having trouble eating past 1000 calories

ajravanos

as the title says, i have a difficult time eating more than 1000 calories (give or take) a day. my diet mostly consists of lean protein & veggies, neither of which pack a lot of calories. also, i only eat when i am hungry...which, to be honest, isn't too often. i am hungry when i wake up in the morning & in the late afternoon, & then make myself eat something for dinner just to consume more calories....however, i can't ever seem to surpass 1100, at the most.

i am also a very active person; i work out 5 to 6 times a week, doing 45 mins of cardio & then 30/45mins of strength training. i am losing weight, which is all fine & dandy, but i am scared that because of the way i work out & the low calorie intake (plus, my job has me running [literally] all day long, & i usually get so in the zone, i forget to take a break), that my body is going to quickly come to a plateau that will be hard to break.

i was just wondering if anyone else has this problem & has been able to keep up their eating habits & workout routine without too many repercussions?

i know most people are just going to tell me to make myself "eat more," but it's not that easy. add a 50hr a work week on top of all of this, & i am lucky i even fine time to get the amount of food in that i do.

just looking for a little input/advice. thanks!

TavistockToad

peanut butter...

fat does not make you fat, too many calories do... add some fat to what you're currently eating... cheese, avocado, nuts, full fat dairy, steak, salmon, lamb, olive oil

Acg67

Seek professional help or shots of olive oil

TavistockToad

also, you're losing weight, so a fair portion of that will be muscle if you keep under eating

debbiewsharpe

ive added protein bars. they are 190 calories but have 9-10 grams of protein. Nature valley dark chocolate with almonds is my favorite. You can get them at the grocery store and they are only about 60 cent each. You can also eat nuts and peanut butter. Both high in calories but have nutritional value. Good luck

astronomicals

exercise curbs hunger... undereating curbs hunger... being female curbs hunger

axis of evil right there

find time to eat more or find a lot more time for the therapy you're going to probably need. I can starve myself too and I adapt pretty quickly and get used to it and hunger subsides. This is not at all indicative of it being enough food. Im not saying you have an ED. You probably just dont get hungry cuz you train so often and have fallen into this pattern. Fix it.

nb4 some tool says,"lifting makes you hungry, brah"

emdeesea

I think someone who is studying for a graduate degree in health and nutrition should know the answer to this.

You can't possibly keep going only eating 1,000 a day. Eat a tablespoon of peanut or almond butter. That's an easy 100 calories right there and doesn't take any time to fix. And like someone already said, the more you undereat, the more muscle you're going to lose.

ruffnstuff

So, theoretically, you may be consuming as many calories as you burn up just from work outs and work alone?! If you are truly getting a masters in health and nutrition (as your bio page states), then you have to know this is extremely unhealthy. And, I'm gonna call BS on the whole "I don't have time". There is always time to eat. Please understand I am not at all trying to be rude, but rather give you the blunt info you need to hear. I work full time, am married and have two kids. I find time to work out and eat and play and cook and work and.... You see my point. Thousands of others on here have busy lives and eat. If the situation is that dire, perhaps trade out one work out session a week to get some calories into your body. If you don't it's going to stopping functioning the way you want it to.

Good luck...seriously. And please consider what a few others have mentioned about the therapy. I bet school might even have that built into the medical plan for students.

Unknown

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m1ssannthropy

Make some bars, there are lots of recipes for easy non-bake protein bars with fruit or peanut butter, they are easy to take a long and eat while you are so busy. Make protein packed harty muffins, stay good for a while in the fridge and easy small portions to take. Prep at home, take with you. Food is planning. Eat more - get hungrier. Green smoothies, protein shakes, prep and plan. No time is BS, cut 5 minute shower time, get up a little earlier... make time.

ajravanos

emdeesea wrote: »

I think someone who is studying for a graduate degree in health and nutrition should know the answer to this.

you're right, but i literally just started my program...so i still have a lot (everything) to learn. hah

ajravanos

thank you so much for everyones input. i truly do appreciate it!

to clear things up about me going to school for health & nutrition, i just started my program in august. i still have a long way to go, obviously. i am well aware that the amount of time i work out with the way i eat isn't healthy, which is why i posted about it in seek of some advice regarding "simple," quick/grab-n-go, & healthy options (preference of protein bars, green smoothies, or even vitamins/natural supplements) i could add to my diet that will up my calorie intake in order to fix this little debacle of mine. maybe i should have been more clear about that up top, hah.

hope that cleared some things up. i'm not delirious to the point that what i think i am doing is okay. if that were the case, then yes, i would agree that i should probably seek some help. thankfully, i actually am trying to eat more & working on cutting back on my work outs (i genuinely love running, which is why i do cardio so often. it's my hobby). i only do strength training around 3 times a week.

anyway, like i said above; i really do appreciate what everyone has had to say, & will be mulling over all of it. thanks again!

dbmata

Wants to lose 80 pounds, can't eat enough food to reach 1k calories.

Seems legit.

OP - you're well practiced in eating calorically dense foods, integrate some of those in your current approach. That will save you from several major mistakes you seem to be heading towards at breakneck speeds.

TavistockToad

ajravanos wrote: »

thank you so much for everyones input. i truly do appreciate it!

to clear things up about me going to school for health & nutrition, i just started my program in august. i still have a long way to go, obviously. i am well aware that the amount of time i work out with the way i eat isn't healthy, which is why i posted about it in seek of some advice regarding "simple," quick/grab-n-go, & healthy options (preference of protein bars, green smoothies, or even vitamins/natural supplements) i could add to my diet that will up my calorie intake in order to fix this little debacle of mine. maybe i should have been more clear about that up top, hah.

hope that cleared some things up. i'm not delirious to the point that what i think i am doing is okay. if that were the case, then yes, i would agree that i should probably seek some help. thankfully, i actually am trying to eat more & working on cutting back on my work outs (i genuinely love running, which is why i do cardio so often. it's my hobby). i only do strength training around 3 times a week.

anyway, like i said above; i really do appreciate what everyone has had to say, & will be mulling over all of it. thanks again!

You need calories not vitamins and supplements....

AliceDark

TavistockToad wrote: »

You need calories not vitamins and supplements....

This. OP, the beginning of your Master's program is really not the time to be going on crash diets. Even discounting how active you are, your brain needs calories to function.

luckydays27

as already mentioned, most of us are busy people yet we find the "time" to eat far more than 1000 cals a day. If you are truly on the go, you need to pack your food and take it with you. There is no reason in the world that you could not get more food in given how active you say you are. your body needs the calories to operate.

Plus if you are trying to lose, you already know how to eat more cals. Its how you got overweight/unfit before. But instead of eating calorie packed less healthy foods, try the healthier calorie packed foods like proteins, avocados, milk, peanut butter, other nuts, etc etc.

BexKix

Avocado
Nut Butters
Nuts are a great grab and go
Whole Fat milk products (if you consume dairy)
Olives
Olive oil on your veggies
Sesame oil (dark has great flavor) -- i like to pair this with rice vinegar on salads, tastes great
Bacon & other higher-fat meat choices.

You can eat 28 almonds, and that will bump you up about 200 calories. Good luck.

ndj1979

threads like this always make me giggle ...Right now I am eating 2800 a day (just started bulk) and I could easily crank that up to 3000 or higher and not have an issue ..

OP - how did you gain weight in the first place if you could not eat over 1100 calories?

More than likely you are restricting certain food groups because you believe they are "bad"..

I would suggest adding ice cream to your diet and the occasional pizza...

Also, with the amount that you are working out and under eating, eventually you are going to crash and burn ...

ajravanos

ndj1979 wrote: »

threads like this always make me giggle ...Right now I am eating 2800 a day (just started bulk) and I could easily crank that up to 3000 or higher and not have an issue ..

OP - how did you gain weight in the first place if you could not eat over 1100 calories?

More than likely you are restricting certain food groups because you believe they are "bad"..

I would suggest adding ice cream to your diet and the occasional pizza...

Also, with the amount that you are working out and under eating, eventually you are going to crash and burn ...

used to be extremely overweight as a child. haven't eaten that way in almost 5 years. i've had a MFP account for a few years, just started using it on sunday...so my goals need to be updated for sure. i know how i gained the weight; but like everything else in life, things change. my eating habits & life-style being two of them. i just started documenting my food a few days ago (literally on sunday), & thats when i noticed i wasn't reaching the correct amount of calories. up until a few days ago, i thought i was eating enough (i always have three meals a day). which is why i took to the message board to get some ideas on what i can add to my diet that won't make me feel bad (physically). like i said, i eat when i am hungry. if i'm not hungry, i don't eat. when i do eat, i eat until i'm not hungry anymore, not until i feel so full i may explode. eating when i wasn't even hungry is what got me in trouble with food in the first place. i'm not trying to crash diet; if i was doing that, i'd just do a juice/master cleanse & avoid my high grocery bill.

ndj1979

ajravanos wrote: »

ndj1979 wrote: »

threads like this always make me giggle ...Right now I am eating 2800 a day (just started bulk) and I could easily crank that up to 3000 or higher and not have an issue ..

OP - how did you gain weight in the first place if you could not eat over 1100 calories?

More than likely you are restricting certain food groups because you believe they are "bad"..

I would suggest adding ice cream to your diet and the occasional pizza...

Also, with the amount that you are working out and under eating, eventually you are going to crash and burn ...

used to be extremely overweight as a child. haven't eaten that way in almost 5 years. i've had a MFP account for a few years, just started using it on sunday...so my goals need to be updated for sure. i know how i gained the weight; but like everything else in life, things change. my eating habits & life-style being two of them. i just started documenting my food a few days ago (literally on sunday), & thats when i noticed i wasn't reaching the correct amount of calories. up until a few days ago, i thought i was eating enough (i always have three meals a day). which is why i took to the message board to get some ideas on what i can add to my diet that won't make me feel bad (physically). like i said, i eat when i am hungry. if i'm not hungry, i don't eat. when i do eat, i eat until i'm not hungry anymore, not until i feel so full i may explode. eating when i wasn't even hungry is what got me in trouble with food in the first place. i'm not trying to crash diet; if i was doing that, i'd just do a juice/master cleanse & avoid my high grocery bill.

maybe you could eat six meals a day at say 300 calories each and that would put you at 1800 ....

Are you using MFP method or TDEE method?

How many calories per day did MFP give you?

_lyndseybrooke_

astronomicals wrote: »

being female curbs hunger

Say what? I must not have gotten the memo.

sardelsa

I obviously don't have the same exact problem as you do, but I had issues with reaching my (rather enormous) calorie goals at first, some "tricks" I used:

-Planning is key. Plan your snacks and meals in advance, meal prep on the weekends. Set a reminder to eat, whatever you need to get you on track. Being busy should not be an excuse to forget to eat.
-Things like oils, nuts and seeds, nut butters, avocado, higher fat dairy, etc are your friend. These can pack a lot of calories to your day if it is lacking.
-Your body will eventually get used to eating more

Hunger cues can only take you so far. When I was working a busy job years ago, eventually my body "gave up on me" and stopped telling me to eat... I lost a lot of weight, muscle included. I looked terrible. I do not recommend you go down that path.
Good luck.