Problem getting in the calories!

windyweather88

Hi everyone. I just started on this website, but I'm been active/fit for most of my life (unfortunately, not so much in grad school). I'm doing Jillian Michael's 30DS and trying to eat healthier by following some recipes in her Making the Cut book. (I ran collegiate cross country and track...the workouts were intense, so there wasn't really a need to watch what I ate). However, I'm having trouble balancing my calories.

I eat 3 meals a day with 1 or 2 snacks, but almost every evening I've been under my calorie intake by a few hundred calories. Everything is low in calories! So at the end of the day, I'm trying to get everything in by having a bowl of cereal or another snack (which I know is bad). Do I try to split my calories evenly throughout all of my meals? Usually breakfast/lunch don't have many calories by Jillian's book. So am I supposed to have a larger dinner? I'm just wondering how other people split up the calories. Thanks!

SaintOnEarth

Personally I found myself having trouble with calories at first.. Now I just eat more meals (not snacks) throughout the day every few hours.. and I make sure I am within 100 calories of my goal.. I think splitting the calories throughout the day is definitely better.. I have seen consistent results this way.

Yooperm35

It's really NOT a bad thing to eat a snack before bed. If I am hungry, I do it. I follow what my body tells me. If I am under my calorie goal and am hungry, I eat. I love cottage cheese on a pear, peanut butter on Sara lee 45 calorie bread, oatmeal, uncle Sam flax cereal, an apple cooked in the microwave with trivia and cinnamon, cheese sticks, I'll even eat a scrambled egg in the microwave for a snack.

windyweather88

It's really NOT a bad thing to eat a snack before bed. If I am hungry, I do it. I follow what my body tells me. If I am under my calorie goal and am hungry, I eat. I love cottage cheese on a pear, peanut butter on Sara lee 45 calorie bread, oatmeal, uncle Sam flax cereal, an apple cooked in the microwave with trivia and cinnamon, cheese sticks, I'll even eat a scrambled egg in the microwave for a snack.

Well, it's not really a snack. Yesterday, after dinner, I was 600 calories away from my goal. And everyone has me paranoid about the "starvation mode."

Yooperm35

IMO - a couple of days here and there being under your calorie goal is not going to put you into starvation mode. Peanut butter really packs a punch to the calorie log if you are worried about not getting enough calories. 190 calories for 2 tbls. It's great spread on apple slices too

kschhr

Make your snacks something like almonds or something with whole grain bread. Both are calorie-dense, but good for you.