Having trouble eating back burned calories

katiewilsonxo

Hi there MFP friends!

This is my first post and I had a question about working out and eating back burned calories.
I have always had a very athletic build and gain muscle extremely quickly (sometimes too quickly for myself aesthetically) and I'm really starting to enjoy going to the gym whenever possible (at least 5 times a week for at least an hour of cardio) and really pushing myself to the limit in every workout.
I have been a vegetarian for 12 years of my life so I started taking a protein supplement to help get all of my daily nutrients that my diet lacks. To be fair, my diet isn't exactly healthy. I am a broke college student so I mostly eat the same foods that I did before but with very small portions and I'm finding now that eating the same quantities as I used to makes me physically sick.
However, I find that on days that I work out I find it extremely difficult to eat back those calories. I'm worried that I'm doing my body a huge dis-service by having a net total of 500-600 calories a day.
Could anyone recommend a way to up my calories in a healthy/cheap way? After I eat 1200 calories I'm just not hungry most days. There have been days where I visit my family and eat super unhealthy food like cheese pizza and candy and end up going over my 1210 cal goal but having a 1500 calorie day with no workout is few and far between.
Typically if I go into a workout hungry I leave the gym not feeling that hunger. I'm worried that this might be the sign of something wrong because every one who I've spoken to feels starved after a workout but I just don't get that same hunger reaction.
Long story short, I eat when I'm hungry but can't force myself to be eating back 600-700 calories almost every day!
How can I increase my hunger or find sneaky ways to add more healthy calories to my vegetarian meals?

Erikalynne18

May I suggest nuts?

besee_2000

a glass of red wine is good for the heart and will give you an easy 125cal, nuts are also a healthy higher calorie food.

katiewilsonxo

a glass of red wine is good for the heart and will give you an easy 125cal, nuts are also a healthy higher calorie food.

I would love to enjoy wine every once in a while but I have an alcohol intolerance and anything more than half a vodka cooler makes me feel like an alien is going to rip its way out of my stomach! Thank you both for the suggestion on the nuts! I will definitely pick up some and try it out!

concordancia

Dump the diet foods. You have things like skim milk in your diary. Switch to 2% or full fat.

Add butter to your raisin bread.

Keep the skin on your chicken.

FancyPantsFran

Try to eat a little something before your workout to fuel your body I know if I go into a workout hungry a lot of times I'm not hungry at all after I'm done either. I eat this a lot for breakfast and especially before a workout 2 slices of whole wheat bread slightly toasted a tablespoon of almond butter sliced banana and a sprinkle of cinnamon I eat it as a sandwich with a glass of skim milk... trader Joes has a great alomond butter for around $7 a jar and you can get spices threre pretty reasonable too. trader Joes also has a great organic multigrain hot cereal fix that up with some blueberries or apple slices and cinnamon and that a healthy economical meal as well hope this helps good luck

katiewilsonxo

Dump the diet foods. You have things like skim milk in your diary. Switch to 2% or full fat.

Add butter to your raisin bread.

Keep the skin on your chicken.

I have skim milk and margarine because it's what I was raised on. My mom was perpetually on a diet and we had what she had so now the taste of 1% is like coffee creamer to me and I don't eat meat which is one of the many reasons I can't hit that calorie goal. I suppose I could switch to butter because I find the taste fairly similar but I worry that making little changes like that aren't necessarily "healthy" changes nor will an extra 10 calories from butter really make a difference in making up a 700 calorie deficit.

Thank you for your advice though!

katiewilsonxo

The one time I tried to eat within an hour and a half before my work out I had to stop 15 minutes into my workout because I was so incredibly nauseous! It's good to know that other people aren't hungry after working out though That sandwich sounds really good too! I'll definitely give it a try for a bit more of a substantial breakfast or afternoon snack!