My theory on why people fall under their calories

MorgueBabe · May 2013

Honestly it may be they just don't eat a lot. I get full VERY fast. And I tend to eat really caloric filling veggies. If I don't work out on a day I have to force myself to get to 1200-1400. I've never been a big eater (I'm just skinny fat)
Or I think it's that mindset of ZOMG must not eat to lose weight.

CM9178 · May 2013

And if you've already eaten peanut butter twice that day and 5 times that week, maybe you don't want to eat it AGAIN just to eat more calories. Sometimes, it is difficult finding variety in what to eat to get a few hundred more calories.

sweetpea03b · May 2013

I try to eat as clean as possible... and buy very little commercial foods if it can be avoided. I don't buy chips, cookies, etc. I don't eat out fast food or restaurants. Not because I think I "can't" but because I want to give my body good wholesome foods instead of empty calories.

That being said, most days I do find it challenging to hit my goal despite the fact that I'm ALWAYS eating. Occasionally I'll add a glass of Red Wine in with dinner to use up an extra 120 calories, though I try to only have it a few times a week.

perficktangel · May 2013

I disagree with this post. I have fallen under my calorie goal on a number of occasions because I just didn' t want any more food. And I'm not going to force myself to put oil on my veggies if I don't want any that day or eat some peanut butter just to meet my calorie goal if I don't want the peanut butter. Some people may not be trying and some people may not know what to do. But some of us eat what satisfies us or eat what we want at the time and stop. If I fall under my calorie goal for the day, then so be it.

lukester19 · May 2013

I tend to think of metabolism being like a furnace. The key is to keep calories just high enough to get the maximum fat loss, but not to low that fuel will not wan't to be burned. It takes energy to burn energy lol, seems ironic but it;s true.

bumblebums · May 2013

Seriously, that is just not a problem. There are a lot of calorie-dense foods out there that will not hurt you. Nuts, seeds, avocado, olives--anyone can eat these (anyone without nut allergies, that is). And if you do not restrict yourself to vegan foods, it's even better--canned fish (love me some sardines or kippers), ice cream, hard ripened and soft ripened cheeses, pâté... the list just goes on and on.

Bumdrahp · May 2013

You're so friendly and full of advice!

A_Fit_Mom · May 2013

I understand what the OP Meant. I got to 185 pounds from eating way too much fast food and snacking on high calorie snacks. So now that I don't eat fast food and changed to healthy snacks..I do have calories left over in the evening.

But this is why I have easy snacks that I can grab to get those last 100-200 calories in the day.

perficktangel · May 2013

This was totally uncalled for.

bcarothers2 · May 2013

ndj1979 · May 2013

it depends on what your goals are..

If you are trying to lose as much as possible and are just eating in a deficit with minimal exercise, then this should really not be a problem.

If you are exercising more and trying to lose then you have to eat a little bit more.

If you have pretty much hit your goal weight but are now trying to maintain as much muscle as possible and lose body fat % (I fall into this category) then you are going to be eating more and eating in slight deficit...

if you are eating at maintenance and/or trying to bulk then you are going to be eating more, and it will be hard to get to 3000 or even 3500 calories depending on your TDEE. In this case you will pretty much be eating about 750 to 1000 cals three to four times a day...

So the answer to your question OP is that it depends on which of these levels one fits into...

flitabout · May 2013

Now I didn't read everybody's responses, but here is my take on it.
So last year I went on the pink diet and during what they call the reset phase which really sucked for me! You should never be hungry doing this. You can eat as much as you want of the available foods on the list which are all mainly raw low cal low carb veggies. But they are also high volume nutrient rich foods. So you eat and eat and eat and eat and you really can't make your calorie goal for the day. That doesn't mean you didn't eat or that you are hungry. OK well for me I can only eat so many raw veggies before you want to kill somebody! LOL. After a couple of days you don't have to worry about the not moving (you aren't supposed to exercise in this 3-14 day phase) because you only want to sleep! So I get the "why" they are having trouble hitting their calorie goals. But they will find like the rest of us it is just not sustainable for long periods and will find themselve toe up in a chocolate cake!

weesinglane · May 2013

Bitter much?

ndj1979 · May 2013

umm not sure what peanut butter you eat, but the one I use is 90 calories..

Did you assume that all peanut butter brands are same calories? Now that is stupid...

Also, a 60 gram servicing of Avocado is 100 calories...where did you get 300 from?

Also, I think the OP said that eating just chicken breast and veggies it was hard to his calorie goal for the day...which is a legitimate question. OR did you not read the original post..again stupid...

ndj1979 · May 2013

I prefer the "red diet, or "porn star diet" myself...

Bumdrahp · May 2013

Shut up! Stupid!!!!! :drinker:

mandasalem · May 2013

I think it's partly mental conditioning-- logic tells us that if we eat less, we lose more.

But the other part of it, and this is what I'm currently struggling with, is balancing several things:
- Conflicting TDEE/BMR numbers from various sites, including pretty much every link I've ever seen included in these forums. MFP is telling me to eat 1200, other sites say 1400, some other sites say 1600.

- Calorie counts for foods and activities that may not be right on point. I'm not in this to weigh every single thing I eat (I will measure, however), as that will end up discouraging me, and I can't afford to pick up a HRM just yet. So then I end up erring on the side of caution.

- Conflicting information. Fasting is good for you, fasting is bad for you, less than 1200 is terrible, less than 1600 is terrible. Eat more, eat less, eat more, but only eat certain things, eat whatever you want but only eat a little.

It's overwhelming. So that results in the KISS method-- eat leaner/lower cal foods and fewer calories during the day, exercise and drink lots of water... and hopefully benefit?

Hornsby · May 2013

A brief explanation...

http://directorsblog.nih.gov/brown-fat-white-fat-good-fat-bad-fat/

amazonmama69 · May 2013

I don't have the luxury of eating the fats (haywire gall bladder) so most foods have to be non fat. I also have chosen not to eat meat for the same reason. That makes it tougher to meet the daily calorie intake. After couple of months of tweaking, I find my higher calorie gotos are reduced fat shredded cheeses, nonfat cottage cheese, guacamole snack packs and nuts for snacks. If I try to eat too much of the heavy carbs like bread, beans or other grains, I also get that stuffed turkey feeling. I also have one day a week that I go "off the grid".

These things have helped to bump up the calories enough to avoid the dreaded red message, "You have not eaten enough calories today." And if I get that message, I don't freak and try to eat up the calories for a bedtime snack. I just add more calories the next day. Your supposed to trick your metabolism anyway to keep it from storing calories as fat.

I have been losing a steady average of 2 pounds a week with no slips doing this.

PezAzul · May 2013

This is the first diet I've been on where I'm not starving and cheating all the time. My calories are at 1300 (very sedentary) and have been staying slightly under that level with virtually no hunger in-between meals. This amazes me because before this, I was hungry ALL the time. Starving. I ate and ate and ate all day, always having a hungry feeling in the pit of my stomach where some nights I went on wild binges. I must have eaten three times what I have the past week and a half. The difference? MUCH less processed junk, MUCH less carbs, MUCH less sugar (I haven't had soda in almost 2 weeks where I was having multiple servings every day). MUCH MORE regular whole foods while not going crazy on fruits. Eating protein with a little fat keeps me from even thinking about snacking. If I eat fat-free dairy I'm never satisfied. If I eat whole fat dairy, I am. This is amazing to me because I thought that that whole fat foods were bad for diets and to only buy fat free or reduced fat foods. If I fall a little under my calories I don't worry because I know I'm eating balanced and my body would tell me if I needed to eat more. Last night I forced myself to eat additional fruit before bed because I was quite a bit under my calorie goal but I didn't even have the appetite for it and probably should have just listened to my body.

My theory on why people fall under their calories

Replies

Categories