Struggling to eat daily calorie amount

tapesong

Hi!

I used to have a really bad schedule for eating: I'd go without breakfast, eat lunch, not eat any snacks and then eat dinner late at night. I'm now trying to lose weight and boost my metabolism by eating regularly, with 5 small meals per day. myfitnesspal recommends I eat 1200 calories per day in order to reach my weight loss goal.

But I'm having a really hard time eating enough. I eat oatmeal or bran flakes in the morning, 2 lettuce roll ups with quorn meat for lunch, and for dinner, I have omelettes with vegetables, salads, bean burgers/curries or vegetable and tofu stir fry etc. For snacks I usually have some carrot sticks, almonds or celery.

I've been tracking my calories for the past few days and I'm finding it difficult to even eat 800 calories per day, let alone 1200. What I eat usually fills me up but it's definitely not anywhere close to what I should be eating. I can't force myself to eat more of what I'm eating because I simply don't have the appetite. What makes it worse is that I'm working out everyday so my net calories are really low.

So I was wondering if anyone had any ideas for how I could increase my calorie intake healthily? I want to eat high-fibre, high-protein foods and prefer low-carb and low-fat meals, apart from breakfast, where I allow myself carbs. Please help me if you have any ideas! I'm working really hard in the gym to lose weight and I don't want it to all go to waste by making my metabolism worse

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

If you're eating anything "diet" (skim milk, low fat items) replace them with full fat versions. Eat healthy calorie dense snacks-- Greek yogurt, healthy peanut butter, avacado, etc. Try protein shakes if you're still having trouble. It's important that you get enough calories.

tameko2

Add olive oil and sesame seeds/nuts to your food anywhere that would taste good and is appropriate. There is no need to eat 'low fat' - just try to eat "healthy" fat if that's a concern for you. Make sure you use whole eggs and not just the whites - that adds calories, tons and tons of nutrients and also healthy fats. adding avocado is also a good way to add some calories.

Russian1

I'm glad you started this thread as I have the same problem. I find myself 'calorie loading' at night, which I think is horrible, just to get close to 1,200 calories. (One day I ate some cookies just to get me to 1,000.) I think my problem is that at work I take in a lot of high protein/low calorie foods such as protein fruit drinks, protein hot chocolate, etc. My body is getting the protein but few calories. When I'm busy at work I don't think about food nor get hungry so I don't even realise the day has gone by and I haven't eaten! I'm looking forward to what others suggest and good luck to you!

tapesong

Thanks so much for all your advice! I'll try all these suggestions out and hopefully get closer to 1200 a day now.