need major motivation

tinyMKaloo · #1 (**permalink**) September 8th, 2004, 10:08 AM

i want to lose weight and tone my body and i always make up these plans for myself... i usually work out pretty regularly.. in high school i was always involved in sports so i'd work out hardcore about 3 hrs a day, but now that i'm in college i dont have a team and coach to work and push me so its much harder.. and then eating i'm just terrible at! i know exactly whats healthy but sometimes i cant help it! i eat a lot (i love food) and i feel like nothing motivates me to stop eating or snacking badly... i try and sometimes i just feel hungry and ahhh i dont know! i dont know what i can do that will make me stop! i just found this website and lunch is in about an hour and i'm awfully hungry so i've been reading around on this site to occupy my time but sometimes i just cant keep myself busy or keep myself from eating! help!

Lisa · #2 (**permalink**) September 8th, 2004, 02:25 PM

HI there,

I will try and help a bit, even though I am by far not an expert...

From what I learned, it is never good to be hungry...by the time you feel the hunger, your bloodsugar level already dropped. The goal is to keep your bloodsugar level throughout the day, which is why - as mentioned in my other post - 4-6 smaller meals or 3 regular meals plus snacks (best way imho) are better than 3 bigger ones. You should actually eat every 3-4 hours after a bigger meal and every 1-2 hours after a snack.
So calculate it out....Breakfast at 7.00,
then snack at 10.30
then lunch and noon,
snack at 3.30 and
another snack at 5.00
and then dinner at 7.00.
If you get hungry at night, then you should have another snack before you go to bed.
Now we are up to 3 meals and 4 snacks, that is 6-7 meals in one day. It sounds like an awful lot, but that is actually the key to staying healthy and losing weight. You won't get hungry that's why you won't eat to much at any meal and you also won't get cravings for junkfood.

Also don't forget to eat slowly - keep in mind that it takes approx. 20 min for your brain to receive the message that you are actually full.

Hopefully this information is interesting to you and helps you to feel better and make the right choices.

Good Luck - keep us posted

AllCdnBoy · #3 (**permalink**) September 8th, 2004, 04:26 PM

keep a bottle of water with during ur classes - this will help you curb your hunger. It is also proven that sometimes you will feel hungry when your body just wants some water ... it's a good start anyway.

tinyMKaloo · #4 (**permalink**) September 8th, 2004, 08:27 PM

i drink a ton of water and sometimes am still hungry... i think im missing that chemical that tells ur brain when ur actually full ;-) no but in all seriousness sometimes i just feel like eating.. not neccesarily even hungry... like right now... i'm just in the mood ot munch on sometime and i dont have the self discipline to say no! then after i always feel guilty... i dont know how to stop that or become more disciplined... any ideas?

Lisa · #5 (**permalink**) September 10th, 2004, 11:24 AM

ok - if that's the case, then try to at least eat healthy stuff, like veggies and fruit. Stay away from junk food alltogether. A good thing to snack on are carrots - without dip or anything - that's like drinking water....the vitamins in carrots can only be used by your system, if you combine then with some fat (i.e. dip or butter), other than that it's like drinking water...at least that's what I have been told. When eating fruit and veggies choose the ones with high water content and not a lot of sugar, i.e. cucumbers, carrots, strawberries, field berries. Hope this helps

AllCdnBoy · #6 (**permalink**) September 10th, 2004, 11:30 AM

if it's not hunger, then it might just be boredom or maybe you have a "sweet tooth", so to speak ... you just like the taste of food. I usually feel like eating when i'm bored or procrastinating ... unfortunately, that comes down to will power. Then, maybe you have to guilt yourself ... set up punishments if you eat bad stuff or when your not supposed to. Of course, it's only yourself you have to answer to, so that can be hard too.
It could also be a crutch ... but, then that gets all psycologoical, and i'm a little tired for that right now

tinyMKaloo · #7 (**permalink**) September 10th, 2004, 04:50 PM

yes i definately have the biggest sweet tooth ever!!! and also i can recognize the fact that i eat when i'm just bored or something but i dont know how to self discipline myself to not eat... i usually only keep healthy stuff here (in my dorm room) but my roomate always has junk food so its so hard! i like the punishment thing i am going to give that a try... but any ideas on how to build up will power??

AllCdnBoy · #8 (**permalink**) September 11th, 2004, 03:29 AM

building will power is tough ... i think you either have it or you don't ... but, it gets easier the more you tell yourself no ... but, on the other side, it's harder the more you give in too. To aid in your choices, try to only think of the negative affects of doing something and avoid saying "it's only 1"

Jenkins · #9 (**permalink**) September 17th, 2004, 05:23 PM

This way you can count how many calories and other good substances that you ate for the day and it gives you a heads up as to how many calories you have to burn that evening. Calories in < Calories out = weight loss. You can get a free food log at http://www.Imagebodyconsultants.com