No wonder I can't lose weight :-(

Well, I finally got the courage to record everything... and I finally mean EVERYTHING from my day. I may have even underestimated some of the portions, but the result was still horrifying. For a 5'7" female, I'm eating 2500 calories. That's 1000 more a day than I should be. Plus, my sodium was twice what the FDA recommends for daily intake, and I probably didn't get enough protein (trying to become a vegetarian, but that may not last).

So how do I fix this? I work out like crazy, which is probably the only reason I'm not gaining weight all over the place. I eat well enough, I suppose, when I'm at work, and have no problem recording everything from breakfast to when I leave work at night (usually about 800-1000 calories, balanced with veggies and protein and carbs). It's when I get home that I seem to go on a daily binge, and generally stop recording what I eat because it's too much to remember and too difficult to face. I've sought professional treatment for compulsive eating and binging many times and nothing works. How do I stop the nightly binges? How do I keep my caloric intake low enough to actually lose weight?

What a shock it is when I finally get the courage to write it down. And it's even scarier because today was a day I would normally have considered a healthy day with light eating... I hate to think of what my other days must be like...

I'm going to be honest right now, and tell you that as someone who used to do most of her eating (and binging) at night, the only thing that has saved me is going to bed at a decent time.  I don't know what your schedule is, but I find that if I go to bed right after my nightly walk around 9 or 9:30, read for a little and the lights out, I don't have the compulsion to overeat.  Perhaps it is because I have changed my surroundings, which used to be in front of the T.V. and right next to the kitchen l.o.l.!  In any case the extra sleep has helped me feel more energetic during the day, and I don't feel the need to feed myself more to get that energy.  I have read many places that those who sleep less tend to be overweight, so there must be something to that theory. I hope this helped.

I think you've come to the right place :) there's not too many people on this site that can't relate to that. I do  the same thing - I eat perfectly during the day then come home to a home cooked meal and I go nuts :(
I think what will get you through this is to find a few staples that are great for you. I LOVE baked chicken. Chicken breast flavored with hot sauce is something I could eat almost every night of the week. I know you said you'd like to become vegetarian.  - I can't say enough about whole wheat pasta!! it's packed full of fiber and protien and has, get this, ZERO sodium. flavor with a bit of olive oil, a bit of parm cheese and just a dash of salt and you've got yourself an EASY, QUICK, DELICIOUS and NUTRITIONAL dinner :)
pair it with your fav veggie (my fav is roasted aparagus) and you are set :)

Good Luck!

I go to bed at night, often before 10, and sleep until 7 or so in the morning. I may even be sleeping too much but I feel tired if I don't. The problem is that I start eating the moment I walk through the door. Sigh...

I love whole wheat pasta too! Yummy, with grilled/steamed veggies mixed in it, a little olive oil and sprinkle cheese or light marinara sauce... mmm...

When do you work out? I've found that going to the gym straight from work pushes those mid-day munchies aside. Then I get home and prepare dinner---so I get full from that rather than snacks. I don't know if that works with your schedule--but it has definitley helped me :)

There are several things that I do...

first of all, I make sure to save plenty of calories for my dinner.  this usually includes veggies, some kind of meat and some kind of carbs.  Try to make it balanced so your body isn't feeling like it's missing anything.

Also, I make sure to have a light snack after work and eat my dinner later in the evening.  Usually about 3 hours before I go to bed.  Despite some people's beliefs, most people on CC will agree that eating closer to bedtime will not hinder your weightloss as long as you stay within your alotted calories for the day.

Hope this helps.  good luck

You did the most important thing... you wrote it down... you were honest.  Studies show that most heavy/obese people seriously underestimate how much they eat and overestimate how much they exercise?  The lack of self honesty is at the root of the problem.

Continue to write down everything you eat for a while. Make it a sacred rule, that you don't eat anything until you first write it down, and also write how many calories it has.  Do this with a food diary you can carry with you everywhere, even if a piece of scrap paper, or a small spiral bound notebook.  If you stick to this rule, it will likely go a long way to helping you modify this behavior.  When I have an ugly day, and am tempted to medicate with food, when I feel myself starting to slide, I make myself write it in my food diary, and this stops me from doing further damage.

As for your inability to control... you DO have the ability to control it.  If the consequence for binging was getting a finger chopped off, you wouldn't lose very many fingers before you would find the will power. See, you already have the will power, you just have to use it.  The more you resist, the easier it gets to resist. The more you cave in the easier it gets to cave in.  This is a lesson it took me years to learn.  I know if I cave in today, it's twice as hard not to tomorrow.  So I never cave in any more. By this I mean, I religiously stick to my calorie number.. never ever go over. If I do, I risk that slide again.

One of the many negatives of too much salt is that it can prevent some calcium absorption... something to keep in mind.

I am curious of your stats... age, weight.

I agree with your decision to go vegetarian. A vegetarian or vegan's diet mainly consists of fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, and grains which are extremely low in calories except for nuts. I myself am a vegan which means no meat, dairy, honey, eggs, animal products or any foods that where made using animals even if the final product contained no animal (ex: white sugar is processed using animal bone char.) I hear so many people say they want to be vegetarian but they could never do it because cheese and meat just taste so good, but it's a bunch of baloney. Anyone can eat and stop eating whatever they want. I even thought that I couldn't do it but now just looking at junk food, dairy, or meat makes me gag because I chose to go vegan because of my concern of the environment and animals NOT to lose weight.

Anyway if you are seriously interested in losing weight by being vegetarian or vegan (which is by far the BEST way to lose weight! Many people refrain from eating fruits because of their high sugar content but they are the greatest solution to losing weight and being healthy) I suggest YOU DO IT! The only reason I am still a vegan today is because I am motivated by the truth about factory farms, meat, dairy, animals etc. If I was motivated only by the fact that I wanted to lose weight, I would give up easily. If you want want the right motivation which would help you to lose weight and care for the environment altogether I could give you some websites just ask. I've lost 27lbs in 2-3 months! The only reason my weight loss was slow was because I was already at an average/good weight and didn't need to lose much.

I HIGHLY RECOMEND IT!!!!!!!!! FOR YOUR HEALTH AND THE ENVIRNOMENT!!!

shiptona - your post is very inspiring! thanks for that! I'm pretty good now (and have been for about 3 months) about not going over my calorie limit, but I do slip. Your advise has motivated me to stop doing that :)

So now that you've written down what you eat, and continue to do so, you can really look at the list and see where you can make better choices to reduce your calorie intake.  What can you substitue?  And if you can't substitute, compare calories when you shop.  For example: I have a wrap every day for lunch.  I found a tortilla that for the same diameter has about 70 calories less than the brand I used to get.  Switching from the 6oz yogurt to the 4 oz of the same brand saved 20 calories, etc. 

So you've got the baseline, the next step is to figure out where you can make changes.  Looks like you've got the exercise down, so if you start eating even 2000 calories a day, you should lose weight!  If you're not gaining but not losing, your exercise is probably enabling you to maintain (so you're eatin 2500 calories, but also burning 2500 calories). 

Good luck!

Buugleehu, what on earth does your post have to do with the OP? The OP is struggling with binging at night, and has taken the step to accurately record her food intake.

She's not struggling with being righteous, she's struggling with making sound food decisions and trying to figure out if going vegetarian would work for her, and how she can stop her binging.

I think we do each other no help at all when we preach a one size fits all approach. Good for you that going vegan worked for you. Don't discount what works for other people.

Shiptona, as always, your post was fantastic.

Can you post what it was you ate? 

If so we can look through and try to give you some ideas for substitutions, or maybe what could have been a better choice.

Hi Ainedb,

I just sent you a message.  Feel free to message back.

Buugleehu,

 I don't know if 27lbs in 2-3 months is slow weight loss... I thought healthy weight loss was at most 2lbs per week.

"An average loss of 0.5 to 2 pounds per week is the clinical guideline to be compatible with good health. " http://caloriecount.about.com/cc/article/q_an d_a.html

Ainedb,

If you must munch all night in front of the TV like many of us, try something like blueberries or grapes. You can even freeze them and suck on them like hard candy. And keep logging your calories! Good luck!

Very similar to what I was doing. I dieted for 2 weeks with no loss at all.  Then I found this site and began monitoring EVERYTHING that I was eating.  I also began logging my activies to see the "What goes in must come out" theory.  To my astonishment I was eating way too many calories (3500 to be exact).  However I was burning 1200 per day at the gym so I never lost any weight.

This site has brought clarity to my habits and since then I have began a regiment of changes and have begun losing the weight that I have wanted to.  This site keeps me in check and I almost feel like I'm being monitored which helps me not eat that ice cream or chocolate.

It helps me if I plan out my entire days meals and snacks.  That way I eat what I planned and not one thing more.  Go on and have some extra snacks in the afternoon just make sure you budget for them.  Try some airpopped popcorn hold the butter or my new love..cottage cheese with a pinch of salt and pepper.  Fills me up and so yummy

I have the same problem with out-of-control eating at night.  I workout directly after work and would come home and start eating the moment I walked thru the door until I went to bed. 

I've started drinking half a protein shake before my workout & half after my workout and I have found that it controls my hunger.  Maybe something like this will help you too.  I've read that protein fills you up & keeps you full longer.  Seems to be true for me.

Hmmm took me a while to find this post again... for some reason I can't change my email address from my old one to my new one. It says that address is registered already, but I don't think so since it's mine, right? Grrr. And I can't find out how to edit the Bio and stuff either... Anyway that's another topic.

Thanks for all the responses! I've been trying to eat healthier and write everything down, even plan my meals ahead. Because most of my binging has been at night I've been also trying to do my working out then, that way I'm out of the house. I also started a rule that when I want to eat, I make myself a seltzer spritzer to drink first. The flavor and the fluid help me from reaching for food.

And I'm still working on the whole vegetarian idea. It's been a week, but who knows, it may not last. I do want to get away from cheesy/fatty foods, though, so at least that much I'm going to wean myself off of. Also I'm working on watching my sodium and putting more balance into my food intake. :-)

So far so good! I turned down the free cookies and wine at the party at work this afternoon! Hey, every little victory is still a victory, right?