Way under my calorie goal

Hondo_Man · April 2014

but please don't eat a chicken breast, whole grain pasta, broccoli and some flax seed oil. That stuff is just terrible tasting and bad for you.

:huh:

thebrinkofdespair · April 2014

My target is 1680 and I have the opposite problem, I've aways been a 'grazer' who hoovered up food like it was going out of fashion and never EVER put any weight on. God's honest truth, I ate anything I wanted anytime of day or night and my weight never wavered by more than a pound of two for the best part of 40 years. The girls at work hated me as I ate three cheeseburgers for lunch and finished it off with an entire cheesecake for afters!

A change of job and access to a vast supply of sweets and chocolate changed that: I added 50% to my weight seemingly overnight. From 'M' to 'XXL'.

So now I have to lose 5 stone [70lb] to regain my figure [ha ha] and my self esteem.

I can snack up 300, 400 calories without any trouble; 2:00am is a particularly bad time for me, and I often empty a whole tin of 'SPAM Bacon' onto a plate and slice bit by bit like Michaelangelo working at a block of marble ....
Great Fun, Absolutely Delicuious but Disastrous for my plan.

All I do is add it to the ''After Midnight But Before Bed' section of my diary and move on. Each day is different and each day is a different challenge.

Still, I've lost 10 pound since I started 10 weeks ago so I must be doing something right.

Take it slowly and make sure you consume the calories, starvation just makes the body more and more efficient until it can run for a day on a ritz cracker and a slice of cheese!

Regards
tbod

On an entirely envious note, Please,Please, Please tell me how you can get to the end of the day and have ONLY consumed 700 calories!

1princesswarrior · April 2014

There is absolutely no reason to demonize food. The OP is already having an issue with that as she has stated she is afraid of salt and cheese. I often have trouble getting enough calories as well and will grab some ice cream or I will save calories when I want pizza. I don't eat it everyday but every now and then is not going to hurt me.

mg_alva · April 2014

I know the reply was well intentioned, but that's kinda what I thought. I looked up walnuts. Hi in cals, but very tasty

mg_alva · April 2014

I'm confused. How are those things bad? I have nothing but chicken breast in my freezer. I absolutely love broccoli also.

mg_alva · April 2014

You know, I would love to know that too! I have no idea how I'm eating so little, yet at the time I'm sitting down to eat it feels like I have an enormous plate of food. But then again, more than half my plate is vegetables. I check and recheck the nutrition info for everything I'm consuming just to make sure I'm not underestimating the cals. But I even have to ADD cals (I add the largest number I find) to be safe, and still it's little cals. I ate pancakes right now. And I felt very happy :laugh:

mg_alva · April 2014

Yes, that's what I've heard. To not completely cut out everything. It's just a matter of finding the right balance for everything. It's also hard to know how to calculate my cals when mom's cooking. I don't know what she puts in her stuff so I feel like I don't want to guess

nikkihk · April 2014

How is pizza or a hamburger not healthy? It's protein, dairy, and grain and pizza sauce contains cancer fighting nutrients... I'm sorry but I think you're confused about food. There are no culinary demons out there, and believing there is and pushing that belief off on others is dangerous and irresponsible. Improve your relationship with food by understanding it's okay to eat it and you'll be much happier in life.

Terrible tasting and not fun.

Ya'll need to lighten up!! Why should her diet be boring? She can eat salt less no fat chicken breast all day if she wants, but if she has cals left over? There is nothing wrong with indulging in things she loves, which will inevitably stop her from binging later. If she has good blood levels, there is no medical reason to opt for a chicken breast over a hamburger, or almonds over pizza. I personally make it a point to have fast food as often as it fits in my macros/calories limits and I've not only lost 15 pounds in three months BUT I have great blood levels.

You DON'T have to eat a restrictive diet to achieve success and the more comfortable you are with ALL foods the more likely it is you will stick with your plan long term. You just need balance, A little veg, some meat, some dairy... and sugar won't kill you just don't eat it all the time. It doesn't have to be complicated. boring, or demonizing. I'd prefer to be able to eat out with friends and not worry about where we are going because they don't serve plain chicken breast and almonds. But that's just me.

echofm1 · April 2014

That was sarcasm, hence the huh emoticon at the end. The person was making fun of the fact that the other poster listed foods that are traditionally considered bad, but no healthy alternatives.

mg_alva · April 2014

I agree with you. I need to learn how to find that balance with things I love and tweaking them a bit too make them healthier

mg_alva · April 2014

Haha... I wasn't so sure if it was. But yes, I have all those things in my house right now. Except flax seed oil. Didn't know there was such a thing

eatspopcorn · April 2014

When I started on MFP I had the exact opposite problem. I was given a goal of 1200 calories, and I didn't know what to eat to meet that goal because I was always OVER.

Maybe try splitting up your day in regards to calories? Then you aren't stuck at the end of the day trying to fit in a huge number right before bed if you aren't hungry.

Breakfast: 300 calories
AM Snack: 100 calories
Lunch: 300 calories
Dinner: 400 calories
PM Snack: 100 calories

Would that help? Obviously it can be tweaked, if you have a lighter breakfast then add some coffee with creamer or full fat milk to your AM snack. You would at least be aware throughout the day of how you need to adjust your calories.

nikkihk · April 2014

Don't get it twisted... nothing I listed was unhealthy. The health industry has you all confused about food. 4 oz of Hamburger (especially 93/7 ground or 85/15) is 170 - 220 calories, add a bun at 120? At most you've eaten 340 calories and 2 to 12 grams of fat but have consumed 20 some grams of good for you protein. Not sure how that is unhealthy? (keep in mind that 4 oz of plain skinless chicken breast is anywhere from 120 to 250 cals with 1 to 10 grams of fat depending on how it's butchered which isn't much different then a hamburger... but yeah, my suggestions were "ridiculous" :huh: )

Or pizza? One normal slice of cheese pizza is around 250 calories. With a 600 cal surplus you could eat two slices.. It would give you 20 grams of protein and 40 grams of calcium, a bit higher in fat at 20 grams... but if you're eating chicken breast and salads all day then you need that fat to hit your macros anyway.

(Also, I don't recall saying, "loaded bacon double burger topped with egg or five meat triple cheese oil dripping extravaganza...." but apparently demon food can't be made in a healthy manner)

Oh.. Skinny Cow makes great 100 cal ice cream bars btw... full of that silly calcium we don't need.

Ang108 · April 2014

I think you need to check out " health " foods. They are not just lettuce and greens or low fat and " lite ". I eat 1200 calories a day ( because I am under 5 feet and old ) and a lot of the healthy foods are actually high in calories and fat ( like beans, sweet potatoes and avocado ) and are good for anyone who wants to lose weight and be healthy due to their high satiation factor. I also eat nothing " diet ", " lowfat/cal " or " lite ".
I eat a diet based on whole natural foods and have all my life ( and still got fat ) and my transition was not easy as you assume, because eating 3000 calories one day and 1200 the next was not easy for me. I made a plan for myself and pretty much stuck to it. I sometimes had a couple of hundred calories less due to life's circumstances and a few times I had a couple of hundred calories more......but after eating around 2500-3000 often, I had absolutely no problems of eating 1200 calories of very healthy food and after a year on MFP today, I still don't.

Jewlz280 · April 2014

All of this. What this poster is talking about is BALANCE. Which I'm seeing went right over a few people's heads. She's saying that whole 80/20 thing. OP has down the 'healthy' eating. So at the end of the day, if she's eaten lean proteins, lots of fruit and veggie, why NOT have the things that she listed as part of a BALANCED eating plan? There is no reason not to. Yes, there are tons of 'healthy' options out there, but that doesn't make the others 'unhealthy'. Maybe more calorie dense; maybe more processed; still healthy and has the macros most bodies need. Life, diet, and health really don't have to be all or nothing.

Jewlz280 · April 2014

I like you with your math and science and all that. :drinker:

Ang108 · April 2014

I don't know about the US and other countries, but in this country we have different kinds of ice cream. Some are full of fake stuff and chemicals. I checked and found that Hagen Daz ( sp) has cream, cane sugar & natural flavoring........which sound pretty healthy to me. I only checked vanilla , chocolate and cappuccino, because I actually don't like ice cream very much but have some in the freezer for possible visitors.

nikkihk · April 2014

LOL.. I know right? I like eating WHAT I WANT while losing weight. =D

mg_alva · April 2014

So I guess I can have my all time favorite thing ever: buffalo wings? Lol

Fit_Fox88 · April 2014

I do eat health foods. That's all I eat.
[/quote]

I did this the first couple of times around. It doesn't work. Now I allow myself treats almost everyday. I work them into my calories and I only have 1 or 2 servings, if they fit. If not, there's always tomorrow. But I make choices. The other night I had a 16 oz pepsi with my pasta, but then I couldn't have my ice cream too. I was ok with that. You have to start allowing yourself the things you like in small doses so you can learn to manage them. Don't beat yourself up and don't deprive yourself.. you won't achieve your goals that way. :flowerforyou:

CorlissaEats · April 2014

This frequently happens to me...but:
My goal is 1900 calories.
I know by noon where I am going to hit and I react early.
I eat the "bad" extras to fill in the gap.

Sounds like you are hitting the extreme other end of the spectrum from your previous eating habits. I have many days where I am just not hungry or I dont feel like eating, and then there are the days when I am ravenous. Honestly, I try to hit within 200 cals of my goal everyday and to balance the extremes. I force myself to eat "healthy" calorie dense foods, and when I am still low I let myself have wine, chocolate, and chips up to but NEVER over my daily burn. I work really hard to get at least 100g of protein per day. Pre-logging is going to be your friend if this is a regular occurance.

mg_alva · April 2014

That sounds like a great idea. I have been stressing out about looking at the whole day. Breaking up my day like that might make my life easier

AliceDark · April 2014

Actually, yeah, you can. You can have anything you want. You just can't have EVERYTHING you want. :flowerforyou:

Food is good. Carbs are good, fat is good, protein is good. Sodium is good. Your body needs all of those things to function. There's no such thing as "evil" food and you don't have to completely cut out anything (unless you have some kind of medical condition). It's not only perfectly fine to work in some of your favorite foods while you're losing -- I think it's necessary. Trying to live without your favorite foods is bad for your soul, imho.

The other thing to keep in mind is that everyone has a different macro balance that their body prefers. I grew up with an "80s aerobics mom" who bought into the "low-fat everything!" fad that was so popular back then. Turns out that my body REALLY likes fat and I do better when I have cheese, whole milk and full-fat yogurt as staples in my diet. Your sister's advice is probably very well-intentioned, but it might be wrong for you. (It might be right for you. I don't know.) Just don't buy into the "cut out this food group entirely" mind-set.

mg_alva · April 2014

I did this the first couple of times around. It doesn't work. Now I allow myself treats almost everyday. I work them into my calories and I only have 1 or 2 servings, if they fit. If not, there's always tomorrow. But I make choices. The other night I had a 16 oz pepsi with my pasta, but then I couldn't have my ice cream too. I was ok with that. You have to start allowing yourself the things you like in small doses so you can learn to manage them. Don't beat yourself up and don't deprive yourself.. you won't achieve your goals that way. :flowerforyou:
[/quote]

Why is everyone so smart? I will allow myself a Coke every now and then. I used to drink atleast 5 cans a day. Haven't had a single drop in almost 2 months.

LVCeltGirl · April 2014

I'm going to give the same things that have been suggested. So avocados (they are really good for you), nuts, lowfat greek yogurt (since you'd said you would try it out, and the fat in the yogurt supposedly helps absorb the calcium in the yogurt), oils, butter and add cheese. There are even some decent light cheeses out there that are snackable (I love the truly expensive, Babybel light).

Also, as you continue with your weight loss journey, you'll learn moderation if you allow yourself. Say yes to that hamburger (cheeseburger, bacon cheeseburger, etc) every so often. Say yes to fries every once in a while. Say yes to pizza, mom's cooking etc but tune into your body and only eat until comfortable (old weight watchers trick, not to full but to comfortable). Take your time eating it, really savor it and enjoy it. And if you're like me for eating habits, slow down. Put down your fork (or if it's a handheld food, then the food) between bites. Drink lots of water if you don't already.

Talk to your doctor, find out if you can go to a nutritionist or dietician. And read the suggested Sexy Pants forum, it's got some great advice.

You've got this and can do this!

Hondo_Man · April 2014

Pizza, burgers, fries, chinese take-a-ways are not healthy! Loaded with saturated fats. I have seen first hand what this type of foods does to your body. Have you ever attended an autopsy? Probably not. When you see all the bright yellow fat riddled around your organs from eating utter crap, you never want to eat that way again. Ever. Fats serve a purpose. EFAs from nuts and light oils help fight heart disease and keep your cholesterol low. Recommend to someone who is trying to lose weight and be healthy to go eat pizza and burgers is like placing a bottle of liquor in the hand of an alcoholic.

There is nothing demonic about pizza. True. I agree. In serious moderation for someone losing weight. But to recommend it is reckless for someone trying to lose weight. A calorie is not a calorie. Obviously you have no clue whatsoever about macronutrients. There is more to food than a mere calorie. Or have you never heard of fats, proteins and carbs? White processed bread. Wonderful!

Why not recommend she eat cakes and cookies too. Forget healthy dieting. It doesn't exist.

jayb0ne · April 2014

Here's my take on this whole thing - and it's simply my opinion after a few years of doing this whole nutrition thing, logging, learning, trying things out and figuring out what works and doesn't for me. If you don't agree, that's fair enough and your own call.

In my opinion, the hierarchy of needs in terms of nutrition are as follows in order of importance:

Calories in vs calories out - or 'are you eating less than you're expending?'
If it fits your macros - or 'is your Protein/Fat/Carbs split on point?'
Sweat the small stuff - or 'Vitamins and minerals = micro nutrients'

My advice is not to think about the next one down in the pyramid until you've got the one above it sorted out.

No point having a perfect macro split but going 1000 calories over or under your target.

No point meeting your RDA of all the vitamins if you're getting 60% daily fat.

Once you can meet your calorie goal within 100 calories consistently every day, then start thinking about which foods you can switch out to lower your fat or increase your protein etc without upsetting the daily calorie goal. Once you've got your daily calorie goal almost exactly within the macro split you're looking for, focus on your vitamin intake, your fiber levels, sodium, etc.

Once you've done that, you've pretty much mastered your nutritional intake - but don't forget, you can always take steps back down the ladder. Fancy some ice cream or pizza for a treat and can't fit it in your macros? Can you fit it into your calorie goal? You're good to go!

So if you're WAAAY under your calorie goal, you're missing the top block of the pyramid and you can forget about what kind of calories are going in, that's the next step down. For now you just need ANY calories to get up to your goal.

Melting ice cream and drinking it is possibly the quickest and easiest way to get a large amount of calories in quickly and easily. My less extreme advice would be to have a big bag of nuts on hand (Brazil nuts are one of the most calorie dense) and weigh out as much as you need to meet your daily target.

Hope that helps.

Jay

LoosingMyLast15 · April 2014

i say all things in moderation. adding cheese, greek yogurt, almond butter, hummus, beans, tuna, chicken, extra virgin olive oil, flaxseed oil, flaxseed meal, nuts, whole eggs, red meat, pork, sweet potatoes. watch your portion sizes. weigh everything.

PokedandInked77 · April 2014

This has been a problem for me as well. This whole thing is new to me, so I am learning about needing to eat when I don't wanna. Another thing is my sodium intake. I'm on blood pressure meds, so having to watch those levels while aiming for high calorie foods has been quite a challenge. It's just been a ton of label reading to find the balance, but I think I'm getting a good idea about how to manage the calorie intake without sacrificing everything else in my macros. I don't like a lot of foods that are calorie rich like cheese, so I lose easy options that way. But yogurt has been a savior, as well as Boost Plus shakes in the a.m.

nikkihk · April 2014

Interesting, I said Pizza, Burger, and Ice Cream.... I did not say Chinese Take Away or Fries. So, you're making things up to prove a point right off the bat. I then followed with how she could enjoy them which included options that can be enjoyed long term without "dieting" or food demonizing... which you've done twice now, I might add.

Why would you even bring up an autopsy? That's weird and creepy. But that said? Fat in your body is NORMAL, it insulates your organs, it feeds the brain, keeps you functioning when carbohydrates are low.

Check SCIENCE it will back me up on this.

Also, I didn't tell her to NOT eat nuts and olive oils, but I refuse to tell her any food is off limits.. because it ISN'T. You are sincerely confused, because I'm pretty sure I addressed the macro-nutrient advantage of a hamburger (which has little to no saturated fat I might add). AND, she's not an addict buddy, she's perfectly capable of understanding how to eat a balanced diet and include items she enjoy's. I'm pretty sure this topic wasn't titled, "Help I can't control my eating habits". If she's under her goal she's not consuming enough calorie dense items, and a hamburger is just as healthy as a chicken breast in macros but if it makes you feel better, she can nix the bun.

Talk about hating food.. I'm glad I don't have to live like you. =/

Way under my calorie goal

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