Having trouble eating all of my calories!?

amberx1127
amberx1127 Posts: 45
in Food and Nutrition
Hi everyone! My name is Amber and I am using MFP in order to tone up and just create a better lifestyle by eating healthy, good foods. I am not overweight and do not really want to lose any weight (21 years old, 5'3", 112 lbs) I would like to keep my weight where it is. I am very active (I do Body Sculpting classes at my gym on Monday and Wednesday mornings and run/do cardio on thursdays and fridays) I also am on my feet all day at work. When I look online at how many calories I should be eating a day, it says I need 2079 calories a day! That seems really high in order to maintain my weight. I am not even coming anywhere CLOSE to that number, and I just feel like if I eat that many calories a day I will actually gain weight...I dont know how many calories a day I was eating before I started trying to eat healthy, but if that 2079 calorie number is more than I was eating before, I would be putting the pounds on right?...which I dont want. Unless its muscle! :) Should I really try to eat that many calories a day? And if so how to go I about eating healthy while doing that?

Replies

  • stumblinthrulife
    stumblinthrulife Posts: 2,558 Member
    2100 seems about right for someone your size who is very active. It is possible to maintain on fewer calories, as you are seemingly doing now, but realize that it could be impacting your recovery, which will harm your progress in the gym. Eating more won't necessarily suddenly mean you start gaining weight.

    If you are nervous about going straight up to 2100, I would suggest that you start tracking your current diet without changing anything. Do that for a month, and track your weight daily using trendweight.com.

    Then add a hundred calories. Do that for six weeks, again tracking your weight. Keep doing this until you either

    A. Reach 2100 calories.
    Or
    B. Your weight trends upward over the previous six weeks (not just a short fluctuation - you need to stick with it to see the trend). If you gain, do a short cut to reverse that trend, and then look to the month prior to the gain for your maintenance calories.
  • stumblinthrulife
    stumblinthrulife Posts: 2,558 Member
    Oh, and mustn't forget - high calorie density food is not inherently bad. Do not think you can only eat lettuce leaves and celery. You'll never reach 2,100 calories like that. I'm personally of the view that 'clean' eating is not necessary, but if that's what you want to do, that's your decision. Just remember that there are plenty of 'clean' high-calorie density choices to help you maintain an adequate calorie intake.

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