Suggestions for boosting calorie count? :)

metalbish

Can't seem to eat my calories per day - minus ~700 overall yesterday - and that's without even considering the exercise calories.. (should I be eating these back? Haven't touched them).

The issue being I'm a pretty fussy eater. AFAIK, eating nuts/peanut butter is a good calorie booster but.. The only nuts I actually like are pistachios. I cannot stomach peanut butter, or anything remotely peanut butter flavoured.

Would appreciate some suggestions for snacks for a 300-500cal boost please.

livingleanlivingclean

You must have ingested sufficient calories to be in a position to need to lose weight - what did you eat to gain weight? Eat some of those things, just control the amount you eat...

inertiastrength

Adding oils to cooking and salads etc. helps. Blend a couple tablespoons of nut butter into your shake. I use hemp hearts (3tbsp 170 cals) and add to yogurt. a couple scoops of ice cream would get you there pretty quick too!

metalbish

livingleanlivingclean wrote: »

You must have ingested sufficient calories to be in a position to need to lose weight - what did you eat to gain weight? Eat some of those things, just control the amount you eat...

I ate junk though. I want to do it in a nutritious manner, instead of eating 700cal worth of chocolate, sweets and full fat Coke..

bogwoppt1

Eat some more food. If you cannot work out what to eat for those cals you need to see a nutritionist.

I would take a sweet potato and turn it in to oven baked fries, then I would eat them with jalapeno ketchup.

I never understand these posts.

kimny72

How long has this been a problem? Sometimes when you first start, it takes a while for your appetite to adjust to your new way of eating.

What pace are you losing weight and are you using a food scale?

If you are eating anything low/no fat switch to the full fat version - salad dressing, milk, yogurt, cheese, etc. Add a banana, avocado, cook in oil. Grains can be pretty calorie dense, add a serving of rice or oats or barley to something. It's kind of hard to suggest not knowing what you are already eating.

And if you don't want to eat 700 calories of chocolate, eat 200 calories of chocolate. There is nothing wrong with incorporating some treats into your day, and it's unrealistic to think you will abstain forever, so if you need the calories, why not try to eat moderate portions of a treat every day?

kms234

Pistachios are my fave too! I would just add a couple servings of those a day as needed. Or you could add things like avocado or cream cheese (full fat) to sandwiches, salads, etc.

Seffell

If you don't have the appetite for food I think you're not eating yummy food. Bland and nutritious is not the same thing. You need to find foods you love and crave or you won't be able to last long on this lifestyle. Use more oil, butter, eat fruit (it's high in calories), eat avocados, eggs, full fat dairy, dry fruit... there are hundreds of tasty things to eat! I'd kill for a pasta salad with LOTS of olive oil and cashew nuts now!

Also the so called 'junk' food is not dangerous or anything so I wouldn't completely avoid it (I really don't, for example I eat delicious desserts after every dinner which often include chocolate icecream, chocolate topping and cream worth 250cals. Yum! Nothing bad about it.)

Alternatively you might check with your GP and figure the reason for your lack of appetite.

TeaBea

metalbish wrote: »

livingleanlivingclean wrote: »

You must have ingested sufficient calories to be in a position to need to lose weight - what did you eat to gain weight? Eat some of those things, just control the amount you eat...

I ate junk though. I want to do it in a nutritious manner, instead of eating 700cal worth of chocolate, sweets and full fat Coke..

My goal is to eat better.....not to eat "perfectly." 80/20 is a rule many people follow. I eat well 80% of the time, but allow some room for treats here and there. That way I am learning portion control for ALL foods.

Full fat dairy, olive oil, regular salad dressings,

kristen8000

Nuts, Peanut Butter, oils in cooking.

I'd eat my weight in Tortilla Chips and Salsa, but that's not what you are asking

janejellyroll

Us making recommendations isn't going to be very helpful since we don't know what you're "fussy" about (except the peanut butter/nut aversion that you already mentioned).

Almost everyone likes some high calorie foods, but if I give you a list of the ones that I like, they may not be ones you like. Do you like pasta? Potatoes? Bread? Avocado? Juice? Rice?

Also, there's no reason to completely get rid of the higher calorie foods you do enjoy (chocolate, sweets, soda). As long as you're meeting your nutritional needs, you can have some candy or a soda without hurting yourself.

cwolfman13

metalbish wrote: »

livingleanlivingclean wrote: »

You must have ingested sufficient calories to be in a position to need to lose weight - what did you eat to gain weight? Eat some of those things, just control the amount you eat...

I ate junk though. I want to do it in a nutritious manner, instead of eating 700cal worth of chocolate, sweets and full fat Coke..

The bottom line is you need calories...they are important, and if you can't get them in with healthier options then you should eat some "junk" to make up the difference.

You also need to look at your overall diet in context...if your diet was all junk then it would be a poor diet...but some junk is ok...and like I said, you need calories, they are important. When I'm training for endurance cycling events, I need to eat a lot more than I otherwise would...I still eat pretty healthy, but there's definitely a bit more junk thrown in their as the calories are important to my performance and recovery.

Either way, you'll need to figure it out...leaving 700 calories on the table plus exercise when you're already in a substantial deficit is no bueno and there will likely be some issues down the road.

metalbish

Thank you for all the feedback. Lots of awesome ideas - I haven't completely cut out junk, some days I'll have a cheat meal because I know myself, and if I didn't treat myself I would fall completely off the bandwagon. But during the week, I try and eat clean and I've been struggling to meet the calories, and I don't want to be minus HUNDREDS because as a few of you mentioned, that creates problems down the road.

Ice cream sounds like my favourite option (surprisingly lol) and full fat dairy.. I can't stand skimmed milk, it's more water than anything.

masaku_88

Avocados, bananas, mangos, pumpkin seeds, chia seeds,