Around 2000 calories is needed for active student daily, but each day I am around 900 cal lacking.

Ppradhan461

I need to double my food? I have breakfast, Lunch at 10am, then snacks at 3pm, dinner at 8. Only thing I noticed difference in food intake is I take a cup of rice less than others in lunch&dinner.
What are recommended foods/types?

nossmf

So you say you typically eat 1100 calories per day and feel fine? One of three thoughts come to mind...

One, you may not be including everything actually consumed over the course of a day. It's easy to mindlessly eat and not record it, like grabbing a single slice of pizza at a party, or drinking a coffee filled with high-calorie sweeteners.

Two, you may not be recording correctly. Your statement, "I take a cup of rice less than others" in particular stands out, as often a cup of rice is a standard serving. Unless you literally measure out ingredients, it's often easy to record a food eaten, but accidentally add only a fraction (or too much) of it.

Third, the idea is "2000 calories is NEEDED" is very misleading. That sounds like a title of an article, which is almost invariably talking about averages. Any time there's an average, individual people may be higher or lower. If the average height of men in North America is 5'9", does every man stand that tall? Of course not, there are men of a wide range of heights. Similarly, if the average calorie need is 2000, does that mean every single person needs it? Nope again, some need higher (especially athletes or people weighing above the "average") and some less. You may simply be among the "need less" category.

Ultimately, it's up to your doctor and you. If your doctor says you're healthy and you feel fine, then keep doing what you've been doing. You can experiment with increasing just a little bit if you like, say 100 calories at a time. If your doctor says to increase/decrease calories by a bunch, he/she likely has advice for how to do so safely.

ciaoder

What foods? (asked in the "gaining" forum)

Nuts, granola, avocados, cheese, dried fruit (mmmmm figs and dates!). My trainer has a jar of protein peanut butter with her at all times.

GaryRuns

Plenty of foods and condiments you can use to help, most of which are listed and discussed here:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10326769/are-you-a-hard-gainer-please-read/p1