I am trying so hard.

fadeddreamz58

I know my diary always says I am under my calorie goal but I find it so hard to eat when I am not hungry. Tonight I did my best to get as close to at least 1000, that included grabbing some roast beef out of my fridge and just eating it.
I love working out, I don't really want to cut down but I can eat back the calories, I don't even know how I am over weight! I haven't changed my diet that much, ok maybe a little healthier with the lean cuisines, special K bars, and more fruit and veggies.
Any ideas? Is this truly bad? I can try for 1200 but the way I eat I could never bring myself to eat 1500+ calories.

theradiantbride

You should definitely try to eat a little more. At least 1200. Maybe try adding some healthy fats into your diet? Nut butters, nuts, olive oil, avacado, etc. They're calorie dense but still really good for you. It'd help add on a few hundred more calories and hopefully without making you feel stuffed.

fadeddreamz58

You should definitely try to eat a little more. At least 1200. Maybe try adding some healthy fats into your diet? Nut butters, nuts, olive oil, avacado, etc. They're calorie dense but still really good for you. It'd help add on a few hundred more calories and hopefully without making you feel stuffed.

Thanks for the idea! I will try that. Tomorrow, I am going to try and incorporate snacks into my diet...

fadeddreamz58

One of the things that I learned when I joined this site is that we are overweight because we're NOT eating enough and our bodies have gone into "starvation mode".

Search "starvation mode" on here and you will find lots of posts and information on that topic. You can also google it for more information than I'll get into here.

I'm not a nutritionist or an expert but I now understand that not eating enough - especially of protein and nutrients - is detrimental to our bodies more than we realize and causing us to hold onto body fat.

It seems really ironic that we have to eat more to lose weight but it's a proven fact. That doesn't mean you should overeat but you need to learn the proper balance and that's what MFP is here to help you do by maintaining a food log and keeping track of what you eat on a daily basis. Being accountable for what you eat is part of the key to successfully losing weight and keeping it off.

As for not being hungry or wanting to eat more, you can learn new habits and train yourself to eat more healthy and calorie-dense foods like snacking on almonds or pumpkins seeds. That will boost your calories fast.

Eating one tablespoon of peanut butter on a a slice of whole wheat bread is another delicious and healthy way to boost your calorie intake. Or dribble a tablespoon of olive oil on bread instead.

You'll learn as you go along.

Thank you so much, I am going to try my best. I think I am going to try your peanut butter idea before bed time.

wbgolden

Eating one tablespoon of peanut butter on a a slice of whole wheat bread is another delicious and healthy way to boost your calorie intake.

That's my "go to" when I need it. I choose Adam's all natural chunky

navjhaj

i call B.S. on this "starvation mode" crap, if one has hundreds of thousands of stored fat calories in reserve to take up the slack.

C'mon people, we are thankfully not living in concentration camps! The Khumer Rouge is not stowed away in your fridge, ready to pounce if you forget to eat.

Simple rule of thumb--if you work out a lot, you need more calories as fuel, as energy. Feeling hungry? Eat--maybe try some nuts, oils, that sort of thing. Not hungry? Don't eat. It's as simple as that.

fadeddreamz58

Thanks guys I am up to 1144 tonight!

fadeddreamz58

One of the main reasons I am not hungry most of the time is I am constantly drinking water which seems to suppress my appetite. But I had a snack, I was feeling a little hungry, it was a nice 1tbs of creamy peanut butter in a 98% fat free wrap.

Godspaladin

I don't want to be mean but this is not the place for throwing out comments like I don't know how I got like this... Really I would be willing to bet that I could guess how we all got like "this".

With that said, the program works. Don't try and out smart it or think if I just eat less this will work faster. If you want to starve yourself from something start with that sort of thinking. You did not put on the weight in a day so it is not going to come off in a day. The number of calories that the program gives you is for you to loose a healthy amount on a consistent basis. That number of 1500 calories is what it will take for you to loose weight if you did nothing else. And if you love exercise then you should love food as you cannot put out a good workout without the energy units (calories) to do the work.

If you try and work too hard at exercise you will quit, we all have.
If you try to eat less to loose faster you will quit, we all have.
If you try to eat only the lowest of calorie foods you will quit, we all have.

This is the beauty of this program. I eat what every I want when ever I want and try to stay under my numbers. And I am not only being successful at it I am sticking with it. I do not starve myself or make anything off limits as that will only make me want to binge on those "bad foods" some other time. And 1500 calories... That is 3 well balanced meals and a light snack. If you are not doing that there is already a problem that needs to be corrected.

I wish you best of luck and I hope that you are able to throw off what seems like the shackles of all the previous "diets" that you have probably tried. This is not a diet, this is a lifestyle. This program teaches you to eat the way that your body needs you to eat to perform at its best...

Lift_hard_eat_big

2% fat milk
Nuts/Nut butters
Lean cuts of red meats
Poultry
Seafood
Avocado
Coconut
Beans

These are some high calorie foods that are pretty healty
I seriously don't understand how people have a hard time eating more than 1,000kcal/day
I can put that away in one meal.

xraychick77

there is no such thing as starvation mode..its a myth that needs to go away.

there is NO scientific proof this exists btw

xraychick77

i call B.S. on this "starvation mode" crap, if one has hundreds of thousands of stored fat calories in reserve to take up the slack.

C'mon people, we are thankfully not living in concentration camps! The Khumer Rouge is not stowed away in your fridge, ready to pounce if you forget to eat.

Simple rule of thumb--if you work out a lot, you need more calories as fuel, as energy. Feeling hungry? Eat--maybe try some nuts, oils, that sort of thing. Not hungry? Don't eat. It's as simple as that.

i totally agree

fadeddreamz58

I don't want to be mean but this is not the place for throwing out comments like I don't know how I got like this... Really I would be willing to bet that I could guess how we all got like "this".

With that said, the program works. Don't try and out smart it or think if I just eat less this will work faster. If you want to starve yourself from something start with that sort of thinking. You did not put on the weight in a day so it is not going to come off in a day. The number of calories that the program gives you is for you to loose a healthy amount on a consistent basis. That number of 1500 calories is what it will take for you to loose weight if you did nothing else. And if you love exercise then you should love food as you cannot put out a good workout without the energy units (calories) to do the work.

If you try and work too hard at exercise you will quit, we all have.
If you try to eat less to loose faster you will quit, we all have.
If you try to eat only the lowest of calorie foods you will quit, we all have.

This is the beauty of this program. I eat what every I want when ever I want and try to stay under my numbers. And I am not only being successful at it I am sticking with it. I do not starve myself or make anything off limits as that will only make me want to binge on those "bad foods" some other time. And 1500 calories... That is 3 well balanced meals and a light snack. If you are not doing that there is already a problem that needs to be corrected.

I wish you best of luck and I hope that you are able to throw off what seems like the shackles of all the previous "diets" that you have probably tried. This is not a diet, this is a lifestyle. This program teaches you to eat the way that your body needs you to eat to perform at its best...

I know how I got this way, it was a figment of speech. I had a kid, I know it's no excuse but I had a stressful and busy life and no time to fix it.
I am not trying to starve myself, lose weight faster, or anything like that. I am trying to do this the healthy way. Hell if thats all I wanted why would I be on here and why wouldn't I just do fad diets like some people.
I also don't try and work to hard at exercising I enjoy it and have fun doing it, and yes I tend to work out quite a bit a day, but I did cut it in half today.
I never was trying to out smart it, I came on here for ideas to BOOST my calorie intake, if I just wanted to "out smart it" Then why would I post this?
And I haven't made anything off limits to myself, I just choose to eat healthier rather than the junk food I was eating.
And to let you know, I have never dieted in my life really. I always just worked out and kept eating the same junk food my mom was feeding me, but I actually wanted a healthier life style, not to just lose the weight and quit.
Please be actually constructive, and helping rather than trying to say I am trying to out smart the program and that I am starving myself.

fadeddreamz58

2% fat milk
Nuts/Nut butters
Lean cuts of red meats
Poultry
Seafood
Avocado
Coconut
Beans

These are some high calorie foods that are pretty healty
I seriously don't understand how people have a hard time eating more than 1,000kcal/day
I can put that away in one meal.

Thanks for the list, I need to go grocery shopping tomorrow. I will remember this. And it's hard because I eat until I am full and not again until I am hungry.

hazelnut861

Protein shakes. Not alone but among the other great suggestions. Plus they're good for you.

Lift_hard_eat_big

Thanks for the list, I need to go grocery shopping tomorrow. I will remember this. And it's hard because I eat until I am full and not again until I am hungry.

I looked in your diary and I wouldn't consider pita bread and dip as a meal. If the water and bread is getting you full, shoot for the healthy fat items myself and others have suggested. Don't be afraid to up your fat and protein intake, it looks like you're eating lots of carbs which may be causing insulin spikes.
I do the same. I eat 3 big meals a day and 1 snack. I eat fairly large meals (about 600kcal) and I'm on a recomp phase right now. When I'm on a bulk phase, I eat at least 1,000kcal per meal.

fadeddreamz58

Thanks for the list, I need to go grocery shopping tomorrow. I will remember this. And it's hard because I eat until I am full and not again until I am hungry.

I looked in your diary and I wouldn't consider pita bread and dip as a meal. If the water and bread is getting you full, shoot for the healthy fat items myself and others have suggested. Don't be afraid to up your fat and protein intake, it looks like you're eating lots of carbs which may be causing insulin spikes.
I do the same. I eat 3 big meals a day and 1 snack. I eat fairly large meals (about 600kcal) and I'm on a recomp phase right now. When I'm on a bulk phase, I eat at least 1,000kcal per meal.

I had a snack a few minutes after it, I put in the snack area... I thought thats where it went.

Lift_hard_eat_big

I had a snack a few minutes after it, I put in the snack area... I thought thats where it went.

Ok, that's cool.
I would like to see you increase your protein intake to at least 25% of your total calorie intake. It helps prevent muscle loss during caloric deficits. What's the point of losing weight if the majority or a substantial portion of it is muscle. Then you will end up burning less calories during and post workouts because you've lost more muscle than you should have.