Anyone have problems getting up to the Calorie goal?

zewolf77

I'm torn here.. My calorie goal is ~2100 cals/day plus whatever I exercise in a given day (usually 5-700 extra). I decided to keep eating the way I'd been eating on my diet/weight loss plan before I started MyFitnessPal. I'm almost always 500-1000 cals under my goal.

I've decided it push it a couple times and push up closer to my calorie goal for the day, but I almost always end up gaining on those days and it's rarely anything very good for me that adds the loads of empty calories.

I've tried the flip side of that where I've tried to hit my calorie goal by eating natural, healthy foods, and frankly.. I can't eat that much.

My gut is to keep on eating the way I was eating before I came here. That's a way that's healthy and sustainable for the rest of my life. My problem is that I'm losing weight faster than the prescribed 1lb/week.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

Oh.. and scaling back the exercise doesn't work well for me either. For one, I love it, and for two, I don't feel right without it anymore.

Jerijoh

I find I have the same issue.. It's because usually when you are eating healthy, whole foods, you are able to eat a lot more of them for less calories.. Rather than eating one fast food meal that will take up almost all of your calories. (For me anyways, my calorie goal is just over 1,300) Then I start worrying that if I don't reach my calorie goal, my body will start going into starvation mode and my metabolism will slow down. I just try and stick to whole foods that are higher in calories, not just fruit and vegetables. Nuts and avacado are good choices.

Meg_78

I'm a gainer so though I'm not eating quite as high as you, I have a 1900 net, and I eat back all my exercise cals so it can be around 2100+ some days which is a lot for me as I weigh just on 100lbs). It can be tough to be faced with a big amount of left over calories to eat, esp when you want to keep it healthy, there are the usual; nuts, avocados, olive olives etc. I also eat a lot of dairy, but I know not everyone wants the extra fat that contains. I have also gotten creative with my cooking with things like muffins and banana breads, I keep them low as I can in sugars, but pack them full of calorie dense foods like nuts and olive oil etc, if I want to really make it higher I'll add some super gainer powder to the mix, then I end up with a fairly healthy 300+ calorie banana muffin, In emergencies I make a shake with my gainer too, it can be a fast way to drink a 300-400 calories. I also have learnt what certain combos of my foods are, so I can plan my days, or fill up blocks of cals, for example for me, milk and cereal = around 200cals, crispbread with cheese and an orange = around 300-350 cals, I also eat all the time. Deff every 2 hrs at least. Some times I have to force myself a bit...but I just lose weight very very quickly if I don't keep at this level and I can't afford to lose.

Good luck!