I need more calories, but don't want to sodium and sugar!

jonowl89

Hi everyone! I'm a big guy (282lbs), and one of my biggest challenges has been portion control. For the longest while now I have been getting better at controlling my portion sizes and eating healthier choices. But since I started using MyFitnessPal I've come to realize that I'm actually eating too little! According to my typical daily meals, here's the breakdown (an example of my day yesterday):

Daily / Goal
Calories 1169 1870
Exercise -243
Total Fat (g) 57 62
Cholesterol (mg) 50 300
Sodium (mg) 2131 2500
Potassium (mg) 2391 3500
Total Carbs (g) 122 257
D. fiber (g) 31 22
Sugars (g) 27 37
Protein (g) 62 70

My typical day consists of Carnation instant breakfast with almond milk, a Healthy Choice lunch, and a 6" turkey sandwich from Subway (I was getting footlongs until I realized how much sodium and sugar there was!). Unfortunately, my living space has no kitchen and the bathroom is shared by several others and isn't made for cleaning dishes, so cooking and cleaning has been an issue. I do have a microwave, but frozen meals are really not the best choice for more than 1 meal option. I also snack on Cocoa almonds throughout the day to boost the calories and healthy fats while trying to keep the sodium and sugars down. I don't want my body to be in starvation mode

Any help you can provide would be very greatly appreciated! Thank you all!

DopeItUp

If you're limited in what you can cook due to your living situation, and are forced to eat take-out and pre-packaged meals all the time, you're pretty much not going to be able to avoid high sodium. Sugar intake won't really matter overall unless you're diabetic or have some sort of condition where it's a problem. Honestly sodium isn't the end of the world either. Focus on your calories and macros for now, until you can get into a situation where you can hopefully prepare meals. You'll be fine.

cmriverside

Sugar and sodium are part of a healthy diet.

Subway isn't bad - just get a small sub with no mayo (and skip the cheese if you can)

The Carnation breakfast drink...why? Couldn't you fix an egg and toast? I'm sure you can cook an egg in the micro. Or make oatmeal and have it with butter and an apple. Buy a crockpot and learn to use it. Buy a toaster, or better yet, buy a toaster oven.

There is sugar in that shake that you don't really need. And what you do need is calories, so start eating an actual breakfast.

Sodium (and sugar) is only bad in excess. There is sodium and sugar in a lot of healthy food. Right now you need to focus on getting enough food.

LoveCR22

Fruit and Veggies if watching sodium, Unsalted peanuts if you like them.
Sugar will go up from the fruits but I don't know how anyone stays under what MFP gives as a limit so I ignore it.

Alisha_countrymama

Avacado

suaku

Jon,

Congrats on finding MFP -- I, too was a big guy with portion control issues and it's really helped.

I made good progress eating about 1200 calories for a month and then plateaued -- went to a nutritionist who advised me to eat close to my resting metabolic rate (1700-1800 calories). Eating more to lose weight seemed counter-intuitive, but it worked and I never plateaued again all the way to my goal.

If you have a refrigerator and a microwave, I'd look seriously at breakfast. I buy La Tortilla Factory low fat/high protein tortillas (80 for a big one, 10g protein, 12g fiber) and make myself a BIG breakfast burrito. It's super-easy and quick -- throw 3 servings of Eggbeaters in a small bowl, add 1/4 cup nonfat/low fat shredded cheddar, and a tablespoon of your favorite salsa. Microwave for about 90 seconds. Stir and microwave for another 90 seconds. Toss the tortilla in the microwave for 10-15 seconds to warm and put your eggs in the tortilla and eat. LOTS of protein, good fiber, big portion/keeps you full, and about 260 calories.

Good luck on your mission!

GnomeLover1984

Salt free nuts.

ahviendha

you're super low on protein! if you enjoy a drink for breakfast, i suggest switching to a protein powder and mix with milk. you get a good 30g in one go, and it tastes like a milkshake. i love optimum nutrition, i get it off amazon.

you're doing great, it's admirable you're trying to eat well!! that's the biggest part of losing weight. so high five!

Kelley528

Can you put a small fridge in your room? Instead of loading up on Subways overloaded crappy sandwhiches you can keep your own sandwhich and salad components. They dont require cooking. Buy your own bread, cereals, etc.... You can even put a hot plate in your room, keep one frying pan, one pot. etc... and cook your own meals. You dont need a lot of space and it gives you more options than microwaved food. Even a toaster oven is better.

Dont pay so much attention to all the grams of sugar just dont make your meal a bag of cookies.... concentrate on the calories, protein, fiber etc.....

solarpower4

Add in tree NUTS and AVOCADOES. They're very healthy -- packed with calories as well as nutritional content, healthy fats and protein (in the nuts). No sodium, no sugar. There's no prep, other than cutting open the avocado and adding lemon juice, if desired, and no dirty dishes to clean. Grab and go food at its best!

tarheelmendi

Unsalted nut butters are a great way to get calories - Almond butter is my personal favorite, but cashew butter is excellent too. Have with apple, celery, or whatever you like.
Raw unsalted nuts are also great snacks, filling and easy to store.
1/4 cup will provide you with 160 - 190 calories in most instances.
No dishes required

cw822

Get an electric burner and boil some eggs. Have them for bfast along w/some fresh veggies. Or get reduced sodium ham or turkey deli meats and add some avocado and wrap them w/lettuce leaves.

Also, greek yogurt is a great source of protein, as is cottage cheese (again get reduced sodium kind) - just add some fruit.

GloMash710

High quality, nutty nutrition bars such as Kind bars are great. They're nutritious and low in sodium. You could also pickup fresh juiced fruits and vegetables from most grocery stores. Protein powder does not need refrigeration so you can make quick protein drinks.

Check the nutritional information at fast food places nearby and select healthier options but most deli meats are going to be high in sodium. Subway's salad options are signficantly lower in sodium than the subs.

KevDaniel

I would definitely switch out the Carnation for a meal shake. They generally are more calorie dense and will up your calories. Toss a half of banana or some peanut butter in the mix and blend away.

HennaSP

I had a similar living situation in college and hates when my meals came out a microwave (taste-wise and health-wise). I always kept some apples, pretzels, and peanut butter in my room for a quick snack that fit on my bookshelf. Peanut butter tends to be sugary, so maybe try almond butter. Spread a little almond butter on apple slices (yes they have sugar, but there are so many healthy fibers in apples that it's okay) and maybe have it with some milk. Delicious and satisfying!

lorislosingit

You can cut down some sodium at Subway by skipping the pickles, olives, jalepeno peppers, etc. Stick with the fresh veggies. The lowest sodium choices are the Veggie Delight, Turkey, Roast Beef, and Ham sandwiches.

recriger

I was 6'-1" and 297lbs when I first started dieting. That was nearly 3 years ago, i basically coppied the Nutrasystem stuff. I looked up what they were putting in their meals and went to the store and tried to match them "close enough". i lost 40 lbs doing it that way in about 6 months. Most, though not all frozen meals are high in sodium and such. I started cooking my own to save money as we saved for vacation, not due to the ingredients.

I tried "Healthy choice" meals for a while (not the steamers). Several of their meals are under 600 mg sodium which is fairly good by comparison to the standard 1100-1300 I see in other meals. My ticker here shows 37 pounds lost since January 2012 (yup took time off in the middle there while we moved and stuff), that is on top of the previously mentioned 40 (and 10 lbs or so I gained back during the break).

Most of those 37 lbs were lost on a diet of 1745-1900 cals a day before exercise. Breakfast is generally a Power Bar Tripple threat (220-250 cals per bar) and a Red Bull or coffee. Lunch was a Healthy choice and an apple, and dinner is a large salad including turkey slices and cheese along with another healthy choice meal, or my daughters chicken nuggets and various snacks. Protein shakes being a big one since I lift weights 3 days a week.

When it is necessary the microwave can help out just fine. It just takes a little longer to find the best stuff to put in it.

likitisplit

You can store fruit in a bowl, also avocados. Potatoes/sweet potatoes maybe? A lot of grocery stores have delis, where you can pick out a healthy meal: roast chicken, veggies and a salad. Hospitals also have cafeterias with healthy options. Unsalted nuts.

TasteMeNot

Do you live near a Whloe Foods, I find their prepared foods selection has a good selection of nutritional foods and I love their salad bar. Whe in a hurry I frequently run in and get something - such as hummus with carrot and celery sticks, salads, soups, sushi, personalize sandwiches, fruit salad, cooked salmon, cooked chicken cutlets. I think there are some other supermarkets that also have reasonably good prepared food selections - Albertsons, King Soupers, Safeway, Shop Rite, Stop & Shop. Also, the roticere chickens at many stores are reasonable and can last a couple meals - chicken one day, on salad the next, and as tacos.

Like someone mentioned I'd ditch the Carnation breakfast for a homemade smoothie. Do you have a fridge, how about a small (individual size) blender, like a Magic Bullet? That was you know what's going in and you get a good start to the day with lost of fruit and veggies. In addition the personal size blenders are easy to clean, even in a small sink. Or tthe Subway breakfast options seem alright, I've liked the egg white, with swiss, double tomato, and spinach 6" flatbread. I also like plain greek yogurt with slicked fresh fruit and granola for breakfast (with the fruit and granola its quite fulling)

So you have a friend's place you can go to and "borrow" their kitchen for a bit, and prepare some stuff for yourself - make an weekend afternoon of it, and may be include making them dinner as part of the "deal." Then you just preportion and pack it up in a bunch of tuperwares and throw them in the microwave as appropriate.

jonowl89

Wow, thank you all for the really fast replies!

I do have a small refrigerator and microwave, and a small crockpot, but the cleaning is the issue - community bathroom and tiny sink, and some of the other guys who live here are pretty gross (one never showers and stinks up the hall when he passes by!).
My sandwich at subway is usually wheat bread, turkey, spinach, tomato, cucumber, sweet peppers (when I get home I put on some 40-spice hummus). No cheese or sauce. The bread is just loaded with sodium that I never realized.

I do have some bananas, but waiting for them to ripen in the brown paper bag at the moment (everything at the store was green), and I east a 1/4 cup of almonds with each meal now, so it's something.

As much as I would love to do yogurt or other dairy, I'm lactose intolerant and even with the pills my stomach gets in an uproar when I eat it. That's why I drink the almond milk, which is awesome and has tons of vitamins!

LoosingMyLast15

Hi everyone! I'm a big guy (282lbs), and one of my biggest challenges has been portion control. For the longest while now I have been getting better at controlling my portion sizes and eating healthier choices. But since I started using MyFitnessPal I've come to realize that I'm actually eating too little! According to my typical daily meals, here's the breakdown (an example of my day yesterday):

Daily / Goal
Calories 1169 1870
Exercise -243
Total Fat (g) 57 62
Cholesterol (mg) 50 300
Sodium (mg) 2131 2500
Potassium (mg) 2391 3500
Total Carbs (g) 122 257
D. fiber (g) 31 22
Sugars (g) 27 37
Protein (g) 62 70

My typical day consists of Carnation instant breakfast with almond milk, a Healthy Choice lunch, and a 6" turkey sandwich from Subway (I was getting footlongs until I realized how much sodium and sugar there was!). Unfortunately, my living space has no kitchen and the bathroom is shared by several others and isn't made for cleaning dishes, so cooking and cleaning has been an issue. I do have a microwave, but frozen meals are really not the best choice for more than 1 meal option. I also snack on Cocoa almonds throughout the day to boost the calories and healthy fats while trying to keep the sodium and sugars down. I don't want my body to be in starvation mode

Any help you can provide would be very greatly appreciated! Thank you all!

cottage cheese
yogurt
hard boiled eggs (if you CAN'T boil them yourself buy the already boiled ones)
hummus
avocado
no salt almonds
tuna
microwave potato (or sweet potato)
already cooked chicken (rotisserie ones)
string cheese
peanut butter
make your own granola bars

carnation for breakfast is not the best breakfast.

ordnaj3la1

Protein is waayyy too low.

Eat some chicken breast, lean ground turkey, lean beef. Protein powder can help as well.
Good luck (y)

anstephen

The simple sugars found in fruits aren't bad for you! Natural simple carbohydrates are the best carbs to include in the diet, especially if trying to lose weight. Fruits and vegetables and the sugars naturally occuring in yogurt -- not any added sugars or artificial sweeteners -- are natural simple sugars.