End of the day and not enough calories?

mg1123

I try to keep up with my calorie intake throughout the day. Because my work is fairly sedentary, I am at the 1200 calorie level on MFP. Some days, especially those where I have to go out at lunch, the calories add up really fast, and I try to make up for it by working out extra. However, there are days that I just do not have the calorie intake that I should.

Take today, for example. With breakfast, lunch, and a fruit snack to eat, and already 45 minutes of pilates, MFP is telling me that I still need 790 calories to get to the adjusted 1355. That's before doing a workout this evening, and there is no way I'm eating 1000 calorie dinner to adjust for an aerobic workout this evening. If you have days like that, what do you do to make up for the calories in order to not fall into the too-low calorie mode? I was facing this last night with needing another 450 calories, so I made some popcorn, but that just made me bloated.

BigT555

i dont often have this problem but some high cal foods are peanut butter, nuts, chips dipped in hummus or something of the like

CindyMarcuzAdams

I think you will find the consensus on here is to eat back half the exercise calories. I personally dont eat any like some people on here as well. Some people devour every calorie alloted.
Personal preference you could say.

Cindy

LifeWithPie

Have a bowl of ice cream tonight. Or peanut butter. Or a bowl of cereal...etc. I really don't understand how some people find this to be so hard. It's not.

albayin

I would save it for the rainy days...not a big deal

Veil5577

I'm also set at 1200 and I almost always end up eating under that... I don't worry about it.

cookiealbright

I only eat back half of my exercise calories because MFP overestimates calorie burns.

juggernaut1974

Have a bowl of ice cream tonight. Or peanut butter. Or a bowl of cereal...etc. I really don't understand how some people find this to be so hard. It's not.

Or a bowl of vanilla ice cream with peanut butter and granola mixed in

You'll thank me tomorrow!

segovm

I don't eat unless I'm hungry. I burn a few thousand calories a day riding my bike around and don't quite get the logic of eating a tub of ice cream and a pound of bacon everyday to lose weight.

RGv2

I don't eat unless I'm hungry. I burn a few thousand calories a day riding my bike around and don't quite get the logic of eating a tub of ice cream and a pound of bacon everyday to lose weight.

:huh: Because they're tasty......?

juggernaut1974

I don't eat unless I'm hungry. I burn a few thousand calories a day riding my bike around and don't quite get the logic of eating a tub of ice cream and a pound of bacon everyday to lose weight.

I'm trying to find the post advocating for eating a tub of ice cream and pound of bacon every day?

segovm

I don't eat unless I'm hungry. I burn a few thousand calories a day riding my bike around and don't quite get the logic of eating a tub of ice cream and a pound of bacon everyday to lose weight.

I'm trying to find the post advocating for eating a tub of ice cream and pound of bacon every day?

How big would my bowl of vanilla ice cream with peanut butter and granola mixed in need to be to get to 2000 extra calories? Bacon was just my idea, I figured I would burnout on ice cream after the first 1000-1500 calories.

eimaj5575

Peanut butter.....enough said

mg1123

Have a bowl of ice cream tonight. Or peanut butter. Or a bowl of cereal...etc. I really don't understand how some people find this to be so hard. It's not.

I'm wrapping up an elimination diet, so none of what you mention will work for me. Short of eating a ton of grains or a ton of fruit, it just doesn't work like that. As for ice cream, it's one thing to need to add calories, I really wouldn't want to add them with something that is not beneficial. At least airpopped popcorn has fiber.

eimaj5575

Ummm...again....Peanut butter

SugaryLynx

Have a bowl of ice cream tonight. Or peanut butter. Or a bowl of cereal...etc. I really don't understand how some people find this to be so hard. It's not.

I'm wrapping up an elimination diet, so none of what you mention will work for me. Short of eating a ton of grains or a ton of fruit, it just doesn't work like that. As for ice cream, it's one thing to need to add calories, I really wouldn't want to add them with something that is not beneficial. At least airpopped popcorn has fiber.

Ice cream has calcium, iron, fats, carbs, minute protein.

I think you're looking at food wrong.

You don't get bonus points, btw once your nutrient needs are met but your body needs X amount of calories to function properly. That's Where Fun food comes in. My pint of Talenti and 53 lbs lost is testament to the fact that you can gain better health and lose weight by eating things in moderation

albayin

I recently find frozen yogurt pretty satisfying...

juggernaut1974

I don't eat unless I'm hungry. I burn a few thousand calories a day riding my bike around and don't quite get the logic of eating a tub of ice cream and a pound of bacon everyday to lose weight.

I'm trying to find the post advocating for eating a tub of ice cream and pound of bacon every day?

How big would my bowl of vanilla ice cream with peanut butter and granola mixed in need to be to get to 2000 extra calories? Bacon was just my idea, I figured I would burnout on ice cream after the first 1000-1500 calories.

I'm not following...OP needed a quick way to add more calories to her diet at the end of the day. My advice was to her.

PRMinx

I don't understand this. I only have 700 more calories left for the day and I'm sad about it.

mg1123

Have a bowl of ice cream tonight. Or peanut butter. Or a bowl of cereal...etc. I really don't understand how some people find this to be so hard. It's not.

I'm wrapping up an elimination diet, so none of what you mention will work for me. Short of eating a ton of grains or a ton of fruit, it just doesn't work like that. As for ice cream, it's one thing to need to add calories, I really wouldn't want to add them with something that is not beneficial. At least airpopped popcorn has fiber.

Ice cream has calcium, iron, fats, carbs, minute protein.

I think you're looking at food wrong.

You don't get bonus points, btw once your nutrient needs are met but your body needs X amount of calories to function properly. That's Where Fun food comes in. My pint of Talenti and 53 lbs lost is testament to the fact that you can gain better health and lose weight by eating things in moderation

Next week will be a bit different, since I won't have the same food restrictions. Unfortunately, I did discover that I cannot have dairy, so as lovely as ice cream sounds, I've never been able to eat much dairy-free ice cream, so that still won't cut it.

I guess this week I'll be researching paleo snacks, since those are easiest to find with no dairy. Then I'll try to keep some in the freezer/refrigerator for days like this.

mg1123

Ummm...again....Peanut butter

Next week, I can look at almond butter as a snack (no more peanuts, alas).

jdhcm2006

Dark chocolate covered almonds, avocado is high in calories, idk. I only eat extra if my net doesn't meet or isn't close enough to 1200 cals.

SugaryLynx

Ummm...again....Peanut butter

Next week, I can look at almond butter as a snack (no more peanuts, alas).

I've actually heard almond butter is delicious, so! I don't indulge because it's more expensive than regular peanut butter and I'm totally into this grind your own peanut butter thing at my farmer's narket, as of late!

on the ice cream front. Boo to no dairy

greeneyes972

hey girl, have you calculated your TDEE? I used to follow the MFP suggestions but then a friend told me about TDEE, you can add in your workouts so then you won't have to guess about eating back your exercise calories. Just a suggestion. :flowerforyou:

doreennicole

i do get the warning every so often, but i have been able to make it work so far. if i wasn’t able to i would probably have some nuts, which are healthy high-calorie snacks. they are trigger foods for me though, so i have to be careful.

segovm

I'm not following...OP needed a quick way to add more calories to her diet at the end of the day. My advice was to her.

I wasn't even offering advice, I was just pointing out that I burn more calories than I eat every day and that for me it doesn't make sense to add those calories back into my diet. I personally don't see the point of eating a bunch of food I don't want when I'm not hungry and need to lose some weight.

Some people do like to force feed themselves to lose weight and more power to them, different strokes for different folks is all.

JuneyCleaves

Or a bowl of vanilla ice cream with peanut butter and granola mixed in

You'll thank me tomorrow!

Let's be friends.

GiveMeCoffee

What's wrong with a 1000 calorie dinner??

Now I would be cautious cause your calorie burns seem high, but I would definitely be eating a big dinner and ice cream... it works

TheStephil

Have a bowl of ice cream tonight. Or peanut butter. Or a bowl of cereal...etc. I really don't understand how some people find this to be so hard. It's not.

I'm wrapping up an elimination diet, so none of what you mention will work for me. Short of eating a ton of grains or a ton of fruit, it just doesn't work like that. As for ice cream, it's one thing to need to add calories, I really wouldn't want to add them with something that is not beneficial. At least airpopped popcorn has fiber.

Ice cream is delicious therefore it's beneficial.
On a serious note, food isn't "bad" or "good". Once you hit your macros, you don't get extra credit for continuing to eat "healthy" foods. Eating food you enjoy, especially when you need the extra calories is key to keeping motivation to lose weight and keep it off. Most people won't be able to eliminate their favorite foods forever and if you don't know how to eat things you love in moderation, it will be harder to keep the weight off.

WalkingAlong

If you have days like that, what do you do to make up for the calories in order to not fall into the too-low calorie mode?

The same thing I do when I'm not food logging-- If I'm not hungry, I don't eat. Now that I'm logging, I notice that I might naturally eat 800 one day and 1800 the next. Feels a lot more natural than forcing food down when you're not hungry and withholding it when you are, to meet a 24-hour goal of a software program. What if MFP ran on weekly calorie goals? We'd all stuff in PB on Saturday night? What's the difference? We know food timing doesn't matter.

SugaryLynx

I'm not following...OP needed a quick way to add more calories to her diet at the end of the day. My advice was to her.

I wasn't even offering advice, I was just pointing out that I burn more calories than I eat every day and that for me it doesn't make sense to add those calories back into my diet. I personally don't see the point of eating a bunch of food I don't want when I'm not hungry and need to lose some weight.

Some people do like to force feed themselves to lose weight and more power to them, different strokes for different folks is all.

I'm not following your logic here, at all.

Your calorie amount, if you're using MFP, has already calculated a deficit for you (based on your "how much you want to lose" data) and bases that amount on your day to day activity. The calories you get from exercise are meant to be eaten back. Are you suggesting you net negatively? That's. ..not right at all.

It's not a matter of "eating to eat". It's a matter of eating to fuel your body and retain your muscle (including vital organs) and retaining your health....

A lot of people seem to catch issues being able to eat their caloric amount because they start using trivial words like "good" and "bad". Those words are meaningless. Nutrient density is really the focus and doesn't eliminate any foods from a diet. Does it limit? Sure. I certainly couldn't maintain my health on eating nothing but pizza. I also couldn't eating nothing but apples. It's about balance.