I am so utterly confused and frustrated.

Tooexforbee

Starting weight - 109.6kg
Goal weight - 85kg
Height - 6 foot 1

Right... Forgive me for going on a little bit of a rant here but I need to let this out. My goal is to eat 1950 calories a day. About 500 less than my body needs to maintain my weight, so it’ll need to go to fat reserves to get the extra calories. It’ll do that regardless of exercise, it needs to burn about 2500 a day to function as it is. Okay. That makes sense. What doesn’t make sense is how ridiculously bloody hard it is to eat that much. I mean I can pile on vegetables to meals and it barely adds any calories. I mean what the hell? How the hell do people eat that much? Oh and then there’s the thing that if I exercise, I need to eat back the calories that I burned. I just... What? How does that make any sense?

I've read the various threads in the stickies and perhaps I'm just utterly thick headed but... I just don't understand. I am really -really- confused. Perhaps someone can explain in a way that my brain can grasp it?

graelwyn

Healthy, calorie dense foods like nuts, seeds, nut butters, avocado and healthier cooking oils like extra virgin olive oil will easily add calories without too much bulk. I manage it pretty easily, but then I am not doing low carb and things like sweet potatoes can rack up some extra calories. Nothing wrong with full fat dairy either, in moderation.

AnvilHead

If you don't want to deal with eating back exercise calories (which can vary every day), go to the first post in this thread and work out your calorie allowance:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

Dan sets it up so you have a static intake every day and don't have to screw around with exercise calories.

As far as eating that many calories, I find it pretty easy - I'm set at 2300/day and it's more difficult to stay UNDER it than it is to go OVER it! As Graelwyn said, add in some more nutritionally dense foods - put a couple tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and half an avocado on your salad. A couple tablespoons of natural peanut butter (which has protein and good essential fats) can add almost 200 calories right there. A cup of cottage cheese is loaded with protein and will easily add some calories. A handful of almonds or macadamia nuts are very nutritionally dense. There are plenty of calorically dense foods that are beneficial to your diet.

Kristy161089

Healthy, calorie dense foods like nuts, seeds, nut butters, avocado and healthier cooking oils like extra virgin olive oil will easily add calories without too much bulk. I manage it pretty easily, but then I am not doing low carb and things like sweet potatoes can rack up some extra calories. Nothing wrong with full fat dairy either, in moderation.

This ^^ Don't be afraid to eat fats when losing weight, just make sure they are the GOOD fats (avoid saturated and trans fats)
Nuts/ seeds, natural nut butters, avocados, olive / coconut oil, olives and oily fish (like salmon) will give you lots of calories without making you feel over full.

Hope this helps

amersmanders

Oh and then there’s the thing that if I exercise, I need to eat back the calories that I burned. I just... What? How does that make any sense?

I've read the various threads in the stickies and perhaps I'm just utterly thick headed but... I just don't understand. I am really -really- confused. Perhaps someone can explain in a way that my brain can grasp it?

1 lb= 3500 calories
a deficit of 500 calories a day x 7 days = 3500 calories, which would give you a loss of 1lb per week.

If your BMR is 2500, then eating only 2000 calories per day would create that 500 calorie deficit.
__________________

Lets say you are eating 2000 calories per day, and today you exercised and burned 300 calories. If you still only ate 2000 calories, there wouldn't necessarily be anything wrong with that, but to give your body the restorative nutrients it would need, you would want to make sure you ate food that achieved that goal.

However, by exercising, and burning 300 calories, you shifted your available caloric intake and earned yourself 300 more calories to eat back, while still maintaining your 500 calorie per day deficit. By burning your 300 calories in exercise, you created an 800 calorie deficit for the day, rather than just 500. You can eat them back, or not, but just know that there is a greater deficit when you diet AND exercise.

_____________________

What you put in your body is more important than the calorie numbers themselves. I have 1570 calories per day. I could conceivably go to McDonalds for my three meals and stay under my calorie goal for the day without exercising. I could do this every day, in fact, and I will probably still lose weight during the process, as long as I stay under my calorie goals. However, by not giving my body healthy foods, I'm losing weight, but not necessarily becoming more healthy. I don't eat all of my meals at McDonalds every day, nor do I want to. The point, though, is that I'd rather eat something higher in calories, perhaps, but healthier, than eat at McDonalds. I could eat a salad with chicken or salmon, and a plum, and some sunflower seeds for a snack and still eat fewer calories than are in a McDonalds sandwich and feel much better for it.

I hear you saying that you're having a difficult time eating all of your calories. You could consider dropping down to 2 lbs/week instead of just one, which would put you at about 1500 calories per day. Or you could look at your food diary and see if there are things that you could add that might have added health benefits. I don't know if your diary is open or not, but mine is. I struggle at 1570 because I eat a lot, and I don't always eat super healthily, though I'm moving in that direction. I would have a really difficult time with 1100 per day, my 2lbs/week allotment, which is why I just stick to 1lb per week.

hemlock2010

Okay, so as someone who has consistently struggled and often failed to stay under my calorie goal, I don't really understand the problem the OP is describing. If you really struggle to get up to your goal of 1900 calories, how did you become overweight?

Tooexforbee

Okay, so as someone who has consistently struggled and often failed to stay under my calorie goal, I don't really understand the problem the OP is describing. If you really struggle to get up to your goal of 1900 calories, how did you become overweight?

I ate foods that were well... Very unhealthy for me. I ate vegetables and fruit but just not in large amounts. And I snacked on chocolate, crisps and such an awful lot so I suppose that's how. The only issue I have now is that with substituting healthy foods, which are often lower calories, I'm eating as much as I used to and it's just bringing it up to 1200 calories, but I'm full so I don't want to eat any more.

Thank you to everyone that took time to explain and try to help, it's actually making more sense to me now. I've never been someone to snack on nuts or seeds so I'll it out!

yarwell

There's no specific need to eat 1900 calories. The BBC show Hairy Dieters (Thurs pm) has a couple of big blokes eating about 1300 calories with advice from professionals.

Sidesteal

If you don't want to deal with eating back exercise calories (which can vary every day), go to the first post in this thread and work out your calorie allowance:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

Dan sets it up so you have a static intake every day and don't have to screw around with exercise calories.

As far as eating that many calories, I find it pretty easy - I'm set at 2300/day and it's more difficult to stay UNDER it than it is to go OVER it! As Graelwyn said, add in some more nutritionally dense foods - put a couple tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and half an avocado on your salad. A couple tablespoons of natural peanut butter (which has protein and good essential fats) can add almost 200 calories right there. A cup of cottage cheese is loaded with protein and will easily add some calories. A handful of almonds or macadamia nuts are very nutritionally dense. There are plenty of calorically dense foods that are beneficial to your diet.

While I haven't actually looked at Dan's formulas, I'd start with the above post. This way you don't have to worry about exercise and after doing this for a short time you'll get a very good estimate on your TDEE. The above approach should be simpler once you get going.

vodkoffee

Coconut milk curries are another good way to add calories, and they're delicious and full of good fats.

Momma_Grizz

bump so I can read later

andreamelo1

i never eat back my calories & im not starving and also dont get confused with number if you arent hungry dont eat if you have 1000 left instead of 500 so be it trust me its better to eat less than overeat even if it is veggies dont seat the numbers

barmum

Not sure about how much you cook etc but maybe try making some things from scratch that are calorie heavy but actually not that bad for you like Dahl ? or hummus with veg to dip ?

EmmaM2211

CHOCOLATE!!!


Oh wait you want healthy options...my bad...:blushing:

Ver0n1ca

I completely agree with adding good, nutritionally dense, healthy fat foods. Also, if you used the computer to calculate your BMR then leave room for error. Mine calculates out to 1640 calories a day but even when exercising and eating healthy, I start gaining weight around 1500 calories a day. If I stay between 1300 and 1400 I stabilize, which is what I want since I am at my goal weight. It took a few weeks to find that right intake number for me but I have been stable now for 7 months.

ncm251

Okay, so as someone who has consistently struggled and often failed to stay under my calorie goal, I don't really understand the problem the OP is describing. If you really struggle to get up to your goal of 1900 calories, how did you become overweight?

I ate foods that were well... Very unhealthy for me. I ate vegetables and fruit but just not in large amounts. And I snacked on chocolate, crisps and such an awful lot so I suppose that's how. The only issue I have now is that with substituting healthy foods, which are often lower calories, I'm eating as much as I used to and it's just bringing it up to 1200 calories, but I'm full so I don't want to eat any more.

Thank you to everyone that took time to explain and try to help, it's actually making more sense to me now. I've never been someone to snack on nuts or seeds so I'll it out!

Just a thought, when you're preparing your meals, are you weighing your food so you can get an exact measurement and calorie reading? It's easy to over / underestimate quantities so you may actually be taking in more than you're accounting for. If you are measuring everything, you'll have to share some of your recipes because I'm feeling famished on my 1200-1400 calories per day. :-)

KitchenAbs

CHOCOLATE!!!


Oh wait you want healthy options...my bad...:blushing:

Cocoa high percentage chocolate is good for you! Pick one that is 70% or about (Hotel Chocolat do 80/90/100%)

vodkoffee

CHOCOLATE!!!


Oh wait you want healthy options...my bad...:blushing:

Dark chocolate is good for you, as long as it's not loaded down with milk and sugar. I have a couple squares of a nice bar of dark chocolate on most days. Helps keep much worse cravings at bay.

Squashypig

I've dropped nearly 35 pounds in 5 months. During the first couple of months I didn't exercise at all and lost the pounds easily. When I started exercising I did eat back my calories burned and my weight was all over the place. Which leads me to think that maybe I wasn't burning as much as I thought. I haven't exercised now for around 3 weeks and the weight loss is consistent again. I'll probably be going on to maintenance next week and MFP sets this at around 1600 calories per day for me. I realise and understand that this will also be a trial over the next few weeks to determine what is best for me in terms of calorie consumption to maintain my weight. I intend to get back on my exercise bike purely to keep my heart and lungs healthy but I won't be eating back any calories that I think I might have burned. I was also very confused when I first started out, reading all the 'you must do this, you must do that' posts. In reality what you need to do is listen to your own body and log everything that you eat/drink, and log your exercise/workouts. Find out what works for YOU and stick with it. Good luck! :flowerforyou:

falcon367

Okay, so as someone who has consistently struggled and often failed to stay under my calorie goal, I don't really understand the problem the OP is describing. If you really struggle to get up to your goal of 1900 calories, how did you become overweight?

I ate foods that were well... Very unhealthy for me. I ate vegetables and fruit but just not in large amounts. And I snacked on chocolate, crisps and such an awful lot so I suppose that's how. The only issue I have now is that with substituting healthy foods, which are often lower calories, I'm eating as much as I used to and it's just bringing it up to 1200 calories, but I'm full so I don't want to eat any more.

Thank you to everyone that took time to explain and try to help, it's actually making more sense to me now. I've never been someone to snack on nuts or seeds so I'll it out!

I understand your plight. I struggle myself with the same issue. It was easy to over consume on garbage foods because they are so high in calories. Yet when you substitute the same number or less of a healthy alternative, you find that you can only eat so much broccoli before you would rather eat nothing at all. LOL I use a lot of whey protein in my meals, which gives me calories plus the ever important protein for muscle growth. There are ways to do this without feeling like you are eating for the sake of just consuming calories. The advice that peeps have given so far is spot on.

Do the best you can and don't get so caught up in numbers. I'm likely eating under what I should according to my BMR, but I have consistently lost for 10 weeks because I watch my macros and get good nutrition. At some point I will need to increase calories if I want to add muscle, however as long as you understand the balance, you should be fine. Just be sure to feed your body with good foods and if you crash and burn during exercise, its likely because you are under nourished ... kick it up and bit and keep plugging away.

MorganLeighRN

Bump for later

Squashypig

CHOCOLATE!!!


Oh wait you want healthy options...my bad...:blushing:

Dark chocolate is good for you, as long as it's not loaded down with milk and sugar. I have a couple squares of a nice bar of dark chocolate on most days. Helps keep much worse cravings at bay.

I also have chocolate most days. If I have calories left to spare at the end of the day then I will head for the fridge and have a few squares of my favourite - Galaxy Smooth. I agree, it definately helps you get over the cravings knowing that you CAN have some chocolate if you so desire. I have mine already broken into segments in a container in the fridge, so I just take as many as I allow myself rather thank having the whole bar in front of me.

love4fitnesslove4food_wechange

prepare your vegetables with olive oil, 120 calories per tbsp
add lowfat shredded cheese to your veggies for 80 calories per ounce
have a serving of nuts for a snack-160 calories per ounce
add pb to your oatmeal or with an apple -200 calories for 2 tbsp

That isn't much more "Food" but it adds 560 calories. That's by simply sauteeing veggies in olive oil, adding cheese to them, adding a snack of 1/4 cup nuts, and adding pb to something you're already eating. Not much more bulk so it isn't going to make you any more stuffed.

WendyTerry420

I have found it hard to hit my minimum calories with just healthy food alone. I often eat a bit of peanut butter to bring my calories up. Occasionally, especially if I had a particularly good workout, I will go ahead and spend a few hundred calories on a yummy dessert.