Not hungry...but calories far too low

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PartyPerson
PartyPerson Posts: 116 Member
in Food and Nutrition
The past couple of days I've got to this time of day - completely full and well under my target calories. So I need some ideas for a quick nutritious snack to complete my daily targets - any suggestions?

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  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
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    Might find some ideas here: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10142490/a-list-of-calorie-dense-foods/p1
  • mrsbudryzer
    mrsbudryzer Posts: 5 Member
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    I would suggest: don't snack. If you aren't hungry for dinner because you had a snack at 3pm, add more calories to your dinner instead. Easy way: healthy fats (olive oil, coconut oil, avocado). I don't know what type of eating plan you are on, but that's what I would do.
  • VeryKatie
    VeryKatie Posts: 5,950 Member
    edited September 2016
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    Peeked at your diary. Did you pre-weigh all those foods and eat exactly only one portion of everything for every item today? Could be something there. For example, I usually have more than 85 grams of the veggies, even though a serving is only 85 grams. Just making sure you're logging correctly, as if you are eating more than you think, you might feel more full than you thought you would too!

    Noticed some things yesterday too. 500 grams of turkey for 150 calories? Not sure I'm reading that right. Sauce measured in grams but not ml? I don't see many sauces that list grams. I guess some do. But keep in mind, unless it's water 1 ml =/= 1 gram. 1 fruit for your navel orange, not weighed.

    Just little things like those might be making up some of the difference and might explain why you're not hungry. If you're under estimating how many calories you're eating, you have to be careful eating up to your goal. That being said, it's better to eat up to the goal and monitor to see if you're losing weight. If you are, then you're fine... if you're not losing weight, you know your database entries are off.

    Never eat below 1200 (actual) calories though. It's fine once in a blue moon if you're sick or something, but it shouldn't be regular.
  • PartyPerson
    PartyPerson Posts: 116 Member
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    Wow - that was quick, thanks!

    I'll check out the list and see if anything appeals.

    Myfitnesspal has set my calorie target to 1430 and today I've eaten 618, yesterday I ate just over 800. I just feel satisfied but feel that these counts are very low. Especially as I have a history of "overdoing" the dieting in the past.

  • singingflutelady
    singingflutelady Posts: 8,736 Member
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    618 is way too low. make sure you are accurately counting your calories before you panic because if you don't weigh your food you can be eating a lot more than you think. Be careful. Old habits die hard
  • PartyPerson
    PartyPerson Posts: 116 Member
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    I do weigh all of my food (put the plate on the scale as I serve, which is why sauce is in grams) and when in doubt I round up. I only drink water or black coffee - but from tomorrow fruit juice might help to bump things up. and having just made a cheese sandwich butter seems a good solution too!

    Thanks for all of your help guys
    x
  • AliceDark
    AliceDark Posts: 3,886 Member
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    It looks like you've only been logging since last Sunday...is that accurate? A lot of people get excited when they first start a new diet, which can artificially suppress their hunger in the very short term. This doesn't mean that they don't need the calories and the nutrition, though. If you're confident that you're logging correctly (using a food scale, choosing accurate entries and logging every bite and sip), you need to make sure you're coming closer to your calorie goal or you risk burning out or making yourself ill.

    One note: are you entering the "homemade" recipes yourself using the recipe builder? Also, I'd double-check some of your entries. Since the database is user-edited, it's not uncommon to see entries that are missing nutritional information (like the popcorn, butter and toast with 0g of sodium), but it's a clue that you should double-check those entries for accuracy.
  • AliceDark
    AliceDark Posts: 3,886 Member
    edited September 2016
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    VeryKatie wrote: »
    Noticed some things yesterday too. 500 grams of turkey for 150 calories? Not sure I'm reading that right. Sauce measured in grams but not ml? I don't see many sauces that list grams. I guess some do. But keep in mind, unless it's water 1 ml =/= 1 gram. 1 fruit for your navel orange, not weighed.
    This entry looked odd to me too...looks like the Sainsbury's website says it's 152 calories for 100g, so if you had 500g, that was really 760 calories.

    Edit: the MFP database says it's 259 calories per 100g, so I really have no idea what's accurate.

  • PartyPerson
    PartyPerson Posts: 116 Member
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    I had 100g of the 500g pack - I can see that would be confusing - the males of the household polished the rest off lol!

    I had a week off logging when I was on holiday last week, so that's why it looks a bit weird. And I do understand the excitement factor - I am determined to get it right this time, I'm sick of looking in the mirror and hating myself. And to add to my incentive my daughter gets married next year - I am going to look good in the photos.
  • angandric
    angandric Posts: 1 Member
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    Im having the same problem.......trying to get calories up......yet 1 day a week I find im slightly over so it all balances out I guess

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