Eating well, feeling completely full and still needing cals?

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Bodybuildersam
Bodybuildersam Posts: 8
in Food and Nutrition
So i've been making sure to monitor how many calories i've been eating throughout the day. Down to everything I basically put in my mouth. Every meal i'm eating around 300-450 calories, and on avg i've had 4 meals a day. But even so my cal goal for the day is around 1600 and with excersise this can peak all the way up to around 1900. Does anyone else find eating Enough calories in a day to be somewhat difficult if eating healthy foods?

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  • mannyq
    mannyq Posts: 1
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    I constantly have this problem. I exercise heavily so need to eat 2400-2800 cals per day and almost never make it.
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
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    I just have bigger meals. And love every second of it! :smile:
  • taso42_DELETED
    taso42_DELETED Posts: 3,394 Member
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    Not for me, but I hear this often enough that I believe it. It may take some time to adjust. Try to ramp up a little bit each day and eventually it will feel natural. You can incorporate some calorie dense foods like nuts, nut butter, oils, and cheese here and there. You might consider whey or meal replacement shakes. Finally, you can slightly increase portion sizes throughout the day. After a few weeks, or in the worst case, months, you should even out and the amount of food/calories should feel normal to you.
  • Pandorian
    Pandorian Posts: 2,055 MFP Moderator
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    That's the time for nutritionally dense and good for you choices like nuts and nut butters, avocado, etc. Also see about swapping products for their full fat versions IE instead of skim milk use whole milk, easy way to boost calories in healthy way. Use butter, use olive oil... full fat salad dressings instead of the fat free options, fats (the natural ones) are generally good for you.
  • craftydeb
    craftydeb Posts: 77 Member
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    If I feel I haven't had enough calories by the end of the day, I'll just have an apple with pb and nutella to finish me off.....in fact, I've begun to do that every day no matter what and I make room for it if I happen to go heavy in one area or not exercise enough...
  • Bodybuildersam
    Bodybuildersam Posts: 8
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    Thanks for replies all!

    I have been hitting up protein shakes, but even there I have been using water instead of milk, which only comes out to around 280 cals or so. I'll probably start putting olive oil/nuts/avocados in to the mix. I love them, and seems an easy way to up the cals when needed, and i've seen them recomended quite a bit on here.
  • vettle
    vettle Posts: 621 Member
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    if you're eating healthy and exercising, and you're not hungry, then don't eat! plain and simple.
  • Ashonym
    Ashonym Posts: 172 Member
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    Yes. Well, some days I do and some days I don't, like you said depending on diet choices. Due to my own opinions on the matter I just stop eating if it's past like 5-7 and I'm full. No biggie for now. :)
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,239 Member
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    Thanks for replies all!

    I have been hitting up protein shakes, but even there I have been using water instead of milk, which only comes out to around 280 cals or so. I'll probably start putting olive oil/nuts/avocados in to the mix. I love them, and seems an easy way to up the cals when needed, and i've seen them recomended quite a bit on here.

    It sounds like you have the idea. The problem with simply going by whether you feel hungry is that for most people who have put on weight our sense of hunger and fullness is completely messed up. Thus, part of the whole change in lifestyle is to re-train those things and part of that is simply saying this is how many calories you need for a day and eating them. The long term result of not eating enough calories is that you will plateau. You may any way, but the key to weight loss is a moderate deficit, not a huge one. Not eating enough produces too big of a deficit long term and makes plateaus much more likely. There will be a point where you can trust you sensations of hunger/fullness, but right after a major eating change I would say not to simple because your body doesn't know how to handle eating well yet. Keep up the good work and you will see the weight come off in time. Also don't worry about eating late at night to make up your calories. Your body does not run on a 24 hour clock, and your metabolism does not shut down over night. In fact if you do strength training at all much of the muscle repair happens while you sleep and that requires calories and nutrients.

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