Going to give this a go :)

millyvanilli321

I've been stalled for about 6 weeks now, eating between 1200-1600 calories, so I've decided to try out the Eat More to Weigh Less idea and up my cals. I'm aiming for at LEAST 1600 a day, but I'm not sure if this is enough of an increase?

According to a TDEE calculator, my BMR is 1591 and with a sedentary job mixed with c25k 3 x a week and 30DS 5/6 x a week (so moderate exercise) my TDEE is 2466.

I'm sorry if stuff like this gets posted all the time, and I have read the stickies to try and gauge some info, I'm just unsure about the numbers really!

Any ideas on what foods to eat to increase my cals would be great too, an extra 200 cals of biscuits isn't really the point i don't think! I definitely need more protein, just not sure how to get it into my diet!

millyvanilli321

Anyone?

CharliesAngel1

Hi there! I think that sounds good. So long as you plugged in all the right numbers, you should have the right cut number.

I like the scooby site found here
http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

To get in extra protein, I make sure I have some sort of protein with every meal. Lately, I've probably been doing too many protein shakes, but with my busy life, it's what's been working at the moment.

I often eat cottage cheese, greek yogurt and lots of chicken.

Also, added in lots of healthy fats where I would skip them before when I was on a low calorie diet. Olive oil, lots of avocado and nuts.

Hope that helps! Feel free to friend me and/or check out my diary. The last few days have been kinds of odd, but prior to that, it was more consistent with how I normally eat.

KarenJanine

When I started eating more I had to change my mindset. Rather than always looking for low cal / low fat options I now go for full fat options and look at the whole nutrient profile rather than just chosing something because of the calorie content. Therefore full fat yoghurt and cheese are back on the menu, along with nuts and avocado. The full fat options also tend to have less additives and sugar because often when fat is removed from a product it is replaced with sugar / artifical sweeteners / salt to make up for the taste.

I'm also eating more peanut butter, adding it to smoothies (or having it on wholemeal toast with Nutella for a treat).. Some people also add coconut oil to smoothies to increase the calories which I've been meaning to try when I get hold of some. I have also been having protein shakes to try and boost my protein intake. I choose ones which don't have many carbs so I can increase my protein intake without affecting my other macros. Being vegetarian I find it very hard to get 30% protein into my diet but I make sure I always get more than my lean body mass in grams (approx 106), and am usually getting between 120 and 150 grams.

It is advised to not take more than a 15% cut from your TDEE so based on your calculations this would mean you should be eating around 2096 calories on a cut. As your TDEE calculations already take exercise into account you do not need to eat back your exercise calories. However, you should be netting above your BMR so if on a high exercise burn day your net figure is below 1591 even after you've eaten your 2096 calories you should eat more to make sure you're netting above BMR.

Hope this helps.

millyvanilli321

Thanks for that link, it gives me a 15% cut as 2095!! I think I need to eat more :blushing:

What protein shakes do you use? Do you have to drink them mixed with milk? I'm just not a fan of milk and living with my partner's dairy allergy I pretty much have a no dairy diet so adding that much milk might upset my stomach a bit

I have an avocado in the fridge waiting to be mushed in to guacamole :happy:

EDIT: thanks for the reply! must have posted while I was typing. Peanut butter is a great idea!

KarenJanine

I use whey blend protein powders, mostly from myprotein.com (although I'm in the UK, not sure if they are based elsewhere too), mostly because they are a good price and come in good flavours.

I also use a pea protein from the same supplier which is dairy free and vegan. It has a fairly neutral, although slightly pea-like flavour so I add this to savory foods and use it for protein pancakes. Soy powders are also available if you are avoiding dairy. Most protein powders can be mixed with water, although I tend to mix with half soy milk, half water to make it a bit richer in flavour and add more calcium. Almond milk is very popular on this forum although it's very expensive in the UK at the moment so I mostly just use soy.

millyvanilli321

Thanks, I'm in the UK too so i'll check out those suppliers. I'll definitely give half soy milk/half water a go! Very helpful, thanks

crystalwelshroberts

I love Greek yogurt, I have a couple a day for snacks and they are 130 a piece. Also, cottage cheese with almonds, or either by themselves. Whey shakes are great after a workout with banana and crushed ice, and just have generous portions of lean chicken salmon whatever your favorite meat is... You'll be surprised how quickly the cals ad up when you are enjoying richer (not lite or fat free) foods.

There was a great string with a whole list of ideas for protein, here ya go:

http://greatist.com/health/high-protein-snacks-portable/#