College Students!!!! Munchie help!

okay... i need some serious help.

i am verrry concerned about my weight, im not fat... but i am not skinny either.  im constantly working out and dieting, and i usually do pretty well most days.

 

but EVERY TIME i drink/smoke i CANT STOP EATING!!!!! its out of control!!!

i'll do well all day, eat around 1500 calories (including alcohol). next thing you know... me and my friends are ordering an xlarge pizza at 3 am, or taco bell, or jack in the box!! foods i dont even like!!

some one help me with my munchie problems pleeeeaseee!! and by any means does this happen to anyone else?!

Stop drinking and stop smoking.

If you're really concerned about losing weight, you will do whatever it takes to make it happen. 

Original Post by dm84:

Stop drinking and stop smoking.

i d definatly say stop the drinking and smoking they obviously are nt helping you , as they limit you control and as you said get munchies...could you try planning your mmunching??like what your going to eat ?? or how many times a week you do this

 

Yeah, you can stop drinking, but that's not always realistic when you're in college and it's something you do to have fun with your friends.  I've had the same problem before, just munching away at whatever food is in sight, knowing I'll feel guilty later, and then being pissed at myself in the morning. 

What I've learned to do is really try to tell myself how not-worth-it it is to eat junk right then and get it out of my sight.  I've realized that sometimes I just like to be chewing on something, so I try to carry around a better alternative to pizza and chips or whatever in my purse (Goldfish, almonds, an apple, etc.).  Of course it doesn't work all the time, but you just need to learn to let yourself mess up sometimes.  Once in a while isn't going to screw you up completely unless it becomes a habit.

I have to agree with the others.. I would recommend not drinking and smoking anymore - or at least cutting back on it so you have those cravings less often.

Also, just make sure you have healthy snack alternatives to replace the fast food. If you're at home, have some cereal, oatmeal, apple (with/without peanut butter), etc. If you're out and about, maybe keep smaller snacks in your purse, like 100-calorie packs, an apple, some crackers, etc. You have options, so just make sure those other healthy options are available to you!

    for a long time, i was really good about not eating after binge drinking. then something happened and i couldn't just go home and not look in the minifridge for food. so what i started to do was prepreparing my after drinking foods. i measure and set it out on my desk so its right there ready for when i stumble through the door. i like pretzels so usually its a portion of pretzels and maybe and apple. fruits with lots of juices in them are actually quite tasty to have post-drinking, in my opinion. much better then greasy food. 

  

 I live in Miami so I know all about the drinking/smoking. Start using the calorie count tool regularly and you will become more conscious of what you're eating/drinking. 

I decided to give the mega green tea stuff a try recently. I had taken hydroxycut a little before but that was mostly for the caffiene and its not healthy at all. The mega green tea has better stuff in it and has really worked to control my cravings without interfering with my desire for the important meals of the day. Now when I smoke with friends I don't get the munchies at all. I only take one when I feel the need to not twice a day like they want you to. lol

  This is also an eye opener that about made me cry, for one mike's hard lemonade (220cal) I have to do one hour of bowling, etc. From now on I'm going with a shot of grey goose when I go out and skip the fruity ****. lol

This goes further:

  "I'll just have a little..."

If you are not careful, this little phrase can be an absolute killer for your weight loss plans.

And I'm not just talking about the food.

The hidden danger is in all the alcoholic drinks and cocktails that's being offered to you. Yes, those party drinks can do more harm other than just getting you intoxicated and embarrassingly uninhibited!

Did you know that these drinks contain an incredible number of calories?

In fact, alcohol is the number two most energy-dense food, losing out only to fat. Fat has 9 calories per gram, and alcohol comes in a close second at a whopping 7 calories per gram.

What this means is that each alcoholic drink you consume will cause you to take in an alarmingly high number of calories.

Here's a sample of some of the more popular drinks, together with their calorie counts..

1 glass of Bailey's lrish Cream - 468 calories
1 glass of Margarita - 453 calories
1 glass of Martini - 413 calories
1 glass of Pina Colada - 297 calories
1 glass of Vodka Cranberry - 250 calories
1 glass of Rum & cola - 240 calories
1 glass of Screwdriver - 200 calories
1 mug of beer - 150 calories
1 glass of white wine - 120 calories
1 tequila shot - 100 calories

To put those calorie counts into perspective, I'd like to just point out that 2 glasses of Margaritas would have given you about half of your daily calories requirements. Yes, 50% from just 2 drinks.

And we have not even included the calories from the food, nuts and snacks yet! Once we add those in, can you see how easy it is for you to go over the daily calorie requirements, and start piling on the pounds?

Now, this doesn't mean that you should stay away from the alcoholic drinks. It's just that when you drink, you should keep in mind the huge amount of calories in the drinks.

I want you to have fun this holiday. So, if you are the sort that enjoys a drink of two at your parties, I want to leave you with a couple of useful tips to help to reduce the "guilt factor".

• Fill up your glass with lots of ice cubes. You'll not only get a nice cold drink, the water from the melted ice has zero calories too.

• Use soda water to dilute your drink. This helps to fill you up quicker, and it means you won't get tipsy too quickly.

• And probably the most important tip... Do not use the alcoholic drinks to quench your thirst. Remember, you should be drinking these party drinks for fun. After the heavy meal or when you had too much salty snacks, go drink a big glass of water first to quench your thirst. Water works better for this, and it has zero calories! 
 

You don't need to stop drinking... just don't drink a lot. Drink light beer... or wine. You can either get drunk once in awhile, or drink more often but drink less. Moderation is key.

I would say stop smoking (I assume we're talking about pot since you get the munchies) for awhile. Or don't eat when you smoke and you'll eventually stop being hungry when you do. I used to be like that.. I would get SO hungry when I smoked and all I could think about was food. I was sick of it so I just stopped eating when I smoked and now I don't get hungry at all. It works.

I definitely have (food) self control issues when i drink. And I'm not even talking about binge drinking. 1 beer  and I go from 'no thanks' to 'maybe just a little.' The more alcohol the less I care I guess. lol I know what I'm doing.

Anyway, what I do: 

1) stop drinking on weekdays. i never REALLY drank on weekdays, but I'd have a glass of wine or a beer. 

2) go for lower calorie drinks. I saw some suggestions above. BTW, zenji, they now make mike's hard LIGHT lemonade with ~100 calories! Haven't tried it yet, but I'm excited

3)count your drinks! i started doing this for logging purposes, but it helps you drink less. 'Wow, i've had 3 drinks already? i should slow down.' Als, if I know I've had 500 calories of alcohol on top of my daily total, it's a little easier to turn down the 500+ calorie meal.

4)If i know that i'll be out drinking on friday, I eat lower cal than usual and save some for the night

5)eat healthy and hearty before you drink! it helps avoid temptation

6) tell yourself to wait to eat til you get home and then break out the rice cakes or other healthy snacks 

I hope this helps. As a social, fun loving college student i like to go out and get a little sloshed sometimes. I get drunk munchies too, but I'm dealing with them and still losing weight! without quitting drinking!

Sort of along the same lines of what others have been saying, I always have a bag of carrots or celery in my bag, and then in my apartment i keep at least 3 bags of snyders 12 multi grain pretzles....the taste is amazing and i don't feel as guilty after eating an entire bag....which i have a tendancy to do after a few drinks...ha

Lets be realistic here...I have the exact same problem that you do.  What I do (and it does take some will power) is I eat a Lean Cuisine pizza!  I know when you get home, you want something good and warm like pizza, burritos, chicken, etc., so if your friends order a pizza, you can eat your pizza right along with them, and you wont feel left out at all.  And you'll feel soooo much better the next day because its only like 350 calories or so (verses many many more in take-out food).  

Also in regards to the drinking, again, I have the same issue.  Its totally not realistic to say "stop drinking" or even "drink much less".  Rather, like others have suggested, drink lower calorie things.  I know that wine is not practical at bars, so for instance, a Vodka Soda only has the calories from the vodka.  Squeeze a little lime in, and its delish!

I hope this helps!

Yea it's not the most realistic thing to stop drinking and smoking, I didn't. Just cut back, that's the key! I don't drink much but smoke (and i assume we're talking about the same kind of smoking ;) lol) anyway, i cut back from smoking everyday to just once every week or every other week. Since I'm in an apartment now and not the dorm, I make sure I have a lot of low cal snacks around me.  I make some cookies or sweets from hungrygirl.com or cookinglight.com or here and just snack on those.

Even if you eat a whole box of 100 cal snacks, it's 600 cals and about 18g fat or so.  That may seem like a lot but if you consider the alternative of a whole pizza or fast food or whatever it's not so bad.

One thing that helped me a lot is hard candy. Get some flavorful sugar free hard candy like cream savers and suck on that. It'll help since you get that intense flavor but you won't be taking in a lot of cals.

I have an easy way of avoiding that. Even when intoxicated, I think of the money >.> It's one fo the ways I manage to not spend much on food and not have a dorm room full of junk or anything. I think 'god, 4 dollars for milanos?' or 'do I really want to spend 6 dollars on pizza?' The answer is usually no, especially when I know those six dollars could buy me amazing tempura when I get back to Boston. Because I'm cheap, the only time I usually eat take out is when my friends have ordered it, ordered too much and need me to take care of some veggie dumplings :P

If you can't get motivated the way you're attempting, this is what I use XD Can't guarentee it'll work

one key ingredient... MINI BAGS OF POPCORN! They work wonders for munchies of any sort. They are my favorite, and I practically have one every time I have the munchies, which is maybe around every other day...

Lay off the pot.  That will take care of the munchies.

the first thing i would have to say is, i agree with everyone re: smoking, drinking, and smoking pot. i used to do all three really really REALLY frequently, and since stopping, i have lost weight and i have a far greater sense of control over things like that, including eating.

if you're craving fast food, go to blimpie or subway and get a salad. subway's veggie delite salad is HUGE and under 100 calories (not counting dressing, but a packet of their fat free italian is only 25 calories). at friendly's you can get a single-scoop of fat free vanilla yogurt in a cake cone for about 110 calories. i hear that a mcdonalds cone is only 150, but check up on that. also, buy some plain popcorn kernels and air-pop them yourself without adding butter or salt, it's incredibly low-calorie, something like 100 for a 3-cup serving popped. sugar-free jello is great because you can make an entire package and eat the whole thing when your munchies are out of control.. entire box: 20 calories.

and if you HAVE to get a pizza on a saturday night, just have one piece.. don't dive into three or four. don't beat yourself up, just do the best you can. if you can skip 3 bud lights, that's your slice of pizza right there, guilt free. i know in college this is much harder, but cutting back on your drinking makes your margin for error increase by leaps and bounds. you just have to decide whether you'd rather drink those calories or eat them. hope this helped a bit =)