What do you do... (dieting tips)

I need to lose a few pounds before my trip to Mexico, so I have started writing down what I eat. Sparkpeople is a great place for recipes and for logging on all you eat. If anyone wants the site, let me know. It's free, and it helps me. Quite the bummer when you look and see what you ate adds up to in calories! Very annoying.

But when I crave sweets as in chocolate, I grab maybe 5 chocolate chips, and that is my treat, or a chocolate kiss works too. I just stop at one. *subliminal message there*:D

Eat when you're hungry.

Pay attention while you're eating and stop as soon as you think you might be full.

If you're not hungry, find something else to do. Go for a walk around the block, drink a big glass of water, take up knitting, whatever. Close your eyes and picture yourself in a bikini. Just don't eat.

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Originally Posted by ny biker

Eat when you're hungry.

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I'm always hungry...:eek:

If you are hungry all the time and you can't resist; cut up a bunch of veges, i.e. sweet yellow, red and orange bellpeppers, cucumbers, carrots, celery, and whatever else you like; and put them in bags after you come back from the store. Put them in your crisper and when you feel the need to munch, eat away

spoke

I'm always hungry too! I crave protein a LOT too. So I have boiled a few eggs, and pop one (or two) to help the protein craving and the hunger pains. With about 77 calories, and 6 grams of protein, I think it helps.

You mean, literally your stomach is always rumbling because you're hungry? I would think that is a sign of a problem, like your body is telling you that you need to eat more, or some kind of medical problem.

Mine is literally hungry, not all of the time but at least every 2-4 hours. I have a high metabolism, so I tend to eat often. I would like to lose about 5 or 6 lbs, so you wouldn't think my body would be hungry that often. :rolleyes:

I agree re: breakfast. Eggo nutri-grain low fat waffles work for me.

I usually get hungry in the late afternoon so I'm used to having a snack then. But last summer I realized that everyday when I was eating lunch I would be full before I was done with the whole lunch, but ate it all anyway. So I started eating half the sandwich (or salad or whatever) at lunchtime and putting the other half in the fridge. And when I get hungry for an afternoon snack, I eat the second half of lunch. This has cut a couple hundred calories out of my diet every day, without making me more hungry or feeling deprived or anything.

Similarly I realized that I tended to eat everything that was on my plate for dinner even if I was full before I was done. So now I put less on the plate to start with, and it's usually enough to get me through until breakfast. If I do get hungry at night, I either have a very small snack (e.g., a 50-calorie piece of cheese) or I just drink lots of water and that does the trick.

I've also found that prunes make a very filling snack, and they taste good and are a good source of potassium and anti-oxidants. And you will never let yourself go crazy and overeat when you're snacking on prunes.

Start Streakin'! See how many days in a row you can go without eating improperly. I'm pretty competitive, and have found this to be pretty motivating. I don't cave to temptation simply because I don't want to 'lose'.

What about drinking at least 1.5L of water a day?

If i don't drink enough i feel hungry.

Similar to ny biker...I'm a member of the Clean Plate Club. So, I started using smaller plates! I even started a collection of beautiful handmade plates, in the salad plate size, and I use them for every meal (except Thanksgiving!). My husband does it, too.

I had the idea that I should spend a morning cooking up an entire day's worth of food. Food that I would normally eat on a typical day, all measured out, like on the Today show or something. And then just visually stimulate my mind to realize how much food that is in one day! Then I could play with volume of the good veggies and other things to see how I could increase the amount of food without increasing the calories.

What can I say? Sometimes you need to draw me a picture for me to understand!

I'm going to do it....I'll take a day from my food diary. If I take pictures, I'll post them.

Karen

Another thing that we all often forget is that a little hunger is ok. If you think about it, it makes a lot of sense. You are trying to lose weight, so to do so, you are eating less than your body needs so that it burns off the fat of the land, right? So when you aren't eating every single calorie your body is used to having, it cries out. It wants more. That's a growling stomach.

It's nothing to go running to the fridge about! Just learn to recognize when hunger is ok and when it's a real problem. If your head is spinning, you feel weak or shakey, you can't concentrate...that's different...that's not the kind of hunger to ignore. If your stomach is grumbling and your sensible food plan doesn't have you eating right now, then just tell it to shut up! :p

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Originally Posted by GLC1968

Another thing that we all often forget is that a little hunger is ok. If you think about it, it makes a lot of sense. You are trying to lose weight, so to do so, you are eating less than your body needs so that it burns off the fat of the land, right? So when you aren't eating every single calorie your body is used to having, it cries out. It wants more. That's a growling stomach.

It's nothing to go running to the fridge about! Just learn to recognize when hunger is ok and when it's a real problem. If your head is spinning, you feel weak or shakey, you can't concentrate...that's different...that's not the kind of hunger to ignore. If your stomach is grumbling and your sensible food plan doesn't have you eating right now, then just tell it to shut up! :p

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Bawahaaa...

Thx, I really needed that support and inspiration right *NOW*! OK, stomach...

SHUT UP!!! :mad:


:D

Btw, good adds, ladies:).

I think there is a difference between my stomach being hungry and my mouth being hungry. My mouth gets hungry for certain tastes long before my stomach ever gets hungry. Chewing mint or cinnamon gum should help as it makes everything taste funky.

As I sit here eating breakfast-- a couple egg whites and a whole egg with some Bragg's liquid aminos for extra yums-- I realize that it's the chopsticks that I use to eat them that slows me down and keeps me from eating too quickly and still wanting more. It especially works if you're not very adept with the chopsticks ;) Think Beatrix Kiddo with her mangled hands at Pai Mei's place in Kill Bill vol 2 :D