Need advice regarding my choices!!! TOO MANY CALORIES!!!

leanlindajean

Hi everyone, It's great to be back... I am DETERMINED to REALLY keep track of my eating as I've been either gaining or staying the same for WAYYY too long now... I need to lose at LEAST 20 pounds... I REALLY need help and advice because I just tracked what I had for breakfast and a snack and I've already used 663 calories (out of 1200 I'm allowed!!!!) and it's only 10:10 AM!!!! All I had was coffee with a little soy milk, 1/2 cup (dry) oatmeal, w/ a few walnuts, a tbsp of dried cranberries, a tbsp of flax seed oil, a tsp of agave syrup and a little cinnamon... I ate that about 6:30 am and by 9:30 was ready for my snack of 28 almonds... I just tracked the foods and found i already used up 663 cals!!! This means I only have 537 left for the whole day (2 more snacks and 2 meals!!!) PLEASE HELP me to figure out why this is so many calories... I thought this was a healthy breakfast, but now see it's WAYY too many calories. Any suggestions???! Thank you.... Sincerely, Linda

c7eat2live

are you sure you checked the portion sized when you inputted the info? I had a similar breakfast and came out much lower something that tends to help me is sticking to eating a lot of protein at breakfast and limiting carbs and especially sugar. it helps me feel fuller longer and stay within my cals. I like a hardboiled egg w/out salt and a piece of fruit or a little baby spinich. my go-to breakfast is a protein shake with protein powder, green powder, some frozen fruit and soy milk or ice water and maybe a little flax....but yeah, I would double check those inputs.

aatkins3

Welcome to the life of a "dieter". This is why I love MFP. I never realized just HOW many calories I was putting into my body until I logged it all. You'd be so surprised.

Birdnicaj

Try: double serving of scrambled egg whites (1/2 cup) piece of whole wheat toast and one apple. Filling. Only 220 cals. Healthy! Nuts are VERY high in cals, by the way!

erickirb

walnuts, dried cranberries, flax seed oil, a agave syrup and almonds are all high in calories, mostly fat except the syrup and dried cranberries which are both full of sugar. Although these foods contain good fats there is a saying "everything in moderation". 28 almonds is a lot, maybe cut it down a bit, and since you are taking flax seed oil and eating almonds you could probably skip the walnuts on your oatmeal, or only put a few pieces (half the amount). Instead of dried cranberries try adding fresh berries, lower in sugar and calories.

Birdnicaj

Welcome to the life of a "dieter". This is why I love MFP. I never realized just HOW many calories I was putting into my body until I logged it all. You'd be so surprised.


SOOOOO TRUE!!!

themyriadthings

I find it helpful to log what I'm planning to eat before I actually eat it - then I can avoid nasty surprises!

paniolo5

You are eating healthy but yes sometimes those healthy calories add up. If you are still exercising, that will add some calories back into the day that you can eat. You will see different opinions on that topic (don't eat your exercise calories, eat part of your exercise calories, eat all of your exercise calories) so it will take some work to figure out what's best for you and your body. I tend to not eat into my exercise calories too often - maybe once or twice a week - and so far I've been steadily losing weight. But again, I'm only at the end of my 6th week, so I won't be surprised if I plateau shortly! Anyway, don't give up - you might have to adjust your breakfast a bit (cut out the cranberries or the walnuts?) to bring it down some. I would figure out what you eat over the course of the day and then decide where you can begin to cut a few things out. Some people need the bigger breakfast and eat smaller dinners. You have to find what works for you. Feel free to add me as a friend and we can help support each other!

rml_16

Try oat bran instead of oatmeal. I have 1/4 cup oat bran cooked in 1 cup soy milk with a T of peanut butter, a teaspoon of brown sugar and cinnamon and that's 209 VERY filling calories.

On weekdays at work, I eat a cup of Kashi GoLean with Liberte Goat Milk Yogurt (290 calories). Both breakfasts keep me quite full for hours.

I also exercise so I can eat a little more. Sticking to 1,200 calories just doesn't work for me most days.

ltlemermaid

You can always exersice/go for a walk to gain extra food calories to consume if you are running low.

rml_16

walnuts, dried cranberries, flax seed oil, a agave syrup and almonds are all high in calories, mostly fat except the syrup and dried cranberries which are both full of sugar. Although these foods contain good fats there is a saying "everything in moderation". 28 almonds is 2 servings of almonds, maybe cut it down a bit, and since you are taking flax seed oil and eating almonds you could probably skip the walnuts on your oatmeal, or only put a few pieces (half the amount). Instead of dried cranberries try adding fresh berries, lower in sugar and calories.

28 almonds is about 1 oz, which is ONE serving. It's about 160 calories.

Mindful_Trent

walnuts, dried cranberries, flax seed oil, a agave syrup and almonds are all high in calories, mostly fat except the syrup and dried cranberries which are both full of sugar. Although these foods contain good fats there is a saying "everything in moderation". 28 almonds is a lot, maybe cut it down a bit, and since you are taking flax seed oil and eating almonds you could probably skip the walnuts on your oatmeal, or only put a few pieces (half the amount). Instead of dried cranberries try adding fresh berries, lower in sugar and calories.

He said everything I would've... I know 28 almonds is about a serving - but since you already had walnuts and flax seed oil, you don't need all of that with breakfast. I would go with walnuts or almonds, but not both. When I have almonds I try to limit myself to 18g, which is about 100 calories. (I make my own 100 calorie snack packs!) I'm sure you could figure out what the average # of almonds that is, if you don't have a kitchen scale (though I'd highly recommend everyone buy one!).

ChubbieTubbie

I find it helpful to log what I'm planning to eat before I actually eat it - then I can avoid nasty surprises!

Me too! It's shocking how many calories are in some of my favorite foods, this way I'm not surprised.

Juliane_

Hi!

I also eat oatmeal in the morning but I only serve myself 1/4 cup measurement of oatmeal before cooking. This will lower your calorie count as well. This seems to satisfy me. I use about 4 oz of almond milk, unsweetened and 4 oz of water. This creates a nice creamy texture. If you read Hungry Girls advice on preparing oatmeal, she says you can make your oatmeal a bigger size by adding double the amount of liquid (this is why I add the water on mine).

I agree with the other poster about the nuts. They are high in calories so you really need to watch your portion size on those. Nuts are good for you but you have to take them in moderation.

Plan out your meals before you eat them. That helps too. I pretty much eat the same breakfast and lunch everyday (except weekends) and only vary my dinner so that way. This keeps it simple for me and lets me focus on trying new meals at dinner and I can play a little more with my numbers at night. Hey! maybe this way I can have a dessert with my dinner. You have to experiment and see what works for you and your lifestyle.

I wish you the best of luck! You can do it! It's a learning experience. Listen to your body.

Dispathio

I am sure that your nuts and oil that you are using has a lot of fat. the cranberries has a lot of sugar so don't use those, or eat less of that and excercise more to gain some calories that you can eat.

ejhnsn20

I know when you eat almonds, you are looking for protein and healthy fat. Why not try egg whites? I boiled 3 eggs this morning while I was in the shower and ate the egg whites with a little salt for only 51 calories, then I ate about 6 almonds, light orange juice, 1/2 cup of cereal, 1/2 cup skim milk for a total of 307 calories. You have to be careful of the healthy fats too...they add up with calories

4lafz

Oatmeal does have calories. And nuts - while they provide us with protein and good fats - can add up. Egg whites are a good choice. You can load up the flavor with sliced peppers and other veggies. I also have egg beaters, laughing cow light cheese and one ot two slices of canadian bacon (lower in calories and fat than bacon - even turkey bacon). Nonfat yogurt is also great. I also like the Lundberg brown rice cake with a tblsp of peanut butter or hummus.

meagalayne

walnuts, dried cranberries, flax seed oil, a agave syrup and almonds are all high in calories, mostly fat except the syrup and dried cranberries which are both full of sugar. Although these foods contain good fats there is a saying "everything in moderation". 28 almonds is a lot, maybe cut it down a bit, and since you are taking flax seed oil and eating almonds you could probably skip the walnuts on your oatmeal, or only put a few pieces (half the amount). Instead of dried cranberries try adding fresh berries, lower in sugar and calories.

All great advice. More than 1 serving of nuts per day on a 1200 cal diet is really just an unreasonable use of calories. All of these items are high cal and need to be eaten in moderation, not the same meal (or even day). Try to steer clear of dried fruit if possible - It's not as filling as fresh fruit, IMO, and it's much higher in sugar.

For breakfast I have 1/3c steel cut oats, made with water, 1/3c pumpkin puree, cinnamon and pumpkin pie spices, and 0.5T pure grade B maple syrup. It's incredibly filling and really delicious. Also gets you some veg in the morning. With coffee my breakfast is well under 300 calories. If you wanted to bump up your protein you could add a Tbsp of natural peanut butter or a scoop of vanilla protein powder. For morning snack I usually go for a piece of fruit under 100 calories. Keeps me satisfied until lunch.

Good luck.