Any tips on upping my calories? I'm way too low for my size.

fatguy_fitness
fatguy_fitness Posts: 195 Member
edited November 24 in Food and Nutrition
Now that I'm not eating like garbage, I'm having a heck of a time reaching my calorie goal of 1900-2000. The only days I've been close to my calorie goal is when I ate something off my diet. I'm not doing any diet in particular, but I am trying to eat mainly meat, veggies, sweet potatoes and fruit. I made my diet public if you want to check it out. The last few days I've only been around 1000 calories and at 6'2" 311lbs, I know that's not nearly enough. I don't feel hungry and physically I feel like I'm eating enough. Any suggestions on adding more good stuff?

Replies

  • pinuplove
    pinuplove Posts: 12,871 Member
    At first glance, you appear to be eating fairly low fat in total. Dietary fat is important for health and satiety. You may find this thread helpful: https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10142490/a-list-of-calorie-dense-foods/p1
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    Good stuff is a variety of all the foods you like. You can eat full fat versions of everything, add oil and butter, use real sugar instead of sweetener. And of course make sure your logging is on point, or you may be eating more than you think you are. If your goal is weightloss, you'll be naturally inclined towards underestimating food intake.
  • deannalfisher
    deannalfisher Posts: 5,600 Member
    you could add pasta to your dinner - i saw you had squash and pasta sauce; any reason you couldn't add something more substantial?

    with your breakfast, you could add some egg whites to the whole eggs you are eating which would bulk it up a bit

    add some more sausage to your breakfast - 4oz, rather than 2

    i'd also recommend making sure you are using food entries wiht weights - i saw you had some veggies that were just listed as 1 medium, or 1 item - you could be eating more calories with those entries than expected
  • Zinka61
    Zinka61 Posts: 563 Member
    Whole grains and nut butters, a little olive oil in cooking your veggies maybe, avocados, seeds hemp and sunflower
  • fatguy_fitness
    fatguy_fitness Posts: 195 Member
    I do eyeball a lot of measurements. So there is a good possibility that I might be higher than I'm reporting. I'll try to measure everything out and see if that helps.
  • 100_PROOF_
    100_PROOF_ Posts: 1,168 Member
    I'd start by weighing your solids with a kitchen scale and measuring liquid with a measure cup. This way you can really gauge your true intake. Then from there you can increase calories by adding calorie dense foods like pasta , potatoes, peanut butter,nuts.
  • spdaphne
    spdaphne Posts: 262 Member
    I noticed your carb intake is really low. Are you trying to do a low carb diet?

    I'd increase your carb intake by eating wild rice, sweet potatoes, legumes. And also adding more fat too will help, like nuts, seeds, avocado.
  • nexangelus
    nexangelus Posts: 2,080 Member
    edited January 2018
    Reality check - you ate loads of calories to excess to put weight on. And now you are struggling to eat not even 1000 calories a day some days? This does not compute. You can still eat pizza, pasta, sweets, icecream, chocolate, peanut butter, bread, cheese and anything you wish (as long as it fits the calorie allowance) whilst in a deficit. Why make it harder and more rigid than it needs to be? Enjoy yourself whilst losing the weight. Cos if you don't you will be doing the old yoyo thang. And that is not fun! So my tip is eat more food...
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  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    moosmum1972 wrote: »
    ars371 wrote: »
    nexangelus wrote: »
    Reality check - you ate loads of calories to excess to put weight on. And now you are struggling to eat not even 1000 calories a day some days? This does not compute. You can still eat pizza, pasta, sweets, icecream, chocolate, peanut butter, bread, cheese and anything you wish (as long as it fits the calorie allowance) whilst in a deficit. Why make it harder and more rigid than it needs to be? Enjoy yourself whilst losing the weight. Cos if you don't you will be doing the old yoyo thang. And that is not fun! So my tip is eat more food...

    The reason I'm shying away from the pizza, pasta, etc. is because I historically have binged on foods like that. That's another reason that I really don't do cheat days. I've had cheat meals turn into cheat months/years. I know that I'll eventually have to learn to eat less of foods like that, but for now I'm staying away until I get my crap together.

    You carry on starving and I'll guarantee you'll binge worse than before.
    We don't know (yet) if he's starving himself, but depriving himself will also give the same result.
  • MewzuriKittie
    MewzuriKittie Posts: 10 Member
    Adding a shake into your diet would probably help alot. Here's a yummy healthy 555cal one - one frozen banana, 2tbsp peanut butter, 2scoops whey protein powder, 1 cup low-fat milk. You could add a little honey for flavor too if you wanted.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,097 Member
    ars371 wrote: »
    I do eyeball a lot of measurements. So there is a good possibility that I might be higher than I'm reporting. I'll try to measure everything out and see if that helps.

    In the meantime, a good way to do a rough check of the accuracy of your logging is to look at whether your rate of weight loss is roughly commensurate with what you think your caloric deficit is.
  • laur357
    laur357 Posts: 896 Member
    Cook your food in oil or butter. Good flavor, and some calories from fat.
  • vingogly
    vingogly Posts: 1,785 Member
    A lot of days, you only have an orange or other piece of fruit as a snack. You could add some full-fat snacks to increase the calories. I skip lunch, but like to have a smoothie with frozen fruit, protein powder, almond or soy milk, and whole milk ricotta or yogurt in the evening. It's very satisfying and fills me up.
  • extra_medium
    extra_medium Posts: 1,525 Member
    edited January 2018
    If you enjoy what you're eating, eat more of it. If not, don't worry about a little "garbage" here and there as long as you're staying within your calorie goal.
  • Carlos_421
    Carlos_421 Posts: 5,132 Member
    ars371 wrote: »
    I do eyeball a lot of measurements. So there is a good possibility that I might be higher than I'm reporting. I'll try to measure everything out and see if that helps.

    I personally feel that a lot of the “I can’t seem to eat enough” problems people face is due in large part to inexact measurements. Eyeballing can easily lead to eating a lot more than you think.
    That’s aside from obviously people will often feel fuller on Whole Foods.
  • bcradio1
    bcradio1 Posts: 43 Member
    Need calories? Easy... eat peanut butter.
  • PrincessTinyheart
    PrincessTinyheart Posts: 679 Member
    When I need to reach my calories i add peanut butter, olive oil and avocados to my meals.
  • Meelisv
    Meelisv Posts: 235 Member
    edited February 2018
    ars371 wrote: »
    Now that I'm not eating like garbage, I'm having a heck of a time reaching my calorie goal of 1900-2000. The only days I've been close to my calorie goal is when I ate something off my diet. I'm not doing any diet in particular, but I am trying to eat mainly meat, veggies, sweet potatoes and fruit. I made my diet public if you want to check it out. The last few days I've only been around 1000 calories and at 6'2" 311lbs, I know that's not nearly enough. I don't feel hungry and physically I feel like I'm eating enough. Any suggestions on adding more good stuff?

    How's that even possible?
    I'm 5'11 and 185 lbs I also eat ~ 2000 calories per day and have quite hard time avoiding exceeding that amount.

    But if you're really 300+ lbs and given you're quite tall too, you really should be eating at least 2500 calories, or if you're also doing some constant exercising even close to 3000 to lose at sustainable pace.
  • fatguy_fitness
    fatguy_fitness Posts: 195 Member
    Meelisv wrote: »
    ars371 wrote: »
    Now that I'm not eating like garbage, I'm having a heck of a time reaching my calorie goal of 1900-2000. The only days I've been close to my calorie goal is when I ate something off my diet. I'm not doing any diet in particular, but I am trying to eat mainly meat, veggies, sweet potatoes and fruit. I made my diet public if you want to check it out. The last few days I've only been around 1000 calories and at 6'2" 311lbs, I know that's not nearly enough. I don't feel hungry and physically I feel like I'm eating enough. Any suggestions on adding more good stuff?

    How's that even possible?
    I'm 5'11 and 185 lbs I also eat ~ 2000 calories per day and have quite hard time avoiding exceeding that amount.

    But if you're really 300+ lbs and given you're quite tall too, you really should be eating at least 2500 calories, or if you're also doing some constant exercising even close to 3000 to lose at sustainable pace.

    It seems i was underestimating a lot of my food. I now weigh almost everything.
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
    ars371 wrote: »
    So I started weighing just about everything I eat in grams and discovered I was underestimating my calories quite often. Thanks everyone for the advice.

    Glad you got it sorted out!
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