having trouble increasing calories

gs627

I've been reading alot about increasing calories, making sure to at least eat the calories listed as my BMR, and taking a calorie deficit off of my TDEE. I'm moderately to very active (exercise 6-7 days a week for about 45 minutes to an hour) and know that I need to try to eat back some of my exercise calories. After working out the numbers, I am going to try to eat 1600 calories a day. However, I feel like it's such an extra chore now planning out what foods to eat for the day in order to ensure I go up to 1600 calories a day. I know I wasn't eating enough in the past, and I don't want my body to hold onto body fat so that's why I want to try to eat more so I can be guaranteed to lose fat, and not muscle by entering starvation mode. I don't eat many high calorie foods to begin with (fruits, veggies, lean proteins, etc.) and generally eat very clean. I've been trying to add healthy fats such as nuts and olive oil to increase calories, but I don't want to add too many of these foods due to their high fat content. I just don't want calorie counting to feel like a chore everyday. I want to be able to easily eat my 1600 calories without much thought. Does anyone have food suggestions/sample meal plans of what I can do to help me reach my calorie goal each day? I really want to lose weight the right way for once and not worry so much about how to reach my calorie goal. Thanks for all your help!

maryellen8301

I was totally just thinking this..I'm trying to workout more which means I need to up my calories a bit. I'm not hungry and I feel like I'm eating junk (goldfish and ice cream "skinny cow") to get my net at or above 1200..

willyzification

Hi!

Firstly your thought that to lose fat, you must not eat fat is incorrect (no offense but it is a very common thought, why eat fat when your trying to lose it?). You need to start eating high calorie foods (fruits, veggies, lean proteins etc) and Im wondering how your managing to eat clean when you dont eat much of the above mentioned list. (They are one of the best sources to eat CLEAN) Also are you eating carbs, or are you on a low carb diet? Carbs are one of the best sources of calories, once you have reached your macros for protein and fat, the rest should be into carbs.

Example: My calorie is roughly 2500 cal so my macros for this is 50c/30p/20f. so that means 30% of 2500 cal comes from protein, 20% from fat and the rest from carbs. (313g carbs, 188g protein, 56g fat daily)

I currently take in 2500-2600 calories a day, and I find it is too easy to fill this number and I often go over ( dont really mind I'm trying to get bigger). If you add me I can give you access to my diary and you can see how I eat day to day.

It also seems like your metabolism seems to be extremely slow/ non existent which may also be a problem in terms of losing. To maintain a high metabolism you need to (increase muscle mass = weight workouts) and eat often (ESPECIALLY AS SOON AS YOU WAKE UP!) I eat every 3-4 hours. Initially I timed myself to eat evert 3-4 hours even though I wasnt hungry cause I knew my body needed it, but now I HAVE to eat every 3-4 hours, sometimes even every 2-3 hours cause Im just THAT HUNGRY!

KaleidoscopeEyes1056

I recently upped my calories, and the thing that I noticed worked for me is not avoiding liquid calories. At first, I thought that I would just drink water, and then I struggled to get to where I needed to be, so I started drinking green tea again and it's not as difficult for me. Like one of the other posters said, treat yourself to some ice cream! Skinny cow cookies and cream ice cream sandwiches are amazing!

gs627

Willy,

What I meant was I don't eat many high calories foods but I do eat lots of veggies, fruits, and lean proteins (which are not all that high in calories). Reading back my post I apologize because it sounded confusing the way I wrote that. Also, I know that eating healthy fats is essential for weight loss......I'm just not sure what the limit is (if there is one) and don't want to go overboard. For instance, I know nuts are great to eat but also I've read articles that warn you not to eat too many because then you can gain weight. I try to get my carbs for fruits and veggies mainly. I'm afraid to eat too many carbs because I'm insulin resistant because I have PCOS and therefore I don't want to eat too many carbs and cause my body to keep making excess insulin (which will be stored as fat). I'll def. add you so I can view your food diary. Thanks so much!

Lesa_Sass

Quinoa
Steel cut oats
sweet potatoes
almonds

willyzification

Oh, sorry I misunderstood haha. Well on average about 0.8-1g gram of fat per kg of body mass is a good value to use for fat intake. Since I weigh 64kg at the moment I should be taking in anywhere between 51g to 64g of fat. Yeah the thing nuts are a great source of good fats, but it is easy to eat too many that is why articles say that stuff. Have you ever had a time where you have a bag of nuts in front of you, about 15-20 min into your tv program you look down and its almost all gone? haha happens to me all the time.

approx 22 kernels (22 pieces of almonds) contain 168 calories and 15g fat, 5.5g carbs and 6.3g protein. So from 22 pieces I get about 25% of my daily fat intake yet how filling and how much is 22 pieces of almonds really? not much. So yes nuts are a great source of fats, but it is DOUBLY so that you make sure you watch HOW MUCH your eating or end up eating a whole bags worth like me. (so sad )

Also with your carb intake, you should probably see a health professional about that rather than ask people around here (unless they have the same problem and have had professional help or carry big fancy degrees ). As long as you meet your macros for protein and fat the amount of carbs you take in is up to you (to an extent, not too low or high obviously)