Can't seem to eat enough calories!

ZugTheMegasaurus

I guess I'm supposed to try to eat 1200 calories per day, but unless I throw in a lot of junk food.. I can't get there! I'm on the Body by Vi diet and so far, the most I've been able to eat (of healthy stuff) and including the Vi shakes is about 750 calories per day. I'm getting notices that I'm not eating enough and I won't lose weight without eating more. I don't want to be so stuffed that I'm miserable. Anyone have any ideas? And is it OK to NOT eat that much food in a day?

And you got overweight how?

this is so rude.
there are a million reasons a person can put on pounds that have nothing to do with eating so much you want to burst. why even comment if you have nothing constructive to add, only to put down the poster and insinuate they are liars since they are on this site.

If she "can't eat" more than 750 calories in a day, even hypothyroid wouldn't cause weight gain.

It isn't rude to point out the obvious.

Fair enough, it's not rude. Myopic and smug, but we'll avoid the r-word.

In the off chance you actually want an answer, I'll give you one. I often have difficulty topping 1000 calories/day, yet I managed to get 90 pounds overweight. The reason is that I didn't get fat gorging myself (I actually dislike eating more than I enjoy it) but rather because I would eat extremely calorie-dense junk food (Doritos, fast food, and lots of alcohol). When I switched to a healthful diet of nutritious unprocessed foods, I continued eating with the same volume and frequency but the calorie count dropped dramatically.

ChadH1971

You can eat carrot sticks and celery sticks throughout the day. Also, toast with jelly seems to help me. You have to at least meet your base metabolic requirement or your body will scavenge what sources it can. If you don't have a lot of fat stores, your body will stark breaking down muscle tissue. A lot of fad diets criticize carbs and drastically limit them. Carbs are fuel! If you are exercising (which everyone should, everyday), then you need that fuel just for body functions to take place. Without fuel, your body can't utilize the protein for building cells and tissues. Our bodies are assaulted everyday and while we rest and sleep, important processes take place to repair the damage. Food is essential. I agree with the comment about whole, natural foods. Seeds, nuts, dried fruits, fresh fruits, vegetables. You will feel full and maybe even bloated because natural foods will cause some gas. Over time, it will all balance out. Greek style yogurt and granola is a recommended snack from my trainer. How is your relationship with food? Do you see food as a necessary evil? Let me ask this way, how much weight do you want to lose? What is your goal weight and how tall are you? BMI is a reasonable index unless you have a lot of lean muscle mass. Muscle weighs more than fat, but muscle is what you want because muscle burns fat like a furnace. Are you having blood sugar problems with that limited intake? You might need to try using Ensure or some other nutritional shake.

Meggles63

Are you working out? If not, START! If you are, Do more! Seriously, exercising can help your appetite so you can eat!

MMarvelous

It's not that hard! Nuts, full fats cheeses, full fat dressing, protein shakes/bars, etc. There are plenty of ways you can add calories without eating junk.

I agree ^^^ Add peanut butter, avocado, fruits, whole grain bread, salmon, chicken

DannyMussels

Is this really a problem?

Or a solution?

Prettylittlelotus

Get off the Body by Vi and eat real food. Seriously.

Yep

Oh I forgot I have a boobie picture up. Happy boobie Friday.

Thanks! I love boobie friday!

adrian_indy

Put your food on a spoon or fork, then pretend it's an airplane your mouth is the airport. It's fun and it works with my kids.

brittnicoledav

Get off the Body by Vi and eat real food. Seriously.

or not. I'm on body by vi and i adore it. It's delicious and healthy. I have no problem reaching my calorie goals. You just need to eat high cal snacks like nuts or cottage cheese with berries for example, and since you have low cal intake from having two meals being the shakes you can have quite a few snacks and a decent sized supper!

AlyRoseNYC

It's really easy to eat thousands of calories a day when you're consusming junk food.

Once you make the swtich to healthier foods, you find that they can be much more filling but are not as calorie dense. I'm having the same issue

Try to up your calories by a little bit every day. Today I got in an extra 100 calories by eating a spoon of Reduced Fat peanut butter. I might add a little olive oil to my salad for lunch for a little extra calorie boost too. It'll all add up by the end of the day

coyoteo

Throw some peanut butter in your shakes. Eat a bowl of ice cream. Have some cheese. Have a steak. Eat some rice. Or use whole milk in your shakes. Personally, I really wouldn't worry about it too much. Eat if you are hungry.

LeslieMDoyle

half an avocado is 150ish calories (depending on size). healthy fats, tons of goodness!

jharsh113

In order for your body to properly burn fat and calories, it needs to have the necessary amount of fuel (calories, ie. food). If you are not fueling your body properly with the right balance of protein, healthy fats, and carbs, then your body will essentially stop working to burn extra fat. This is what we call a plateau.

I'm going to reiterate what fellow repliers have said and advise you to start fueling your body with the proper nutrition, which means eating whole, organic, and natural foods. There are plenty of delicious and healthy foods that will get you to your caloric intake of 1,200 calories per day without eating junk food.

Some of my staples include oatmeal, natural peanut butter, tons of veggies (broccoli, kale, cauliflower, carrots, spinach, brussels sprouts, asparagus, etc.), lots of fruit (bananas, apples, mangoes, pineapple, strawberries, blueberries, kiwi), LEAN protein (chicken, fish, eggs, nuts), and low fat dairy or fat free. Greek yogurt is one of my favorite snacks because it is packed with protein and is non-fat.

The most important thing is to make sure you're eating enough of the right foods to fuel your body properly. Try to avoid processed foods! Eat whole and natural, and you will be golden

beachgirl55

I also have trouble eating enought calories.
I walk 2 to 3 miles a day and eat healthy food.

aspen_matthews

Being overweight while eating less than 1200calories a day is a very common problem. Your body has gotten so used to the low calorie intake it won't burn and your metabolism is totally fried. To lose weight you have to eat more. A lot of people have a hard time making that transition because it sounds so backwards, but it's very true.

When you go from eating junk to eating good food you often are eating more volume so it can make someone who has a history of not eating enough calories anyway to feel full. Lots of great recommendations have been made on this thread (nuts, avocado, etc) as ways to boost your calories without greatly increasing your food volume intake.

mammakisses

Just try adding 100cals more per day and eventually you won't feel soo stuffed. Make sure that what your eating is good clean food. Also make sure that your daily food intake is ballanced.

catlady2111

Eating the junk food!

MinnieInMaine

Seriously, put the junk food down! If you read through these replies again, there is some good advice mixed in between the arguments...

I'm not completely sure what Body by Vi limits you to but what if you added higher calorie things to your shakes like peanut or almond butter, a banana, berries, etc. Go to google and look up calorie dense foods and then encorporate those into your diet.

catlady2111

I guess I'm supposed to try to eat 1200 calories per day, but unless I throw in a lot of junk food.. I can't get there! I'm on the Body by Vi diet and so far, the most I've been able to eat (of healthy stuff) and including the Vi shakes is about 750 calories per day. I'm getting notices that I'm not eating enough and I won't lose weight without eating more. I don't want to be so stuffed that I'm miserable. Anyone have any ideas? And is it OK to NOT eat that much food in a day?

And you got overweight how?

this is so rude.
there are a million reasons a person can put on pounds that have nothing to do with eating so much you want to burst. why even comment if you have nothing constructive to add, only to put down the poster and insinuate they are liars since they are on this site.

If she "can't eat" more than 750 calories in a day, even hypothyroid wouldn't cause weight gain.

It isn't rude to point out the obvious.

Fair enough, it's not rude. Myopic and smug, but we'll avoid the r-word.

In the off chance you actually want an answer, I'll give you one. I often have difficulty topping 1000 calories/day, yet I managed to get 90 pounds overweight. The reason is that I didn't get fat gorging myself (I actually dislike eating more than I enjoy it) but rather because I would eat extremely calorie-dense junk food (Doritos, fast food, and lots of alcohol). When I switched to a healthful diet of nutritious unprocessed foods, I continued eating with the same volume and frequency but the calorie count dropped dramatically.

catlady2111

For those who have asked how I became overweight eating less than 800 or 900 calories per day.... before I started trying to eat healthier to lose weight I didn't worry about calories. What I'm trying to say is now that I am trying to eat healthier, it's to get over 800 or 900 cals per day. I'm actually eating MORE food than I ever have before, but it's DIFFERENT food. I'm from the south (AKA- DEEP FRIED EVERYTHING) And lot's of butter, casseroles (which always seem to have carb fillers), and sweets. Now I'm eating baked or broiled meat and twice as much of it. Steamed veggies instead of fried veggies. No cookies, candy, or cakes. I'll keep doing what I'm doing and try to add more a little at a time.

SirBen81

Just eat a couple spoonfuls of peanut butter. It takes like 60 seconds. That'll be 500 calories right there.

roddi7997

I'd cut out the processed foods..Use real butter, sugar or whatever when you eat or drink something and it will bump up your calories and is actually healthier. Nuts and peanut butter is also a great way to get in some additional calories that are still good for you. You can eat anything you want, the key is moderation and just be sure to track it.

gudliar

Olive oil, chia seeds, protein (low carb) shakes, nuts, seeds, peanut butter. Those add up fast.

I'm doing herbal magic and I eat 1200cal a day. Here is what my day looks like:
Morning: green tea, boiled egg, Cheerios with almond milk.
Snack : 10 strawberries with light cool whip and a cheese string
Lunch: 4 cups salad with oil/vinegar and 4 oz chicken
Snack: celery, carrots and mini cucumber sticks with tzarziki sauce
Dinner: 5oz tube steak with mushrooms, garlic redwine fried in 1 tbs olive or coconut oil. Asparagus spears with a little feta cheese
Snack : walnuts and almonds 1/4 cup

Drinks : 6 cups water, 1 crystal light (Splenda) and one homemade ice tea with stevia as sweetener., and one green tea with stevia.

donna_glasgow

add nuts and seeds avacado to your diet ..... I also had the same problem ...

sarahrbraun

I think what you're going to need to do is to add some sensible snacks, or add addtional things to your Vi shakes. Could you add a spoonful of peanut butter to one of your shakes? Or eat a piece of fruit or some berries with your breakfast shake, and some steamed veggies or more fruit with your lunch/dinner shake? or have some guacamole or hummus and some pita wedges as a mid-morning or mid-afternoon snack? I keep some *cheat* items stashed in the back of the freezer for the days that I have eaten dinner and STILL have an obscene number of calories left--right now I have mozzarella planks (100 cal EACH), and 100 calorie klondike bars.

zandrellia

For those who have asked how I became overweight eating less than 800 or 900 calories per day.... before I started trying to eat healthier to lose weight I didn't worry about calories. What I'm trying to say is now that I am trying to eat healthier, it's to get over 800 or 900 cals per day. I'm actually eating MORE food than I ever have before, but it's DIFFERENT food. I'm from the south (AKA- DEEP FRIED EVERYTHING) And lot's of butter, casseroles (which always seem to have carb fillers), and sweets. Now I'm eating baked or broiled meat and twice as much of it. Steamed veggies instead of fried veggies. No cookies, candy, or cakes. I'll keep doing what I'm doing and try to add more a little at a time.

I would suggest that you stop depriving yourself so much.

Eating sensibly and changing poor choices for good ones doesn't mean giving up everything you eat. You could make a casserole with real butter and use wheat or spinach instead of white noodles, chicken instead of beef, and lots of healthy veggies that you cut yourself instead of from a can so you're getting better nutrients - then just eat a smaller portion of that. You could eat cookies or cakes, if you eat them in moderation and choose better options - like sugar free, or don't eat all (or any) of the frosting, or substitute bananas and apples in your recipe in place of fats. Instead of fried chicken, bread your chicken with panko and bake it in the oven.

You can't live your life on a diet in the sense of deprivation. You have to live your life on a diet of smart choices. You'll be a lot happier with your life if you're eating calories of real foods and just making smarter choices.

it_will_work

Wow.....you are being rude and not very well informed. 750 calories of junk food look very different to 750 calories of whole and healthy food. The latter being much more food and MANY more bites as compared to a diet of crap food. What is obvious is that you don't know what you are talking about and you are not being very supportive. Try to motivate. We are all on here for a reason...including you.

it_will_work

My above post was in response to the person that was in disbelief on how hard it can be eating all the calories on a healthy diet as apposed to the crap diet ways that have landed some of us on the road of trying to lose weight.

mcrowe1016

Wow.....you are being rude and not very well informed. 750 calories of junk food look very different to 750 calories of whole and healthy food. The latter being much more food and MANY more bites as compared to a diet of crap food. What is obvious is that you don't know what you are talking about and you are not being very supportive. Try to motivate. We are all on here for a reason...including you.

Because three servings of natural peanut butter is SOOO much food.

Mdw021

Thank You! First Time Reading Comments Because I Have ThIs Same Issue And My Thought Was 'glad My Profile Is Private And I Don't Post On These Forums Because So Rude'.U

emileee99

lol Mdw21 - my thoughts exactly!