How can you up your calorie intake without upping.....

TTHeart
TTHeart Posts: 3
in Health and Weight Loss
My Dietician wants me to consume 1500 calories a day. I am ending up at between 1000 and 1200 and have exhausted my daily allowences for Carbs, Protien, Fat, Sodium, and Cholesterol. What kind of foods can I add that will increase my calories without increasing the other categories? What changes can I make that will help me reach my calorie intake without over shooting my other allowences. Any help in this matter would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Teresa

Replies

  • LPCoder
    LPCoder Posts: 404 Member
    If you want us to be able to make suggestions, you may want to open you profile to public so we can see what you are eating currently and can suggest changes and offer better informed support.
  • wftiger
    wftiger Posts: 1,283 Member
    You will have to up some to get to that level. You might want to look at your choices and keep carbs and sodium lower. It is fine to go over on protein, fat and cholesterol (unless you have a health reason not to).

    Go for healthy fats like nuts and avocados.

    Sometimes it just takes looking at the food you eat.. Do you eat low fat? Don't. If you eat full fat you will get to your daily calories quicker. Eat lots of low starch veggies and keep fruit to one serving.
  • zebisis
    zebisis Posts: 157
    I am pretty sure that you can eat extra protein!! Lower carbs are always good, IMHO. :)
  • FredDoyle
    FredDoyle Posts: 2,273 Member
    Alcohol.
    Kidding...sort of... ;)
  • LMEighmy
    LMEighmy Posts: 6
    I've gone lower carb and higher protein. For breakfast, I usually have a protein shake (something with Whey, as a lot of soy is genetically modified) and two fiber caplets (I go with Citrucel or its generic equivalent). For the rest of the day, I concentrate on lean protein from meat, cheese, sometimes cottage cheese, and I'm trying to have more vegetables (as opposed to fruit, which has more sugars in it). If I have carbs, I mostly have whole grains, and I try to limit it to about 1/2 cup or less most of the time.

    Basically, go higher protein using lean proteins, and have more non-starchy vegetables. Always look at the carb count (subtract dietary fiber from the carb count and that will give you your net carbs).

    Another thing to remember is that any meal or snack that contains more than 8 grams of carbs (not just sugars) will spike your blood sugar. Good reason to cut way back on the carbs and up the protein.

    The protein also helps you feel satisfied longer while helping you maintain muscle during weight loss. If you cut back on protein, you'll lose muscle, and that doesn't really help. Protein takes longer than carbs to burn off, which means it won't affect insulin the way carbs do.

    Another good thing to do is to have five or six small meals about two hours apart, rather than three meals four hours apart. The longer you go without eating, the hungrier you'll get, and the bigger the risk of binge eating and/or having a "crash."

    I'd recommend the book, "Good Calories, Bad Calories" (I have the Shortcut Summaries version for Kindle). Another good one is "High Protein, Low Carb & Good Fat Diet" (also for Kindle).

    I hope this helps. Good luck! :)

    ~L
  • Jfrerichs
    Jfrerichs Posts: 32 Member
    Alcohol.
    Kidding...sort of... ;)

    laughing and agreeing :smile:
  • contingencyplan
    contingencyplan Posts: 3,639 Member
    There is no way to add calorie sources that don't contain either protein, fat, and carbs. That is what determines the calorie count of food. 1g carbs = 4 calories. 1g protein = 4 calories. 1g fat = 9 calories.
  • crazybookworm
    crazybookworm Posts: 779 Member
    Remember that Fruits and Veggies are NATURAL carbs. So if your eating lots of fruit and veggies and the carbs are over due to that, then you're okay. But I suggest making your diary open so we can make better suggestions :)
  • VelociMama
    VelociMama Posts: 3,119 Member
    There is no way to add calorie sources that don't contain either protein, fat, and carbs. That is what determines the calorie count of food. 1g carbs = 4 calories. 1g protein = 4 calories. 1g fat = 9 calories.

    ^ This is exactly right.

    If your macronutrients are exhausted at 1000 or so calories, then you should re-evaluate them for the higher calorie level and make sure your math adds up correctly.

    The most convenient way to do that on MFP is to set a macronutrient ratio that you can input into MFP and have it automatically calculate how many carbs, fats, and protein you should get daily.
  • RobynMWilson
    RobynMWilson Posts: 1,540 Member
    Do you have a medical reason why you can't up your protein, like kidney problems? How many protein grams are you allotted each day?
  • RobynMWilson
    RobynMWilson Posts: 1,540 Member
    Remember that Fruits and Veggies are NATURAL carbs. So if your eating lots of fruit and veggies and the carbs are over due to that, then you're okay. But I suggest making your diary open so we can make better suggestions :)

    Unless you're diabetic...carbs are carbs and sugars are sugars for diabetics, regardless if they're refined sugars or natural sugars. If my dad eats a banana, he's gonna have a problem!
  • subcult
    subcult Posts: 262 Member
    Were the macro limits set by your dietitian or Mfp ?
  • katevarner
    katevarner Posts: 884 Member
    For better advice, please unlock your diary, but the simple answer is that if you change your calories allowed to 1500 then you won't go over on carbs, fat and protein all 3 because you cannot. The carbs/fat/protein you are allowed will automatically come out to 1500 calories. If you need to change, go to goals and choose custom. That way you can change the calories and the macros. I wouldn't suggest upping your sodium. Cholesterol depends on whether your dietitian or doctor has told you a specific amount that's ok. Most studies agree that the amount of cholesterol in your diet is not directly related to the amount of cholesterol in your bloodstream, tho.

    If you need help setting the goals, message me.
  • eatrainsmile
    eatrainsmile Posts: 220 Member
    If I were you, I'ld ask this question to my dietitician since you already have one. We dont know if you have a kidney disease, if you are diabetic, if you have a high blood pressure or if you have any other health issue. People on here may mislead you since I have just seen "go over protein it is good, carbs are worse" comments which are not valid for everyone and some people on here are not as well informed as you think they are.
  • eatrainsmile
    eatrainsmile Posts: 220 Member
    There is no way to add calorie sources that don't contain either protein, fat, and carbs. That is what determines the calorie count of food. 1g carbs = 4 calories. 1g protein = 4 calories. 1g fat = 9 calories.

    This is 100% right. You cant increase your calories without increasing your carbs, protein or fat. Ask your dietitician for a better diet plan.
  • TTHeart
    TTHeart Posts: 3
    Thank you everyone for taking of your time to respond. I will check with my dietician for further clarification. Thank you again.
  • magj0y
    magj0y Posts: 1,911 Member
    Thank you everyone for taking of your time to respond. I will check with my dietician for further clarification. Thank you again.

    Sorry,
    It's hard to answer the question if I don't know your carb/protein/fat/sodium/cholesterol levels!

    **Also, 1500 seems quite low for someone who needs to lose as much weight as you do.

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