How am I going to eat that much food??

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  • BeachGingerOnTheRocks
    BeachGingerOnTheRocks Posts: 3,927 Member
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    1) how long have you been eating 600-700 calories? If less than a month or so, then your body isn't "used to" it. That is starvation. It isn't healthy at all.

    2) If you've been eating 600-700 calories, you'd be dropping weight too rapidly and a lot of that would be muscle. Not healthy at all.

    3) If you're not weighing your food and carefully measuring liquids, you're eating more than you think. Possibly by a lot. Your diary isn't open at all for us to see on what you're subsisting. Buy a food scale.

    4) What were you eating to gain the excess weight? You didn't gain the weight eating only 1700 calories a day.

    5) lean meats, whole grains, veggies, fruits, healthy fats like avocados and nut butters and olive oil are what you should make the majority of your diet. If you can't hit your calories eating straight healthy stuff, then add in a treat. One small square of Lindt chocolate has 60 calories in it.

    I'm going to disagree with everyone who says to move slowly back up to 1700 calories. Up them and get as close as possible to that figure. If you gain a couple pounds in the beginning, so be it. It'll be glycogen mostly while your body repairs any damage and your hormones regulate. You'll regulate and start losing soon enough. Follow a reasonable diet and get enough protein in you. If you're only eating 600-700 calories, you aren't getting nearly enough. Or enough fiber. Or enough vitamins...

    I've been eating this way for about three years - since I started my university course. I know it isn't healthy which is why I'm trying to change it. There are days when I have less than that - depending on what I'm doing. I tended to have naughty days at the weekends after which I'll gain like 2-3 lbs or something. This is falls off when I go back to my very low calorie way of eating in the week. But even within this week I can gain really quickly if I decide to go over the 600-700 cals or if I decide to eat much more carbs than normal. I also like beer, which is an additional problem...

    I do have a food scale but I don't fancy getting into weighing foods etc. i don't really eat dairy. Believe me it is possible to gain weight on less than 1000 calories a day! I do agree with you that I want to just up my calories in one hit and just swallow (see what I did there) the weight gain.

    If you had really only been eating 600-700 calories a day for 3 years, you would be emaciated. I'm sorry, I really think you're underestimating your calorie intake. A pint of beer has about 200 calories in it. I have no clue how many you drink on a weekend, but even then, you'd have to consume several thousand calories in a night to undo the damage caused by a 5 day a week 600-700 calorie diet. While it isn't possible to gain on 600 calories, it is possible to not lose anything on a weekly total of more than 14,000 calories. Maintenance for your weight is over 2000 a day. Even with metabolic damage and extreme hormone imbalance, you're not gaining on 700 calories a day.

    Eat how you want, OP. Your follow-up posts make it very clear that you're not actually looking for sound advice on food and nutrition. You seem to be just bragging about how little you eat.
  • tmattoneill
    tmattoneill Posts: 4 Member
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    I eat between 2000-2500 a day to maintain. You should do an online calculator to determine your BMR (basal metabolic rate) - http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/ . If you're trying to gain mass/weight i.e. get bigger you'll need to consume more than that amount. If you're trying to lose weight, you'll need to eat less.

    I keep my carbs and protein roughly fixed at 20-50g/day & 160-180g/day (80-200cal & 320-720). That means at most I'm getting 920 calories a day from just carb + protein. So I need to eat around 1,100 - 1,600 calories a day of fat to get my dietary requirements. I do this by using heavy cream, eating cheese, bacon, salami, full fat everything. Basically between 140-150g of fat a day.

    That's it!
  • Jeweller76
    Jeweller76 Posts: 12
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    1) how long have you been eating 600-700 calories? If less than a month or so, then your body isn't "used to" it. That is starvation. It isn't healthy at all.

    2) If you've been eating 600-700 calories, you'd be dropping weight too rapidly and a lot of that would be muscle. Not healthy at all.

    3) If you're not weighing your food and carefully measuring liquids, you're eating more than you think. Possibly by a lot. Your diary isn't open at all for us to see on what you're subsisting. Buy a food scale.

    4) What were you eating to gain the excess weight? You didn't gain the weight eating only 1700 calories a day.

    5) lean meats, whole grains, veggies, fruits, healthy fats like avocados and nut butters and olive oil are what you should make the majority of your diet. If you can't hit your calories eating straight healthy stuff, then add in a treat. One small square of Lindt chocolate has 60 calories in it.

    I'm going to disagree with everyone who says to move slowly back up to 1700 calories. Up them and get as close as possible to that figure. If you gain a couple pounds in the beginning, so be it. It'll be glycogen mostly while your body repairs any damage and your hormones regulate. You'll regulate and start losing soon enough. Follow a reasonable diet and get enough protein in you. If you're only eating 600-700 calories, you aren't getting nearly enough. Or enough fiber. Or enough vitamins...

    I've been eating this way for about three years - since I started my university course. I know it isn't healthy which is why I'm trying to change it. There are days when I have less than that - depending on what I'm doing. I tended to have naughty days at the weekends after which I'll gain like 2-3 lbs or something. This is falls off when I go back to my very low calorie way of eating in the week. But even within this week I can gain really quickly if I decide to go over the 600-700 cals or if I decide to eat much more carbs than normal. I also like beer, which is an additional problem...

    I do have a food scale but I don't fancy getting into weighing foods etc. i don't really eat dairy. Believe me it is possible to gain weight on less than 1000 calories a day! I do agree with you that I want to just up my calories in one hit and just swallow (see what I did there) the weight gain.

    If you had really only been eating 600-700 calories a day for 3 years, you would be emaciated. I'm sorry, I really think you're underestimating your calorie intake. A pint of beer has about 200 calories in it. I have no clue how many you drink on a weekend, but even then, you'd have to consume several thousand calories in a night to undo the damage caused by a 5 day a week 600-700 calorie diet. While it isn't possible to gain on 600 calories, it is possible to not lose anything on a weekly total of more than 14,000 calories. Maintenance for your weight is over 2000 a day. Even with metabolic damage and extreme hormone imbalance, you're not gaining on 700 calories a day.

    Eat how you want, OP. Your follow-up posts make it very clear that you're not actually looking for sound advice on food and nutrition. You seem to be just bragging about how little you eat.

    Bragging?? I have nothing to brag about, it's not exactly doing me any favours is it so I don't see that I'm bragging.
    Monday-Friday - at work or uni - nothing to eat during the day but coffee (1.5 teaspoons sugar for each cup) and *kitten*. In the evenings i have a low carb meal and a beer. There are no hidden calories. Like I said though I do eat high calorie foods at the weekends when I'm at home. Also maybe once a week I'll have a higher carb meal in the evening, which will also cause weight (or water) gain because my metabolism is slow and I did no exercise at all.

    I am appreciate of the advice given, like I said in my previous posts; as suggested I'm going to eat more nuts during the day and look at drinking calories instead. I'm a newbie coming here for advice, have said I will take some of it, and I get accused of bragging. :ohwell:
  • xmeganxtarax
    xmeganxtarax Posts: 79
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    1) how long have you been eating 600-700 calories? If less than a month or so, then your body isn't "used to" it. That is starvation. It isn't healthy at all.

    2) If you've been eating 600-700 calories, you'd be dropping weight too rapidly and a lot of that would be muscle. Not healthy at all.

    3) If you're not weighing your food and carefully measuring liquids, you're eating more than you think. Possibly by a lot. Your diary isn't open at all for us to see on what you're subsisting. Buy a food scale.

    4) What were you eating to gain the excess weight? You didn't gain the weight eating only 1700 calories a day.

    5) lean meats, whole grains, veggies, fruits, healthy fats like avocados and nut butters and olive oil are what you should make the majority of your diet. If you can't hit your calories eating straight healthy stuff, then add in a treat. One small square of Lindt chocolate has 60 calories in it.

    I'm going to disagree with everyone who says to move slowly back up to 1700 calories. Up them and get as close as possible to that figure. If you gain a couple pounds in the beginning, so be it. It'll be glycogen mostly while your body repairs any damage and your hormones regulate. You'll regulate and start losing soon enough. Follow a reasonable diet and get enough protein in you. If you're only eating 600-700 calories, you aren't getting nearly enough. Or enough fiber. Or enough vitamins...

    I've been eating this way for about three years - since I started my university course. I know it isn't healthy which is why I'm trying to change it. There are days when I have less than that - depending on what I'm doing. I tended to have naughty days at the weekends after which I'll gain like 2-3 lbs or something. This is falls off when I go back to my very low calorie way of eating in the week. But even within this week I can gain really quickly if I decide to go over the 600-700 cals or if I decide to eat much more carbs than normal. I also like beer, which is an additional problem...

    I do have a food scale but I don't fancy getting into weighing foods etc. i don't really eat dairy. Believe me it is possible to gain weight on less than 1000 calories a day! I do agree with you that I want to just up my calories in one hit and just swallow (see what I did there) the weight gain.

    If you had really only been eating 600-700 calories a day for 3 years, you would be emaciated. I'm sorry, I really think you're underestimating your calorie intake. A pint of beer has about 200 calories in it. I have no clue how many you drink on a weekend, but even then, you'd have to consume several thousand calories in a night to undo the damage caused by a 5 day a week 600-700 calorie diet. While it isn't possible to gain on 600 calories, it is possible to not lose anything on a weekly total of more than 14,000 calories. Maintenance for your weight is over 2000 a day. Even with metabolic damage and extreme hormone imbalance, you're not gaining on 700 calories a day.

    Eat how you want, OP. Your follow-up posts make it very clear that you're not actually looking for sound advice on food and nutrition. You seem to be just bragging about how little you eat.

    This, there is an excuse for everything.
  • xmeganxtarax
    xmeganxtarax Posts: 79
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    On your days off uni make meals at home for the week, freeze them. It's not hard. That way you can thaw them, heat up and go. This coming from someone working part time, full time mom and was just in school on top of that.
  • Jeweller76
    Jeweller76 Posts: 12
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    You don't want to increase your intake by 1000 immediately, but you do want to increase. Try increasing by 100 cals, stabilizing for a week or so and then add 100 more until you get to your goal.

    Also, a couple tips:
    1) get a food scale and measuring cups to make sure you have been calculating everything correctly

    2) If you have some more time on the weekends try to prepack meals as much as you can, cut up some peppers, make individual serving sizes of nuts and other snacks

    3) Look into healthy meal replacement options, I was going to school with at least an hour commute and working three part time jobs last year, sometimes you can't have an entire meal packed but if you have a meal replacement bar you know you are getting at least proper nutrients.

    Good Luck!

    Thanks for that. I've been thinking that I might try meal replacement bars as I can eat those while at work without having to stop and eat a meal. Are cashews acceptable? as I love those as well
  • mayonie1
    mayonie1 Posts: 296 Member
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    I was also struggling to get to 1200 calories...now I have learn to fill up with Nuts, Avocado and seafood...thanks to MFP.:smile:
  • Jeweller76
    Jeweller76 Posts: 12
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    This, there is an excuse for everything.

    Hold on a moment, I'm saying I don't like milky things and I don't like avocados. Is there a suggestion here that I eat things I don't like? I don't think I'm making excuses. I don't like these things. I do, however, like nuts and I like the idea of drinking calories and meal replacement bars.
  • mayonie1
    mayonie1 Posts: 296 Member
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    Thanks for that. I've been thinking that I might try meal replacement bars as I can eat those while at work without having to stop and eat a meal. Are cashews acceptable? as I love those as well
    [/quote]

    I eat cashews too, I hope they are acceptable.
  • sarahertzberger
    sarahertzberger Posts: 534 Member
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    it really is hard at first, but my husband and I have been doing it for a while, what I do for him while he works and he's mostly out on the road is I bought a bunch of tupperware containers and I just pack him fruits and nuts for snacks and then for lunch I'll make sure to give him a protein and a good bit of vegetables it does take more work but it is worth it for sure
  • junejadesky
    junejadesky Posts: 524 Member
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    If you are doing Insanity and eating 1700+ a day you WILL lose weight! You will be amazed at how quickly it comes off.

    Hop on Google and find some nutrient dense snacks that will help to add calories. One of my favorites is to eat avocado raw with some almonds for example. If you aren't used to eating bigger portions, then go with the less more often approach. You can eat smaller portions throughout the day. It sounds like you would be used to eating small amounts at a time with your current habits, so this might help your brain adjust to upping what you are eating everyday!

    Good luck.... eat your calories and you will see the weight come off!!
  • Jeweller76
    Jeweller76 Posts: 12
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    If you are doing Insanity and eating 1700+ a day you WILL lose weight! You will be amazed at how quickly it comes off.

    Hop on Google and find some nutrient dense snacks that will help to add calories. One of my favorites is to eat avocado raw with some almonds for example. If you aren't used to eating bigger portions, then go with the less more often approach. You can eat smaller portions throughout the day. It sounds like you would be used to eating small amounts at a time with your current habits, so this might help your brain adjust to upping what you are eating everyday!

    Good luck.... eat your calories and you will see the weight come off!!

    Thanks! This approach makes sense. I think I need foods I can eat along the way as this will help to achieve the 5x day eating that Insanity suggests. The Insanity meal plan made it look as though I'd be having to prepare 5 proper meals a day, which I can't see anyone has the time for so the idea of on-the-go nutrient dense foods seems to fit into my lifestyle much better :smile:

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