REALLY Struggling to Hit Daily Calories

footiechick82

I looked at just today - eat more in the morning - pig out! 1 thing of oatmeal is not enough... and try not to eat that instant crap... I normally go for a lot of fruit, greek yogurt, one of my fav is special K cereal with bananas or strawberries, boiled eggs... etc... have at least 400 calories in the morning - I try to.

Add a salad to lunch AND dinner... put in some avocado's and nuts and you will see that these healthy choices will increase your calories Rice/potatoes and meat is going to hurt youin the end... you need veggies too!

Chief_Rocka

9.5 times out of 10, when you're having this problem, you're not eating enough fat

Elzecat

I never have this problem (hitting daily calories) and I eat way more than 1200

Your diary looks really good, lots of healthy choices. You could add nut butters, or avocado, or a little olive oil to certain things. Also, just slightly larger portion sizes--Add another hardboiled egg, an extra string cheese at breakfast for some additional protein, another packet of the oatmeal, a cup or so of mixed veggies or another serving of fruit, and you'd be able to net 1200 a little more easily. Without adding "junk."

Good luck!

Edited to add: I love instant oatmeal but save the packets for emergency lunches when I have no food in the house, or as an evening snack--in the AM I make 1/2 cup of plain "quick oats" (cooks in microwave in 1-2 minutes) and add a half scoop of protein powder, maybe some fruit and nuts=about 300 calories, so right there you'd get a bit of boost in the AM AND some extra protein, which is great for muscle repair as you are working out

longtimeterp

i see you drink protein shakes, have one! a goal of 1gm/lb of lean body weight is a good place to aim for your daily protein intake...i'm sure you have a lbm of more than 60lbs!

candy102389

Just looked at your diary. try making you oatmeal with milk and adding fresh fruit to it like banana or blueberries. I would have natural peanut butter with my apple. make some guacamole to go with your chicken and rice. yum!

Alford96

oh, and I forgot about greek yogurts-YUMMO!

1ConcreteGirl

Agree with everyone saying add more flavor to your meals. They're pretty boring right now, and sauces, guacamole, peanut butter, etc. will add up for the calories.

Follow this general rule: if you have calories left over and your macros are on track, EAT ICE CREAM. Every night.

Tyggress73

Thank you everyone for your helpful thoughts and replies. I will be adding your suggestions to my meal plans.

I can certainly up my portions or simply bulk up my meals a bit by adding more fats or additional proteins. All great ideas.

On a side note: Today is a little rare. If you look at previous days in my diary, I don't always get such a low calories count...but I'm worried about today because of the exercise I did.

Thank you again...much appreciated~!

TR0berts

As a few others have mentioned - full fat dairy, instead of skim and/or lowfat.

Also, simply eat more of what you're already eating.

ArroganceInStep

If under your calories:
Take the imeat items in your plan, and if they're lean choose fattier options.

If still under your calories:
Take the portion sizes of your meat and if you can handle it double the serving size

If still under your calories:
Add more dietary fat to your meals, or spoon into some PB or something

If still under your calories:
Take the portion sizes of your carbs and if you can handle it double the serving size.

If still under your calories:
Eat Ice Cream

If still under your calories:
Eat more ice cream

jonchew

Nine servings of fruit and veggies in the full rainbow of colours, three servings of reduced fat dairy, lean protein at each meal and snack including oily fish regularly, healthy fats little and often (nuts, seeds, avocado, olives, cocoa), plenty of mineral/ fibre rich foods (nuts, seeds, beans, lentils) ... which of these are you not having or not having enough of? Which macros do you feel you are low on? Remember MFP protein, fibre and fats are minimums not necessarily optimal.

^^^ This is a perfect answer!! ^^^

quirkytizzy

When we try to eat "healthy", we often come into it with the idea that we have to cut out everything but fruits, veggies, salad, and skinless chicken. If you are trying to live off those, not only will have a hard time keeping yourself properly fueled, but you will make yourself miserable by the end of it.

Satiating foods are not the enemy. You can still enjoy a very rich, plentiful, and filling diet while losing weight. Weight loss does not immediately equal all things low-cal.

mountainviewlake

If you don't actually consume at least the 1200 calories your body will not have enough
Fuel to metabolize the calories you do eat! You are putting your body into starvation mode and so your metabolism
Slows down and doesn't burn what you do eat and you will not only stop losing fat but you could gain weight ... There is a great post about fifteen months ago called "the 700 calorie a day obese person".
You need fuel (food) to raise your metabolic rate ... And if you are not only not eating 1200 calories but are burning hundreds if calories through exercise you are further "freaking" out your body and it is going to shut down and you will be tired and thirsty and damaging your muscle and building fat stores.

Plan your meals the day before and eat at the same time each meal each day ... I eat about 275 calories at breakfast, 300 at lunch and four hundred at dinner and then count out sixteen wheat thins and two tablespoons of hummus let's day for one snack and some fruit or yogurt for the other ... Keep whole wheat bread and high fibre foods and plan your meals and snacks so that you eat 1200 calories plus half again what you exercised off if not more! In two or three months you metabolism will change and you will start to see the weight leave you! You have to watch this "not eating enough or the right foods" or your body
Will again shut down and not burn the fuel correctly! EAT TO LOSE WEIGHT!!!! EAT HIGH FIBRE foods and just eat what you enjoy eating but watch the sugary foods and white foods ... White potatoes white rice white flour !!!!

stumblinthrulife

This happened to me also. I introduced/increased so many low Calorie density foods (veges, fruits, soups), and cut out so many high Calorie density foods (red meat, butter, oils, dairy) that I got full very easily.

I turned it around by carefully reintroducing/introducing things like chicken breast, greek yogurt, whole wheat pasta, dairy etc.... while paying close attention to portion control.

chubbychristianchick

If you're eating diet food eat the 'real' or 'full fat' version. For example a fat free greek yogurt is like 100 calories a reg fat greek yogurt is like 250calories.

Also try nuts and dried fruits that do not have sulfur or added sugar.

I like some dried fruits with my breakfast if I have extra calories.

Firefox7275

Nine servings of fruit and veggies in the full rainbow of colours, three servings of reduced fat dairy, lean protein at each meal and snack including oily fish regularly, healthy fats little and often (nuts, seeds, avocado, olives, cocoa), plenty of mineral/ fibre rich foods (nuts, seeds, beans, lentils) ... which of these are you not having or not having enough of? Which macros do you feel you are low on? Remember MFP protein, fibre and fats are minimums not necessarily optimal.

I just made my diary public. If you care to look, I would appreciate feedback. I haven't hit any of my goals today yet, calories or macros, etc. I know I need to eat higher/more calorie dense foods...was looking for suggestions on what others eat.

Well MFP is telling you that you are under on protein, fibre and massively on fats - fats are essential nutrients for health and weight management not the enemy. You've not hit your target on

- vegetables (three fruits, maybe one veg at lunch). You need blue/ purple (two servings frozen mixed berries at breakfast) and dark green veggies (broccoli or fine green beans plus red or yellow bell peppers at the evening meal)

- dairy (only half a serving) so cook your oatmeal with milk not water and make your cheese snack larger

- healthy fats: half an avocado or olives count towards fat, fibre and the fruit and veggies targets and both work with chicken. Consider a small serving of canned oily fish (mackerel, salmon, sardines) which also adds protein to lunch, if you eat the crumbly bones you get more calcium in place of dairy. Add some nuts or seeds to breakfast for protein and minerals as well as the healthy fats.

If you run out of calories before you get all your servings in, lose the banana - you can eat the full nine servings of bright and dark coloured produce for roughly the same amount of carbs and they are not the most nutritious of fruits.

Tyggress73

If you don't actually consume at least the 1200 calories your body will not have enough
Fuel to metabolize the calories you do eat! You are putting your body into starvation mode and so your metabolism
Slows down and doesn't burn what you do eat and you will not only stop losing fat but you could gain weight ... There is a great post about fifteen months ago called "the 700 calorie a day obese person".
You need fuel (food) to raise your metabolic rate ... And if you are not only not eating 1200 calories but are burning hundreds if calories through exercise you are further "freaking" out your body and it is going to shut down and you will be tired and thirsty and damaging your muscle and building fat stores.

Plan your meals the day before and eat at the same time each meal each day ... I eat about 275 calories at breakfast, 300 at lunch and four hundred at dinner and then count out sixteen wheat thins and two tablespoons of hummus let's day for one snack and some fruit or yogurt for the other ... Keep whole wheat bread and high fibre foods and plan your meals and snacks so that you eat 1200 calories plus half again what you exercised off if not more! In two or three months you metabolism will change and you will start to see the weight leave you! You have to watch this "not eating enough or the right foods" or your body
Will again shut down and not burn the fuel correctly! EAT TO LOSE WEIGHT!!!! EAT HIGH FIBRE foods and just eat what you enjoy eating but watch the sugary foods and white foods ... White potatoes white rice white flour !!!!

I am fully aware of all of the above, which is why my OP states that I know it's a problem and asked what foods people suggest I add so I make sure I eat enough. I am not trying to starve myself, quite the opposite, actually.

Thanks~!

Tyggress73

Nine servings of fruit and veggies in the full rainbow of colours, three servings of reduced fat dairy, lean protein at each meal and snack including oily fish regularly, healthy fats little and often (nuts, seeds, avocado, olives, cocoa), plenty of mineral/ fibre rich foods (nuts, seeds, beans, lentils) ... which of these are you not having or not having enough of? Which macros do you feel you are low on? Remember MFP protein, fibre and fats are minimums not necessarily optimal.

I just made my diary public. If you care to look, I would appreciate feedback. I haven't hit any of my goals today yet, calories or macros, etc. I know I need to eat higher/more calorie dense foods...was looking for suggestions on what others eat.

Well MFP is telling you that you are under on protein, fibre and massively on fats - fats are essential nutrients for health and weight management not the enemy. You've not hit your target on

- vegetables (three fruits, maybe one veg at lunch). You need blue/ purple (two servings frozen mixed berries at breakfast) and dark green veggies (broccoli or fine green beans plus red or yellow bell peppers at the evening meal)

- dairy (only half a serving) so cook your oatmeal with milk not water and make your cheese snack larger

- healthy fats: half an avocado or olives count towards fat, fibre and the fruit and veggies targets and both work with chicken. Consider a small serving of canned oily fish (mackerel, salmon, sardines) which also adds protein to lunch, if you eat the crumbly bones you get more calcium in place of dairy. Add some nuts or seeds to breakfast for protein and minerals as well as the healthy fats.

If you run out of calories before you get all your servings in, lose the banana - you can eat the full nine servings of bright and dark coloured produce for roughly the same amount of carbs and they are not the most nutritious of fruits.

thank you~! great suggestions....and much appreciated.

KenosFeoh

I think the easiest way would be to substitute the full-fat version for anything you are eating that is reduced fat.

PS: Sometimes I can't hit 1200 either. I know it's odd because I used to eat so much more, but as I've slowly corrected my worst habits, my intake has been drastically reduced. I used to graze my way through the kitchen every afternoon, having no idea how many calories I was eating. Now I have one afternoon snack.