Keep falling UNDER my 1200 calorie goal

swanny320

I'm eating uber healthy foods. Lots of FRESH fruit and veg as well as some lean protein (fish or chicken) and I'm eating THREE meals and tossing in some fruit as snacks during the day but I keep falling quite short of my goal. I'm averaging 800-900 calories a day instead of the MFP recommedned 1200.

I'm very active: I take Body Pump three times a week and run on the other days. Now the thing is this: I don't feel like I'm starving and I'm generally pretty satiated by what I eat BUT MFP keeps screaming at me that I'm going to go into starvation mode if I don't EAT MORE.

DO I really need to eat more if I'm not hungry? Isn't it possible that I'm eating all that I need? I'd love to eat more if I felt hungry but I just don't.

Me:

36 Female
122 pounds
5'5
Slender build

CatchThatKitten

Peanut butter! Good nutrition, tasty, and calorie dense. :-)

imnotyourpal

You don't HAVE to, but you'll just keep losing weight and my guess is that at 5'5" and 122, you probably don't want that. Throw nuts into your diet. And avocado. Peanut butter. It's pretty flippin' easy to hit 1200 even without being that hungry.

mom23nuts

don;t sweat it personally if you are hungry you'll eat it seems like you know what to do

if you really want something have some nuts or some almond butter and 1/2 an apple to add in some quick calories.

HealthierIn2011

I have the same problem!

cillytilly

Raw or unslated nuts will help you push the calories up without a lot of mass. They are also a great source of protein. I usually try to eat them right before or after a workout.

erinhale

If your eating less than 1200, then you are not eating back your exercise calories are you?

YOu need to eat. Greek yogurt, protien shakes, whole milk, anything diary, recovery drinks, you have to replace those calories!

Cmccracken1

you can also add Special k or some other healthy cereal with whole milk to push cals.

Ashalahn_LMT

It's possible that your metabolism has slowed enough that you don't feel hungry. Are you still losing weight? Gaining? Maintaining? Full of energy? Depends on how you are feeling and whether you are making progress in the direction you want to go. 1200 calories is an agreed upon average. But nothing is one size fits all.

Debkam

I have the same problem. The recommended is a lot of food for me. I use to eat 1-2 times a day, so I'm really struggling to get in the "recommended" amount so I'm not lingering in starvation mode. Someone here recommended nuts which are packed with nutrients and are good calorie fillers. So a few at snack time might give you the boost you need without feeling like you are eating another meal.

Angela_MA

Eat some nuts, like almonds, pistachios, roasted edamame, great nutritional content and calorie dense. Just add it in as a snack.
If you are not hungry I would not sweat it, but eventually it may come back to bite you in the booty! :noway:
I try to eat a 1/4c of roasted edamame a day; 130 calories and it has 14g of protein, 10g carbs, and 8g of fiber

crisanderson27

A 5'5", I would say 1200cal is a bare minimum. Not that falling under one or two days a week is going to kill you...but if you're averaging less than 1200 (and I don't mean spiking one day to bring the average up...I mean more than 3 or 4 days a week under 1200 net), you might run into some real problems.

There's TONS of calorie dense foods out there that are perfectly fine to eat. When I need extra calories (and am not worries about carbs), I eat an apple and 4 tbsp of Jif Natural peanut butter. Over 500cal right there. I can make ONE protein shake go over 500cal too. When I know I'm going to be short...I toss in a couple 1oz servings of cashews at 160cal each. One grilled chicken/mozzarella/spinach/broccoli bowl with cashews is 600cal (about 2 plus cups worth)...no rice.

If you aren't meeting your calorie goals...you're eating the wrong foods. What you're eating is certainly good for you...but there's a million ways to up your calories without overstuffing yourself.

Cris

Sofitness

This is my very personal opinion, so not everyone has to agree and I suggest you to consult this with somebody more educated than me, but since I am (or more like was) dealing with the same thing, I felt the need to react.

You get to be the expert on you. Not somebody else, not calorie ESTIMATOR, not a calorie counting website, but you. As well as your body won't function on 400 calories because you told it so, it may not need 1200 (1500, 2000, 11 000...) calories just because you (or an estimator) said so. I believe that if you don't have a disordered eating habits or disordered sense of hunger and fullness (which I, again, cannot know), your body knows what it's doing and it'll ask you for what it needs.
When I started with counting calories, I was determined to be 100% exact when it came to reaching my limits no matter what would it took. Well, what it did was that I almost "forgot" how hunger and fullness feels of trying so hard to eat exact amounts of exact foods at exact times.

It took me long time to figure out one thing, that my body isn't a machine. It's more complicated than that and sometimes it needs less, sometimes more. It depends on whether I took the elevator or stairs today, whether i went for a run in the morning or whether I danced my *kitten* of at all-day seminar. I figured that there were times when I just wasn't hungry. I could eat 700 calories and function very well - and then there were times when I'd be more hungry, and I'd ate about 1700 calories - and I'd function equally well. My intake, in the end, would be the same if I'd ate 1200 calories both days, but my body, for some reason, wanted more once and less the second time.

I'd say, listen to your body. It's a technique that does amazing things to me. If you're eating very healthy and lots, and don't feel side effects (dizziness, lack of energy etc.), but rather opposites of those, I'd say - do what works for you. (I still think body needs primarily nutrients, not calories and therefore it can function on nutrient dense 800-900 calories, but that is my opinion and it ISN'T BASED on any reliable source.)

I don't think you should force yourself into something you don't want or need. If you however do want to increase your intake, I'd recommend you all that was here before - foods high in good fats that are calorie and nutrient dense. Add about 50 calories to your regular intake every three-four days (you won't be overwhelmed by the sudden amount of food, and neither should be your body) and stop on those 1200 or so calories/day.

sitstaygimmeeakiss

I'm finding that I'm doing the same. Honestly, if anyone ever told me I'd have this "problem" awhile ago, I would have thought they were bonkers, lol! I wouldn't be concerned about my own dilemma, except - yeah, it might come back later & bite me, too, on the tush!!

I am a firm believer that, on one hand, eating when one isn't hungry just isn't right. However, if you are consistently falling under, it may be wise to follow some of this great advice that others gave you - instead of stuffing yourself when you aren't even hungry, plan ahead and add some nutrient AND calorie/fat dense foods. Only you know which ones sound right for your body.

Keep up the good work - you'll find a solution!!

NikkisNewStart

I'd eat some nuts, peanut butter, or something (anything) to get your calories up. You are active and your body needs fuel... they way you're going now you're body will probably start cannibalizing on your muscle for the fuel it needs... yummy... I don't care what anyone says... 800-900 calories a day is not healthy to properly fuel your active body efficiently.