I seem can't meet 1200 calories a day

ngressman

I'm a university student which means I have live cheaply and don't have any cooking skills whatsoever (I get stressed cooking a frozen pizza), so making big meals with lots of ingredients just doesn't happen.
I always thought I'd been going way over my calorie limit when I tried calculating it myself throughout the day but then I started putting the stuff I eat on here and I realised I'd been adding at least 50 calories to the things I was eating just to be safe. This left me with well over 200 uneaten calories by the end of the day.
The easiest thing to do would be to have lunch, but I'm never hungry in the afternoon; I have cereal and coffee for breakfast and that's me full until around 5pm and then I can only just make it to 500 calories for that meal.
I also aim to burn 500 calories a day through exercise (I took a break yesterday because a new type of exercise killed my calves) so I really do need to reach 1200 calories.
Is there a way to make yourself hungry or add a few hundred calories without eating much? (this sounds like a stupid question but I can't even bring myself to have a drink of water never mind eat something after breakfast until I'm really really hungry in the evening).

I did the same thing in college. There just wasn't time for lunch, and I really didn't get hungry. I did eat a large dinner which got my calories in. Maybe try just eating a piece of string cheese and a fruit.

HotrodsGirl0107

I am aware that my breakfast is 2 servings and I put that in my diet record thing on here. I also record that I have 1 sugar and milk in my coffee. I'm not eating loads and saying its a tiny portion!
And it was 11am this morning; not every morning, I slept in on my day off and I feel I shouldn't be penalised for that (but frosted flakes are cheap and yummy, so feel free to penalise me for this).
I get sleepy at 10pm and go to bed just after usually so eating dinner at 6 even with a snack after still leaves me with calories to eat.

Also I don't understand calories eaten and calories burned from exercise at all, I thought you didn't eat what you burn? Isn't it pointless if you do?

MFP already has you at a deficit, but it doesn't account for exercise. So when you exercise you are creating an even larger deficit. There are a number of reasons to keep it at a modest deficit, so MFP suggests you eat at them back.

Your body requires a certain number of calories just to survive, run your organs, etc - thats your BMR. On top of that, we move around every day and burn calories doing things like walking to the car, brushing our teeth, our job. MFP figures out how many calories that we require every day then subtracts a number from that depending on our weight loss per week goal.

So if your BMR is 1500 and with daily activity you burn another 500 just living that puts you at 2000. If you tell MFP you want to lose 1 lbs a week, they will subtract 500, and give you a goal of 1500 to eat. Now everyday, your body needs 2000 calories and you are only feeding it 1500, you lose weight. When you exercise and burn off another 500 calories, you are only leaving your body 1000 calories when it requires 2000. As I said earlier, many people recommend keeping a modest deficit. MFP suggests you eat those 500 exercise calories to bring you back up to a net of 1500.

On top of that, exercise is not pointless. There are more benefits to it than just weight loss.

I am going to be really real right now. OP your last statement has already been explained on this thread and many other threads. When you ask a question at least read the freakin comments. MFP ALREADY GIVES YOU A DEFICIT IN YOUR DAILY GOAL! If you exercise you are increasing your deficit and in some cases (like netting 600 calories) it can be unhealthy. Eating back your exercise calories simply puts you back up TO YOUR ORIGINAL DEFICIT. Not many people are going to tell you what you are doing is healthy but it honestly looks like that is what you are looking for. You are already eating at disordered levels so I would say you need to seek professional help for your disordered eating.

MissKitty9

Sigh. A bunch of people said it already OP, but I'll say it again, very clearly... at 1200 calories per day, you are ALREADY at a DEFICIT. That's how MFP works. It sets you to be at a deficit.

So basically, ~not~ eating back your exercise calories is putting a deficit on top of a deficit (how many more times can I say this word in a post?). Now, ask yourself if that sounds good to you. If it does, then you're most likely dealing with a disordered eating mindset.

kganc001

Have two tablespoons of natural peanut butter! Bumps the calories way up and adds healthy fats!

InvadingObsession

Ooh, okay; I actually really didn't know about the eating back your exercise calories thing, this is the first time I've done exercise willingly in the history of ever so I don't know much about what goes on just that its good for you and it helps you lose weight.

I'm just going to ignore the 'you've got an eating disorder' thing; you're stressing me out. The only time I can say I've ever been close to a disorder was when I was 14 and had 3 cereal bars, 3 pints of milk and a bowl of rice every school day for a good few months (I was going to say a year but there's no way I would have survived a year) and I got over that so well that I reached 12 stone by the age of 16, so I don't agree at all.

I bought some peanut butter! I think I'll have some later. I also found something with more than 150 calories in my freezer so I'm on that right now.

JDBLY11

Have you always not eaten well? It sounds like you're depressed or having some emotional or even physical issues that have stunted your appetite.In the absence of any health issues, you should fix a couple protein shakes with low sugar content and force yourself to eat. Cereal is not a good breakfast nor enough to keep you all day. You should try and get up to half your calories at breakfast.

I can't cook and the kitchen gives me a panic attack. So, I understand how you feel. And I'm a ton older than you. But there are ways to fix good, healthy meals with very little effort. Look for a good food prep book. Men's Health has several.

I agree. I think you are having an emotional/ physical issue here. 1200 calories is very easy to consume. Adding a handful of nuts or a protein shake at lunch isn't that hard. Are you really stressed out? Some people cannot eat when they are stressed!

JDBLY11

I'm a university student which means I have live cheaply and don't have any cooking skills whatsoever (I get stressed cooking a frozen pizza), so making big meals with lots of ingredients just doesn't happen.
I always thought I'd been going way over my calorie limit when I tried calculating it myself throughout the day but then I started putting the stuff I eat on here and I realised I'd been adding at least 50 calories to the things I was eating just to be safe. This left me with well over 200 uneaten calories by the end of the day.
The easiest thing to do would be to have lunch, but I'm never hungry in the afternoon; I have cereal and coffee for breakfast and that's me full until around 5pm and then I can only just make it to 500 calories for that meal.
I also aim to burn 500 calories a day through exercise (I took a break yesterday because a new type of exercise killed my calves) so I really do need to reach 1200 calories.
Is there a way to make yourself hungry or add a few hundred calories without eating much? (this sounds like a stupid question but I can't even bring myself to have a drink of water never mind eat something after breakfast until I'm really really hungry in the evening).

I did the same thing in college. There just wasn't time for lunch, and I really didn't get hungry. I did eat a large dinner which got my calories in. Maybe try just eating a piece of string cheese and a fruit.

But its so unhealthy to get into that having a huge dinner habit and not eating much the rest of the day.

JDBLY11

it might sound backwards but actually when you don't eat enough you start to feel nauseous which kind of dulls your appetite. So you end up not eating enough but feeling like you don't need to eat more because you feel queasy.

So true! I am sick right now and not really able to eat much, but if I don't eat I get sick feeling and don't want to eat even though my body is really hungry. I just start feeling sicker and sicker if I don't eat enough.

3dogsrunning

I'm a university student which means I have live cheaply and don't have any cooking skills whatsoever (I get stressed cooking a frozen pizza), so making big meals with lots of ingredients just doesn't happen.
I always thought I'd been going way over my calorie limit when I tried calculating it myself throughout the day but then I started putting the stuff I eat on here and I realised I'd been adding at least 50 calories to the things I was eating just to be safe. This left me with well over 200 uneaten calories by the end of the day.
The easiest thing to do would be to have lunch, but I'm never hungry in the afternoon; I have cereal and coffee for breakfast and that's me full until around 5pm and then I can only just make it to 500 calories for that meal.
I also aim to burn 500 calories a day through exercise (I took a break yesterday because a new type of exercise killed my calves) so I really do need to reach 1200 calories.
Is there a way to make yourself hungry or add a few hundred calories without eating much? (this sounds like a stupid question but I can't even bring myself to have a drink of water never mind eat something after breakfast until I'm really really hungry in the evening).

I did the same thing in college. There just wasn't time for lunch, and I really didn't get hungry. I did eat a large dinner which got my calories in. Maybe try just eating a piece of string cheese and a fruit.

But its so unhealthy to get into that having a huge dinner habit and not eating much the rest of the day.

It really isn't unhealthy unless you have a medical issue. Meal timing is irrelevant

HotrodsGirl0107

Ooh, okay; I actually really didn't know about the eating back your exercise calories thing, this is the first time I've done exercise willingly in the history of ever so I don't know much about what goes on just that its good for you and it helps you lose weight.

I'm just going to ignore the 'you've got an eating disorder' thing; you're stressing me out. The only time I can say I've ever been close to a disorder was when I was 14 and had 3 cereal bars, 3 pints of milk and a bowl of rice every school day for a good few months (I was going to say a year but there's no way I would have survived a year) and I got over that so well that I reached 12 stone by the age of 16, so I don't agree at all.

I bought some peanut butter! I think I'll have some later. I also found something with more than 150 calories in my freezer so I'm on that right now.

Well you obviously don't even have a clue about EDs either. Eating 600 cals a day is eating disorder levels. EDs are also not about being underweight. You really need to educate yourself. You won't get a beach body by starving yourself. Maybe you will learn as you get older.

jukyu

Couple things come to mind. You are either underestimating your calories eaten, or overestimating calories burned. Both are likely. 1200 calories should be easy to consume in a day, and if you're burning 500 calories through exercise (aaaaand most women who presume they are aren't) you should be ravenous for 1200+ calories a day.

InvadingObsession

I know having too few calories is bad, that is why I made this post; so I could get ideas on how to reach my goal.
I live with a girl who is recovering from her eating disorder and I just had to convince her that just because she's missing one ingredient for her planned dinner doesn't mean she needs to skip the entire meal all together; I would never put myself on par with her, it's insulting to her and others who have a real issue with food.

The thing I'm going by for how many calories I burn is a tracker; I put in my weight and height and everything and set off on a walk and it tracks my speed and how far I go and calculates how much I've burned. And then I put the info on here and it gives me around the same amount of calories as the tracker. So if I'm wrong I blame the technology.

dessyjo

Cheap and simple? Two words: Peanut Butter.

I also like south beach meal bars. 180 calories of delicious, chocolatey goodness!

Both will help increase your calories if you can squeeze a sandwich in at lunch time or a bar a few hours before or after supper.