Stumped

dresdenkali

So I set myself at 1500 calories a day and I try and work out atleast 6 times per week (30 minutes on the treadmill various speeds). Well today, I came in WAY under my calorie count. I had about 600 left over w/out working out. Its pretty normal for me to go under, and I know that is not always the best thing as it can negatively affect your health, how you feel and weight loss in general. So, my problem is, I am just not hungry. I space out snacks, have 2 meals a day and mostly I don't let my self feel hungry. My meals are Dinner (more of a breakfast as I wake up and eat dinner due to working nights) and Lunch I dont want to eat just to boost my calories, and I dont want to get back into unhealthy things like soda just to boost it.

What are some healthy alternatives to boosting this with out over eating at a meal or reverting to junk? I really hate skipping my work outs because it always makes me feel better in general.

CynthiasChoice

My suggestion when you "need" to add more calories to your diet: Make your own vegetable soup and stock your body with lots of great nutrients. My soup keeps in the fridge 4 days, after which I'm ready for something else for a while.

In the past, I never counted vegetable calories - just thought they were so insignificant they should be free. But after using my fitness pal to track, I found that my "free" vegetable soup was about 200 cals per serving! But that's OK - I like to think that all those phytonutrients will make my metabolism work even better!

I love going to the farmer's market on the weekend, then coming home and chopping for an hour. I use the boxed vegetable broth or mushroom broth and then add zucchini, carrots, onions or leeks, celery, cabbage or spinach, red pepper, hot peppers, corn, peas etc. I sometimes add in brown rice or whole wheat pasta and red or black beans - you can be creative! Add Pappy's seasoning or Mrs Dash, thyme or cilantro, garlic or ginger - make it different every time! For a different consistency, take half the pot of soup and puree it in a blender, then add it back to your pot. It makes it really rich-tasting.

Good luck - I hope this (or someone else's suggestion) helps!

leanmass24

I have the same problem but I do eat 3-4 meals a day. and snacks and I only end up at about 1800 calories. my meals usually come out to about 400 calories. Wth my workouts it says that I should be eating 2600. I am not gonna skip my workouts cause it makes me feel great too, but there has to be a healthy way to eat all those calories without feeling like you are stuffed all the time. I am eating 2-4 servings of egg beaters for breakfast with wheat toast and a banana. then I will eat half a chicken breast, one cup of brown rice and a choice of vegtable for my other meals. The vegtable is usually spinach, aspargus, peas, corn, green beans, or collard greens. And I usually throw in an apple, or applesauuce, can of tuna with crackers, or an orange in there somewhere. I cant see where i can still eat healthy and up my portions cause with all that I am comming in over in sugars, carbs, protien, fiber, everyday. I dont know what to do either.

Forgot to add my can of "lowest sodium I can find" soup also for a "snack"

scuba6randy

You never said what you were snacking on or exactly how often. If you're only eating twice a day at 1500 calories, your weight loss may be slowing down because your body goes too long between meals and thinks you're starving so it clings to every calorie you do give it, SLOWING down your metabolism.
Every 2 1/2-3 hours eat SOMETHING small. Your metabolism will start burning like crazy and turn you into a fat burning machine! Keep it healthy though, try fresh fruit, fruit in a cup, 10-12 almonds, a few whole wheat crackers with peanut butter, small container of cottage cheese, yogurt, a few crackers with cheese, carrot sticks (boring, but good for you), small protein shake, slice of whole wheat toast with thin layer of PB (yes, there's good for you- fiber in there), berries, you can never get enough fruits and veggies- but aim for ones with high fiber or vitamins.
If you're eating bigger meals or calorie denser meals at your current 2 meals a day, eat half at your regular time and half a couple hours later. Ever notice that skinny people seem to eat all the time? Exactly! You give gas to an engine, it revs up, you don't give it any, it putters out and dies. Don't eat just to increase your calories, eat to fuel your body. Rev your fat burning engine. Give it the right kind of fuel though, looks like you're doing good on your weight loss, you can still eat often without increasing your calories. You may not be getting hungry because your body has gotten used to not eating often and thus your metabolism has slowed down. If you get used to eating like I recommended and you do skip the little meals, your body will definitely let you know.
Hope this helps, let me know how it goes.

leanmass24

Oh I forgot about the carrots an yogurt until you said that. Cottage cheese is an no-no for me cause I already am going over on the sodium and that has a fair amount... i need to get some nuts, but I dont see where I can change much.

scuba6randy

leanmass24, Sounds like you're doing pretty good overall. If you're not sluggish at the gym (or otherwise), and don't feel like you're starving frequently, I wouldn't worry too much about being under your total goal for calorie count. You can add some nuts (like you said) peanut butter, whole wheat breads & pastas. Get the low sodium canned veges, and watch diet sodas, no calories, but loaded with sodium you'd be better getting elsewhere. Another comment you made in another post said something about gaining weight one day- if you are lifting weights, your muscle fiber holds more water during the the recovery and rebuild phase - so probably just water weight. My weight fluctuates as much as 3-4 pounds from day to day sometimes, depending on water intake and how intense my workouts are.

hope this helps a little

leanmass24

The only time I feel sluggish is after I try to eat as much as it is telling me too cause my stomach is not used to processing so much food. I actually feel better when I eat closer to the 1600 calorie mark but I dont want my body to go into starvation mode. Plus my body is still adjusting cause I just started the exercise and even better diet a week ago. In my topic about this they suggested frozen veggies so I will switch to that also to limit sodium...

I dont even drink sodas.. i cut them out about 6months ago. I only drink water, milk, and maybe a powerade

dresdenkali

Well, my schedule is I wake up at 6p, go to work at 12a and off work at 9a and usually asleep by 11a. So in terms of when and what I eat, I usually eat dinner around 7p which is a more dense calorie meal. 600 to 800ish pending on what we have. Then I have a snack at 2a, lunch at 4a (Usually around 200 to 400 calories) and a snack at 6a. Snacks are usually fruits or rice cakes, something portable for work.

@scuba6randy - good idea's, I think based on what I listed above I have some big gaps I could easily add in a snack to add in some additional calories and possibly spread what I have for dinner a litte too.

@leanmass24 - soda's are killer, when I started my path, they contributed to about 600 to 1000 calories per day. But yeah, most of my veggie intake comes from lunch salads w/tomato's, carrots and other random things to mix up the flavor. As far as sodium, one way to help cut that down is to avoid processed foods or pre-cooked foods. You mentioned canned vs froozen veggies, thats a good place to make a switch and be mindful of how much salt used while cooking.

leanmass24

Yeah i dont use salt when I cook either... lots of other spices though

dresden I would also put a mini meal in there around 12 if you can. I usually eat when I get to work for my after workout calories.