Healthy Empty calories?

zewolf77

So.. I've been eating a lot healthier (obviously) and most of my food choices are whole natural foods. My problem is, I always run out of sugar/sodium before the end of my calories. I work out 5-6 days a week, so I get a ton of extra calories... but I can never eat them all back. I mean.. I try to eat veggies and low sugar stuff, but there's only so much my stomach can hold.

I'm not a fan of 'eating just to eat', so generally I stop when I'm not hungry anymore. I regularly get 2200-2600 calories a day allowed, but I find that if I eat over 16-1800/cals a day I start gaining. I've tried pushing it higher with healthy options, but I always go over on sugar or sodium and like I said.. i feel like I'm cramming it down.

Anyone have any healthy options that are mostly protein/carbs/fat? I could probably eat more meat.. but I've been leaning towards a more vegetable based eating variety.

I'm stumped.. if I don't eat more, I rarely get over 1200 net cals/day. Like today... my net cals are only around 800 I think. I don't FEEL hungry.. I'm quite full actually.

Help?

cbevan1229

Avocado? Eggs? Sliced Turkey?

gregpack

A guy your size needs to eat more than that. Make sure your protein is high enough to minimize muscle wasting You need 150 gs plus

It's pretty easy to pack in calories with nuts and nut butters.

zewolf77

A guy your size needs to eat more than that. Make sure your protein is high enough to minimize muscle wasting You need 150 gs plus

It's pretty easy to pack in calories with nuts and nut butters.

Thanks.. I forgot about that. I've got a bag of raw almonds up in the cabinet.. I'll carry some with me.

cbevan1229

Pasta with garlic and olive oil.

Brown rice and black beans.

IronPlayground

Cook with olive oil, avocados, peanut butter or almonds. These are mostly for healthy fats

For protein, you can always try supplementing it with whey powder. Maybe have a scoop with some 1-2% milk at dinner.

ETA: Unless you have a medical issue when it comes to sugar, I wouldn't really bother with tracking it. You are already tracking carbs.

angelalf1979

I always have the same problem Especially with sodium. Sugars too but I recently learned fruit sugars don't "count" against your sugars unless you're pre-diabetic or diabetic. So what I did was a lot of paying attention to sugars and sodium on food labels and was able to cut down a lot. I brain stormed what I could consume to get those fats and protiens cuz I wasn't crazy about eating meat all day long. I opted for low sodium nuts, low sodium and low sugar peanut butter, whey protein, avocado. I'm still continuing to figure it out cuz I'm still quite short on proteins. Good luck in your quest!!

taso42

Any chance you're not accounting for everything? A grown man being full on 1200 calories or even less.... just doesn't seem likely.

zewolf77

Any chance you're not accounting for everything? A grown man being full on 1200 calories or even less.... just doesn't seem likely.

I actually eat 1800ish calories, but minus the exercise.. its the 'net calories' I was trying to figure out. I even go up to 2000 calories occasionally.. but minus the exercise.. again..

Maybe I'm confused on the whole 'net calories' thing. I always eat well over 1200 cals/day

love4fitnesslove4food_wechange

So.. I've been eating a lot healthier (obviously) and most of my food choices are whole natural foods. My problem is, I always run out of sugar/sodium before the end of my calories. I work out 5-6 days a week, so I get a ton of extra calories... but I can never eat them all back. I mean.. I try to eat veggies and low sugar stuff, but there's only so much my stomach can hold.

I'm not a fan of 'eating just to eat', so generally I stop when I'm not hungry anymore. I regularly get 2200-2600 calories a day allowed, but I find that if I eat over 16-1800/cals a day I start gaining. I've tried pushing it higher with healthy options, but I always go over on sugar or sodium and like I said.. i feel like I'm cramming it down.

Anyone have any healthy options that are mostly protein/carbs/fat? I could probably eat more meat.. but I've been leaning towards a more vegetable based eating variety.

I'm stumped.. if I don't eat more, I rarely get over 1200 net cals/day. Like today... my net cals are only around 800 I think. I don't FEEL hungry.. I'm quite full actually.

Help?

you need to be eating MUCH more than that. All foods are composed of protein/carbs/fat--that's what FOOD is. Try eating whole food in its natural form. That means REGULAR food products, not "diet" or "light" foods.

WHOLE eggs
potatoes w/ olive oil, herbs and parmesan cheese
nuts
seeds
tahini/hummus
full fat yogurt
olives
olive oil
fatty fish
smoothies w/ whole milk, fruit, yogurt, and protein powder
flaxseed added to oatmeal
oatmeal cooked in milk w/ pb mixed in
avocado
peas/carrots
beans
sauteed veggies w/ toasted almonds on top
salads topped w/ olive oil, nuts, cheese, and vinegar

taso42

Any chance you're not accounting for everything? A grown man being full on 1200 calories or even less.... just doesn't seem likely.

I actually eat 1800ish calories, but minus the exercise.. its the 'net calories' I was trying to figure out. I even go up to 2000 calories occasionally.. but minus the exercise.. again..

Maybe I'm confused on the whole 'net calories' thing. I always eat well over 1200 cals/day

Ah gotcha. That's not quite as far fetched then! So my next question would be, do you think there's any chance you're over-counting the exercise cals?

I also agree with the poster above who is encouraging full-fat, non-"diet" foods. And things like olive oil, peanut butter.. that can fill in a lot of calories fast.

Yet another option would be to go by TDEE and subtract out a 500 cal (or so) deficit yourself and go by that, ignoring "exercise calories", as they would be factored into TDEE from the outset.