Struggling to hit my calories

abs1970

I'm about 400 calories under my total every day and struggling to hit my macros. Weigh 49kg and train every day (though I've been advised to cut this down to 4 x a week to see more gains). I have a low carb diet, eat three healthy meals a day and healthy snacks mid morning and mid afternoon & try to have at least one whey protein shake a day

Apart from the obvious 'eat more food' can anyone give me any advice please?

TavistockToad

Peanut butter.

And yes, if you can't fuel your current level of activity, reduce it.

deannalfisher

can you open up your diary?

abs1970

Peanut butter

abs1970

I'll open my diary @deannalfisher

TeaBea

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10142490/a-list-of-calorie-dense-foods/p1

quiksylver296

Ice cream!

sardelsa

What do you add to your protein shake? Maybe adding nut or seed butters (if you don't like peanuts there are loads of others you can try) or full fat yogurt, hemp seeds to hike the cals up easily.

Also granola, avocado, oils, full fat dairy, higher fat cuts of meats.. pretty much anything higher fat since you are low carb.

abs1970

Thing is I don't want to be putting weight or fat on. I'm 20.58% body fat and ideally would like to be less.

janejellyroll

abs1970 wrote: »

Thing is I don't want to be putting weight or fat on. I'm 20.58% body fat and ideally would like to be less.

If your initial goal puts you at a calorie deficit, then you aren't going to gain weight if you hit it.

abs1970

@sardelsa I don't really add anything - use Alpro coconut rather than water though.

abs1970

This nutrition business is so damn confusing

sardelsa

What is going on with your weight. Have you been losing, maintaining, gaining?

abs1970

I'm maintaing my weight although I generally go up or down a little each month (curse of being a female!). I'm around 49kg now which is around a kg heavier than last year but I know it's muscle weight.

Pirate_chick

eat a couple of tablespoons of peanut butter, a banana, or avocado. That will make-up the deficit. The other option is to cut your activity.

abs1970

@Pirate_chick that's what I've been advised to do - cut my training from 7x to 4x a week - it's going to be a killer!!

TavistockToad

abs1970 wrote: »

Peanut butter

Why the face?

WinoGelato

What is your calorie goal?
Are you eating back exercise calories?
How accurate is your tracking?
What are your overall goals? Lose weight? Maintain? Recomp?

janejellyroll

abs1970 wrote: »

I'm maintaing my weight although I generally go up or down a little each month (curse of being a female!). I'm around 49kg now which is around a kg heavier than last year but I know it's muscle weight.

Did you set your goal to lose weight or to maintain it? If you are under your goal and maintaining your weight, then I wouldn't eat 400 more unless I wanted to *gain* weight. Either your goal needs to be adjusted or you need to log more accurately (if your goal is to lose).

extra_medium

abs1970 wrote: »

I'm about 400 calories under my total every day and struggling to hit my macros. Weigh 49kg and train every day (though I've been advised to cut this down to 4 x a week to see more gains). I have a low carb diet, eat three healthy meals a day and healthy snacks mid morning and mid afternoon & try to have at least one whey protein shake a day

Apart from the obvious 'eat more food' can anyone give me any advice please?

peanut butter

abs1970

@TavistockToad I hate peanuts

TavistockToad

abs1970 wrote: »

@TavistockToad I hate peanuts

So why not just say that?

Anything that's high fat will help increase your cals with little volume

diannethegeek

TeaBea wrote: »

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10142490/a-list-of-calorie-dense-foods/p1

^Came here to post this link (of course). Dunno if the OP found it helpful or not, but hopefully someone might. I've been posting more calorie dense recipes in the comments there if you check the last pages.

jessicapk

Eat more cheese! It's pretty calorie dense and can be eaten by itself or added to almost anything in some form. And, if you're working out that often, cottage cheese is a great source of protein, too. Definitely have to fuel properly for your activity level

cerise_noir

abs1970 wrote: »

Thing is I don't want to be putting weight or fat on. I'm 20.58% body fat and ideally would like to be less.

Dietary fat doesn't cause fat gain if you're in a deficit. You need to meet your caloric needs.

Meganthedogmom

If you are maintaining with what you are currently eating, then you are likely not eating 400 calories less than your goal.

abs1970

Thanks everyone for the advice. So I train every day, lift heavy, and actually cannot consume 1700 calories. Have plateaud & am not seeing any more gains. Am guessing this has to be diet related.

sardelsa

When you say not seeing any more gains, do you mean strength gains?

What are your goals ?

janejellyroll

abs1970 wrote: »

Thanks everyone for the advice. So I train every day, lift heavy, and actually cannot consume 1700 calories. Have plateaud & am not seeing any more gains. Am guessing this has to be diet related.

What do you mean you can't consume 1,700 calories? I'm wondering if you have cut too many calorie-dense foods out of your diet. There are some foods that don't add much volume, but have more calories.

annacole94

If you're maintaining, and you're training that hard, you're not actually eating 1700 calories or less. Sorry, but your logging must have some (fairly large) gaps. You're at 108 lb and look fairly fit; what's your height? You probably don't need to lose weight.

If your goal is to gain muscle, you have to eat above maintenance, gain muscle and fat, and then lose the fat. Generally, unless you're new to lifting (which it appears you are not).

janejellyroll

annacole94 wrote: »

If you're maintaining, and you're training that hard, you're not actually eating 1700 calories or less. Sorry, but your logging must have some (fairly large) gaps.

This -- something is missing here.