Trying to reach my calorie goals

Sasha_Bear

So after a few messages from some caring concern friends:flowerforyou: , and a review of my diary. I do realize I need to be eating more calories. Some days I get pretty close to the 1200 but I have more days in my diary of being way under the mark then hitting it.:frown: Which is strange because I know I'm starving myself, my meals with, the exception of breakfast are pretty balanced or at least my idea of balanced.:noway: So today I was going to focus on getting all my calories in. So I got my salad for lunch from Panera, and not even have way through I just couldn't eat anymore. :sick: Now this is strange because I never had a problem eating a whole salad from Panera before? I do want to do this the right way, and I have no clue what is causing this has anyone else been through this, or have any suggestions on how to fix this?

staciekins

Just opt for higher calorie meals. Maybe try a couple protein shakes?

tandroes

try eating either a bigger breakfast or one that is higher in calories... like oatmeal or toast with peanut butter and fruit or high fiber cereal... it's the most important meal of the day plus then you have all day to burn off the extra calories

lisakchurch

Make yourself eat all the food you need to get your metabolism in a fat burning mode. It is hard sometimes but just like excercise, sometimes you just have to make yourself do it. After a couple weeks you will start being hungry for your meals! When this happens it is good because it means your metabolism has picked up! Don't forget to have those am and pm healthy snacks to keep your engine burning! Good Luck!

mwc12

I am having the same issue, I'm not getting any where the calories it says that I am supposed to have for my weight. I am eating a protien shake for breakfast. I'm not sure what to do, I also want to loose weight the right way.

CatRouth

I have this problem aswell i feel im eating enough as i get full really quickly on food, its now 9pm and im going to sleep soon so dont want to eat anything else now but im way under my allowences for today i have around 800 and something calories left to go, just cant do it! X

Sarahr73

Staciekins and Tandroes have good ideas. A big breakfast will keep you full longer, but it will also jumpstart your metabolism better than a small breakfast which will make you feel more hungry when lunch and dinner come around. And I opt for protein shakes when I feel like I can't eat but need more calories. Just mix it with skim milk and a banana or strawberries or whatever you want and you can add an extra 100-250 calories to your diet. Good luck and great job making sure you do this the healthy way!

innerfashionista

I have kind of the same problem - at least the stomach not holding a lot of food wise. A couple of things that helped me were eating foods that were healthy but dense with calories. 1/4 a cup of almonds has roughly 160 calories, and 2 tablespoons of peanut butter is 190-200, depending on your brand. Instead of eating 3 meals with snacks, I've switched to eating 6 times a day, about 200 a meal. It's going to help boost your metabolism and you'll be getting your calories in.

CraigIW

I honestly wouldn't worry about it. You are eating healthily and if you're not hungry there is no reason to eat more.

kimmerroze

The reason youc ant eat that much is because for the last little while you have been eating under 1200 calories, when you do this your stomach continues to shrink, so when you start eating more, your stomach will feel fuller sooner.

You can fix this 3 ways

1. Eat just a little more at each setting until your stomach expands a little to allow you to eat all your calories
2. Eat more often, like every 1-3 hours to get all your calories in

or

3. eat calorie dense foods (something small that is high in calories) think nuts, or avacado, or cheese etc.

Sasha_Bear

Thanks everyone,I guess I can try the protein shake although I'm not a big fan of them, really not a big fan of anything that requires milk. And I do try to eat meals higher in calories that salad was suppose to be 500 calories but it doesn't help if you can't eat it all.

psuLemon

Just keep in mind if you dont hit the calories your body needs then you go into starvation mode and will retain weight. If you have problem eating often, then eat higher calorie foods or protein shakes. And realistically, 1200 calories probably isn't enough but without know information about you (height, weight, age) it's hard to understand where your BMR is and if you are doing exercise to accurately calculate your daily caloric needs.

Also, keep in mind, it just isn't the amount of calories, its the type of calories. Also, look into muscle milk, you are supposed to use water, not milk.

Sasha_Bear

The reason youc ant eat that much is because for the last little while you have been eating under 1200 calories, when you do this your stomach continues to shrink, so when you start eating more, your stomach will feel fuller sooner.

You can fix this 3 ways

1. Eat just a little more at each setting until your stomach expands a little to allow you to eat all your calories
2. Eat more often, like every 1-3 hours to get all your calories in

or

3. eat calorie dense foods (something small that is high in calories) think nuts, or avacado, or cheese etc.

Well this does makes sense, and I'm going to give it a try although the thought of stretching my tummy back out kind of sucks! LOL

Sasha_Bear

Just keep in mind if you dont hit the calories your body needs then you go into starvation mode and will retain weight. If you have problem eating often, then eat higher calorie foods or protein shakes. And realistically, 1200 calories probably isn't enough but without know information about you (height, weight, age) it's hard to understand where your BMR is and if you are doing exercise to accurately calculate your daily caloric needs.

Also, keep in mind, it just isn't the amount of calories, its the type of calories. Also, look into muscle milk, you are supposed to use water, not milk.

Well I'm 5'4 ,33 years old a normal exercise day for me consist of burning about 500 calories. I am trying to lose at least a pound and a half a week.

FairyMiss

Thanks everyone,I guess I can try the protein shake although I'm not a big fan of them, really not a big fan of anything that requires milk. And I do try to eat meals higher in calories that salad was suppose to be 500 calories but it doesn't help if you can't eat it all.

I make my protein shakes with water, i am not a fan of regular milk, lots of carbs ( not to mention lactose intolerant) this morning i added a tablespoon of heavy cream made it mor decadent , but just had it with just water and was nummmy!!!!!!!!!.

oh i also have had trouble getting al my cals in. I have had someone here helping me the last couple days with ideas.
and i have also been using shakes as snacks , gets cals and protein with out having to force my self to eat when i really don't want to

GoldenGirl1979

i'd been having trouble reaching my calorie goals too... here's what i've started doing differently for the past two weeks:

-pre planning my snacks & bringing them w/me to work
-drinking a protein shake if i need some calories. i bought labrada lean body "on the go" high protein shakes (they're already pre-mixed) and the cookies & cream flavored one is GREAT!! (the only problem w/these shakes are that they have a lot of sodium :sad: so if i'm already approaching my 1500 mgs of sodium, i won't drink one)...

now, i'm getting my cal's up past 1200!!!!! but i'm still working on upping my net cal's :grumble: (it's such a tricky process, but i'm working on it)... good luck to you!!

SoCalSwimmerDude

If you're baking things, go ahead and 'saute' them in a tablespoon of olive oil. Also, simply add some avacado to your salads or blend 'em up and spread it on a sandwich. Both Olive Oil and Avacado are excellent sources of good fat and calories amongst many other heart/body healthy items.

Sasha_Bear

I just wanna thank you all again, I love this site everybody is always so helpful and supportive. I'm willing to try anything different from what I have been doing and if that doesn't work I'll just move on to the next suggestion! LOL One good thing is this has not slowed down my weight loss effort at all I just wanna make sure I'm being healthy about it.

psuLemon

Well I'm 5'4 ,33 years old a normal exercise day for me consist of burning about 500 calories. I am trying to lose at least a pound and a half a week.

With some rough guess, your estimated BMR is going to be about 1500 calories. That means you will burn that many calories sleeping. To look at your calories deficit lets put things in perspective:

Intake: 1100 calories
Workout: 500 Calories
estimated BMR: 1500 calories


BMR + Workout - Intake = Deficit

1500+500-1100 = 900 calories deficit

You are definitely slowing your progress if you don't get more calories. You need at least another 500 calories to maximize your weight loss. Now, this number could be low. I don't know your current weight (I am a guy and that is improper to ask so I did 4 estimates based on points of weigh). All of those estimates put you at 1400-1500 calories as your BMR. Your huge deficit is also reducing your ability to gain muscle. The more muscle you get, the more calories you burn, the more you will want to eat.


For your workouts, do you do weight training? If not, i would highly suggest it. Cardio is good for some things: burning lots of calories in the now, circulation, heart health, but it doesn't increase your BMR like weight lifting does. You should lift HEAVY weights three times a week and cardio 2 or 3 times a week. That will help with your weight loss. Also, remember diet is 50% of your weight loss.

Also, I would work to clean up your diet. It seems like a good amount of your calories is from dairy. Some dairy is good but I would really push to get more calories from stuff like grill chicken, turkey breast, protein bars, whey protein, and most importanty eggs/egg whites. I would stay away from all fried foods and lunch meats. Lunch meats are really high in sodium and will make you retain water easily. You want high fiber and whole grains. They will fill you up, they burn slower and take longer to digest because they are complex carbs... complex carbs are good. Proteins (eggs, chicken, meat, whey) all contain ammino acids which aid in muscle growth. Both of which are essential to proper dieting. Also, veggies, go with dark greens (romaine, spinach, kale, bok choy) and stay away from iceburg lettuce. The darker greens have more nutritional value. Stuff like red/yellow peppers are also really good for you.


Feel free to look at my diary, I have a lot of examples of these good foods and if you want, feel free to ask more questions. I know this is a lot to take in but if you do, it will help. It has worked for me and many others I know. Also, if you want better calculations on BMR, feel free to send me a private message and I can give you better numbers with a couple more questions.

Sarahr73

The reason youc ant eat that much is because for the last little while you have been eating under 1200 calories, when you do this your stomach continues to shrink, so when you start eating more, your stomach will feel fuller sooner.

You can fix this 3 ways

1. Eat just a little more at each setting until your stomach expands a little to allow you to eat all your calories
2. Eat more often, like every 1-3 hours to get all your calories in

or

3. eat calorie dense foods (something small that is high in calories) think nuts, or avacado, or cheese etc.

Well this does makes sense, and I'm going to give it a try although the thought of stretching my tummy back out kind of sucks! LOL

You could try eating 6 small meals throughout the day. It will help keep your stomach stay more shrunken since it will be used to only small amounts at once (200 calories or so), but then you will also meet your calorie goal. I do this some days during my TOM when I am not hungry at all. I will "snack" all day on the foods I brought for lunch and for my in between meal snacks. And if you plan your food out a day in advance and know it will meet at least 1200 calories, it doesn't matter too much when you eat what as long as it all gets in your body. That way you have some versatility in how much you eat at certain times.