Needing to eat more...so...when?

jomiley23

I'm wanting to hit my calorie goal of between 1200 and 1600 a day. Some days, I just don't have time during the day, when I'd use the calories, to stop and eat. Time doesn't happen until my kids go to bed, around 8:30 or so. Like today, I have a meal planned for dinner. It's all I will want to eat at that time. I have to work late, so I don't have an afternoon snack. That would probably be the ideal. I ate a good lunch and a good breakfast. I don't want to drink my calories with juice or a soda with supper. Too much sugar.

So, is it okay to just keep a low calorie count for the day, or is it better to throw on about two hundred more with some fruit and almond butter as a post-dinner snack? I'm not going to use those calories. This happens often. I'm falling into the trap of undereating, and not seeing results. Only .4 lbs in the last week. BTW, if you go look at my diary, I did not finish logging for Saturday and Sunday. Don't count those as low cal days. Sunday was probably up.

mulecanter

The answer is it doesn't matter. Ignore the clock. It's about your net calories for the day, period.

Greenrun99

Deficits are already built into your goals, and creating a bigger deficit isn't always going to more weight.. You can add calories really easy to your already existing meals you don't need to make extra time to eat more meals.. so for breakfast just add cereal or a bagel or an omelette.. add some nuts during the day to snack on, at lunch have an extra oz or 2 of lunch meat or something.. We all know how to add calories or else we wouldn't be here.

rides4sanity

I don't really stop and eat, but I do have ready snacks stashed about. They tease me at work and call my office the pantry. I'll take a look at your diary and see if there is an obvious place, but otherwise. Just feel it out, if you get hungry have something available. If you know your planned meals are lacking, plan a supplemental snack. It really is all about preparation. Goof luck!

Okay I looked back over your last week (minus Sat & Sun). You were over as many days as you were under. On the days you were under you ate next to nothing of substance in the middle of the day. You can make excuses or you can plan to succeed. If you have time for raisins and soda at 12pm, then you have time something more... Pack a smoothy, put it in the frig, eat a wrap or nuts...

lizziebeth1028

I can always find time to eat! Plan ahead, bring a snack, eat at 2am, drink a latte??? Endless possibilities. No offense, you have a lot to lose...somewhere along the line you found time to eat. Plan plan plan ahead!

diannethegeek

I always keep a protein bar or a small bag of almonds in my bag for hungry days.

As others have said, just build it into your meals. Add a little extra cheese, an apple, an extra helping of something. Lots of little ways to add 100-200 calories per meal.

kristilovescake

Try some higher calorie easy to grab snacks, like nuts or granola/protein bars, protein shake, etc. or add more to your meal times (depending on your hunger level). As others have noted, the time you eat the calories doesn't matter, so try to figure out what works best to give you the most energy throughout the day.

MapleFlavouredMaiden

I'm not sure I understand... you don't have time to eat because you have children? Can't you eat when they are eating? Try not eating diet foods. For one thing, 1200 cals is way too low for anyone. Even if you are sedentary. Try switching to whole foods like whole milk dairy, full fat mayo, etc. This will make it much easier to hit your cal levels and it's much healthier as well.

meganjcallaghan

It doesn't really matter when you eat. I eat the bulk of my calories at night. You might not feel like you're "using" the calories because you're not working out or whatever, but in reality your body IS constantly using calories simply to fuel its basic functions.