I've been doing this for 2 weeks and just about everyday have gone over my calories by 200-500 a day. I always do really good at breakfast and lunch and blow it at dinner. Its so frustrating!! Ive been exercising but I end up eating exercise cals and then some. I usually cook dinner for my family and then eat whatever I cooked for them. Even if its a lot of cal's. Do you think i should start making myself a separate dinner? (hard to do when im cooking them a really good dinner and then i gotta have a salad or something Also I get hungry before bed and want a snack. I try to avoid it, but sometimes give in. Anyone have any advice? (Probably give in and eat less lol?)

You can eat what they eat, just practice portion control. Plan your day ahead of time based on what you'll be eating for dinner.

Buy a kid plate the ones that have the three sections on it.. Fill the big part with veggies, and the two small parts with a protein and a carb and don't over pile it on there once that's done drink water the rest of the night... I have the same problem at night i don't get hungry at all during the day but once dinner comes around i eat and eat and eat and im trying to limit my food in take at night and using a kids plate seems to help...

It took me awhile to cut back portions and get my calories down to the number on my profile. Just have to make up your mind. For me it is mostly about portions. I make healthy choices .. but just eat too much.

Secondly - I found drinking water before eating helps me cut back

I plan dinner and put it in my calorie counter first. Then as I choose foods for breakfast and lunch, I have already taken dinner into account. You can actually go in to tomorrow's date and fill in the whole day if you want to. Then there's less room for error. Good luck!:

For dinner, I eat what everyone else is eating but I do a smaller portion with a large side salad.

I would encourage portion control (measure EVERYTHING), and maybe try to find better alternatives to your current ingredients. If you have a sandwich at lunch, try switching regular bread to Oroweat sandwich thins (only 100 cals for the entire bun), or pitas (papa pita's also just over 100 cals for 1/2 a ginormous pita). Eat more veggies, even add them to your dinner. It's really hard to go over your calories just eating veggies alone. They act as a great filler, too!
And make sure you're getting your 64 oz of water every day, and carry a pack of gum when you get a snack craving.

So what are you eating? Are there plenty of veggies and lean meats and fruits & stuff in there?

I always cooked pretty decently - for me the biggest adjustment was how I load my plate. I used to have a ton of spaghetti and a little salad - now I make pretty much the same dinner, but I have a ton of the salad and a little spaghetti. You get just as full, but you cut the cal's in half.

So what are you eating?

It's definitely tough. One thing that works for me is drinking diet soda or crystal light. I find that it distracts me from the munchies, satisfies my sweet tooth and is pretty filling, too. The tip about eating lots of veggies is another one I try to do. Very healthy and filling. Good luck!

I am a mom, too and I cook for my family. I definitely understand where you are coming from and I struggle w/ the same thing. My strategies? (1) eat a healthy and filling snack (around 150 cals) at about 3pm. This means I am less hungry at dinner and not as likely to overeat. (2) I eat what my family eats but usually I try to cook healthy for them also. If I am making something like a casserole, I will allow myself a small protion (i.e. 1/2 cup - and I count the calories) and then load the rest of my plate w/ veggies. If I am making pasta or rice but don't have the calories left for those items, I will just eat the protein and veggies. (3) I plan dinner early in the day so I know how many calories I will have for dinner. (4) here is teh hardest one b/c it deals w/ after dinner cravings which always hit around 8pm. I either go to bed or I will have a piece of fruit. Neither satisfy my craving very much BUT my I am proud of my willpower.

I hope some of my strategies work for you too. It is tough b/c I love to eat and I am most hungry at and after dinner time. I think my after dinner hunger is more boredom/habit than anything else. Let me know how it goes.

Marcy

Thanks everybody for all your suggestions. I will defiantly try all that. Planning dinner ahead should help a lot. I usually figure it out last minute. Casper- I dont have the best diet, but I have been trying to improve it. I think all the side dishes I make to go with either the chicken, ground beef or whatever type of meat I make is what puts me over. Usually mashed potatoes, stuffing or noodles and a vegetable. I don't eat as many veggies as I should. I have been eating a lot of fruit lately tho. I set my food diary to public so EVERYONE can see so hopefully that will give me a little extra motivation lol. And yes, sad to say i did have fast food for dinner tonight. Then I exercised after dinner cause I felt guilty. But I was only over 53 calories today which is better then most. Anyway thanks again everyone

How many calories do you have at lunch? Maybe you can subtract some calories at lunch and add them to your dinner. I have the same issue. My husband is underweight and I try to make calorie dense meals. It's sooo tempting to eat the same dinner as him. I also feel guilty for wasting food, but I know I can't just eat it all.

Ooh,,, forget the dark cake - starches are the devil's food

More of the meats, more of the veggies, less of the starches. It ain't the steak that get ya',,, it's the potato. Try that for a while and see what happens. Really think about it when you load the plate - just a taste of the starchy stuff, 50 grams maybe (you are using a scale, right?) and go ahead and have more than usual on the meats and veggies. Your body turns starches into tummy really easily - but it has to get all "chemical plant" to turn meat protein into butt fat, so that stuff is less sticky sometimes.

it might take you some time. you just started to log, so really you are at the stage of being aware that you are overconsuming your cals. it takes some practice to not overeat and realize what you are putting into your body. you can do it, just keep at it.