My theory on why people fall under their calories
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I have grown a fear of eating any junk food to be honest. I will not eat a chocolate bar or a bag of crisps etc even if I am 600 calories under what I should be. I dont want to eat it because I am truthfully afraid of gaining weight and/or getting back into my bad habits of eating. MFP tells me that to maintain weight I should have 2800 calories, I genuinly believe that I would gain 2-3 pounds every week if I did this!.
I have got to a stage where I would rather take the hit on eating under my calories then eat what I consider to be "unhealthy" food.0 -
I find it very easy to rack up a calorie overage on vegetables alone. Sure, a serving of broccoli has 30 calories, but after you have four or five servings in a day that is 120 cals. Then add the drizzle of olive oil and its gonna be around 200. People who can't meet their calorie goal just arent trying. Especially if there is a chicken breast involved. Also, I think people have at that point gotten almost afraid to eat any thing with higher calories. They have been eating so much garbage for so long, they may worry that a high calorie item is a bad idea. I think it takes time to get comfortable in a new dietary plan.
i eat 2500 to 2700 calories a day and there is no way I am going to hit that on brocoli and olive oil ...
OP - I see what you are saying. I sometimes will have dinner which is usually around 1000 to 1200 cals and am like damn I am eating a lot ...but if you substitue in some steak or pork then you can usually get there and not feel like you are stuffing yourself....I usually do not have chicken for dinner..it is more steak strips with brown rice...something slow cooked..fish on my low cal/rest work out day..etc...
I didn't say I only eat broccoli and olive oil. Geesh.0 -
I have grown a fear of eating any junk food to be honest. I will not eat a chocolate bar or a bag of crisps etc even if I am 600 calories under what I should be. I dont want to eat it because I am truthfully afraid of gaining weight and/or getting back into my bad habits of eating. MFP tells me that to maintain weight I should have 2800 calories, I genuinly believe that I would gain 2-3 pounds every week if I did this!.
I have got to a stage where I would rather take the hit on eating under my calories then eat what I consider to be "unhealthy" food.
this just makes me sad....
choosing to eat a lower amount of calories than your body need to sustain itself is no less unhealthy than a bar of chocolate every now and then....0 -
I really dont understand you people... I eat realatively healthy (keeping added sugar, sodium, cholesterol below recommended), and at 3000 cal a day i am hungry all the time. Imagining, how someone can eat below 2000 cal, and STRUGGLE to get it, even using dirty foods, is mindblowing. All your daily calories are like a half a chocolate bar...
Umm... I know it is supposedly bad for metabolism etc etc but I struggle to get above 800 cals a day. In fact if I just eat when hungry I would have only clocked 700ish calories and then panick 'ooh I havent eaten enough calories!!' and try to get in another milky tea or something but still... just proof that not all overweight people stuff themselves silly, its just not always the case.
I'm guessing you're not eating enough variety, or not doing enough activity to GET hungry. If all you eat is salad then you won't be hungry but your body will not be nourished.800 calories is a MEAL not a daily allowance!
I have no trouble eating 1400, but when I first put it up to that I did struggle because I was scared of adding extra stuff now I'd got out of the snacking habit - I didn't want to eat crisps and chocolate for the sake of it! I now tak a pre-weighed portion of nuts as well as another snack, but don't necessarily eat the second if the nuts have filled me up. I just have a bigger protion in the evening. (Not eating the second is rare - only if I'm too busy to get it out of my bag!!)0 -
weird what we do to ourselves and how we would rather opt for the gimmicky diet rather than what our common sense is telling us. Thanks to these message boards on MFP and similar I have only recently realised why when I stop my 1200 cals a day diet the weight piles on so this week while I am struggling with a cold and cannot exercise have decided to focus on my nutrition and up my calorie intake to 1500 - 1600 and just take the hit on weight gain. Am avoiding the sweet stuff though and trying to do it all the healthy way but really struggle as seem to be constantly eating and stuffed all the time. Also getting to that stage at nightime where I am just eating to try and meet the calorie intake goals but hoping that when my metabolism adapts this will go away. After years of dieting still find myself struggling to make portions larger and still hear the carbs are bad mantra beating in the background But will get there and hopefully back to Insanity next week as well so can tonne up my marginally healthier body :-)0
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I think the biggest thing people are missing here is the easiest answer to making up those missing cals you just can't find room for...
DRINK YOUR CALORIES.
Most people who jump on the fitness bandwagon start drinking crazy amounts of water, and stop drinking milk, juices, and sodas because they don't want to drink "empty" calories. Then they end up under and can't squeeze another broccoli stalk into their mouth. Here's an idea: drink orange juice or milk with breakfast, have some real fruit juice with lunch, have a regular full-calorie soda or a tall glass of milk with dinner! If you've had a real good day and are still 400 calories short, make yourself a couple cocktails or have the few beers you've likely deprived yourself of on the road to fitness and weight loss. If that's not your style, spread out two of your meals by an extra couple hours and add a protein shake using milk or yogurt or a blended smoothie using real fruit juices with whole fruits/veggies.
There's an easy 400-500 calories injected right back into your diet if you add to every meal. You can still get all your water in between or in addition to drinks with meals.0 -
weird what we do to ourselves and how we would rather opt for the gimmicky diet rather than what our common sense is telling us. Thanks to these message boards on MFP and similar I have only recently realised why when I stop my 1200 cals a day diet the weight piles on so this week while I am struggling with a cold and cannot exercise have decided to focus on my nutrition and up my calorie intake to 1500 - 1600 and just take the hit on weight gain. Am avoiding the sweet stuff though and trying to do it all the healthy way but really struggle as seem to be constantly eating and stuffed all the time. Also getting to that stage at nightime where I am just eating to try and meet the calorie intake goals but hoping that when my metabolism adapts this will go away. After years of dieting still find myself struggling to make portions larger and still hear the carbs are bad mantra beating in the background But will get there and hopefully back to Insanity next week as well so can tonne up my marginally healthier body :-)
you're going to do insanity on 1200 cals?! i really hope thats NET???0 -
"My theory on why people fall under their calories"... it is an individual thing.
Yes, there are general guidelines, but we don't all do the same things everyday and our bodies do not all respond the same to everything we eat.
I think the main thing is to pay attention to your own body and how you FEEL.
One day I may eat 900 total calories and the next I may eat 1300 total calories. I don't sweat over that because my body didn't need any more than that 900 total calories that day. If I'm energized and "feeling good" then why would I stuff myself just to meet an estimated number? (key word: energized)
Everyone isn't the same and again, these are guidelines.
When I was young the FDA recommended eating an enormous amount of food/calories and as a kid I was always told to eat ALL the food on my plate. All of that is now debunked.
My calories on a day of hiking is totally different than my calories on a day of sitting on my butt at the office and not getting in a workout.
I started out using the "guidelines" and that was a good base for me. I learned a lot. Now, I've worked that into my own thing... what works for me.
Listen to your own body and let others do what they FEEL is best for them.
Bottom line... you don't have to reach a certain amount of calories to be the best YOU. If you're feeling good and energized, then... well, that's it.0 -
Well yeah. I had a hard time meeting my calories too, until I started eating chocolate and ice cream again. No problem now, and I'm still losing! People are afraid to eat calorie dense foods or 'junk' because they're 'on a diet'. Except I'm at my 4th month and I haven't gone over my goal once (except by maybe 20 calories). I haven't even felt the desire to binge once. It seems to me that it's more sustainable long term.0
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I find it very easy to rack up a calorie overage on vegetables alone. Sure, a serving of broccoli has 30 calories, but after you have four or five servings in a day that is 120 cals. Then add the drizzle of olive oil and its gonna be around 200. People who can't meet their calorie goal just arent trying. Especially if there is a chicken breast involved. Also, I think people have at that point gotten almost afraid to eat any thing with higher calories. They have been eating so much garbage for so long, they may worry that a high calorie item is a bad idea. I think it takes time to get comfortable in a new dietary plan.
i eat 2500 to 2700 calories a day and there is no way I am going to hit that on brocoli and olive oil ...
OP - I see what you are saying. I sometimes will have dinner which is usually around 1000 to 1200 cals and am like damn I am eating a lot ...but if you substitue in some steak or pork then you can usually get there and not feel like you are stuffing yourself....I usually do not have chicken for dinner..it is more steak strips with brown rice...something slow cooked..fish on my low cal/rest work out day..etc...
I didn't say I only eat broccoli and olive oil. Geesh.
OK I stand corrected you said "I find it very easy to rack up a calorie overage on vegetables alone"
On vegetables alone I am never going to hit my goal for the day of 2500 to 2700...I was just using this as an example..sorry if you took offense..geez....lighten up people..some of you take MFP threads way too seriously...0 -
I have grown a fear of eating any junk food to be honest. I will not eat a chocolate bar or a bag of crisps etc even if I am 600 calories under what I should be. I dont want to eat it because I am truthfully afraid of gaining weight and/or getting back into my bad habits of eating. MFP tells me that to maintain weight I should have 2800 calories, I genuinly believe that I would gain 2-3 pounds every week if I did this!.
I have got to a stage where I would rather take the hit on eating under my calories then eat what I consider to be "unhealthy" food.
This!0 -
I love peanut butter....I miss it.0
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I really dont understand you people... I eat realatively healthy (keeping added sugar, sodium, cholesterol below recommended), and at 3000 cal a day i am hungry all the time. Imagining, how someone can eat below 2000 cal, and STRUGGLE to get it, even using dirty foods, is mindblowing. All your daily calories are like a half a chocolate bar...
As one of the "you" people I understand "us" but don't understand you0 -
Give me your chocolate.0
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I am reading this topic with interest as I am confused as to why so many of you need to be on a calorie counting website if you find it so hard to eat enough food?? Surely, your love of food (or too much of it) is what bought you here so why all of a sudden have you lost your appetities? I eat between 1,500 and 1,600 daily (sometimes 2,000+ on a weekend) and I am never so full I can't possible eat anymore! I eat 5 x 300-400 calorie meals a day and hitting my target is easy, it's staying under it that's hard, I love food!
I get that you don't want to eat junk food but what about changing from skimmed to full fat milk, add cheese to your salad, add butter to your bread - not all fats are bad fats! Even just cooking with a little oil can add 100 cals to a meal. Then there's things like grains, pulses and other complex carbs that actually give you energy! How do you people find the strength to work out whilst eating lettuce leaves?? That is just not sustainable. Eat in a way that you can do (and enjoy!) going forward, this should not be a faddy diet, it just won't last.
Good luck to all!0 -
I love peanut butter....I miss it.
If its natural peanut butter, why wouldnt you eat it?0 -
It is not that we have lost apetites, it is that we are trying to eat healthy and are fairly new to it (9 weeks for me). Because of that I, and I am sure many others, are afraid of eating things like cheese or butter or full fat milk as they sound... well fattening.
It may well be that many people like myself dedicate themselves to dieting and over dedicate to it, leaving us under our calorie targets. However I think that this is by far better then under dedicated yoyo dieting that many people do as I know I will stay dedicated to mine and eventually find my perfect balance of healthy food to calorie consumption.0 -
I am reading this topic with interest as I am confused as to why so many of you need to be on a calorie counting website if you find it so hard to eat enough food?? Surely, your love of food (or too much of it) is what bought you here so why all of a sudden have you lost your appetities? I eat between 1,500 and 1,600 daily (sometimes 2,000+ on a weekend) and I am never so full I can't possible eat anymore! I eat 5 x 300-400 calorie meals a day and hitting my target is easy, it's staying under it that's hard, I love food!
I get that you don't want to eat junk food but what about changing from skimmed to full fat milk, add cheese to your salad, add butter to your bread - not all fats are bad fats! Even just cooking with a little oil can add 100 cals to a meal. Then there's things like grains, pulses and other complex carbs that actually give you energy! How do you people find the strength to work out whilst eating lettuce leaves?? That is just not sustainable. Eat in a way that you can do (and enjoy!) going forward, this should not be a faddy diet, it just won't last.
Good luck to all!
This!!!
I WISH I was one who had trouble meeting calorie goals. I eat healthy 90% of the time and I still have issues with not going over.0 -
However if I try and meet that 600 calories in chicken and veg, I would have to eat 3-4 large pieces of chicken breast and a MASSIVE plate of veg. Not only that but it would be more expensive, take longer to prepare and I would be full after eating this.
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Confused…
According to the MFP database, 1/2 chicken breast without skin is 142 calories. (This is not a user-entered amount). So 2 whole chicken breasts by themselves would be nearly 600 calories. Vegetables are low calories, but one 2/3 cup serving of my frozen steamed mixed veggies would easily bring it up to 600 calories. Granted, I would not want to eat 2 whole chicken breasts (I usually only eat 1/2), but add in some brown rice or a medium baked potato, and a bit of sauce/gravy, and the 500-600 calories mark is easily reached.0 -
I also have trouble getting to my 1500 a day that MFP says I need to be at. Actually, just today I decided to add 3 eggs to my breakfast. Before today, I had just been eating fruit for breakfast normally, a flat bread sandwich for lunch, and usually a healthy dinner of some sort. This would leave me at literally like 900 calories.
This weekend I am going to start adding Whole Raw Milk from my buddy's farm so that should help as well and give me some added nutrients and brown fats.0 -
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I agree with you. For me though, it's not even just that the healthier foods tend to be filling at a low calorie count. For me, it can be a struggle because I never ate that many calories in the first place, I drank them. Before I started changing my diet, I would eat about a 1000-1200 calories worth of food in a day and drink well over a thousand calories worth of sodas and sugary drinks like lemonade-- I drank sodas like I drink water now. If I wanted something sweet, I'd always chose a huge bottle of soda over actual food.0
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I dont usually struggle with this, but sometimes if I have lots of calories left and think I should eat I'm just stumped as to what I could spend those calories on.
All the 'usual' go to snacks like crisps and chocolate I don't really want anymore, and everything else I could have as a snack I've probably already eaten that day, and don't want to have again because I like to have a lot of variety.
I have found this happening to me lately. I'll be left with like 400 calories at the end of the day, and can't find anything I want to snack on that is that many calories, because chances are I've already eaten it that day.0 -
No was on a 1200 calorie diet trying to up it to 1500 - 1600 and will eat back most of the Insantiy calories on top of that, might be a bit bonkers and uninformed in the nutrition stakes but also understand that I need to have enough energy to get out of bed in the mornings :-)0
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If you are only eating 3 meals and that's it - then try adding in small snacks throughout the day. a 200 calorie snack, 3 times per day, would give you another 600 calories.I also have trouble getting to my 1500 a day that MFP says I need to be at. Actually, just today I decided to add 3 eggs to my breakfast. Before today, I had just been eating fruit for breakfast normally, a flat bread sandwich for lunch, and usually a healthy dinner of some sort. This would leave me at literally like 900 calories.
This weekend I am going to start adding Whole Raw Milk from my buddy's farm so that should help as well and give me some added nutrients and brown fats.0 -
I love nutella so I don't buy it because i dip into it with dried veggies and before you know it, I'm full and the jar is empty...0
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I have grown a fear of eating any junk food to be honest. I will not eat a chocolate bar or a bag of crisps etc even if I am 600 calories under what I should be. I dont want to eat it because I am truthfully afraid of gaining weight and/or getting back into my bad habits of eating. MFP tells me that to maintain weight I should have 2800 calories, I genuinly believe that I would gain 2-3 pounds every week if I did this!.
I have got to a stage where I would rather take the hit on eating under my calories then eat what I consider to be "unhealthy" food.
I'm not trying to be picky or mean, but thought I'd offer some suggestions for when you are under your goal by hundreds of calories and don't want to eat "unhealthy"
How about bread with peanut butter? Even 1/2 Tb of pb and, with the bread, you can get 150 calories (whole grain bread isn't bad for you!). A handful of almonds (1/4 cup) is nearly 200 calories. Avocado is delicious and has the healthy, unsaturated oils; 1/2 medium avocado is about 150 calories. A glass of skim milk is 80 calories; stir in some protein powder for an additional 50-200 calories (depending on the brand). Cheese is ~ 100 calories per oz, you can even drizzle it on your vegetables.
My problem is that I like too much of these calorie dense foods, and I'm learning to be moderate to keep my calories down. But, they aren't bad for you, and if you need those extra calories, they are great, tasty ways to get them in without reaching for the crisps.0 -
I find the puzzle is sometimes a pain. I don't eat a lot for breakfast one day because I'm not hungry, but then it comes to lunch and I gauge my calories based on what I usually eat and then by the end of the day, I have calories left over because I was 'saving' them for dinner and found myself not hungry. So then the next day I overcompensate.
It's a balancing act and unless I eat the same thing every day, I'm always up and down on my macros.0 -
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Dunno what you are talking about. If I need to eat more, a good handful of nuts or an avocado usually takes care of those calories for me.0
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