Not getting enough calories

murphyraven
murphyraven Posts: 163 Member
in Food and Nutrition
sounds weird huh? Someone overweight trying to lose weight who is having trouble getting enough calories?

Well that's where I am finding myself. I have cut out a majorority of processed foods from my diet and have been carefully portioning my meals. Trouble is, I've been portioning so carefully that I am actually coming under my 1290 calorie mark. After doing a bit of googling it seems that if I don't want to slow and possibly stop altogether my weight loss I need to get those calories up.

I'm having trouble figuring out to get that little bit more into my diet without going back to the old me. I am currently on medication prescribed through my doctor to help me on my weight loss journey, please no negative comments on that, and they help me avoid my overeating habits, so much so that I now have trouble eating enough.

Looking for ideas for either more to add to meals or a snack to get me to my goal. About 200-300 cal. Low fat, not processed. I try to eat a balance of lean protein, whole grains, plenty of fruits and vegetables. I don't want to fill that last 2-300 cal with just whatever. I want it to be a deliberate nutrition choice, and hopefully one I can at least somewhat tolerate and maybe even enjoy.

any advice greatly appreciated.

Replies

  • DaphneAtx
    DaphneAtx Posts: 153
    People ask this a lot, so you may want to do a search. Add nuts, avocados, full-fat dairy products, peanut butter, have a protein shake with milk. Just have another snack during the day of some good fats and a piece of fruit.

    Also, if you're on medication to suppress your appetite and it's suppressing your appetite so much that you can't eat - it's time for a lower dose and you need to consult your doctor.
  • SomeoneSomeplace
    SomeoneSomeplace Posts: 1,094 Member
    The thing about higher calorie healthy snack is they tend to have a bit of fat but they are good fats....

    Examples- Avocados, Almonds, Pistachios, Peanut Butter , Cashews

    Lower fat options include - Yogurt, Popcorn, Hard Boiled Eggs, Hummus, Cottage Cheese maybe a nice Smoothie? Tons of recipes on here for them! Baked chips & salsa , or some home made baked pita or kale chips, oatmeal is awesome.

    Eating more is actually a lot easier than you think.

    Also if you really aren't much of a snacker maybe you can do 5 meals a day?
  • jzammetti
    jzammetti Posts: 1,956 Member
    You could have 24 almonds for about 200 calories - the fat is good for you and they are easy to munch on.
  • TrainSweatEatSleep
    TrainSweatEatSleep Posts: 56 Member
    Almond butter sliced banana whole wheat sandwich.

    [140 calories] 2 whole wheat bread slices
    [95 calories] 16 grams of almond butter
    [90 calories] 100 grams of banana

    [325 calories]

    use a digital scale to weigh your food and log it in your MFP diary.
  • murphyraven
    murphyraven Posts: 163 Member
    thank you. new to MFP so haven't gotten into the habit yet of doing searches. I'll take a look around.

    I am on the lowest dose of the medication. Its not that I can't eat, its that I no longer have that NEED to. I think most of it is that I am so over zelous of wanting to get my weight under control that I am working against myself. Wanting to make things happen too fast.
  • TrainSweatEatSleep
    TrainSweatEatSleep Posts: 56 Member
    Almond butter sliced banana rolled oats

    [300 calories] 80 grams of publix rolled oats
    [95 calories] 16 grams of almond butter
    [90 calories] 100 grams of banana
    [60 calories] 8 ounces of almond milk

    [545 calories]

    weigh your food and almond milk with a digital scale and log it in your MFP diary.
    do a 20-30 minute cardio sesh and log it in your MFP diary.

    Train.
    Sweat.
    Eat.
    Sleep.
    Repeat.
  • Christine1110
    Christine1110 Posts: 1,786 Member
    I have always ate around 1200 calories while try to lose my weight. I started at 232.8 pounds, and now weigh 113. I did eat 1/2 my calories back after a hard workout....not just going for a walk.
    I stopped eating processed foods, premade, and eating out. I gave up sugar....I have bread, pasta, and potatoes rarely.
    I eat alot of food everyday....because it's fresh I stay right around 1200. I have breakfast, am snack, lunch, pm snack, dinner, and a evening snack.

    Feel free to add me, and check out my food diary
  • HeatherTransformed
    HeatherTransformed Posts: 213 Member
    I have the same problem. I've added 2% Greek yogurt (Chobani) every morning and I try to eat 1/2 an avocado everyday (I add a little Srirachi to make it taste awesome!). It is difficult to add calories without also adding sodium, carbs and fat. I empathize. :o)
  • slrose
    slrose Posts: 164 Member
    here are some great recipes you might like


    add protiem powder to these ones to really bring up the count

    http://www.thegraciouspantry.com/clean-eating-pumpkin-pie-oatmeal-smoothie/

    http://www.ambrosiabaking.com/2011/07/strawberry-lassi.html


    this one is full of super healthy fats

    http://circle-b-kitchen.squarespace.com/food-and-recipes/2010/6/20/grilled-avocados.html



    for spreading ontoast

    http://greatist.com/health/superfood-almonds/
  • tinyplease123
    tinyplease123 Posts: 10
    You could make a smoothie- I know you dont want processed foods but you can buy milk at a farmers market, dump that in there, some avocado, some yogurt and some local honey. bam- def over 300 cals.
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
    Why are you looking at low fat suggestions? Is there a reason you are trying to limit your fat?
  • jmzz1
    jmzz1 Posts: 670 Member
    facing a similar problem of increasing my diet from 1300 to 1900 calories... bump
  • murphyraven
    murphyraven Posts: 163 Member
    Why are you looking at low fat suggestions? Is there a reason you are trying to limit your fat?

    Mostly due to being right on target (or darn close) with MFP guidelines for fat and protein. So finding ways to add a few more calories without going overboard in other areas is sometimes tricky. I know with good fats I shouldn't be too worried about what MFP numbers are, especially if I am not going waay over.

    Oddly enough I am under on my carbs. Being such a previous (bad) carb junky I find this humorous. Going to try incorporating more veggies, bean, quinoa. slow carbs etc. I've been playing around on the MFP food database looking up various items and writing down a list of ideas.
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
    Why are you looking at low fat suggestions? Is there a reason you are trying to limit your fat?

    Mostly due to being right on target (or darn close) with MFP guidelines for fat and protein. So finding ways to add a few more calories without going overboard in other areas is sometimes tricky. I know with good fats I shouldn't be too worried about what MFP numbers are, especially if I am not going waay over.

    Oddly enough I am under on my carbs. Being such a previous (bad) carb junky I find this humorous. Going to try incorporating more veggies, bean, quinoa. slow carbs etc. I've been playing around on the MFP food database looking up various items and writing down a list of ideas.

    MFP is really really low on fats and proteins - I would take these as minumums. Healthy fats are good for you and protein is good for muscle repair and maintaining LBM. General recommendation for fats is a minimum of 0.35g per lb of body weight.

    You have some good suggestions from folks, some of which were high in fat which is why I asked.

    Repeating a lot here, but some of my suggestions would be (mainly higher fat with some protein)
    - no low fat food
    - dairy (protein and fat if you do not go skim/low fat)
    - nuts and nut butters
    - eggs
    - seeds
    - avocados
    - add oil or butter to cooking/dressings

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