need more calories without carbs

tiaamato
tiaamato Posts: 30
in Food and Nutrition
My food tracker says that I'm not getting enough min calories for the day and that could possibly slow my metabolism, making it harder to lose weight. What are some things I could eat to get my calories, but that has as little carbs and fat as possible??
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Replies

  • DanaDark
    DanaDark Posts: 2,187 Member
    Carbs, fat, protein.

    So, you've removed 2 from the list...

    Wunna take a guess?
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
    Sounds like you need to balance your meals better. And if you are trying to get more cals, why are you avoiding fats and carbs? I assume you are hitting your goals for those, but are under on total cals and protein?

    But to your question: chicken breast.
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
    Sounds like you need to balance your meals better. And if you are trying to get more cals, why are you avoiding fats and carbs? I assume you are hitting your goals for those, but are under on total cals and protein?

    But to your question: chicken breast.

    This^^

    ...Or if you are looking for higher calories, go for a fattier meat like pork steak or ribeye steak.
  • tiaamato
    tiaamato Posts: 30
    huh? oh, and I'm always over my protein per day cuz i eat alot of chicken.
  • tiaamato
    tiaamato Posts: 30
    yes, exactly...i'm hitting my carbs and fat, and way over in protein everyday. but only getting about 1000 of my min 1200 calories.
  • impyimpyaj
    impyimpyaj Posts: 1,073 Member
    yes, exactly...i'm hitting my carbs and fat, and way over in protein everyday. but only getting about 1000 of my min 1200 calories.

    That doesn't make sense. Calories are made of carbs, fat, and protein. So if you're over on protein and hitting your carbs and fat limit, you should be hitting your calorie goal.
  • impyimpyaj
    impyimpyaj Posts: 1,073 Member
    If you open your food diary, we'll be able to better help you.
  • tiaamato
    tiaamato Posts: 30
    Here's a usual day for me:

    Breakfast 6am: peach
    snack 9am: apple
    (tictacs to nibble on)
    lunch 12pm: 2 grilled chicken patties (no bun or condiments) and a small fry
    snack 2pm: nectarine and some cherries
    dinner 5pm: grilled chckn ceasar salad, ceasar dressing, no croutons.

    then i jog at night, 2miles
  • Helloitsdan
    Helloitsdan Posts: 5,564 Member
    You dont eat enough IMO.
    Just looking at what you posted I probably eat that in 1 sitting.
  • astheygrowup
    astheygrowup Posts: 188 Member
    If it were me I would replace the breakfast of just fruit with an actual meal. How about an omelette or an egg white scramble with salsa or an egg white sandwich with the flat bread rounds with a wedge of laughing cow cheese spread on it. Or how about a protein shake if you need something on the go.
  • impyimpyaj
    impyimpyaj Posts: 1,073 Member
    Here's a usual day for me:

    Breakfast 6am: peach
    snack 9am: apple
    (tictacs to nibble on)
    lunch 12pm: 2 grilled chicken patties (no bun or condiments) and a small fry
    snack 2pm: nectarine and some cherries
    dinner 5pm: grilled chckn ceasar salad, ceasar dressing, no croutons.

    then i jog at night, 2miles

    I agree that you're not eating enough. But if you want to lower your carbs, try looking to more vegetables instead of fruit. And the fries are giving you no nutrition. Have a side salad or something in place of that.

    If you're jogging, you need to be consuming at least some of the calories you burn through jogging. And joggers/runners need higher carb content anyway to fuel those workouts. So maybe lowering your carbs is not something you need to worry about.
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
    Definitely open up your diary... something isn't adding up.

    I'm guessing you have the default MFP recommendations for fats, carbs and protein? MFP's protein recommendation is really low.

    Second, the only fat you are getting is from the salad dressing, is that right? That's not enough.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    Some fats are GOOD .... that's shocking to hear (I know) ..... years of bad advice made me afraid of fat too.:flowerforyou:

    Olive oil, nut butters, avacado are all high calorie foods that have GOOD for you fat.

    I'm not sure if you have a medical condition that precludes you from eating carbs .... if you do then a low carb diet is definitely for you. If you don't have medical issues .... this may be the same "old school" thought .... as all fats are bad (??)

    If you don't have medical issues .... I suggest looking for lifestyle changes that will help you maintain a weight loss. This way you learn to make good healthy choices. Diets that have many restrictions are often unsuccessful because people put the weight right back on.
  • bathsheba_c
    bathsheba_c Posts: 1,873 Member
    People are giving you some really good advice here. Until you figure out how to incorporate the changes they're suggesting (especially eating more), I would recommend adding in some quick sources of fat and protein, like nuts and peanut butter. And EAT AT LEAST MOST OF YOUR EXERCISE CALORIES, IF NOT ALL.
  • sabinavaughan
    sabinavaughan Posts: 109 Member
    I didn't really see any diary products either to be honest. You shouldn't have to nibble if you eat more. Trust me a peach for breakfast is not enough for your body!
  • kittymoney
    kittymoney Posts: 115 Member
    more veggies
  • Alicia_Monique
    Alicia_Monique Posts: 338 Member
    Open your food diary, it will be much easier to help! :)

    If you don't want to go over your fat & carbs don't eat the french fries, and sub the 2 chicken patties for a nice sandwich or something, instead! :)
  • swedishwillow
    swedishwillow Posts: 88 Member
    as long as it's good fats you'll be okay

    Guacamole
    Nuts
    Certain Cheeses

    ---- it's the processed bad fats you need to stay away from ....
  • Elzecat
    Elzecat Posts: 2,916 Member
    Here's a usual day for me:

    Breakfast 6am: peach
    snack 9am: apple
    (tictacs to nibble on)
    lunch 12pm: 2 grilled chicken patties (no bun or condiments) and a small fry
    snack 2pm: nectarine and some cherries
    dinner 5pm: grilled chckn ceasar salad, ceasar dressing, no croutons.

    then i jog at night, 2miles

    I agree that you're not eating enough. But if you want to lower your carbs, try looking to more vegetables instead of fruit. And the fries are giving you no nutrition. Have a side salad or something in place of that.

    If you're jogging, you need to be consuming at least some of the calories you burn through jogging. And joggers/runners need higher carb content anyway to fuel those workouts. So maybe lowering your carbs is not something you need to worry about.

    Agree with this post, I think you definitely need to eat more veggies... I don't think a small side of fries is necessarily a bad thing, but I'm guessing that would be very high in carbs (and not "good" carbs :)

    Carbs are not the enemy (for most people, unless you have some underlying health issues you're not mentioning). Just think smarter carbs--more veggies, whole grains, etc.

    Good fats--avocado, nuts, olive oil.

    I wouldn't worry about going over on protein, unless, again, you have a health issue of some sort that would warrant lowering your protein intake.
  • autumnk921
    autumnk921 Posts: 1,374 Member
    I would say that you are definitely not eating enough - I am not sure of your BMR but I doubt you are eating even that calorie goal (which is very important for you to do) if you are only eating 1200 cals/day...But just to get more calories and even so GOOD fats as mentioned above...Go for some nuts - my favorite go to snack when I need more calories. Hope this helps. :)
  • awill1122
    awill1122 Posts: 14
    Eat more protein. It doesn't matter if you go over what MFP says, it's extremely low anyway. For me it recommends 68g per day but I try to eat closer to 150g. Then again my exercise regimen includes a lot of weight lifting, but it still wouldn't hurt to eat more protein to help reduce muscle loss while losing fat.
  • FiercelyBeautiful
    FiercelyBeautiful Posts: 590 Member
    Fruit is good but you eat WAYYYYYYYY too much of it, and not nearly enough vegetables. Fruit is loaded with carbs you need a better balance of the two.
  • xarge
    xarge Posts: 484 Member
    Here's a usual day for me:

    Breakfast 6am: peach
    snack 9am: apple
    (tictacs to nibble on)
    lunch 12pm: 2 grilled chicken patties (no bun or condiments) and a small fry
    snack 2pm: nectarine and some cherries
    dinner 5pm: grilled chckn ceasar salad, ceasar dressing, no croutons.

    then i jog at night, 2miles

    That's 50g of protein there if not less. Maybe 15g fats on average if that's a typical day. That's very poor if it's not restricted because of a health condition. You can increase your protein intake and you do need unsaturated fats. Nuts, olive oil etc.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    Here's a usual day for me:

    Breakfast 6am: peach
    snack 9am: apple
    (tictacs to nibble on)
    lunch 12pm: 2 grilled chicken patties (no bun or condiments) and a small fry
    snack 2pm: nectarine and some cherries
    dinner 5pm: grilled chckn ceasar salad, ceasar dressing, no croutons.

    then i jog at night, 2miles
    If it were me? I'd eat breakfast.
    I eat greek yogurt with peanut butter and chia seeds most days.

    I'd eat much less fruit and MORE leafy greens and lean proteins.
  • ShelbyRoyal73
    ShelbyRoyal73 Posts: 2 Member
    Drop to one fruit. Add a crunchy veggie w/ hummus as a side instead of the fries. Add a slice of tomato & avocado to your chicken breast.
  • jshort152
    jshort152 Posts: 80
    If your over 25% bf then I wouldn't worry about it slowing down your metabolism at all
  • tiaamato
    tiaamato Posts: 30
    no medical issues...just not eating alot of carbs because my friend said cutting carbs was the best way, and i tend to believe her because i've lost 20lbs in the 4 weeks that i've been doing this diet. how do i share my diary thing like u guys are saying to? I only have like 2 days of food on there cuz i just started.
  • tiaamato
    tiaamato Posts: 30
    I shared my food diary.

    I definately like the idea of exchanging my morning fruit for a fuller breakfast. I dont like avacado or tomatoes. I like corn and broccoli.
  • Kanlassak
    Kanlassak Posts: 101 Member
    The number for carbs and fat is a recommendation, not a maximum. Hitting your carbs and fat means eating that amount or only a few grams away from that amount.

    If you're significantly below that amount then you should change your percentage goals to have more protein and then eat that higher amount of protein. The base protein on MFP is pretty low, ESPECIALLY if you're trying low carb. And for low carb you typically want to eat a bit more fat. Basically, for every gram of carbs you don't eat, you should be eating an additional gram of protein, or an additional half gram of fat.
  • StormyGal8
    StormyGal8 Posts: 184 Member
    Here's a usual day for me:

    Breakfast 6am: peach
    snack 9am: apple
    (tictacs to nibble on)
    lunch 12pm: 2 grilled chicken patties (no bun or condiments) and a small fry
    snack 2pm: nectarine and some cherries
    dinner 5pm: grilled chckn ceasar salad, ceasar dressing, no croutons.

    then i jog at night, 2miles

    If you take out the fries, you will remove a bunch of fat and carbs from your diet, which could then be replaced with a healthier option like peanut butter, avocado, whole grain pasta, cheese. Oatmeal or eggs (or egg whites, or a combination of both, which is what I do) with a fruit for breakast would also be a decent way to add some calories.

    You are trying to create a new lifestyle here. Not just trying to get weight off, but finding a new way of living so that once you get the weight off, you can keep it off! So, I suggest you make room for some actual food in your diet :)

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