it's kinda hard for me to meet my calorie minimum...

2

Replies

  • FlaxMilk
    FlaxMilk Posts: 3,452 Member
    Some people are taught not to overeat what they're craving/wanting.
    Also, there are a lot of nutritionally dense foods that keep you full without tons of calories.

    Yes, but you need calories. Calories aren't a negative side effect of eating, they are a necessary part of keeping your body alive. If you need to, try adding some calories in liquid form--milk or a non-dairy alternative. Get some protein and fat in you.
  • LeggyAmericanGirl
    LeggyAmericanGirl Posts: 285 Member
    Eat more meat at your meals and more calorie dense foods with healthy fats like nuts and avocados. Lettuce is filling but its like 20 calories per cup.
  • FlaxMilk
    FlaxMilk Posts: 3,452 Member
    Forget about rice cakes as a calorie boosting snack; eat some almonds, cashews, or something with more protein. You will really suffer from not getting what your body needs, and your body needs calories. It's one thing to not make your calorie goal, it's another to not even get halfway there.

    Try sparkteens.com. Better yet, talk to your doctor about a sensible meal plan.
    I went to my doctor about 2 months ago, he said I should be eating around 1400 calories and at that point i was overeating that... then school started and I just ate less naturally. I said I had a lot of almonds around, I will eat those. I also get a lot of protein in what I eat currently.

    You said you have them, you didn't say you'd eat them. You said you'd eat rice cakes. That's not going to help your problem.

    It's hard to believe you get enough protein as a 16 year old male in under 1000 calories. If your doctor says 1400, fine, eat that. I'm not your doctor, not going to tell you something different.
  • joshkilborn
    joshkilborn Posts: 46 Member
    I'm in the same situation. I eat around 1500 calories a day and recommended is 2600. I've started eating full fat dairy instead of fat free, eating more fruit throughout the day, healthy fats like peanut butter and avocados. I've been losing weight but I don't want lose lean mass or have my metabolism slow to a halt. I've just recently made this change so we'll see how it goes!
  • stephdeeable
    stephdeeable Posts: 1,407 Member
    This is a common theme here; people 'struggling' to reach their calorie goal. The vast majority of those don't appear interested in even trying.

    That's not a fair assumption. I try extremely hard, and sometimes struggle to meet my calorie goal. It's not that I don't care, it's that I'm learning about food. I eat a HUGE veggie salad everyday for example, and it's only 150 cals but very filling. So I had to learn how to tweak healthy food to up the cals (adding protein, using full fat cheese or dressing instead of low, etc).

    There's a difference between struggling to find healthy foods that add up to a correct number, and totally disregarding your suggested calorie goal because you think it's "too much" and not trying.

    How can it be hard to meet the calorie goal??? Take that veggie salad, slap 200g boiled potatoes in it - BAM! extra 250 kcal right there. Chicken. Lean ham. Some pasta. So many things to get the calorie count up.

    If you re-read my post, that's basically exactly what I said. :)

    I'm learning how to make foods have more calories, after a couple weeks I can now get to my 2000 cals no problem, I was just saying that when you're starting out, you may not know a lot about healthy eating or calorie counting, but that doesn't mean you're not trying.
  • sfxchris
    sfxchris Posts: 39
    I'm in the same situation. I eat around 1500 calories a day and recommended is 2600. I've started eating full fat dairy instead of fat free, eating more fruit throughout the day, healthy fats like peanut butter and avocados. I've been losing weight but I don't want lose lean mass or have my metabolism slow to a halt. I've just recently made this change so we'll see how it goes!
    I'll add you and see how it works for you!
  • sjohnny
    sjohnny Posts: 56,142 Member
    if you really want to meet your calories goal you just need to make small changes
    - stop eating lowfat cheese and eat the real stuff
    - put some avocado slices and mayo on that burger
    - make sure you're eating full fat yogurt like fage and not some low cal one
    - stop eating low fat dressing
    - eat 6 oz of chicken
    - replace the protein bar with a protein shake made with milk, protein powder and fruit

    This

    and
    Damn....I must be doing it wrong because there's no way I could add up a 5 oz cheese burger, broccoli, and hashbrowns to 375 cals!

    This.

    Make sure you're weighing/measuring to get more accurate amounts of the food you're eating. I don't see how the lunch you're eating is only 375 calories. You may be closer to your 2000 than you think.
  • sfxchris
    sfxchris Posts: 39
    Forget about rice cakes as a calorie boosting snack; eat some almonds, cashews, or something with more protein. You will really suffer from not getting what your body needs, and your body needs calories. It's one thing to not make your calorie goal, it's another to not even get halfway there.

    Try sparkteens.com. Better yet, talk to your doctor about a sensible meal plan.
    I went to my doctor about 2 months ago, he said I should be eating around 1400 calories and at that point i was overeating that... then school started and I just ate less naturally. I said I had a lot of almonds around, I will eat those. I also get a lot of protein in what I eat currently.

    You said you have them, you didn't say you'd eat them. You said you'd eat rice cakes. That's not going to help your problem.

    It's hard to believe you get enough protein as a 16 year old male in under 1000 calories. If your doctor says 1400, fine, eat that. I'm not your doctor, not going to tell you something different.
    Well I'm not losing substantial muscle, and I'm almost always matching or close to MFP's recommended grams of protein per day, so I must be going something right. thanks for your input.
  • FlaxMilk
    FlaxMilk Posts: 3,452 Member
    Well I'm not losing substantial muscle, and I'm almost always matching or close to MFP's recommended grams of protein per day, so I must be going something right. thanks for your input.

    I'm curious--what does MFP have your protein at?

    Edited because I got snarky and I apologize.
  • sfxchris
    sfxchris Posts: 39
    if you really want to meet your calories goal you just need to make small changes
    - stop eating lowfat cheese and eat the real stuff
    - put some avocado slices and mayo on that burger
    - make sure you're eating full fat yogurt like fage and not some low cal one
    - stop eating low fat dressing
    - eat 6 oz of chicken
    - replace the protein bar with a protein shake made with milk, protein powder and fruit

    This

    and
    Damn....I must be doing it wrong because there's no way I could add up a 5 oz cheese burger, broccoli, and hashbrowns to 375 cals!

    This.

    Make sure you're weighing/measuring to get more accurate amounts of the food you're eating. I don't see how the lunch you're eating is only 375 calories. You may be closer to your 2000 than you think.

    Will adjust according to the first quote, they seem like passive changes that wouldn't take much time at all in terms of preparation.

    And yeah, but it's:
    1 cup of broccoli - 30 calories
    1 cup of hash browns - 60 calories
    ketchup - 15 calories
    The burger - 250 calories
    the cheese - 25 calories

    that's 380. maybe it's the brands that i'm using that're low on calories, but my plate seems to be full
  • FlaxMilk
    FlaxMilk Posts: 3,452 Member
    How are you doing on fat?
  • sfxchris
    sfxchris Posts: 39
    Well I'm not losing substantial muscle, and I'm almost always matching or close to MFP's recommended grams of protein per day, so I must be going something right. thanks for your input.

    I'm curious--what does MFP have your protein at?

    And fine, you're doing everything right, keep doing what you're doing then, /end thread. It will be deleted soon anyway.
    My protein goal is 78 currently, and i just had shakeology this morning which is 18 protein right there.
  • FlaxMilk
    FlaxMilk Posts: 3,452 Member

    My protein goal is 78 currently, and i just had shakeology this morning which is 18 protein right there.

    Edit because I stand corrected--more protein than I would have thought in those meats.
  • sfxchris
    sfxchris Posts: 39
    How are you doing on fat?
    most of what I eat is low fat so there tends to be a larger fat deficit than protein. like 30-40 per day. I can close that up with healthy fats though like nuts
  • FlaxMilk
    FlaxMilk Posts: 3,452 Member
    How are you doing on fat?
    most of what I eat is low fat so there tends to be a larger fat deficit than protein. like 30-40 per day. I can close that up with healthy fats though like nuts

    Yes, you will really need to. Healthy fats are essential for many different bodily processes, and it's one reason people are saying it's a problem to not get enough calories. If you aren't getting enough calories, it's impossible to get enough of something.
  • iandunston
    iandunston Posts: 2
    I find it hard to not to eat more than daily my calorie target. Sometimes I have to do 2 lots of exercise in a day just to keep to the daily target
  • sfxchris
    sfxchris Posts: 39

    My protein goal is 78 currently, and i just had shakeology this morning which is 18 protein right there.

    Where are the other 60 grams coming from? I'm a vegan, so I don't keep up on meat protein counts, but I'm not sure that there could be 60 g in chicken and a burger.
    The 5 ounces (I measure) of meat has 30g of protein, the cheese has 4, broccoli and hashbrowns each have 2. that's lunch, and that's 38g of protein

    then for dinner, the chicken is 19g of protein by what the label says.

    and then in the morning if I don't have shakeology it's a protein meal bar which, by name, has a lot of protein. It's like 10 grams for one bar.
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member

    Will adjust according to the first quote, they seem like passive changes that wouldn't take much time at all in terms of preparation.

    And yeah, but it's:
    1 cup of broccoli - 30 calories
    1 cup of hash browns - 60 calories
    ketchup - 15 calories
    The burger - 250 calories
    the cheese - 25 calories

    that's 380. maybe it's the brands that i'm using that're low on calories, but my plate seems to be full

    1 cup of hash brooms for 60 calories?

    You also just mentioned you had a shakology shake. Unless you are adding stuff in, they are very low in calories. By using a different protein powder or meal replacement, you could easily add in extra calories and not necessarily add extra food.
  • sfxchris
    sfxchris Posts: 39
    How are you doing on fat?
    most of what I eat is low fat so there tends to be a larger fat deficit than protein. like 30-40 per day. I can close that up with healthy fats though like nuts

    Yes, you will really need to. Healthy fats are essential for many different bodily processes, and it's one reason people are saying it's a problem to not get enough calories. If you aren't getting enough calories, it's impossible to get enough of something.
    okay, going to pick up more nuts today to last me for this week. and maybe I'll have like oil and vinegar on the salad except for salad dressing, since olive oil is 120 calories for like 1 tbsp.
  • FlaxMilk
    FlaxMilk Posts: 3,452 Member

    My protein goal is 78 currently, and i just had shakeology this morning which is 18 protein right there.

    Where are the other 60 grams coming from? I'm a vegan, so I don't keep up on meat protein counts, but I'm not sure that there could be 60 g in chicken and a burger.
    The 5 ounces (I measure) of meat has 30g of protein, the cheese has 4, broccoli and hashbrowns each have 2. that's lunch, and that's 38g of protein

    then for dinner, the chicken is 19g of protein by what the label says.

    and then in the morning if I don't have shakeology it's a protein meal bar which, by name, has a lot of protein. It's like 10 grams for one bar.

    I'm not going to tell you this is definitely the case, but some feel the protein requirements in general and on MFP are too low. If I followed them, I'd only need 40 g, and that just seems inadequate.
  • FlaxMilk
    FlaxMilk Posts: 3,452 Member


    okay, going to pick up more nuts today to last me for this week. and maybe I'll have like oil and vinegar on the salad except for salad dressing, since olive oil is 120 calories for like 1 tbsp.

    Yes, definitely do that dressing switch. Fat helps you absorb veggies better anyway. If you missed them, I edited and apologized for snarks. Not enough sleep last night.
  • sfxchris
    sfxchris Posts: 39

    Will adjust according to the first quote, they seem like passive changes that wouldn't take much time at all in terms of preparation.

    And yeah, but it's:
    1 cup of broccoli - 30 calories
    1 cup of hash browns - 60 calories
    ketchup - 15 calories
    The burger - 250 calories
    the cheese - 25 calories

    that's 380. maybe it's the brands that i'm using that're low on calories, but my plate seems to be full

    1 cup of hash brooms for 60 calories?

    You also just mentioned you had a shakology shake. Unless you are adding stuff in, they are very low in calories. By using a different protein powder or meal replacement, you could easily add in extra calories and not necessarily add extra food.

    Yeah, only 60 calories:
    http://www.cascadianfarm.com/products/product_detail.aspx?cat=13&upc=0-21908-50167-3


    this morning I had a shakeology shake, I have it with skim milk. I don't have it daily though, since I don't like dragging out the blender every day. I have some whey, I can add some of that to it.
  • sfxchris
    sfxchris Posts: 39


    okay, going to pick up more nuts today to last me for this week. and maybe I'll have like oil and vinegar on the salad except for salad dressing, since olive oil is 120 calories for like 1 tbsp.

    Yes, definitely do that dressing switch. Fat helps you absorb veggies better anyway. If you missed them, I edited and apologized for snarks. Not enough sleep last night.
    It's okay, I have some good ideas now on what to switch to up the calories. I know that netting 500 calories a day was wrong, but I felt like I was eating more than I was which is why I made this post. It just felt weird.

    And if it's true that MFP's protein requirements are lower than they should be, then I'll have to ask my doctor. i just assumed it was right, I pay close attention to protein
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member

    Will adjust according to the first quote, they seem like passive changes that wouldn't take much time at all in terms of preparation.

    And yeah, but it's:
    1 cup of broccoli - 30 calories
    1 cup of hash browns - 60 calories
    ketchup - 15 calories
    The burger - 250 calories
    the cheese - 25 calories

    that's 380. maybe it's the brands that i'm using that're low on calories, but my plate seems to be full

    1 cup of hash brooms for 60 calories?

    You also just mentioned you had a shakology shake. Unless you are adding stuff in, they are very low in calories. By using a different protein powder or meal replacement, you could easily add in extra calories and not necessarily add extra food.

    Yeah, only 60 calories:
    http://www.cascadianfarm.com/products/product_detail.aspx?cat=13&upc=0-21908-50167-3


    this morning I had a shakeology shake, I have it with skim milk. I don't have it daily though, since I don't like dragging out the blender every day. I have some whey, I can add some of that to it.

    Wow. Never saw those. I even browsed the food section before I posted.

    And also, using a high fat content milk will help you up those calories.
  • wifealiciousness
    wifealiciousness Posts: 179 Member

    Then I'll finish, work out, which usually burns 300-500 calories depending on the day/duration, and have lunch, which this week has been a 5 oz. burger with lowfat cheese, a cup of broccoli and a cup of hashbrowns and some ketchup.... this ONLY comes out to 375 calories and it fills me up..

    Damn....I must be doing it wrong because there's no way I could add up a 5 oz cheese burger, broccoli, and hashbrowns to 375 cals!

    Exactly this.
  • FlaxMilk
    FlaxMilk Posts: 3,452 Member

    It's okay, I have some good ideas now on what to switch to up the calories. I know that netting 500 calories a day was wrong, but I felt like I was eating more than I was which is why I made this post. It just felt weird.

    And if it's true that MFP's protein requirements are lower than they should be, then I'll have to ask my doctor. i just assumed it was right, I pay close attention to protein

    MFP's aren't wrong. I'm pretty sure they follow current standards. It's more that people doubt that current standards are right.

    I also don't worry about netting, just flat intake, and not taking enough in can really hurt you. But it sounds like you are open to that.
  • FlaxMilk
    FlaxMilk Posts: 3,452 Member
    Here's an article on calculating your protein needs: http://exercise.about.com/cs/nutrition/a/protein_2.htm
  • sfxchris
    sfxchris Posts: 39

    Then I'll finish, work out, which usually burns 300-500 calories depending on the day/duration, and have lunch, which this week has been a 5 oz. burger with lowfat cheese, a cup of broccoli and a cup of hashbrowns and some ketchup.... this ONLY comes out to 375 calories and it fills me up..

    Damn....I must be doing it wrong because there's no way I could add up a 5 oz cheese burger, broccoli, and hashbrowns to 375 cals!

    Exactly this.


    lol!

    5 oz of angus beef is 250 calories, 90% lean.
    cascadian farms broccoli is 30 calories for 1 cup. hashbrowns are 60 calories for one cup
    the kraft skim milk cheese slices are 25 calories each
    ketchup is only 15-20 calories

    and I don't use a bun, but I guess i can do that too.
  • Jluvs3clarks
    Jluvs3clarks Posts: 31
    I hear ya! I think I have only met my calorie goal only a couple of times! I am a student with my classes during the middle of the day, so with my work outs in the morning, and school between 1130 and 130 then kids after school, it seems like I miss lunch. I take little things to eat in class. So I often have like 800 calories left for dinner, but then if I work out before dinner then I will have like 1300 left over.. and now that I am eating better, I simply can't eat that many calories.

    I also could use the support so friend me if you want.
  • sfxchris
    sfxchris Posts: 39
    Here's an article on calculating your protein needs: http://exercise.about.com/cs/nutrition/a/protein_2.htm
    Wow, so MFP IS under in terms of protein. And here I was using that as reference, humph. Apparently I should be getting 100g+ per day, if this article is correct.

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