Having trouble meeting daily calorie intake
madkcole
Posts: 110 Member
Either I'm doing something wrong, or I'm not eating enough calories - something I've never had a problem with before. 
According to MFP, my daily calorie burn/expenditure (for sedentary) = 2,150 calories. Using the guided goal setup, I told MFP I wanted to lose 1 1b a week. MFP said my daily calorie intake should be 1,650. However, today I exercised and burned 395 calories. So, the end result of my calorie intake for today, according to MFP is 2,045 calories. Being very precise when adding to my food diary for today, I'm still 688 calories behind - and that's for the entire day (breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks and beverages). I like to eat, but there's no way I'm going to be able to add 688 more calories today. Based on what I've already entered, it seems like too many calories already. Has anyone had this problem before?
Here's a list of foods for today if that helps:
Three slices of turkey bacon, two eggs, one cup of fruit
Two cups coffee with Splenda
One serving of celery/carrots with one serving of hummus (one snack)
Two chicken thighs (skinless, baked with 1/4 serving coconut oil)
One cup canned green beans
One serving polenta (with one serving of butter)
One glass of whole milk
One serving of celery/carrots with one serving of cream cheese (second snack)
One serving homemade tuna salad (recipe built by me using nutritional guide on every ingredient)
One cup mixed vegetables (frozen, no sauce)
Two glass of tea with Stevia
According to MFP, my daily calorie burn/expenditure (for sedentary) = 2,150 calories. Using the guided goal setup, I told MFP I wanted to lose 1 1b a week. MFP said my daily calorie intake should be 1,650. However, today I exercised and burned 395 calories. So, the end result of my calorie intake for today, according to MFP is 2,045 calories. Being very precise when adding to my food diary for today, I'm still 688 calories behind - and that's for the entire day (breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks and beverages). I like to eat, but there's no way I'm going to be able to add 688 more calories today. Based on what I've already entered, it seems like too many calories already. Has anyone had this problem before?Here's a list of foods for today if that helps:
Three slices of turkey bacon, two eggs, one cup of fruit
Two cups coffee with Splenda
One serving of celery/carrots with one serving of hummus (one snack)
Two chicken thighs (skinless, baked with 1/4 serving coconut oil)
One cup canned green beans
One serving polenta (with one serving of butter)
One glass of whole milk
One serving of celery/carrots with one serving of cream cheese (second snack)
One serving homemade tuna salad (recipe built by me using nutritional guide on every ingredient)
One cup mixed vegetables (frozen, no sauce)
Two glass of tea with Stevia
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Replies
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You don't need to eat back all your exercise calories. You can eat back half and store them for later in the week if you have a hungry day or are going to eat out. Don't force yourself to eat if you're full.
Are you recording all your foods correctly? Are you weighing them? Cups and spoons are often inaccurate. So if that's how you're measuring you may be eating more calories than you think. Ditto for the exercise calories - MFP and exercise machines are very inaccurate with their suggested burns, are you using a heart rate monitor?0 -
Thank you for responding. I've read on other posts that MFP's exercise calculations are often over exaggerated, so I'm calculating my calories burned through exercise using a heart rate monitor and I have created my own exercises based on that. I'm also weighing and measuring everything! I think I've been pretty careful and precise when doing that. Thanks again for letting me know that it's not necessary to eat all the calories back. I read that on another post and forgot about that.0
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Are you weighing all of that food? That list looks like it should be more calories than you have logged. 1 Serving of an item can be just about anything you like so that information is useless. A glass of whole milk... how may ounces is the glass? What do you consider a serving of butter?Cream cheese?How much did the chicken weigh? Polenta? Without proper weights and measurements none of the information above can be considered accurate or useful.
I would suspect that you are eating more calories than you think you are. Especially with so many calorie dense selections on there.0 -
shadowfax_c11 wrote: »Are you weighing all of that food? That list looks like it should be more calories than you have logged. 1 Serving of an item can be just about anything you like so that information is useless. A glass of whole milk... how may ounces is the glass? What do you consider a serving of butter?Cream cheese?How much did the chicken weigh? Polenta? Without proper weights and measurements none of the information above can be considered accurate or useful.
I would suspect that you are eating more calories than you think you are. Especially with so many calorie dense selections on there.
^ this. Perhaps we could have a look at your diary, just to be sure?
You might not be as far off as your think. 0 -
Faithful_Chosen wrote: »shadowfax_c11 wrote: »Are you weighing all of that food? That list looks like it should be more calories than you have logged. 1 Serving of an item can be just about anything you like so that information is useless. A glass of whole milk... how may ounces is the glass? What do you consider a serving of butter?Cream cheese?How much did the chicken weigh? Polenta? Without proper weights and measurements none of the information above can be considered accurate or useful.
I would suspect that you are eating more calories than you think you are. Especially with so many calorie dense selections on there.
^ this. Perhaps we could have a look at your diary, just to be sure? You might not be as far off as your think.
Yes, I've been very careful with each measurement. I've double and triple checked each entry. I'd be happy to show you my food diary. I didn't know that could be done. Below is the list w/the exact measurements I entered.
Three slices of turkey bacon, two eggs, one cup of fruit; total calories = 358
Two eight ounce cups coffee with Splenda; 0 calories
First snack: one serving of celery/carrots (total 4 ounces) with one serving of hummus (total 2 tbsp); total calories = 173
Two chicken thighs (skinless, baked with 1/4 serving coconut oil); total calories = 350
One cup canned green beans; total calories = 70
One serving (100 grams) polenta (with 1/4 serving of butter); total calories = 79 (butter serving amount was incorrect in original post)
One glass of whole milk; 8 ounces = 150 calories
Second snack: one serving of celery/carrots (total 4 ounces) with one serving of cream cheese (total 2 tbsp) total calories = 127
One serving (4 ounces) homemade tuna salad (recipe built by me using nutritional guide on every ingredient); total calories = 198
One cup mixed vegetables (frozen, no sauce); total calories = 25
Two eight ounce glasses of tea with Stevia; no calories
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I'm having the same problem. I have trouble getting over 1000 calories a day and have to eat more than I would like. my average diet day is 6 slices of bacon, 3 eggs fried in bacon grease and 1/2 pound of hamburger meat, and MFP tells me I'm not eating enough. I guess I'm gonna have to make myself eat more even though I'm not hungry.0
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Are you weighing your food with a digital scale or actually trying to eyeball cups/tbsp./etc?0
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Faithful_Chosen wrote: »shadowfax_c11 wrote: »Are you weighing all of that food? That list looks like it should be more calories than you have logged. 1 Serving of an item can be just about anything you like so that information is useless. A glass of whole milk... how may ounces is the glass? What do you consider a serving of butter?Cream cheese?How much did the chicken weigh? Polenta? Without proper weights and measurements none of the information above can be considered accurate or useful.
I would suspect that you are eating more calories than you think you are. Especially with so many calorie dense selections on there.
^ this. Perhaps we could have a look at your diary, just to be sure? You might not be as far off as your think.
Yes, I've been very careful with each measurement. I've double and triple checked each entry. I'd be happy to show you my food diary. I didn't know that could be done. Below is the list w/the exact measurements I entered.
Three slices of turkey bacon, two eggs, one cup of fruit; total calories = 358
Two eight ounce cups coffee with Splenda; 0 calories
First snack: one serving of celery/carrots (total 4 ounces) with one serving of hummus (total 2 tbsp); total calories = 173
Two chicken thighs (skinless, baked with 1/4 serving coconut oil); total calories = 350
One cup canned green beans; total calories = 70
One serving (100 grams) polenta (with 1/4 serving of butter); total calories = 79 (butter serving amount was incorrect in original post)
One glass of whole milk; 8 ounces = 150 calories
Second snack: one serving of celery/carrots (total 4 ounces) with one serving of cream cheese (total 2 tbsp) total calories = 127
One serving (4 ounces) homemade tuna salad (recipe built by me using nutritional guide on every ingredient); total calories = 198
One cup mixed vegetables (frozen, no sauce); total calories = 25
Two eight ounce glasses of tea with Stevia; no calories
You may be double checking your entries but if you're not measuring it on a food scale then you might be eating more than you think. If you're having trouble meeting your calorie intake & accurately measuring your food then you could try eating peanut butter with your celery, peanut butter & apples, nuts, ice cream/gelato, make a smoothie with various ingredients (Pinterest has a ton of recipes), make a larger calorie dinner.0 -
Yes, I've been very careful with each measurement. I've double and triple checked each entry. I'd be happy to show you my food diary. I didn't know that could be done. Below is the list w/the exact measurements I entered.
Yes it can be done. It would help if you would do it.
Three slices of turkey bacon, two eggs, one cup of fruit; total calories = 358
Did you weigh the bacon? What kind of fruit and did you weigh it? How much did these items weigh?
Two eight ounce cups coffee with Splenda; 0 calories
First snack: one serving of celery/carrots (total 4 ounces) with one serving of hummus (total 2 tbsp); total calories = 173
What constatutes a serving of celery/carrots? How much did they weigh? Did you weigh the humus portion or just use a measuring spoon?
Two chicken thighs (skinless, baked with 1/4 serving coconut oil); total calories = 350
One cup canned green beans; total calories = 70
How much did the chicken weigh? What is a serving of coconut oil? How much did the green beans weigh?
One serving (100 grams) polenta (with 1/4 serving of butter); total calories = 79 (butter serving amount was incorrect in original post)
One glass of whole milk; 8 ounces = 150 calories
How much did the polenta weigh and did you weigh it before or after it was cooked? How was it cooked? How much is a serving of butter?
Second snack: one serving of celery/carrots (total 4 ounces) with one serving of cream cheese (total 2 tbsp) total calories = 127
Again How much did each item weigh?
One serving (4 ounces) homemade tuna salad (recipe built by me using nutritional guide on every ingredient); total calories = 198
One cup mixed vegetables (frozen, no sauce); total calories = 25
Two eight ounce glasses of tea with Stevia; no calories
Do you actually own a food scale and do you use it for everything solid? These are not hard questions. If you want help you need to answer them.
How long have you been at this and have you lost weight so far? If you have and you are not hungry then leave it at that. But if you are not having success.. you need to tighten up your logging. And that means you need to start using a scale. Not spoons, not servings, not cups. A digital food scale is your best friend in this. If you are not using one, you need to start.
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I weighed the polenta, celery/carrots, milk, tuna salad. For the rest of the items, I used MFP's food calculator to calculate the calories. On most of these items, I compared MFP's calculations to the package of the item (butter, coconut oil, green beans, etc) and they matched.
I've been using MFP for two days. Time I guess will tell if I'm successful. Thank you for responding. Do advocate weighing everything as opposed to using MFP to calculate the calories?
PS - As it turned out, I didn't eat dinner because I had such a late lunch. Wasn't hungry at dinnertime and still am not hungry (almost 10 p.m. now).
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It would still be awesome if you would open your diary... (settings --> diary settings --> set visibility to public)0
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You're not weighing everything. So the answer to "do you weigh all your food?" is "no".
Try again tomorrow. Maybe you'll find you are closer to goal. Weigh your food. Everything-eggs, turkey slices, fruit, etc.0 -
I weighed the polenta, celery/carrots, milk, tuna salad. For the rest of the items, I used MFP's food calculator to calculate the calories. On most of these items, I compared MFP's calculations to the package of the item (butter, coconut oil, green beans, etc) and they matched.
I've been using MFP for two days. Time I guess will tell if I'm successful. Thank you for responding. Do advocate weighing everything as opposed to using MFP to calculate the calories?
PS - As it turned out, I didn't eat dinner because I had such a late lunch. Wasn't hungry at dinnertime and still am not hungry (almost 10 p.m. now).
MFP can only accurately predict calories in food when you put the accurate amount of what you are eating into it, down to the gram.0 -
If you didn't eat dinner today then on a normal day you should have no trouble consuming all your calories, right? If you weren't hungry today due to late lunch, don't worry about it. Or you can save your calories for later in the week. Or you can have a small, calorie dense snack like nuts0
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Don't eat the calories back. If you're burning >400 cal by exercise then you're pretty close to hitting your goal of 1lbs per week. However, if you're eating those calories back then you're wasting your time.0
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I weighed the polenta, celery/carrots, milk, tuna salad. For the rest of the items, I used MFP's food calculator to calculate the calories. On most of these items, I compared MFP's calculations to the package of the item (butter, coconut oil, green beans, etc) and they matched.
I've been using MFP for two days. Time I guess will tell if I'm successful. Thank you for responding. Do advocate weighing everything as opposed to using MFP to calculate the calories?
PS - As it turned out, I didn't eat dinner because I had such a late lunch. Wasn't hungry at dinnertime and still am not hungry (almost 10 p.m. now).
How does MFP know how much your eggs weighed, how much your fruit weighed...how much even that slice of turkey weighed? It's a great tool but it's not magic.0 -
I think you need to pay closer attention to your macros as opposed to calerie intake. It will sometimes seem like a lot of food but if you have a strong workout program with high and low carb days you'll see a gain then loss once your body comes out of starvation mode from too few calories/protein/carbs/fats. You have a lot of fats in your meals. Calories are an okay place to start but those canned green beans alone will get you in sodium unless youre supplementing with over a gallon of water.0
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sparkle_313 wrote: »I think you need to pay closer attention to your macros as opposed to calerie intake. It will sometimes seem like a lot of food but if you have a strong workout program with high and low carb days you'll see a gain then loss once your body comes out of starvation mode from too few calories/protein/carbs/fats. You have a lot of fats in your meals. Calories are an okay place to start but those canned green beans alone will get you in sodium unless youre supplementing with over a gallon of water.
No such thing. Disregard. Calories in vs calories out = weight loss. Variety of food = healthy weight loss. Watch your macros just to make sure you get enough of the basics.0 -
Lots of items listed as a "serving." Unless it is weighed, who knows what that is. For example, butter. I put my butter plate on the scale and set it to zero. Then, after I have hacked off as much better as I want on an item, I look to see how many grams is gone from the plate. Then I log the butter by grams. That works for lots of other foods like cottage cheese, cream cheese, peanut butter (things too messy to weight by plopping them on the scale.)0
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Hi, I think you are on to a great start on MFP! You will find lots of good advice on here. I am approaching 3 months of logging food now. I would say that you are eating more than you think-2 chicken thighs for me vary so much . I found I have to weigh food, and now I can eyeball a bit better for when I can't.
I would say to not eat all those calories back from exercise although that would be a good excuse to eat some delicious dark chocolate or have a bit of icecream for a treat 0 -
You don't need to eat back your exercise calories. Sometimes if you do, you end up overeating your work outs, and actually gain weight. A good rule of thumb is to never eat back more than 1/2 of calories burned, because exercise equipment, and including MFP do have a history of overestimating calories burned.0
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If you're not weight calorie dense foods like chicken, chances are you're eating more than you think. Which isn't a bad thing because you've said that you're not hungry and you're concerned about meeting your calorie intake. Don't forget that the weight listed on packaging is often incorrect too - weigh everything!0
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arditarose wrote: »I weighed the polenta, celery/carrots, milk, tuna salad. For the rest of the items, I used MFP's food calculator to calculate the calories. On most of these items, I compared MFP's calculations to the package of the item (butter, coconut oil, green beans, etc) and they matched.
I've been using MFP for two days. Time I guess will tell if I'm successful. Thank you for responding. Do advocate weighing everything as opposed to using MFP to calculate the calories?
PS - As it turned out, I didn't eat dinner because I had such a late lunch. Wasn't hungry at dinnertime and still am not hungry (almost 10 p.m. now).
How does MFP know how much your eggs weighed, how much your fruit weighed...how much even that slice of turkey weighed? It's a great tool but it's not magic.
This.0 -
arditarose wrote: »I weighed the polenta, celery/carrots, milk, tuna salad. For the rest of the items, I used MFP's food calculator to calculate the calories. On most of these items, I compared MFP's calculations to the package of the item (butter, coconut oil, green beans, etc) and they matched.
I've been using MFP for two days. Time I guess will tell if I'm successful. Thank you for responding. Do advocate weighing everything as opposed to using MFP to calculate the calories?
PS - As it turned out, I didn't eat dinner because I had such a late lunch. Wasn't hungry at dinnertime and still am not hungry (almost 10 p.m. now).
How does MFP know how much your eggs weighed, how much your fruit weighed...how much even that slice of turkey weighed? It's a great tool but it's not magic.
You weigh your eggs before you cook them?
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arditarose wrote: »I weighed the polenta, celery/carrots, milk, tuna salad. For the rest of the items, I used MFP's food calculator to calculate the calories. On most of these items, I compared MFP's calculations to the package of the item (butter, coconut oil, green beans, etc) and they matched.
I've been using MFP for two days. Time I guess will tell if I'm successful. Thank you for responding. Do advocate weighing everything as opposed to using MFP to calculate the calories?
PS - As it turned out, I didn't eat dinner because I had such a late lunch. Wasn't hungry at dinnertime and still am not hungry (almost 10 p.m. now).
How does MFP know how much your eggs weighed, how much your fruit weighed...how much even that slice of turkey weighed? It's a great tool but it's not magic.
You weigh your eggs before you cook them?
I do. Weigh in shell, use, weigh shell, subtract. Five seconds of work and while it usually only means ~20 calories difference with the standard, I sometimes eat four or five eggs a day so that's 100 cals right there *shrugs* You don't have to do it, but I like to be very strict with my food intake.
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arditarose wrote: »I weighed the polenta, celery/carrots, milk, tuna salad. For the rest of the items, I used MFP's food calculator to calculate the calories. On most of these items, I compared MFP's calculations to the package of the item (butter, coconut oil, green beans, etc) and they matched.
I've been using MFP for two days. Time I guess will tell if I'm successful. Thank you for responding. Do advocate weighing everything as opposed to using MFP to calculate the calories?
PS - As it turned out, I didn't eat dinner because I had such a late lunch. Wasn't hungry at dinnertime and still am not hungry (almost 10 p.m. now).
How does MFP know how much your eggs weighed, how much your fruit weighed...how much even that slice of turkey weighed? It's a great tool but it's not magic.
You weigh your eggs before you cook them?
Yeah. I don't weigh them in shell first. Just crack them open in a bowl on the scale and record the raw weight.0 -
Based on what I've already entered, it seems like too many calories already. Has anyone had this problem before?
Hi MadkCole - to address the actual question you asked, yes, I too have trouble making my minimum calories. I moved to a low carb diet because I understood that a great deal of my calories were coming in the form of carbs. So, I am essentially eating a lot of lean protein, fruits and vegetables. A lot of this is very low in calorie density. That is to say "contain a lot of water and few calories". Veggies are also high in no-soluble fiber. These two things really can make you feel full faster. Protein dense food like tuna and chicken can make you feel full longer. The result is I often find myself well short of my minimum calorie goal.
Now, I pay very close attention to my macro's. There are folks here that will tell you that CICO is the only thing. It is the primary thing to lose weight, but tracking macro's can help you find a nice balance in various fuel types the body needs. When I come to the end of the day and find myself short, I can look at my macro's and see what I can eat that is higher in calorie density in an area of need. In my case, I nail my protein requirements daily, but found that I am short on carbs and healthy fats. I can adapt on the fly with this info but more importantly it has led to better meal planning. I make my menu a week in advance and make one trip to the grocery store.
Looking back at my diary, I found the place that I lack the most in calories is breakfast. I use egg beaters a lot and eat some fruit but find myself well under 200 calories. There is nothing wrong with this per say, but coming up short at the end of the day means I need to get more calories earlier in the day. So, I added a cup of 100cal greek yogurt to the mix. I've also started doing a better job with lunch planning.
So, the long winded point I am making is that log your food for 2 weeks and then go back and take a look at your diary. I am sure you will learn much about your own diet much like my own anecdotal experience. I wish you great fortune on your journey.
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Thanks for all your advice! Based on your replies, weighing everything is crucial - got it. I'll do a better job of that. I weighed everything today! Watching the macros are important too. I'll pay close attention to that as I learn more about all this stuff, thanks Steve_ApexNC!
Today, I also calculated the exercise calories I've been eating back and for the past three days it's ranged from 17% to 27%. From the information I've gathered here so far, as long at it doesn't exceed 50%, I should be okay. (My calorie exercises are based from my heart monitor - not MFP or the cycle machine I use at the gym).0 -
Well, the thing is, if you can be 100% sure on how many calories you've burned, you can eat them all back.
However, the main problem here comes to overestimating how many you've actually burned. So if you SAY you burned 500 calories, but only actually burned 250, that's when you get in trouble (if you eat it all back).
The 50% rule is just to account for errors in estimating how many calories you've burned and to be safe and make sure you don't accidentally ruin your deficit.0 -
Great job on weighing, today, though! What weighing does is fully eliminates error. You're especially in trouble if you don't weigh and you overestimate how much you burned, and underestimate how much you eat.
Keep up the good work. Weigh everything like today. And you should be well on your way! 0
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