Can't seem to consume enough to meet 1200 calories... Help!

J3ss1caD

I was having the same problem. But mine was more so.. I couldnt get to 1200 calories sometimes but I worked out everyday. I got to a point recently where I would get EXTREME hunger pains. I found I was actually eating too few of calores. I "uped" my calories intake to 1484 and find myself eating atleast 1200+ calories a day.

Try things like shrimp in your salad.. grilled chicken..

Fruits for snacks.

Eating too few of calories will cause your body to go into starvation mode and then you won't lose any weight. Just food for thought

Sujit8383

eat one pastry of 50 grams.........consists of 500 cals...........just 1 bite........haha

SanteMulberry

I'm finding it very difficult to reach 1200 calories a day (and I feel like I'm eating a lot!) Any suggestions?

Today I had:
Breakfast:
2 hard boiled eggs (130 calories)

Lunch:
1 slice of Domino's Hawaiian pizza (280 calories)
2 cups romaine lettuce (15 calories)
1 tbsp Caesar dressing (40 calories)
Parmesan cheese 1 tsp (20 calories)

Dinner:
2 cups romaine lettuce (15 calories)
1 tbsp Caesar dressing (40 calories)
Parmesan cheese 1 tsp (20 calories)
Diced grilled chicken breast (100 calories)
Diet Pepsi (0 calories)

Snack:
1 medium banana (84 calories)

Other:
10 calories from crystal light
8 cups of water

The dinner salad was to help consume more calories but I wasn't hungry. I have 463 calories remaining. Help?! As it stands currently, I feel like I am having to force myself to eat more often... and that's rare for me. My diet had been piss-poor, I won't lie, and my calorie intake was probably massive. I would eat once a day and maybe munch on a few things here and there. Perhaps my body is just trying to adjust to 3 meals+ a snack?

Any food recommendations would be fantastic. It isn't healthy to eat less than 1200, and it shouldn't be a struggle to hit that! I am just over paranoid and want to make healthy decisions. I obviously want to lose weight, but I want to do it in such a way that it's 1) healthy, 2) safe, and 3) something I can sustain long-term. There's no need to drop a ton of weight without being able to maintain it once it's gone!

There are lots of high calorie, very nourishing foods like avocado. I will often put avocado in my salads. Raw nuts, like walnuts are high cal and also very nourishing. One study I saw, said that dieters who ate walnuts for one of their snacks, lost 40% more body fat than the control group of dieters who didn't eat them. There are all kinds of oil combos that give you essential fatty acids and fish oils. Essential fatty acids are just that--essential. Butter (the health gurus have now approved its use and even say it is good for you) and full-fat dairy has a number of health benefits over the low-fat versions. You might want to think about using something more nutrient-dense than iceberg lettuce. I will often put organic baby spinach leaves in a salad to boost the nutrition over iceberg (in addition to snacking on them with a little salt and lemon juice). I personally do not like artificial sweeteners--nor do I think they are good for you. I either drink plain water or green tea throughout the day (green tea helps to burn fat). I put a squeeze of lemon in both to boost the nutrition and taste without adding calories. Starchy vegetables (potatoes, carrots, sweet potatoes) with butter will boost your calories and give you a nutrition boost as well. I put full-fat plain yogurt on my baked potato---tastes just like sour cream with a lot less fat and you get the good pro-biotics that are in plain yogurt and not so much in the sugar-sweetened stuff (sugar kills the good acidophilus bacteria). Feel free to send a friend request to see what I eat.

MonkeyBars

Start your day with sausage, egg, bacon, mushrooms & broccoli covered in melted gouda cheese! 670+ kcals!
yummy!

http://www.fathead-movie.com/index.php/2013/02/11/why-the-american-heart-association-cant-admit-theyre-wrong/

jennybean1985

Thank you everyone for the suggestions!

A common theme is avocado.... only thing I've ever used avocado for is guacamole. Guess it's time to find avocado recipes!

cloudygirl1

Nuts, peanut butter, full fat dairy, oils, avocado, eggs, cheese, food in general. Losing weight doesn't have to be all lettuce and chicken breasts.

Yep absolutely.

Also things like pumpkin and sesame seeds are good for adding in calories and good fats. Also I don't know if that is a typical day but there's not a lot of veg or fruit in there. Only lettuce and banana really. Granted I'm veggie so it's easy for me to say. Olives would be something else good to add in for calories and oils. Yogurt might also be another good one to add in. Frozen yogurt can be good.

paperpudding

Thank you everyone for the suggestions!

A common theme is avocado.... only thing I've ever used avocado for is guacamole. Guess it's time to find avocado recipes!

You can mash it and spread in salad rolls or sandwiches - at least thats what Subway does.

NualaTW

If you like pasta, you don't have to give it up. 2oz dry (about a cup cooked) barilla whole grain pasta has 200 calories. You can try adding that to your chicken and veggies. It will give you some additional protein and fiber.

stumblinthrulife

Why is pasta demonized? You can have your lasagna AND your salad too you know! If all else fails, reach for a klondike bar. I know I did, nom nom!

I think people perceive pasta as very fattening because most people wouldn't know a proper sized portion of pasta if it was fired at their head from a cannon.

I always used to overeat pasta, so now I measure every time. My family probably think I'm a scrooge, but they need to lose weight too (well, except my daughter, who is perfect in every possible way and I'll hear nothing different).

ryzeman

haha! put that way, no, that makes it sound really dumb ><. What I meant to say is that 1) I'm not eating enough so I figured tossing in chicken and parmesan cheese would help, but I'm more or less looking for something that is equally as filling and will give more calories but is also healthy. I suck at making choices... especially since I could live off of bread, pasta, and mexican!

My wife and I will boost our calorie intake with a healthy protein bar. Costco sells Premeir Protein bars- they were recommended by my wife's dr. The are high in protein (course...) and have up to 300 calories per bar and are very filling. Often we have half of a bar and the other half later.

Good luck!

hokumclone

I'm probably repeating others here but I find nuts great. Walnuts are full of essential fatty acids too so all good there. I just throw the walnuts on my cereal or have them with yoghurt.

now_or_never13

I really don't understand how people can't even reach 1200 calories in a day.

Switch out your 40 calorie dressing for a full calorie one. Have a piece of fruit with your breakfast. Put some sauce on your chicken. Add in some nuts as a snack. Skip the salad at dinner and have rice, or pasta with the chicken and veggies cut up in it/on it. There are tons of way to add in more calories. Have a glass of milk with dinner. Switch out the diet pop for a regular pop. Snack on nuts, nut butters, etc.

Fed_up

Drive yourself down to Dairy Queen and get a BLIZZARD! The small size runs about 500 calories!!!

hokumclone

Nuts, peanut butter, full fat dairy, oils, avocado, eggs, cheese, food in general. Losing weight doesn't have to be all lettuce and chicken breasts.

Food in general, ha ha

likitisplit

I really like the Abs Diet cookbook for their recipes. They have a bunch of Mexican-inspired recipes that you might enjoy and that would help you add some whole grains and fiber into your diet.

lacurandera1

Drink milk. Eat nuts. Seriously. Two handfuls of peanuts is over 400 calories.

meghan6867

I keep seeing these posts.

How... how is possible? I could eat 1200 calories as a snack... as an appetizer to a snack. Give me thirty seconds and I could eat that.

That being said, maybe you should attempt to eat something with a higher caloric and nutritional value than lettuce. Don't get me wrong... lettuce is great, but there are plenty of foods out there that you also need.

ChancyW

Two words. Peanut. Butter. :happy:

janeilm89

Drink whole milk (assuming you drink milk, that is.) Nom nom!

Kmsnomaha

I don't think you can go wrong by adding in a few healthy carbs. Fruit, Quinoa, Brown Rice.. Greek Yogurt is great! Full of protein. I eat plain greek yogurt and put my own fruit in it.

Almonds and String Cheese are a great snack.