So confused.

DesdemonaRose

Thanks for posting, because I'm just as confused. What happens if eating back the calories is too difficult? Let me explain: When I began MFP, I would eat back all/almost all the calories because I had a wide variety of food to choose from. About three weeks ago, I was ordered -- by my doctor -- to eliminate ALL grains, sugars, flour...basically, any carbohydrates not coming from vegetables, legumes, nuts, cheese etc... It's really hard to eat bak calories when I have to take into account total carbohydrate intake which can only come from specific sources and my workouts which average 900/1000 calories 5-6 times a week. Not even on my worst day could I eat 2000 calories of chicken and broccoli (for example). This week I've cut down on the workouts so I could eat the calories, but I really don't like this solution. I'd much prefer to workout to the max if time permits. Any suggestions?

I never realized how high calorie simple carby things were until I started using MFP. I eat lowish carb (not super low) by habit but cheat and eat bad carbs on occasion. You just have to eat more calorie dense foods than chicken or broccoli. Diary based foods, especially those that use full fat milk will give you plenty of calories. Fat will give you calories and your body will burn fat calories if it loses it's fast burning carbs. That is kind of the point of a lower carb diet. You just have to survive the sleepy period that most people get when you switch from being primarily a carb burner to primarily a fat burner. If you still eat more complex carbs then you might not get that.