Eating out is not the problem...

For me eating out is not a problem, it is stayinig home and studying. I need noshing for studying so I end up going over by about 500-100 calories at the end of the semester per day. I try not buying stuff, but it is really hard to buy ONE packet of oatmeal and stuff, ya know what I mean? My house has to be completley empty for not to nosh during study hours.... and even then I can find something...

How do I deal with this? I have been really bad the last week.... I regained half the weight I lost.

Try nibbling on something very low calorie.  When I get the munchies late at night, and I've already eaten most of my calories for the day, I grab a bag of baby carrots.  Good for you, and it's very hard to eat so many that you rack up too many calories!  You can also try chewing gum. 

dzie, I can relate --

plaidpooka is right, you have to train yourself to reach for the healthy snacks -- preferably whole foods from plant sources -- such as baby carrots, or fresh fruit.  They not only provide good nutrition, but they keep you chewing for awhile -- and chewing itself helps curb those cravings.

another suggestion is to look at what makes up your main diet.  If you are still eating a lot of processed foods, start replacing them with whole foods.  Choose foods you like -- don't try to force yourself to eat foods you don't like.  The Plant kingdom offers such a huge variety of very healthy foods to choose from, no one need suffer through a diet of foods they don't like.

the more whole foods you eat, over time, the more your tastes and food preferences change to WANT more whole foods.  That is a very good sign that your body is becoming healthy and kicking it's unnatural addictions.

I was doing really well for over two months. But lately I just can't seem to be satisfied anymore. I feel insatiable.... I mean really if it wasn't medically impossible and religiously highly unlikely I would swear I was pregnant. I just have been getting such strong cravings like I never had before.

What I dont understand is that I allow for foods I like every day. Maybe 1 or 2 peices of chocolate, or a gelato on a hot day. And I still eat like I have never seen this stuff before.

It is has only surfaced in the last month or so.. I feel out of control now.... did I screw up my natural eating habits by dieting? Or am I just having a momentary lapse?

Hummus is the best thing in the world for me.  Munching on veggies never satisfies me, but I find when I dip a carrot or a slice of red or green pepper in hummus, I'm happy.  Sometimes I make my own, but I love Athena brand.  They have lots of flavors and only 50 calories in 2 tbsps!

It sounds like a stress response to me, if it's specifically around exam time.  Are you taking care of yourself in other ways? 

I can relate pretty much exactly to what you're going through.

I was doing really well for awhile, only dropped 2-3 real lbs, but I was in the 120s and feeling good.  Then all of a sudden a couple weeks ago I kept craving..more and more, and so I ate more and more..

Mind you, I'm sure some of this was big meal the night before+water drank after a workout, but I started at 130 about a month ago and it was up to 137! (and just 9 days earlier it was only 133.6....) So I can relate.

I got a personal trainer..and she saw this weight jump and gave me this look of "we need to nip this in the bud NOW!" ...so she gave me a no eating after 8 rule so I don't munch...and if I'm starving, I get fruit.

Point being, what has been working for me (other than being accountable via the trainer) is to nibble on carrots, apples, drink some 25 cal hot chocolate, tea, eat a lollipop at night..Keeps the mouth busy w/o adding TOO many calories.

Oh I know waht you mean by eating the food as if you've never seen it before..Oatmeal, my every-morning breakfast, I can totally go crazy w/ at night.  My (usually) once a night 100 cal choc bars, I suddenly had to eat 3.  My one 2-300cal snack from a vending machine at night became a few totalling 1000 cals..

Keep busy, nibble on anything healthy! (carrots for me tend to take away cravings for other foods..) Good luck w/ all that!

I hear ya, sister! After 11 years of college and grad school I definitely had to battle that.

Here are some things that helped me:

• Study outside if possible. I would bring an apple and lots and lots to drink and sit at a picnic table until the wasps started dive-bombing.
• Study at a coffee shop. Food is too expensive and I'm not attracted to the crummy old pastries all that much so it was a good choice for me. I'd buy coffees and teas and listen to music.
• If at home I'd pop a big batch of fat-free or low-fat popcorn and munch on that.
• I also got good at just waiting it out - using food as a reward for finishing a chapter of reading, a lecture review, or a page of writing. Then I'd try to eat healthy. Not my most recommended idea, but it made me study a bit faster and if I stuck to healthy snacks I'd be right on track (since it sometimes would take a few hours at least to get that page, lecture or chapter done).
  

It's so hard! College and grad school make the brain grow and everything else along with it! Good luck :) With planning I'm sure you'll kick the studying junk habit :)

i think if you feel like you want a piece of chocolate, do ANYTHING IN YOUR POWER to stray away from that situation or to SAY NO.

why?

coz if we give in on those little things, in that one pice of chocolate, it will be just some more time when your body will ask for two pieces of that and then more

so instead of reaching for that chocolate, just eat flavored oatmeal or oatmeal cookie or fruits. ;p

godbless!

ken

I recommend making snack bags of fruits, veggies, and other healthy snacks. When you prepare each bag, mark on the bag about how many calories it is so you're not blindly shoving food in your mouth.

I really like the popcorn idea mentioned above. Also, I like to eat a bag of a serving of cheerios or small cereals like that so I can eat one at a time if I just have the munchies. It takes me a loooong time to finish the bag, and it's only 100 cal!

I wouldn't recommend the 100 calorie snack bags, because I've seen people down them like they're nothing.. the sugar also makes you hungrier and crave more. 

You guys are great, there are a ton of Cafes here and The snack bag Idea is great! Especially since I can not get regular cheap ziplocs here, not sold in Czech Republic... only REALLY expensive quart size ones with the fancy zipper. So I use the sandwich bags that have no closure and you have to tie to close and rip to open. No sneaking from resealing ;)I can do the fruits and Veggie thing I think, and I think it may be very useful for cheese too!

 Unfortunitly I don't have access to my favorite original Cheerios... :( or any non-sugar non granola cereal here for that matter.)

Thanks for the hint on the 100 calorie bags.... I can't get them here anyway because they do not sell them in the czech republic.... actually the same goes for the fat free popcorn.....and hummus..... lol you can see how it is sometimes a challenge coming up with alternatives here over half of the stuff doesn't even have a nutrition label! :P But I have access to cheese half of you would die for it is so good!