I guess I just don't understand

ohmelgosh79

When I signed up for MFP it gave me the recommended daily calorie intake of 1200. After reading someone's post about BMR, I checked mine which gave me 1555 calories per day. Here's where my confusion or rather frustration comes in. As it is right now, I have a REALLY hard time reaching my goal of 1200 per day. I'm usually coming up with at least 300-400 calories left. And that's not including when I workout! If I can't get in my 1200 per day, how can I expect to get 1500 in and then my kick back from my workouts. How do you all get your daily intake in?

Mokey41

You don't want to eat your food or can't eat it? It's seriously not hard to get in 1500 calories a day. Eat full fat dairy, avocado, eggs, oils, meat, nuts. Forget "diet" food and just eat!

kenazfehu

I don't have that problem. I try for around 1350-1400 calories per day, and there's generally 300-400 more calories I would like to eat, but don't (except sometimes).

Break your calorie count into meals. For example, if my goal were 1200 per day, I have 4 meals, so that would be 300 calories per meal. It's crazy-easy to put 300 calories on a plate.

cmriverside

How do you all get your daily intake in?

Seriously? Eat more.

kristen6022

I eat a bit under 1900 calories a day and have a hard time keeping under that. I can't see how you have a hard time eating over 1200. Please open up your diary so we can see what's going on...

sarahisme18

I calculated my TDEE, and I'm eating just 15% or so below that—which is more than my BMR (you should use your BMR to calculate your TDEE and then eat 15-20% below that to lose weight). I'm eating 1800 calories a day, and it really is not that hard once you evaluate WHAT you are eating.

If you want some ideas, take a look at my diary! It's open. You just have to get creative. For example, 1/4 cup of trail mix is usually around 150 calories. Eat 1/2 cup, which is SUPER easy to do... and you've got 300 calories right there.

Find things that are high in nutrients like protein, complex carbs, and healthy fats—rice, avocado, eggs, nuts, etc—that have a high calorie content for low volume, and you can easily get up to 1800 calories a day.

dougii

I have shakes in the morning with protien powder, milk and fruit (500 cals); salad and an apple for lunch (200 cals); meat and vegetables and rice for dinner (600 - 800 cals depending). If I need to eat more I will snack on granola bars, protien bars, additional fruit, pretzels, nuts, or something that will bump up my carbs a bit because of the amount of running I do. 1500 cals a day should not be a problem if you eat the right types of food.