Newbie here...need help with diet...I eat too few calories..

Rexroth

Hey Everyone!

I am new here on MyFitnessPal...I need help with calorie intake.

I do not eat much usually one or two meals a day...which I know is not good for my metabolism...I want to up my calorie intake but I dont know what foods have "healthy" calories....obviously I shouldnt go out and eat McDonalds to meet my calorie count....

I hope someone can help me with this...Sorry if its a stupid question to ask...but seriously do not know what to eat...

My diet used to consist of eating out every other day and I have cut that out. I am eating salads, sandwiches(trying the no bread thing), soup, fruit, I love cheese--- and some meat (not a meat fan...chicken and turkey only) ....I have been working out 5-6 days a week, burning on avg. 500 calories...

Thanks for reading

liscar

Protein shakes helped me balance out my calories to get them all to "good" calories --- if you are working out a lot, get a good recovery drink, that will add good quality calories as well. Whenever you make a salad, add chicken or some sort of protein and avocado and maybe some boiled egg.

runningneo122

First: welcome aboard. Second: The books that I have read all say don't skip breakfast. It's essential to get the metabolism going. Don't skip meals any other time either. The body goes into "starvation mode" to protect itself. You start storing fat and you have less energy to get through the day. Check out my diary by clicking on my picture and then the Diary button. The books also say eat 5-6 small meals a day and eat protein with each meal to prevent insulin spike and crash later.
Good Luck

calthine

Do you eat breakfast? Eat a little something, as it helps your body not go into "starvation" mode and hoard fat. An egg. a piece of bacon. I can make an awesome breakfast sandwich for under 300 calories.

burton746

Before you start cutting foods out of your diet, you should start by adding a few foods to your diet for a couple weeks. In the process, you will reduce or cut out the foods that are bad for you. Some of the foods you should add are eggs, oatmeal, protein shakes, fruits, and vegetables. For the first two weeks, try to eat 2 eggs a day. You can hard boil eggs ahead of time and eat them first thing in the morning. Breakfast is very important and should be eaten within an hour of waking up. Oatmeal is also great but make sure you are eating plain oatmeal. You should eat 2 servings of fruit and 3 servings of vegetables a day. A protein shake each day is also a good snack and can be combined with fruits and vegetables to help reach your goal. Look for a good tasting whey protein. I like J. Robb but there are several on the market. Make sure you pay attention to the label so you are not adding fat and sugar with the protein shake. Try to eat fish at least once a week. If you eat red meat, eat lean red meat cuts. If you are not a fan of meat, you can look to beans for a good source of calories and protein. You should eat smaller meals but eat often. Your goal should be 5 small meals a day. Stay away from sugar and simple carbs like white breads and rice. Eat whole grain starches but even these should be avoided in your later meals. Soups are good but make sure they are not made with flour, cream based, or contain too much sodium. Many soups are high in sodium and can cause fluid retention. Eating too few calories can have an opposite affect of what you desire. Depriving your body of nutrients will cause it to store fat and actually make you gain weight. This is part of the problem with most diets. If you want to lose weight, you need to change your lifestyle, not starve yourself on a diet. Proper nutrician and exercise is the key to long term results.

vsanford

Shewwww, glad to know I am not the only one out there that actually eat to few calories...I increased mine today and I feel like I have eaten to much, and I am about to pop. I have read several post that replyed to you and I am going to look into the protein shake thing.

Rexroth

Thank you SOOO much for responding....it helps a lot!!! I am going to do breakfast...even though i am not a fan.... and I got some Luna bars tonight...and the protien shake is a must! Thank you all!

jwd28

eggs, nuts, seeds - all good protein, higher in calories. "Raw" nuts and seeds are the healthiest (not roasted, dry roasted or salted).

texaseagle

Hi

I am new here too! Glad there is information for those of us who eat too few calories. I didn't do it on purpose while being a full time caregiver to my dad before he passed I was under so much stress that anytime I ate I felt sick didn't take long and I stopped eating I would sometimes go for days without eating at all!

Anyway I eat fairly well mostly fruits and veggies and very few processed foods have a tough time getting the protien I need but have been adding eggs and nuts to my diet and that seems to help some, There seems to be a buunch of contridictory information out there on how many calories you need to get your body out of starvation mode and back to buring calories. Some information says to take your wieght x10 and maintain that for 30 days or so and then begin increasing activity and begin burining more. Other things say you must eat at least 1200 per day to keep body from going into starvation mode others say take the weight you want to be x10 and that is the correct number of calories. Anyone have a good source of info that has worked well for them?


Thanks In Advance for your help!

Any under eaters find a good source of information that works?

Thanks in advance for the help