Having a hard time eating 1200 calories

jlapey

If you truly are eating less than 1200 calories, you probably just need to change WHAT you eat. Try more calorie dense foods as almost everybody else has already suggested.

BUT before you do that, are you SURE of your calorie intake? Are you measuring everything on a digital scale? Perhaps you're getting more than you think. Read this:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/872212-you-re-probably-eating-more-than-you-think

hpheath

I'm not on any particular diet, just trying to eat healthier, I have cut out most processed foods, red meat, and instead of eating lunch meat sandwiches everyday for lunch I have been eating salads and tuna made with relish and mustard instead of mayo. I have incorporated a lot fresh fruits and veggies too. I did start eating protein bars after my work outs, I need to find a good protein shake recipe.

The day I went over 1200 I felt horrible and sick to my stomach, ended up on a binge at the time of the month. So I always make sure I have fruit or vegetables around to curve my appetite. All I want to do is lose weight, not maintain and changing my lifestyle was a huge step for me. I am still learning how to figure all this weight loss stuff out, just like many out there. We all come to a hurdle in life and I am ready to jump over this one and continue my journey. I will start incorporating nuts in my meals to help offset some calories. Thanks for the advice, it's greatly appreciated.

Here is my favorite protein smoothie recipe
1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1 scoop Wav Smart Protein Powder
half banana
4-6 frozen strawberries
1 cup baby spinach
1 tbsp Chia seeds

I drink this for breakfast everyday. It is a great way to start your day. Hope this helps. good luck with your new healthy lifestyle.

SrJoben

The answer to "How do I eat more?" is always "By eating more."

You get used to eating however much you eat.

I don't care if you feel full. Just eat a little more. In a week or two you'll be used to eating that much.

hpheath

I'm not on any particular diet, just trying to eat healthier, I have cut out most processed foods, red meat, and instead of eating lunch meat sandwiches everyday for lunch I have been eating salads and tuna made with relish and mustard instead of mayo. I have incorporated a lot fresh fruits and veggies too. I did start eating protein bars after my work outs, I need to find a good protein shake recipe.

The day I went over 1200 I felt horrible and sick to my stomach, ended up on a binge at the time of the month. So I always make sure I have fruit or vegetables around to curve my appetite. All I want to do is lose weight, not maintain and changing my lifestyle was a huge step for me. I am still learning how to figure all this weight loss stuff out, just like many out there. We all come to a hurdle in life and I am ready to jump over this one and continue my journey. I will start incorporating nuts in my meals to help offset some calories. Thanks for the advice, it's greatly appreciated.

Here is my favorite protein smoothie recipe
1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1 scoop Wav Smart Protein Powder
half banana
4-6 frozen strawberries
1 cup baby spinach
1 tbsp Chia seeds

I drink this for breakfast everyday. It is a great way to start your day. Hope this helps. good luck with your new healthy lifestyle.

Also if you need one for on the go or one that would be easy to mix up at the office(no blender handy). I keep the individual almond milk cartons at work and mix them with a WAV Beyond protein pack. Tastes like Strawberry milk. So yummy!

let me know if you want more info about the WAV Nutrition.

RllyGudTweetr

I'm always curious about these kinds of posts. Presumably once you ate way over 1200 calories per day?

Someone says this every time these threads pop up (though I must say yours is the most polite I've seen). The reason that people manage to get overweight and then have difficulty hitting even 1000 calories is that not everyone eats a lot of food in terms of volume when gaining weight. If you eat very calorie-dense foods, then you don't need to eat a lot to gain weight; if you switch to low-calorie options but don't increase the amount of food, then you can end up eating next to no calories.

To use myself as an example, I've never been a big eater. I gained a lot of weight by living entirely on Doritos, fast food, soda, and booze. When I switched to fresh, whole foods and prepared them myself, I wasn't any hungrier in terms of how much I wanted to consume, so I went from eating food at 300 calories/ounce to foods with a tenth of that amount. At the end of the day, I was seeing totals like 600 calories but wasn't at all hungry. I had to learn how to incorporate high-calorie foods into a healthy diet.

Consider adding a bag of Doritos to your lunch or dinner.

susie3g

Nuts have quickly become my saving grace in this area! Seriously! They are quite calorie dense, zero sodium, and super easy to munch on, even if you're already full. Walnuts, almonds, pecans.. lots to choose from.

QuietBloom

Can you open your diary please?

magerum

I ate more than 1200 calories in chocolate and ice cream last night. *shrug* I don't see the problem.

AmyRhubarb

Wow - so many old posts being resurrected the past few days. This thread was started in 2012.....

QuietBloom

Wow - so many old posts being resurrected the past few days. This thread was started in 2012.....

Thanks for the head's up! I guess someone has discovered the search threads function. :laugh:

ivery28

It really bothers me when people say "I ate more than 1200 calories in chocolate and ice cream last night. *shrug* I don't see the problem. " Thats not the point! The point is we are trying to eat healthy, we know we have to eat, we know that its not "Hard" to eat 2000 calories its just "Hard" to eat 2000 healthy calories! IMO I think people should start giving helpful advice on these forums and not put down people because we are trying to do the right thing with limited resources. And MFP only gives you basic information. Telling someone to eat Doritos and ice cream and pizza is not helping. Telling me to eat advocado, a table spoon of peanut butter in between snacking, bring a bag of veggies with you where ever you go... now thats helpful.

RllyGudTweetr

It really bothers me when people say "I ate more than 1200 calories in chocolate and ice cream last night. *shrug* I don't see the problem. " Thats not the point! The point is we are trying to eat healthy, we know we have to eat, we know that its not "Hard" to eat 2000 calories its just "Hard" to eat 2000 healthy calories! IMO I think people should start giving helpful advice on these forums and not put down people because we are trying to do the right thing with limited resources. And MFP only gives you basic information. Telling someone to eat Doritos and ice cream and pizza is not helping. Telling me to eat advocado, a table spoon of peanut butter in between snacking, bring a bag of veggies with you where ever you go... now thats helpful.

Assuming the protein macros are met, why is eating a bag of Doritos to increase calorie count - as well as carbohydrate and fat macros - a bad thing? It's my general observation that those who are the most restrictive in the foods they're 'allowed' to eat upon embarking on calorie-counting at MFP are the ones who have the hardest time sustaining any success.

ashgrins

I agree to try to incorporate nuts. I think it's a good idea to add more fuel to a meal you are already eating such as the avocado, sour cream, etc. However, Sour cream should still be light. Avacado is good for you, but don't eat too much. It is not a power food. be careful, jsut because you need more calories doesn't mean you need more carbs, protein, salt etc. I have made that mistake. when you are taking in less calories your body stores fat which is probably why you have hit a plateau. if you start getting all of the calories you need then you will probably start losing again

rebeccagoddard

floersh21 wrote: »

I'm always curious about these kinds of posts. Presumably once you ate way over 1200 calories per day?

Someone says this every time these threads pop up (though I must say yours is the most polite I've seen). The reason that people manage to get overweight and then have difficulty hitting even 1000 calories is that not everyone eats a lot of food in terms of volume when gaining weight. If you eat very calorie-dense foods, then you don't need to eat a lot to gain weight; if you switch to low-calorie options but don't increase the amount of food, then you can end up eating next to no calories.

To use myself as an example, I've never been a big eater. I gained a lot of weight by living entirely on Doritos, fast food, soda, and booze. When I switched to fresh, whole foods and prepared them myself, I wasn't any hungrier in terms of how much I wanted to consume, so I went from eating food at 300 calories/ounce to foods with a tenth of that amount. At the end of the day, I was seeing totals like 600 calories but wasn't at all hungry. I had to learn how to incorporate high-calorie foods into a healthy diet.

This is literally EXACTLY what I'm dealing with. I couldn't explain it better myself.

I am finding this problem too, I wasnt a huge eater but was awfully fond of cake and costa (freaking hell have you seen the calorie content on those) so was probably quite happily packing away about 3000 calories a day. Now I am eating healthier (no less in quantity but better quality) and despite still eating 3 filling meals a day and snacks I get stuck somewhere between 900 and 1050 calories a day. I dont feel hungry at all, dont feel like eating just to get my calories up when I'm not actually hungry.. Its just because I am eating healthier foods rather than cake and chocolate.