How many calories should I eat?

cusackett05

I’m a 5 11” male about 200 lbs. and this app is telling me to only eat 1200 calories a day, not sure if that is correct or not. Also what are some high calorie foods that are healthy to eat? I’ve struggle to hit 800 in a day

steveko89

I'm guessing you set it lose 2 lbs/week? That's too aggressive of a deficit for only needing to lose ~30lbs to get to "ideal" weight for your height. 1 lb/week or less would be best (500 calorie deficit) which should give you 1700-1900 calories (assuming sedentary?).

In terms of weight loss, calories are key, it doesn't matter where they come from; as long as you're consistently in a deficit you'll lose weight. How are you measuring portions to arrive at 800 calories? Relying on labels, estimating portions, or even using volumetric measurements for solids (measuring cups/spoons) is going to be inaccurate. Get a food scale and start weighing your portions to log most accurately.

kommodevaran

That's strange, has to be a bug - MFP will not go below 1500 for males.

If you need to lose weight, you don't have a problem of eating enough, but if you struggle to get in 800 calories per day, you can be sure you're either logging incorrectly, or being too excited, or both. You don't have to look for high calorie foods, , you can eat anything you want as long as you don't eat too much over time, and a healthy diet is balanced and varied.

cusackett05

I need a food scale I’m assuming then. Any recommendations on what kind or brand?

steveko89

cusackett05 wrote: »

I need a food scale I’m assuming then. Any recommendations on what kind or brand?

I like mine a lot, wasn't too expensive, does the job, multiple units, haven't had an issue of going over capacity. Mine is silver, the white one as cheapest currently at $11

https://www.amazon.com/Ozeri-ZK14-S-Digital-Multifunction-Kitchen/dp/B017OAPPC6/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1536864088&sr=8-3&keywords=ozeri+food+scale&dpID=51GsiHLfDrL&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch&th=1

georgieamber2

hmmm maybe you're logging wrong if you're struggling to hit 800?? My calorie goal is 2000, I almost never hit 2000 because of workouts and whatever ... but still. Are you logging all your oils ect??? I had 1049 calories just for my dinner hahah😂😂 the high calorie foods in it were rice, coconut milk and cashews! Complex cabs like potatoes, rice and pasta are perfect for upping your calories. x

cusackett05

I just eat the same foods during the week, boiled eggs, spinach omelet with cottage cheese, a salad, apple and a banana I haven’t had any time (or will) to cook any meats due to working 75-80 hours a week. I need to start doing meal preps

erickirb

With such a small caloric intake, combined with so little protein, a large % of your loss will be coming from lean muscle, not just the fat you want to lose. I suggest setting your goal to 1 lb/week, and eat back cals from exercise.

As a male, you should not be eating less than 1500 net (1500+eating back what you burn from exercise) and should be aiming for no less than 100+ grams of protein/day.

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erickirb

cusackett05 wrote: »

I just eat the same foods during the week, boiled eggs, spinach omelet with cottage cheese, a salad, apple and a banana I haven’t had any time (or will) to cook any meats due to working 75-80 hours a week. I need to start doing meal preps

Add peanut butter for easy calories, also go for full fat cottage cheese and use oil-based dressing on your salads. You can buy already cooked full chickens for not much more than uncooked, so pick one up and eat that for protein and calories

nutmegoreo

cusackett05 wrote: »

I’m a 5 11” male about 200 lbs. and this app is telling me to only eat 1200 calories a day, not sure if that is correct or not. Also what are some high calorie foods that are healthy to eat? I’ve struggle to hit 800 in a day

Go back through the set up again and check your settings. It should not give you less than 1500 calories as a guy. Focus on hitting/exceeding your protein and fat goals. These are needed for nutrition, muscle retention, hormone functioning, etc. If you need to, add some calorie dense foods such as peanut butter, full fat mayo, dressings, dairy, etc.

kimny72

So yesterday, did you really have a banana for lunch, and 3 cups of lettuce with a half ounce of cheese and 1 tablespoon of dressing for dinner?

You've only been logging for a couple of days, but there are two possibilities:

1. Your logging is way off. Regardless, double check the entries you are using in the database are accurate, make sure you are logging every component of each meal, and consider using a food scale for at least a couple of weeks to get a good idea of what a portion size really looks like.
2. You are really undereating. When you first start a new eating plan, sometimes the adrenaline and the hopefulness can make us overlook being hungry and generally needing more food. And undereating for a couple of days isn't the end of the world. But you really need to eat more, quite a bit more. There is no reason a healthy adult male can't eat at least 1500 calories on an average day. In addition to calories, your fat and protein are very low.

Perhaps you fixed something since you first posted, but your food log says you should be eating 1800 cals, not 1200. I am a 5'4 125lb older woman, and I could eat 800 cals for breakfast if I wasn't paying attention.

You might have too restrictive a definition of "healthy food". If you don't have a medical condition you're dealing with, eat whatever you want, but off the top of my head: nuts, oats, rice, beans, lentils, rotisserie chicken, avocado, greek yogurt, canned tuna in oil, a glass of milk, use more salad dressing. Eat more, have a couple of Oreos every once and awhile if you want too

cusackett05

That’s my lunch every day haha I measure it with measuring cups but it’s all my container can hold. I did change my weight goal since someone pointed it out to me in this thread. But thanks everyone for the great advice! I’ll have to up my intake quit a bit

apullum

cusackett05 wrote: »

That’s my lunch every day haha I measure it with measuring cups but it’s all my container can hold. I did change my weight goal since someone pointed it out to me in this thread. But thanks everyone for the great advice! I’ll have to up my intake quit a bit

Measuring cups are not the most accurate way to measure solid foods. They're intended for liquids. For solid foods, you need a food scale. Honestly, any cheap digital food scale will work just fine; you don't need to spend a lot on it.