I'm doing something wrong, help!

AlysonBug

Okay so my calorie goal is about 1600 on MFP. I eat small meals all the way through out the day that are very healthy. This is my second day on the site and both yesterday and today I have only ate like half the amount but I'm never hungry because I eat small things all day. So what should I do I know I should eat close to the amount of calories given so should I eat more though I'm not hungry or eat higher calorie foods...?
Then after eating today I worked out and burned half of what I ate and got extremely light headed to the point of almost passing out (which has never happened before, I started working out at the beginning of the month). I need opinions/help because I am for sure not trying to starve myself or lose weight too fast I'm just doing something wrong...

Oh and after I worked out I ate probably near 600 calories and my lightheadedness went away I haven't updated my diary yet though. I also drink the correct amount of water daily.

FearAnLoathing

Insted of eating the smaller meals eat bigger ones

SomeMorr

you eat half of your recommended 1600 calories? Obvious answer is that you are eating wayyy to few calories. Even after exercising (say if you burned 400 calories) then ate 600.. thats still consuming 1000 calories which is under what the average body needs to properly function. You need to provide nutrients to your body. Everyone's needs are different but fresh veggies with something like hummus if you don't like the flavor of plain veggies is a good option.

Edit: since being in MFP the calorie counter has been a blessing for me. Not all the items in the database are correct but I was blindly eating many foods. I feel more in control and usually end up under my calorie goal at the end of the day but can eat at least 90% of the recommended cals and feel satisfied throughout the day

krazyforyou

You simply must eat the reccomended calorie amount. They have already factored in for a weight loss. Try eating most of your calories with breakfast and lunch. Then have a lighter dinner. I always try to eat at least half of my exercise caloies also. Think of your body as a machine that needs fuel to work. Good luck!!

AlysonBug

It isn't like I'm trying to eat only half, I eat more then enough I feel but when I put it on paper it doesn't equal out.

SomeMorr

It isn't like I'm trying to eat only half, I eat more then enough I feel but when I put it on paper it doesn't equal out.

Do you measure all of your portion sizes? I had to go to the extent of buying a food scale to ensure I was calculating the calories properly. Is there any food you love that you can make a healthier version of (pizza, spaghetti)?

Crystal_Pistol

Eat more calorie-dense foods. Nut butters are high in calories but are good for you. Drink fruit juice. Use olive oil. Eat avocados. Invest in some protein powder and develop a favorite shake. Splurge with the leftover calories and eat some cookies...

You can hit 1600. Good luck!

opamike1

I know it seems contradictory but you have to eat to lose weight! If you don't fuel the machine it will go into stress mode and actually save the few calories you do eat as fat for the "emergency" it thinks it is having. Hydrate too, thats really important. Try sipping all day if drinking full glasses doesn't appeal to you.

AlysonBug

I do measure, I don't have a food scale but I measure everything and make a point to find the exact food item on MFP when I update my diary. Makes me wonder what I have been doing to myself before I joined MFP and started working out 2 weeks ago. You guys do make sense it should be simply eat more calories I guess I should focus less on every single food item being healthy and low calorie. I thought I was doing everything perfect, but my body is telling me I'm not, at least I'm listening.

JonathansMom0910

One thing you need to make sure you are doing as well is that you are eating something high protein before you work out. You need to feed your muscles to get them to work for you.

Also, make sure your meals are balanced. That is where people make mistakes. If the small meals are working for you great, but they just need to be balanced. My Dr. told me to eat only 3 meals a day with 1 snack and at least 64oz. of H2O. She said in each of the meals, I need to eat 2 carb portions (a fruit counts as a carb because of natural sugars and a serving is 1/2 cup or 1 slice of bread), 2 vegs (1/2c. portion size), one lean protein the size of a deck of cards, and 1 dairy (8oz skim milk or 1 slice of cheese, or 1/4c. shredded cheese). She said that balancing is the key to keeping the good things feeding your body for the long haul.

Not sure if this helps, but thought I'd share...

pucenavel

If you share your diary, we'll be more likely to point you in a new direction.

For all we know you are eating nothing but celery and lemon grass (which you could eat all damn day and not get enough calories to sustain you).

dravinsmom

You definitely have good intentions! It's so important to eat the recommended daily calories to lose weight. In most cases, when you eat too few calories, your body stops dropping lbs and starts hoarding all of those calories in fat cells 'just in case' you starve yourself later. If you eat the proper amt of calories, your body will reward you with weight loss. It will use those nutrients to energize your body, instead of storing them for another day. It seems so backwards, but my whole life I've been literally starving myself trying to stay thin, and my body just fought back and threw an extra #60 at me! Now I'm going to make sure I do this the RIGHT WAY, so that the weight loss isn't temporary, but permanent because I changed my lifestyle and my eating habits. Good luck to you! I know its hard to hit what seems like a high calorie number, but just fill your mornings with healthy proteins, yogurts, etc..before you know it, you'll have only a few hundred calories left for dinner! Good luck! You can do this!

lisadhancock

i would recommend having a high calorie protein shake toward the end of the day if you are that low on calories.

Crystal_Pistol

I eat 100% random foods in 100% random amounts at 100% random times. I've lost 20lbs. I try to hit my macros (carb/fat/protein- I modified them to increase my protein intake) and I try to maintain a deficit. I LOG EVERYTHING I EAT.

This is a lifestyle, find a way to make it work for you so you can maintain it long term. I find that I can stay dedicated because I avoid setting complicated rules for myself.

cloud2011

I would like to add one thing...if you've just started, even if you eat the recommended calories, it might be a big adjustment for your body, and for your mind. So try not to overdo exercise when you are just starting out. As someone else said, this is a lifestyle that you want to be able to continue for the long term. Be kind to yourself.

pinkydemon

If you have trouble reaching your calorie goal and eat low calorie stuff, try to opt for some high calorie options here and there

sarahgilmore

You might find after a few more days you're eating more.
It could be a psychological thing right now, as you're only 2 days in. Even unintentionally you could be convincing yourself that you're stuffed full because you're aware you're trying to eat less.
Everyone's appetite can vary from time to time, also.

AlysonBug

My diary isn't set to private any more, I didn't even know it was. All of you are giving me great advice thank you. I'm hoping once I get set in I'll get the hang of this a lot better. I dont workout that hard at all, I burned only 217 calories today on my Wii. I still have 900 some calories to eat today, though I won't eat all that I'm thinking I may squeeze in another snack.

kak2m4

Okay so my calorie goal is about 1600 on MFP. I eat small meals all the way through out the day that are very healthy. This is my second day on the site and both yesterday and today I have only ate like half the amount but I'm never hungry because I eat small things all day. So what should I do I know I should eat close to the amount of calories given so should I eat more though I'm not hungry or eat higher calorie foods...?
Then after eating today I worked out and burned half of what I ate and got extremely light headed to the point of almost passing out (which has never happened before, I started working out at the beginning of the month). I need opinions/help because I am for sure not trying to starve myself or lose weight too fast I'm just doing something wrong...

Oh and after I worked out I ate probably near 600 calories and my lightheadedness went away I haven't updated my diary yet though. I also drink the correct amount of water daily.

I definitely understand your difficulties. I have been having the same problem too. I'm trying to eat more often and eat very healthy (for the most part, except for a couple of days last week...but we won't get into that), and then I notice I haven't eaten nearly enough! Even though I'm not really that hungry, I eat more anyway to up my calorie consumpton so I can reach my calorie goal for the day. My problem is that I tend to eat bad things, like Sunchips (a weakness) or chocolate.

Perhaps just try eating more even if you're not that hungry? What about adding something pretty high-calorie, like nuts or peanut butter (or both)? Both provide you with not too much saturated fat and they have lots of calories and protein. Just a thought. Good luck!!

pucenavel

I finally had a chance to look at your diary - I don't know about everyone else, but MFP went down for about 2 hours on my end.

I'd have to say that on the days you've logged, you are eating way less than you should for breakfast and lunch. Try doubling your breakfast calories and try to eat 1/4 or more of your calories during the middle of the day. For me, lunch is equal in calories to my dinner, and I usually go light on breakfast.

If I have calories left over (like today!!), I like to eat peanuts in the shell, frozen yogurt, or leftover soup. On nights we have rice - oh, baby, I'm eating the leftover rice.

I like to focus in hitting my calories as close to zero remaining as I can, go over on protein and stay under on carbs and fat.

It looks like you are being diligent in reporting - be sure that your hitting the amounts correctly - 2 Tbsps of Hummus can quickly become 4 if you "pick at it" if you know what I mean. I'm guilty of that for sure since I do most of the cooking.

davecreed

its not only about eating the total calories each day, you need to adhere to the macronutrients as well. (protein, carbs fat) and you need to watch you sodium intake...a lot of what you;re eating appears to be manufactured food items (dips, salad dressings, etc) too much sodium leads to water retention which, even if your body fat percentage is low, can leave you looking heavier. also...3 meals a day just doesn't cut it. I'd say 5 is the minimum...700 cals in one sitting may be ok for some, but not for others with slower metabolisms. 5 meals or more meals, as evenly distributed as possible (1600cal per day = 320 - 266 cals per meal) and again, you cant just watch the total calories, your protein is low, fat is low, which means the majority of you cals that you in-taking are coming from carbs...and if those carbs are higher on the glycemic ratings and not being offset by lower glycemic carbs and proteins and good fats...you're going to run into fat storage problems. If you take in carbs with a high GI rating (sugar, pop, jasmine rice, etc) you can offset that by including something low on the GI scale (berries, yogurt {sweetened is fine believe it or not, look it up on the GI site} any dairy pretty much and most fruits, whole grains and whole wheat, mini wheat cereal is another surprisingly low GI food item, oatmeal etc)

And most importantly is consistency...this is a long term thing, not a diet, not a quick fit...you want attainable and maintainable results...this site can and will help you get there...you just need to adhere to what it asks of you lol :P

davecreed

also fats...you need to keep you saturated fats in the recommended range...most of your fats should come from monounsaturated (a lot of things dont have them listed on their nut. info) but you can look stuff up thats nigher in monounsaturated. (olive oil, most nuts, peanut butter, flax seed oil, avocados, etc)

davecreed

AHH! sorry i didn't really help you with your not being able to eat all your calories issue


1. Baby steps. You're trying to break many years of poor eating habits. It wont happen overnight. don't beat yourself up about it. you just need to keep at it. it will come. Most people are shocked to see how much they actually have to eat of GOOD foods that aren't loaded with fats...most cant right away.

2. You need to eat withing the first hour of waking up. The word "breakfast" literally means "breaking fast". when you go to sleep, your body goes into a state of fasting. If you don't eat something, anything, soon after waking, your body will stay in a fasting mode and that means its storing. you don't want that! Eat something! a piece of toast if that all you can first thing...this will break that fast and speed you body up and make you a lot more hungry throughout the day. this is another thig that smaller meals ever 2-3 hours help with, you get the metabolism boot from the digestion, without the calorie spill over.

3. input your meal before you eat them...so you can look at you calorie break down...adjust it from there.

if there anything i can do to help let me know...its not as hard as you think! just follow the site and try and do some research...in your case..look on bodybuilding site for tips on eating to get big...they usually have tips for skinny guys on how to boost their appetite lol.