What the hell am I supposed to eat??

sammyjj53

I felt the same way about eating all of my calories when I don't even want to eat or are hungry. My diary is open to the public so feel free to take a look. I was having the same problem with sodium. I learned that A LOT of "light" or "fat free" foods are just loaded with sodium. Jus make sure you drink a ton of water. I my self get in at least 108 oz a day, almost a gallon of water. If you need to find foods that are still healty yet higher in calories, try nuts or alvacados. Don't stress too much about this. I drove my self crazy with all of this, the weight loss, weighing my self every day, caloric intake, sodium, etc. I had to take about 5 steps back and relax about everything. Jus take a step back and push through this. You can do it and you have a lot of support here on MFP!!!

Good luck to you.

HolleeERL

If you like yogurt, I just discovered that CHOBANI greek yogurt is lower in sugar, fat, sodium and higher in protein. A little more expensive but better than the others.

Grokette

I can't do this counting crap anymore!!!!! I'm going insane!!! I don't know what the hell to eat.
MFP has my calorie goal at 2010 calories per day and I'm already having trouble reaching that goal every day because I am trying to be conscious about what I eat, and eating healthier foods makes it harder to eat so many calories.
I am trying to eat 6 smaller meals every day.
My problem is that that I cannot manage to keep my sodium and sugar down (sodium more than sugar, if I go over on sugar it's usually by just a few grams), it's like a freaking jigsaw puzzle. I think it's absurd that I cannot have an orange and a salad for lunch - a total of 200 calories - and it put me way over on sodium and sugar!!! That's ridiculous! That's not even a BIG salad, we're talking like 1/2 a cup of lettuce and 2 tablespoons of LIGHT dressing. That's barely enough food for my 3-year-old, yet it's like 450mg sodium. I was going to eat tuna today for lunch, but at 550mg sodium!??! I thought tuna was good for you!

I try to eat good things like oatmeal and special K cereal or raisin bran, and fruit and peanut butter, and whole grain or pumpernickel bread, and light yogurt... and it's ridiculous how far over on my sodium I always am YET I will still have a thousand calories or so left over every day. I am going freaking crazy trying to deal with this jigsaw puzzle - I don't have TIME for this every freaking day! I cannot sit and input each hypothetical meal and try to piece together reaching my calorie goal while maintaining a lower sodium level. It's like a part-time job... overly time consuming. I REALIZE that processed foods are higher in sodium, totally get that. However, I do not farm in my backyard, I have 3 kids, and we don't live on a steady diet of raw vegetables.

How to you even begin to have a common sense diet, reach what feels like an obscene amount of calories every day (and eating back exercise calories?!? Some days I have to eat 2400 for the day, that's a LOT, I'm going crazy) and still maintain lower sodium???

And before I get hit with judgmental comments, I realize that I weigh a lot, but this is mostly due to my not eating enough combined with PCOS and a bad hormonal imbalance, so I'm working from several disadvantages that I'm trying to overcome. My biggest issue of all was not eating enough. I wasn't eating all day... no breakfast or lunch... I'd have something around 2 o'clock-ish, then eat dinner, and sometimes have a snack late at night and that was it. I'm trying to re-train myself to eat 6 smaller meals every day starting when I first get up and it's been hard to make myself eat when I don't "feel" like it.

I have read a lot of posts on here, and it's no carbs, low sugar, low sodium, low calories... what the hell do you eat??? Everything is loaded with all kinds of crap, even things that are supposed to be good for you... full of sugar, sodium, HFCS, dyes, etc. etc. etc. I am not going to successfully live on a raw vegetable diet, that I can promise. So what is more important - meeting my calorie goal? Keeping sodium low - which means not achieving my calorie goal every day... ?? I dunno.... but the amount of thought that I have to put into this is worse than being obsessed and compulsively overeating.

My first week or so I lost 8 pounds and I haven't lost a damn thing since. I was up 1.5 lbs from YESTERDAY when I weighed this morning, so I am feeling severely defeated and irritated.

Anyone have any common sense advice for me???

I sent you a PM.

If you are trying to eat clean and natural, don't worry about meeting a calorie goal. Please respond to my PM if you would like more help.

A fellow PCOS'r here with great successes...........

Barneystinson

Some of us DO have a higher calorie goal daily. Mine is 1600-1800, which typically I meet by eating 3 solid meals, daily + a protein shake on work out days. I don't snack, save for the occasional Babybel cheese or handful of almonds in the late afternoon if I'll be eating dinner late. Not snacking = bigger, more satisfying meals = less food to prepare and pack in the morning.

It's extremely easy to eat meals that are 400-600 calories. A salad can actually consist of a full tablespoon of olive oil and 4-6 solid ounces of meat, 1 ounce of cheese, nuts, etc. without going over on any calorie limits.

Best suggestion I have on avoiding processed stuff is to:

1. Shop on the outer aisles of the grocery store - focus on buying produce, raw meat, bulk foods.
2. Cook at home. Learn to love it - learn to make time for it and have stuff ready in the fridge.
3. Eat dairy (cheese, plain yogurt, butter) and eggs. They're basically nature's convenience foods and go well with many meals.
4. Limit consumption of starches. Use lettuce or low carb wraps to "wrap" sandwiches, eat meats with a fork.
5. Seasoning and spices - use these instead of sauces.
6. Read blogs and recipe sites for recipe hacks and quick tips to use real ingredients.
7. Pack your lunch everyday.
8. Don't use sugar, don't use flour. There are plenty of substitutes.

ShrinkingStephanie

Think it might be impossible to balance it out without someone giving you specific meals every day. The only things I track are calories and protein, I generally ignore the rest. I always try to at least double the protein allotment I'm given and try to stay under or just above the calorie count. Try limiting your fruit to 1 or 1.5 servings a day, eat complex carbs not the refined ones and I think your sugar automatically reduces. I never even think about sodium to be honest. If you're eating everything else healthy and drinking enough water I feel its a non-issue.

*My thoughts/advice are not based on actual medical evidence, just observation and personal opinion! I just agree that with 3 kids (I only have 1!) and a busy life, worrying about this stuff is impractical, mind-boggling and just not worth the effort.

pjhenderson

I always go over on my sugar. But, I don't worry too much as long as I stay at the calorie limit they set. You can go back into your original setup and change your weight goals. Maybe that would lower your calorie limit so that you don't feel like you're having to eat more than you need. When I started I just focused on eating whatever I wanted as long as it was within the calorie limit. That way I wasn't always telling myself no to things I like (chocolate being my weakness). As I got used to the lower calories and started losing weight and feeling better then I began to look for healthy things to eat and started exercising. Don't overwhelm yourself starting out because then you might get really frustrated and stop all together. Also, I don't think you're expected to eat the extra calories you get when you exercise. They're just there if you really need them that week.

janeosu

I second MistyMtnMan on the protein bars and shakes! They really help me when I need to add in good calories/protein. Plus, they fill me up (especially a shake after I exercise in the evening)

ETA: another fellow PCOSer here too

MistyMtnMan

I always go over sugar and sodium. The only think I really watch is total calories.

After that I am trying to increase by protein some, since I always underrun.

You should really try to watch your sodium intake as well. Sodium plays a HUGE roll in losing weight. Will make you retain a TON of water.....

Not only that, but sodium can lead to hypertension, I realize that low sodium is important, however, managing to eat low sodium is so hard while still meeting a 2010 daily calorie intake need. It's making me crazy.

I wrote you a response but to be specific about sodium, if you drink a lot of water, that will flush out any extra sodium you may have in you. On days I have a burger or pizza, something high in sodium, I just drink EXTRA water to counter it. It's worked every time. I try and drink a gallon a day.

kfitz10103

I was on low sodium when I was pregnant and it was CRAZY. Just take it off. Right now you should get comfortable with fat protein and calories then you can start tackling other things.

iAMaPhoenix

Sorry I can't offer advice, but I am going through the same thing, and I am not even tracking my sodium. It is a real pain to try to figure out. I keep getting the warning that I'm not consuming enough calories (and like you said, I am not even eating back my exercise calories, bc with trying to eat right, I'm not even making the original goal amt). I am afraid that my body is going to store fat bc it is supposedly in starvation mode, but I'm not hungry for anything more than I'm eating, aside from wishing I could eat bread, etc. Have no clue how to deal with this.

I see this is the topic of the day. In an effort not to overeat, we end up undereating(if that is a word), hence we end up gaining, or NOT losing weight. I am gonna give eating more often a chance and see if I can break through the wall in that way. And about that starvation thing, I watched Out Of The Wild-Venezuela on television, and those people lost tons of weight by starving themselves---involuntary. Maybe we all need to go live in the rainforest for a month.

Moriarty_697

For me, I just accept that my sugars are going to be a lot more than MFP thinks is right. I eat a fair amount of fruit. I also know that my fasting blood sugars are lower than they've been for a long time and well inside the optimal range for type 2 diabetes so I think I'm doing ok there.

As for sodium, that is a struggle. However, on the days when I make my own meals and focus on fruits and veggies, I have no problem coming in under the sodium limit. The minute I start to reach for the the processed/packaged stuff, sodium becomes an issue. Even the so-called healthy packaged foods.

If you want to reduce the sodium for your salad and orange, you may have to start making your own dressing. It's easier than you think. That said, I still eat low cal salad dressing and it works for me. I do a lot of lable comparing before I buy the dressing to find the best balance between something that is low sodium and something I actually want to eat.

As for things like peanut butter, the all natural peanut butter I eat has no sodium. It's not as fun as the skippy I used to go for, but it's tasty and good for you.

I also don't eat exercise calories. I talked with a nutritionist about this and she feels that my calorie limit is a good one and should stay the same each day. Everyone has their own way of doing things but, for me, I just don't want to get into the exercise calories. Before I started tracking, I was exercising a lot but not getting anywhere. It was only when I started to limit the intake that I started to lose consistently. I'm afraid if I start adding calories every time I exercise, I'm just going to be back in the same rut.

If you have to give up the tracking, then do so. Just make sure you have a good plan beforehand for your diet and exercise. There are people I've worked with who have lost a lot of weight and don't track. For me, tracking has been the thing that has made me disciplined enough to drop weight (and even a pant size, which was nice). There are myriad ways to get healthy, so find the one that works for you.

becka63

When I started I just focussed on the calorie intake and logging my meals - that was enough for me! It was only after a few months in I started looking at the other nutrients. Perhaps you could not focus on the sugar - as people have said, fruit contains a lot of sugar, but it's good sugar, so if you want to have an orange, then have one! Maybe just an awareness that at the moment that as your lifestyle doesn't make it easy for you to eat as fresh and as clean as you would like, you are aware that your sodium intake may be way up; (way up for mfp! It's actually about 1/3 of RDA of sodium (UK)) and you try to counter this by upping your water intake to flush it through your system.

Hope something helps, you've made a really good start, there's no reason why the weight loss won't start again!

PJS323

Wow! You seem really stressed about this, and I can only imagine your frustration. Personally I aim for 1300-1450 calories a day. i don't pay attention to mfp standards. I feel at my best when I eat what i want, and just try to make the best, unprocessed foods I can. I switched to almond milk, and greek yogurt which cut down carbs. The only thing i can think with the sodium if you are having a lot of processed foods. Just find your own groove, and do what feels best for you. Everyone is different, and it will be too hard to keep up with if you feel like it is just too much. Feel free to friend me if you'd like, or msg me if you have any questions.

kailyamie

I think it is unfair to assume that because I said I was over on sodium that I eat fast food every day or plain junk in a box. You would be surprised to see how much sodium is in "good" things. Our family doesn't even eat fast food, my husband has Crohn's and we avoid greasy food completely because it makes him very sick. Also because of this we avoid a lot of processed stuff as well. I cook every day, we don't eat out a lot (it's expensive and b/c of my husband's diet restrictions we have to be mindful of the greasy foods) It's just frustrating to try to be conscious and deal with the jigsaw puzzle of sodium vs. sugar vs. calories.

My calorie intake is high b/c my weight is higher therefore my caloric need is higher.

lloydrt

Hun, been there that......trust me, I could have written this post 15 months ago, I feel your pain..........

I know this

Sodium is in everything, everything that comes out of a box or is frozen.........they gotta put it in there to preserve it, and its killing lots of folks

Sugar is in everything.......everything, they have to addict us to something.........Workers at Little Ceasars pizza put sugar, lots of it, in kids pizzas, gotta get them hooked............Many sales equal good profits, gotta make that money

I did this

For almost one year, I ate fruits, vegetables, chicken breasts and pinto beans for one year.......got it?

I lost 121 lbs in one year (360 lbs in 2009 at my highest weight) , and only worked out 6 months of that year.........Too fat to work out, had to lose weight so I could stand on a tread mill.........I also HADexercise induced asthma, and high blood pressure at the time

It sucks, it sucks, it sucks, I know...........I used to get hungry, wanted chips, salsa and margartias every Fri nite...........The hugner pains about did me in

I didnt give in, I stay focused and after 15 months, now...........Im high blood pressure free, no more sleep apneia, no high liver functions, no more high tri glicerides, no more border line diabetes, no more fatigue, no more being out of breath and unable to participate......... I now have the readings of a 30 year old, and Im 56

It sucked, big time, but now, you couldnt pay me to go back to that black hole I was living for 10 years, the years I weighed 360 lbs, NO f ing way...............

Obesitiy kills, end of story...........You cant be overweight and healthy, you cant

So, you gotta stay focused, stay on track and handle the times when you get hungry.....Again, its hard, trust me, I feel your pain, but if you dont lose the weight, its gonna win and take its toll.....youre young, do something now, dont wait till you get older.......its harder

Befriend me , read my bio.............You are right, its hard, but its hard for all of us..........thats why were here, to support you and each other......... Friend me, and Ill help you if I can..........p.s, I just lost my 125 th lb yesterday, and I cant tell you how much it means to me.........Good luck, Lloyd

thkelly

I second MistyMtnMan on the protein bars and shakes! They really help me when I need to add in good calories/protein. Plus, they fill me up (especially a shake after I exercise in the evening)

ETA: another fellow PCOSer here too

protein bars are full of crap unless you're making your own.
stick with protein shakes.

LyssaMarie13

Ok so the cool thing is. You can go over in your sugars and sodium. It's calories, calories, calories!
http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/11/08/twinkie.diet.professor/index.html
Put in that link. it's about a professor who ate nothing but "bad foods" and still lost weight.
It may help you understand it. I'm not suggesting that anybody goes and does this diet, because it's not healthy at all. But it just proves that it is all about the calories. You should still eat healthy food, but it sounds like you are making the same mistake I did when I fist started. It's ok to eat carbs and the food that you loved before. Just make them whole grain, because flour is really not good for you, but those are the foods that will keep you full longer. Like a lot of time in the mornings I will eat bagel thins for breakfast. they are only 110 calories, but they keep you full a very long time!
Also to answer your question about the fruit and going over your sugars. There is a difference between natural sugars (fruit) and artificial sugars that manufactures put in our food. So If you're going over your sugars due to eating fruit. Don't worry about it! This whole eating healthy thing is a lot easier than people make it seem. Also if you mess up by eating something bad don't let it get you down. We all splurge every now and then. It may help you to allow yourself one day a week to eat some not so healthy things. My day that I do that is on Sunday. That way you get your fix in for the week and you're motivated to eat well the other days of the week, because you know you can have something not so healthy on Sunday. Everything is ok for you in moderation! Just figure it into your calories. Don't deprive yourself. This should be a lifestyle change... NOT a diet! Diets don't work. Life style changes do! Good luck to you and I hope I helped!
~Alyssa

supershiny

I haven't been here that long, but I have been watching my nutrition on a different site for a long time. I'm a college student so I definitely don't have time/money to eat right all the time so I can relate and I always go over my sugar but strangely I am always way under my sodium...

Anyways, some higher-calorie suggestions: Red Mill's hot cereal (called "right stuff"), greek yogurt (low sugar, high protein, no salt! I love KEFIR too, but it can be hard to find; I would suggest Oikos as a good brand), low-sugar fruit like raspberries/blackberries/cranberries (get it frozen and throw in your morning hot cereal or a smoothie), unsalted nuts (raw almonds are like candy to me), and eggs (pepper only! haha)

Another suggestion is to look up low-sodium diet guides for ideas (http://www.ucsfhealth.org/education/guidelines_for_a_low_sodium_diet/)

Also, I make my own ranch using greek yogurt and an italian spice mix + dill with a little lemon. Delicious and no salt, keeps for as long as the yogurt would in an airtight container (2 weeks or so). Takes about a minute to make

These may be obvious to you already but they are some of my go-to foods that I eat every day and I sometimes have to eat 1800 calories when I have a big exercise day, so I feel your pain on forcing down some calories. I wouldn't worry about eating back all the exercise calories if you aren't hungry

Good luck!!

HoLLyZ82

sugar free products sugar free maple brown sugar oatmeal (Mmmm 100 cal/pack), sugar free pudding (there are many delicious flavors made by jell-o) that are 60 calories, 97/3 ground turkey which is very low in sodium, and some sauteed sweet potatoes. Honestly, i know its hard to stay under the sodium goal. i rarely EVER am under this but like others have said just drink a crap ton of water and flush the sodium out as much as you can.

Andee08

I totally understand where you are coming from! I have PCOS as well, and it SUCKS that we have to work 5 times harder than a normal person to lose weight. I DONT eat back all of my exercise calories because I do not lose weight that way. I believe that the insulin resistance makes it so we can't eat as many calories as this site says. Do you still need to eat enough, yes. Dont worry if you are not reaching your 2000 or so calories a day. Make sure you eat what you need, but dont force yourself. As for the sodium thing, I just try to prepare fresh food at home. On weekends I will try to make meals for myself for the week. I do have to say though, protein is key. I know you dont like eating a lot of meat, but if I grill chicken, I always grill extra so that I can add it to a salad at work. I always go over on sugar, but I feel as though if it comes from fruit I am not going to worry too much about it. Now if I go out and eat a lot of treats, then I know where they came from. I will never cut out carbs (which part of the IR makes us crave), so I try to use whole wheat instead. All of my bread, tortillas, and pasta are whole wheat. They add calories and are better for you. Please feel free to friend me if you would like. Have a good day and good luck!

Ali_TSO

I think it is unfair to assume that because I said I was over on sodium that I eat fast food every day or plain junk in a box. You would be surprised to see how much sodium is in "good" things. Our family doesn't even eat fast food, my husband has Crohn's and we avoid greasy food completely because it makes him very sick. Also because of this we avoid a lot of processed stuff as well. I cook every day, we don't eat out a lot (it's expensive and b/c of my husband's diet restrictions we have to be mindful of the greasy foods) It's just frustrating to try to be conscious and deal with the jigsaw puzzle of sodium vs. sugar vs. calories.

My calorie intake is high b/c my weight is higher therefore my caloric need is higher.

You need need to make your diary public and we might be able to help a little bit more...

LuckyLeprechaun

if you exercise frequently, and drink your water, you have nothing to worry about in the sodium category. Pay attention to calories first and foremost. You are going to go over on protein, and sodium, and likely sugar, all the time, and it's OK.

If you choose fresh more often than processed, and fruits more often than refined sugars, you are going to be fine. Don't stress yourself out over it. :flowerforyou:

Tangerine302

Well it sounds like you are very overwhelmed. I wondered about the sugar when I first started tracking and asked on here. Some said that if the sugar is coming from fruit, then not to worry about it. Now if it's coming from donuts, etc. then that's another story.

What I discovered when I started tracking was I could eat all day long at home and stay in my calories. It was when we would go out to eat and after coming home and entering what I ate was the sad part. I was one who never really looked at calories in the past so it was all new to me. Eating one meal out can add up in a hurry with calories and sodium. You start looking at things differently. Eat all day or eat one meal out and have your calories for the day.

I learned very quickly that if you eat out (even if it's supposed to be the healthy item on the menu) it wrecks your sodium and calories. The same with frozen packaged food. It's like spending your money (calories) on a lot of things or using it for one item.

I've learned that the less ingredients the food has, the better overall it is. Fruit, vegetables, nuts, chicken, etc. I like taking a few chicken breasts and putting them in the crockpot. When they are about done, shred them and add some salsa. Makes a wonderful filling for tacos and fits nicely on the food diary.

I would say in the beginning if this is something new, just stay in your calories. When you eat something frozen/packaged it will be high in calories so if you do it too much it will automatically put your sodium too high. Right now I would say just figure your calories and it will all work out. When you get accustomed to that, then say add another column of things to keep track of. After you get used to that, add another column. It can be overwhelming in the beginning, but after a while you will see what works for you and can fine tune where you need to.

Another thing I've learned since tracking is to see what the serving size is on the back of the package. Count out that many say almonds and walk away from the bag! ha Don't take bags of things with you like at the computer.

I wish you all the best! I know you can do it. You came here and want it to work!

sdirbder

I understand that you dont like meat. You could try making protein bars for snacks. You can find recipes online based on your likes. One bar I like is 300 calories but only 10 grams of sugar (I add chocolate chips) They might help you be closer to your goal. But if you arent hungry I would worry about it.

MsNiss

Are you a vegetarian, because eyou didn’t list a single meat or dair product. These will add calories and a re good for you.

Dairy is high in sugar though. I love yogurt, but it's high in sugar And I do eat meat, usually at dinner, and usually only 4 ounces at a time, I am really not a big fan of eating meat, but I do eat meat once a day.

I have to disagree with the statement that meat and dairy are good for you. I've been a vegetarian for only about 5 months now, but I already notice a huge difference in how I feel. I still have dairy products once in a while, and my tip about the yogurt is to get unsweetened yogurt and put it on some fruit, this is a really good breakfast.

If you don't feel like eating meat, you shouldn't feel like you have to. You can get your protein from beans, lentils and even quinoa, which are all filling and pretty calorie-dense.

MistyMtnMan

I second MistyMtnMan on the protein bars and shakes! They really help me when I need to add in good calories/protein. Plus, they fill me up (especially a shake after I exercise in the evening)

ETA: another fellow PCOSer here too

protein bars are full of crap unless you're making your own.
stick with protein shakes.

Not true, not for all of them any way. Pure Protein bars are excellent and unless you don't like Splenda, everything else in them are fine. I've done a lot of reading, labels that is, and these are the best I've found.

runlorirun

I noticed I was always going over on those two also. I quit watching them as close and made sure I hit my calories and didn't go over on my fat. It took a lot of stress off what I was counting.

barbacasec

Try to eat most of your sugar in the beginning of the day so your body has a chance to burn it off and if you consume extra sodium drink extra water to offset it.

For the sugar you have to realize that the natural sugar in fruit isn't all bad for you. I dont count it. I limit myself to 1-2 servings a day and them subtract the sugar in the fruit from my total- MFP doesnt distinguish the difference.
Also stick with Berries (blue, straw, rasp) things that are low on the Glycemic index.

Sodium - drink water... and watch for processed foods- almost anything in a pre packaged box is going to have loads of sodium in it. (lunch meats, ham, etc,,,,) I am guess based on your frustrated rant you are aware of this

For dairy - have you looked into Coconut milk or almond milk ? less sugar etc then regular and even skim milk.

Good luck and dont give up... you have to find what works for you.
I have removed all "added sugar" and grains from my diet and I feel awesome and can totally feel a difference in the way I feel.

KEEP TRYING!!!

Tangerine302

Regarding the tuna, I've found that Chicken of the Sea tuna in water for 1/4c. is 50 calories, 1 fat, 11 protein, and 180 sodium. Maybe your tuna was in oil or another brand? It seems like on the days I have tuna, my food diary ends up being overall better. Hope you find what works for you!

bluiz13

bump....