Eating enough calories

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Handan13
Handan13 Posts: 3 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
How do I eat enough calories without exceeding my limits for protein,sugar etc?

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  • brit_ks_89
    brit_ks_89 Posts: 433 Member
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    PROTEIN IS GOOD FOR YOU , eat it and eat lots of it !
  • jdad1
    jdad1 Posts: 1,899 Member
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    by picking the right kind of foods that help you stay within your goals.

    However i will say that sugar is very hard to stay under, even when eating very clean. If you do not have a medical reason to watch sugars then just don't worry about it. (assuming you are making an effort to eat good)
  • skinnytayy
    skinnytayy Posts: 459
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    I'd focus on calories for now. Going over on protein isn't going to hurt you unless you have some sort of health issues (like kidney issues) and even then it'd need to be a significant amount. As long as your sugar is mostly naturally occuring, I wouldn't worry about it either. Not so much because of it hindering your weight loss, but just because refined sugars are crap. Honestly unless you're a diabetic, it shouldn't make a difference anyway.
  • hannahbanana76
    hannahbanana76 Posts: 7
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    Don't know if anyone can answer this! But, i'm supposed to eat 1,200 calories a day, and i'm only eating between 800 and 1000... I don't know what to do because i'm not hungry! If I don't.eat enoughh, will I gain weight? Also, I burn around 700 calories a day, should I eat them back? Im so full that I just can't eat anymore and I don't know what to do!
  • SherryTeach
    SherryTeach Posts: 2,836 Member
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    Don't know if anyone can answer this! But, i'm supposed to eat 1,200 calories a day, and i'm only eating between 800 and 1000... I don't know what to do because i'm not hungry! If I don't.eat enoughh, will I gain weight? Also, I burn around 700 calories a day, should I eat them back? Im so full that I just can't eat anymore and I don't know what to do!

    If you can't possibly eat 1200 calories a day, how did it happen that you had weight to lose in the first place? Sauté some veggies in a little butter, eat a handful of nuts, make some whole wheat pasta and add some pesto, add some granola to a baked apple or some yogurt. Food is good. Eat enough of it.
  • hannahbanana76
    hannahbanana76 Posts: 7
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    I take medicine for my A.D.D. That's why I am not very hungry, I try to eat at least three meals a day. Will I gain weight if I don't eat more? And will I lose if I eat my minimum amount of 1200?
  • fh10
    fh10 Posts: 4
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    I take medicine for my A.D.D. That's why I am not very hungry, I try to eat at least three meals a day. Will I gain weight if I don't eat more? And will I lose if I eat my minimum amount of 1200?

    my son has A.D.H.D and is the same way, my advice would be to eat a handful of nuts, bananas, or 2 spoonfuls of natural peanut butter with the only ingredient is peanuts. one of my fav breakfast is natural bread, 1 tablespoon peanut butter and a banana on top and runs about 330 cals. as far as sugars if you are eating alot of natural sugars like from fruit i wouldnt worry about going over. some people do believe if you are eating too few cals then you go into starvation mode and your body will store the cals making it harder to loose weight.
  • Kmarie0579
    Kmarie0579 Posts: 2
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    It is a common misconception that every person who needs to lose weight is overeating. it has been my own personal experience that some weight has to be lost because you do not eat enough. Its a proven fact that if you do not eat enough calories, your body will hold on to what you do eat and it can be stored as fat. Also your liver pushes glucose into your system because it thinks you are starving. This is called going into starvation mode. I know because it happened to me. Everyone looked at me and thought O was overeating when I was really starving. A lot of overweight people are.
  • Kmarie0579
    Kmarie0579 Posts: 2
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    If you can't possibly eat 1200 calories a day, how did it happen that you had weight to lose in the first place?

    It is a common misconception that every person who needs to lose weight is overeating. it has been my own personal experience that some weight has to be lost because you do not eat enough. Its a proven fact that if you do not eat enough calories, your body will hold on to what you do eat and it can be stored as fat. Also your liver pushes glucose into your system because it thinks you are starving. This is called going into starvation mode. I know because it happened to me. Everyone looked at me and thought O was overeating when I was really starving. A lot of overweight people are.
  • hannahbanana76
    hannahbanana76 Posts: 7
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    I think that might be some of it, thanks for the advice guys! One more thing, should I eat my calories back that I burn working out?
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
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    I think that might be some of it, thanks for the advice guys! One more thing, should I eat my calories back that I burn working out?

    Yes.
  • fh10
    fh10 Posts: 4
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    I think that might be some of it, thanks for the advice guys! One more thing, should I eat my calories back that I burn working out?


    you will get alot of mixed comments on this one some will say yes and some will say no thats how you loose. when i wasnt eating back any of my cals i felt tired all of the time. now i eat back some of my cals and im fine. some people are fine with not eating back their cals .my advice would to see what works best for you.
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
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    How do I eat enough calories without exceeding my limits for protein,sugar etc?

    MFP's protein goal is a bare minimum. Don't worry about that. And I wouldn't even track sugar, just carbs, unless you have a medical condition. Sugar is a subset of carbs so if you're not eating too many carbs then your sugar should be fine.
  • hannahbanana76
    hannahbanana76 Posts: 7
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    I think that might be some of it, thanks for the advice guys! One more thing, should I eat my calories back that I burn working out?

    Yes.
    Really? I'm trying to lose, so won't that just cancel out the calories I burned working out? Sorry if these are stupid questions guys, i'm new to this!
  • lisahewitt22
    lisahewitt22 Posts: 102
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    I try not to worry about sugar because I can go over it in just one meal by adding just a piece of fruit(i replaced sugar on my diary with iron). Protein is fine to go over a little, I think, because it's good for you. Carbs can be a real problem for me since I eat a lot of fruit and some fruit can have a lot of carbs, so I try to not eat too much bread and bread like things if I can. For fat there are a lot of low fat or 0 fat foods that you can buy although some people really don't like them because they tend to use a lot of unnatural chemicals to become low fat.
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
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    I think that might be some of it, thanks for the advice guys! One more thing, should I eat my calories back that I burn working out?

    Yes.
    Really? I'm trying to lose, so won't that just cancel out the calories I burned working out? Sorry if these are stupid questions guys, i'm new to this!

    1200 calories is a very low goal. It has a big deficit already figured into it. If you burn more then you need to eat them back so that your deficit isn't too large. Too much deficit leads to muscle loss, which will make you not look as good naked when it's all said and done. Keep your muscle, eat back those exercise calories.

    ETA: also it's good forum etiquette to start your own thread instead of hijacking the OP.
  • gracetillman
    gracetillman Posts: 190 Member
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    To the original poster -- I think you should strive to eat balanced food on a daily basis and not worry if you go over in one category by a little bit. If you notice that your sugar/carbs are really high and your protein low then you may want to look at tweaking the balance of foods you eat on a daily basis. But if your sugar is from natural sources and whole grains I would not worry if you went over provided you have a good distribution across the board.




    Did I read hannahbanna's post correctly -- you are consuming 800 to 1000 calories per day and burning an additional 700 calories in exercise? Not just your daily consumption but actually exercising or burning an additional 700 a day?

    You are having a net calorie consumption of as few as100 calories per day if you do not eat them back -- that will not work to your benefit long term.

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