Having a hard time eating 1200 calories

I had the same problem starting out, hitting well under 1000 calories per day. I'm not a big eater and can't eat a lot of food at once or eat many times during the day. What finally worked for me was adding higher-calorie ingredients to what I already eat. For example, I was eating tostadas made with chicken, salsa, and lettuce. Now I make them with that stuff as well as avocado, beans, cheese, and sour cream. Pretty much the same amount of food in terms of volume but way higher in calories (and taste pretty awesome too). So I don't have a problem with eating it all or with getting those calories in.

I am allowed 1480 a day and I rarely get to 900 calories a day, then I exercise and am allowed more! I know I need to be eating more but I am full! Please send some advice on what ways I could meet at least 1200 a day. I have only lost a total of 8lbs so far and have seemed to plateaued. My overall goal is 70, so I have a ways to go and need to get over this hump. I am trying to get in shape and have been training for the warrior dash that is coming to town September 29th. So I need to get my rear in gear! Thanks in advance for the advice!

That warrior dash looks like a lot of fun, it was held in a neighboring town last weekend. You can get your calories up in a healthy way with full fat dairy, full fat salad dressings made with healthy oils, avacado, nuts and nut butters,, protein bars and shakes. Enjoy!

I'm always curious about these kinds of posts. Presumably once you ate way over 1200 calories per day?

I am having the SAME PROBLEM. I usually only get around 1,000/day and am set to get 1,200/day. I guess I'm confused because I want to LOSE WEIGHT so I'm trying to eat things that are LOW in calories and fat and learning to make healthier choices, so why am I not having enough calories? I am eating 2-3 meals a day plus 2-3 snacks a day. I'm not starving. I'm not even hungry most of the time. I had an In-N-Out burger Sunday and it was nearly 400 calories and I thought ok, I'm for sure going to meet my calories. NOPE. What gives?

I'd love to hear some advice on this topic as well. Thanks to the OP for asking!

I'm always curious about these kinds of posts. Presumably once you ate way over 1200 calories per day?

Someone says this every time these threads pop up (though I must say yours is the most polite I've seen). The reason that people manage to get overweight and then have difficulty hitting even 1000 calories is that not everyone eats a lot of food in terms of volume when gaining weight. If you eat very calorie-dense foods, then you don't need to eat a lot to gain weight; if you switch to low-calorie options but don't increase the amount of food, then you can end up eating next to no calories.

To use myself as an example, I've never been a big eater. I gained a lot of weight by living entirely on Doritos, fast food, soda, and booze. When I switched to fresh, whole foods and prepared them myself, I wasn't any hungrier in terms of how much I wanted to consume, so I went from eating food at 300 calories/ounce to foods with a tenth of that amount. At the end of the day, I was seeing totals like 600 calories but wasn't at all hungry. I had to learn how to incorporate high-calorie foods into a healthy diet.

It's actually very simple to increase your calories. Adding nuts, cooking in extra virgin olive oil, having a protein shake (more specifically one like muscle milk which is 300 calories by two scoops) or even my personal favorite eating peanut butter out of the jar. Also, stop eating low calorie or low fat substitutes, they are all loaded with sugar and highly processed. This can cause your body to slow weight loss. Try to eat things in their natural state as much as possible.


The reason why people fail often at 1200 calories is that your body needs fuel to burn fuel. It's not different than a car where you can't drive a long distance on a half of tank. This is why I always suggest cutting 20% from your TDEE. This way, you will be able to push it harder during workouts, which means you are working harder and burning more calories.

I'm not on any particular diet, just trying to eat healthier, I have cut out most processed foods, red meat, and instead of eating lunch meat sandwiches everyday for lunch I have been eating salads and tuna made with relish and mustard instead of mayo. I have incorporated a lot fresh fruits and veggies too. I did start eating protein bars after my work outs, I need to find a good protein shake recipe.

The day I went over 1200 I felt horrible and sick to my stomach, ended up on a binge at the time of the month. So I always make sure I have fruit or vegetables around to curve my appetite. All I want to do is lose weight, not maintain and changing my lifestyle was a huge step for me. I am still learning how to figure all this weight loss stuff out, just like many out there. We all come to a hurdle in life and I am ready to jump over this one and continue my journey. I will start incorporating nuts in my meals to help offset some calories. Thanks for the advice, it's greatly appreciated.

Why did you cut out red meat? There is nothing wrong with lean red meats. Also, if you want to lose weight you have to figure out how to eat more calories. Your body really doesnt' know how many calories it eats, but rather it recognizes quantity. This is why eating higher calories foods is so important if you can't eat more.

wow I can EASILY get well over 1200 calories a day just eating normal foods never mind junk foods. Have a steak, hamburger, nuts, buttered popcorn (or anything with butter in it), peanut butter, cheese, creamy salad dressings (particularly 3 Cheese Ranch...just two tablespoons on your salad is 180 calories.) It must be the types of foods you are selecting because any amount of meat or rich foods will send you wayyyy over 1000 calories a day.

I'm not on any particular diet, just trying to eat healthier, I have cut out most processed foods, red meat, and instead of eating lunch meat sandwiches everyday for lunch I have been eating salads and tuna made with relish and mustard instead of mayo. I have incorporated a lot fresh fruits and veggies too. I did start eating protein bars after my work outs, I need to find a good protein shake recipe.

The day I went over 1200 I felt horrible and sick to my stomach, ended up on a binge at the time of the month. So I always make sure I have fruit or vegetables around to curve my appetite. All I want to do is lose weight, not maintain and changing my lifestyle was a huge step for me. I am still learning how to figure all this weight loss stuff out, just like many out there. We all come to a hurdle in life and I am ready to jump over this one and continue my journey. I will start incorporating nuts in my meals to help offset some calories. Thanks for the advice, it's greatly appreciated.

Why did you cut out red meat? There is nothing wrong with lean red meats. Also, if you want to lose weight you have to figure out how to eat more calories. Your body really doesnt' know how many calories it eats, but rather it recognizes quantity. This is why eating higher calories foods is so important if you can't eat more.

^This. Also, what's wrong with mayo? You need fat in your diet....I like Hellman's Olive Oil Mayo.

Fruits and veggies are awesome. I usually have an apple and a bunch of veggies every day. But, don't go overboard. Save some room for protein and fat!