage can be difficult.

Thanks everyone for the encouragement. :)
 

mple

Senior member
Oct 10, 2011
278
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30lbs is quite a chunk of mass. Congrats on that. Out if curiosity, how long have you been dieting and what's your estimated bf? 1000 calorie deficit is rather severe to be honest. I cut on approximately 2000 calories, but I weigh 150lbs
 

Charles Kozierok

Elite Member
May 14, 2012
6,762
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Yes, I'm sure I overcharged myself. The problem is, without knowing how much I overcharged myself, I can't really compensate.

The truth is that it's not really that important in the grand scheme of things if you undercount a couple of one-time meals. It matters a lot more to get the counts right on things you eat regularly.

Another thing -- don't be afraid to decline foods you don't want to eat. If it's something special, fine, but if I had an overweight kid I'd be a lot happier to see him taking weight loss seriously than upset that he didn't want my oatmeal. (Of course, my kids are all skinny as rails, lol.)
 

Blackjack200

Lifer
May 28, 2007
15,995
1,686
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30lbs is quite a chunk of mass. Congrats on that. Out if curiosity, how long have you been dieting and what's your estimated bf? 1000 calorie deficit is rather severe to be honest. I cut on approximately 2000 calories, but I weigh 150lbs

I started dieting just under 2 months ago. I know 30 lbs. in 2 months is a little too fast, but the first 10 lbs. came off really quickly, maybe it was water weight or something. I'm shooting for 2 lbs. a week (really, 10 lbs. a month)

1,000 calorie defecit is 2 lbs. per week, but I figure if I'm conservative with my meal estimates, that will take care of the extra monthly pound (there are 4.5 weeks per month)

Started at 250 down to 220, want to get at least to 200. I'm 5'11.

I really don't know my body fat % is. If only there was a consistent and accurate (and convenient) way to measure it, that's all I would focus on.

The truth is that it's not really that important in the grand scheme of things if you undercount a couple of one-time meals. It matters a lot more to get the counts right on things you eat regularly.

Another thing -- don't be afraid to decline foods you don't want to eat. If it's something special, fine, but if I had an overweight kid I'd be a lot happier to see him taking weight loss seriously than upset that he didn't want my oatmeal. (Of course, my kids are all skinny as rails, lol.)

Good advice. I'll just say that the more I stick to the diet the more motivated I am. I feel great when I go to bed and I haven't cheated at all, I get enthusiastic about not cheating the next day and stringing together as many good days in a row as I can.

I definitely do decline foods. I declined all desserts last night. House was full of girl scout cookies and chocolate. No problem.
 

AyashiKaibutsu

Diamond Member
Jan 24, 2004
9,306
3
81
I've been eating 300-1000 calories a day... Secret to dieting is constant migraines/nausea/other assorted pain for months on end tanking your appetite : p

More on topic, I found the same thing with after breaking my diet the next few days are much harder to get back on track with than you'd expect.
 

Blackjack200

Lifer
May 28, 2007
15,995
1,686
126
So, I went way over budget today since I was spending Easter with my sister's family, and once I decided not to follow the diet I found it impossible to stay away from cookies and chocolate.

I just forced myself to go back and log everything I ate. Found I went over by about 1,200 calories. Now that I've logged it though, I feel better about it. Like it's quantified, it can be managed. I know tomorrow I'll be back under budget again.
 
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