Bit confused with caloric intake

xChryma
xChryma Posts: 7
in Health and Weight Loss
I don't understand how I'm meant to put 1900 calories into my body. It seems like an awful lot. I have 1,100 remaining and the only meal left is dinner..

I'm 20/male, recommended to intake 1900 calories to lose weight (according to some online calculators).
I've been trying to eat smaller portions throughout the day (2 and a half hours between each meal), and I feel much better than I did a week ago already, and I've lost a little bit of weight. I'm just worried that if I don't keep eating 'enough' it'll make me feel sick or something. Here's a picture of todays diary: http://puu.sh/ZUpY

Replies

  • supperwaffle
    supperwaffle Posts: 7
    Sometimes i have trouble to getting my daily calorie intake what i like to do is make a high calorie shake like adding bananas,natural peanut butter oats and protein powder it helps a lot on the days i'm having trouble eating.the shakes can range from 500 to 800 to 1000 calories depends on how much you wanna add and keep count to you know how much your consuming ..i would suggest you give it a try it goes down a lot smother then regular food lol.
  • xChryma
    xChryma Posts: 7
    Sometimes i have trouble to getting my daily calorie intake what i like to do is make a high calorie shake like adding bananas,natural peanut butter oats and protein powder it helps a lot on the days i'm having trouble eating.the shakes can range from 500 to 800 to 1000 calories depends on how much you wanna add and keep count to you know how much your consuming ..i would suggest you give it a try it goes down a lot smother then regular food lol.

    Sounds like something I might like, though I have no idea where to get protein powder, or which one etc.
    Also do you have a recipe? :P
  • mockchoc
    mockchoc Posts: 6,573 Member
    You have eaten hardly anything! Take a look at my diary. I'm on 1200 calories and I eat back my exercise calories ...still could eat more if I was allowed and I'm only 5"2 and female.

    Have you been dieting before now because either you've ruined your metabolism or maybe you have a problem.
  • DrJeep
    DrJeep Posts: 37 Member
    MFP tells me to eat 2300+ cals to lose weight. But honestly, if you feel good it probably works for you. I can't eat 2300 cals, I could when I would eat processed food and all the stuff I used to. But now that I eat healthy and timed I can't anymore.

    Personally I just make sure not to slide under the 1200. That seems to be something "magical" on this place. But really, some days I go over to the 1600's and other days I go slightly under.

    If you want to up the calories a bit I find that nuts work well, but again, that's a personal thing.

    Your diary looks nice, maybe add some chicken or fish to your rice at lunch?
  • manenina
    manenina Posts: 71
    I think you're starving yourself through the day and that won't help you loose weight. On the contrary... you might loose motivation. You should start your day eating a bigger breakfast (maybe add a glass of juice or a piece of fruit) and add another fruit/protein bar/shake during the day. I try to eat a total of 1700 cal divided as 500 for each main meal and 2 snacks. It's not always possible so of course I balance it in some way or another. You should definitely try to eat more during your breakfast! It will make you feel better :-)
  • xChryma
    xChryma Posts: 7
    @DrJeep:
    I'd love to, but I have no idea on any good recipes that I can use. I just know how to cook chicken, pretty much >_<.
  • Rozlynmac
    Rozlynmac Posts: 71
    Maybe you need to customise your diary to show the times rather than meals 'cos at the moment it looks like you ate twice only, wiht an apple thrown in somewhere along the way. That doesn't sound like 2-2.5 hours between meals.

    I would suggest upping your protein intake a fair whack too. I'm struggling with that myself, so it's a bit 'pot & kettle' to suggest it to you.

    My other thought would be that once you've had a decent evening meal - with protein and carbs, you could be looking at 500-600 calories in that fairly easily for a reasonable portion. That'd leave more like 500 for you to worry about. If your evening meal is less than that, I'd say you need to re-think what you're consuming, add in more veg, a bigger portion of your protein source etc. Don't be afraid of healthy snacks too, 100 calories a time can fairly add up across a day.

    If you're in the UK, Holland and Barret sell a reasonable protein powder in various flavours, mixes well with skimmed milk. Maximuscle sell one too which has slightly more protein (but also a slightly larger serving so probably balances out), it doesn't mix quite so brilliantly, but I find it actually sits in my stomach easier. Amazon sells various brands of protein powder. And there's GnC (I think that's what they're called). The basic mix is scoop of powder to required quantity of fluid, and blend. Other than that you can search the internet for smoothie and shake recipes and basically sling a scoop of powder into anything you fancy.
  • supperwaffle
    supperwaffle Posts: 7
    Sometimes i have trouble to getting my daily calorie intake what i like to do is make a high calorie shake like adding bananas,natural peanut butter oats and protein powder it helps a lot on the days i'm having trouble eating.the shakes can range from 500 to 800 to 1000 calories depends on how much you wanna add and keep count to you know how much your consuming ..i would suggest you give it a try it goes down a lot smother then regular food lol.

    Sounds like something I might like, though I have no idea where to get protein powder, or which one etc.
    Also do you have a recipe? :P

    - 1.5 cups skim milk

    (blender should have markings for cups)

    - half frozen banana

    (I cut like 5 bananas up in half and put them in a Ziploc bag in the freezer, they freeze really well and you don’t have to add ice to the smoothie)

    - 2 tablespoons of peanut butter

    (the natural kind with only peanuts and salt in the ingredients
    2 tablespoons of Flax Seed oil

    You can also use olive oil as a substitute if you cant get flax seed oil.

    - .5 cup of low fat cottage cheese

    - .5 tablespoon of ground cinnamon

    (This is what really makes it taste great, and there are some studies that show some cool health benefits of cinnamon, although I use it for the taste:

    - .5 cup of old-fashioned/steel-cut oats

    - 1 scoop of Whey or Casein protein powder


    Macronutrient content: 62 grams protein, 75 grams healthy carbs, 42 grams healthy fat.
    Calories: 950

    this is a recipe i like to use i did not write it but its great you can get protien powder from walmart or any vitamin shop
  • xChryma
    xChryma Posts: 7
    For reference, this is my day (the one in the image):
    Wake up 12.30pm - 'breakfast'/first meal - Special K with skim milk + glass of water
    3.10pm - (before class) apple + glass of water
    6pm - Rice + Green tea

    I also had green tea in there again somewhere. I started dieting about 4 days ago, the day before this I could easily eat a heap of crap food to sate my hunger. Now, I eat this food til I'm satisfied, and I stop. I feel fine, hunger comes in waves but it's not too difficult to deal with.

    I just want to know if what I'm doing is harmful to my body and if I should change it, because I really don't know a lot. I just thought less food = better.
  • xChryma
    xChryma Posts: 7
    Sometimes i have trouble to getting my daily calorie intake what i like to do is make a high calorie shake like adding bananas,natural peanut butter oats and protein powder it helps a lot on the days i'm having trouble eating.the shakes can range from 500 to 800 to 1000 calories depends on how much you wanna add and keep count to you know how much your consuming ..i would suggest you give it a try it goes down a lot smother then regular food lol.

    Sounds like something I might like, though I have no idea where to get protein powder, or which one etc.
    Also do you have a recipe? :P

    - 1.5 cups skim milk

    (blender should have markings for cups)

    - half frozen banana

    (I cut like 5 bananas up in half and put them in a Ziploc bag in the freezer, they freeze really well and you don’t have to add ice to the smoothie)

    - 2 tablespoons of peanut butter

    (the natural kind with only peanuts and salt in the ingredients
    2 tablespoons of Flax Seed oil

    You can also use olive oil as a substitute if you cant get flax seed oil.

    - .5 cup of low fat cottage cheese

    - .5 tablespoon of ground cinnamon

    (This is what really makes it taste great, and there are some studies that show some cool health benefits of cinnamon, although I use it for the taste:

    - .5 cup of old-fashioned/steel-cut oats

    - 1 scoop of Whey or Casein protein powder


    Macronutrient content: 62 grams protein, 75 grams healthy carbs, 42 grams healthy fat.
    Calories: 950

    this is a recipe i like to use i did not write it but its great you can get protien powder from walmart or any vitamin shop

    That sounds perfect, I eat all of those things (except I've never even heard of flax-seed oil)

    Did you mean half of a frozen banana, or a half-frozen banana?

    Thanks a ton.
  • StrawberrySprinkles
    StrawberrySprinkles Posts: 90
    You can mix up your shakes.

    Rather than putting in cottage cheese...I use low fat greek yogurt.

    This morning it was:

    100 grams frozen morello cherries
    125 grams low fat greek yogurt
    1 scoop protein
    10 grams of chocolate syrup
    312 ml of semi skimmed milk (my opinion would be there's not enough of a leap between semi skimmed and skimmed to make the reduction worth it. Plus you get a nice hit of calcium and protein)


    426 cals 47 carbs 9 fat 42 protein 5 fiber 62 calcium

    Yesterday was milk, two bananas, 1 nectarine, and the protein. The shakes are basically limited by your imagination.

    I space my meals out quite evenly and low(ish) carbs. 40% carbs for daily intake and 35% protein.

    I have tried putting oats into my shake before and blended, but I find they just sink to the bottom of the glass. :)
  • supperwaffle
    supperwaffle Posts: 7
    Sometimes i have trouble to getting my daily calorie intake what i like to do is make a high calorie shake like adding bananas,natural peanut butter oats and protein powder it helps a lot on the days i'm having trouble eating.the shakes can range from 500 to 800 to 1000 calories depends on how much you wanna add and keep count to you know how much your consuming ..i would suggest you give it a try it goes down a lot smother then regular food lol.

    Sounds like something I might like, though I have no idea where to get protein powder, or which one etc.
    Also do you have a recipe? :P

    - 1.5 cups skim milk

    (blender should have markings for cups)

    - half frozen banana

    (I cut like 5 bananas up in half and put them in a Ziploc bag in the freezer, they freeze really well and you don’t have to add ice to the smoothie)

    - 2 tablespoons of peanut butter

    (the natural kind with only peanuts and salt in the ingredients
    2 tablespoons of Flax Seed oil

    You can also use olive oil as a substitute if you cant get flax seed oil.

    - .5 cup of low fat cottage cheese

    - .5 tablespoon of ground cinnamon

    (This is what really makes it taste great, and there are some studies that show some cool health benefits of cinnamon, although I use it for the taste:

    - .5 cup of old-fashioned/steel-cut oats

    - 1 scoop of Whey or Casein protein powder


    Macronutrient content: 62 grams protein, 75 grams healthy carbs, 42 grams healthy fat.
    Calories: 950

    this is a recipe i like to use i did not write it but its great you can get protien powder from walmart or any vitamin shop

    That sounds perfect, I eat all of those things (except I've never even heard of flax-seed oil)

    Did you mean half of a frozen banana, or a half-frozen banana?

    Thanks a ton.

    a half frozen banana and No problem stay motivated!
  • Italiano7
    Italiano7 Posts: 382 Member
    Sometimes i have trouble to getting my daily calorie intake what i like to do is make a high calorie shake like adding bananas,natural peanut butter oats and protein powder it helps a lot on the days i'm having trouble eating.the shakes can range from 500 to 800 to 1000 calories depends on how much you wanna add and keep count to you know how much your consuming ..i would suggest you give it a try it goes down a lot smother then regular food lol.
    Great Idea:tongue:
  • carlydevi
    carlydevi Posts: 68 Member
    If I'd get up at 12:30 PM I'd also have a problem to get enough food. I think that's natural.

    I get up at 6 AM (well not because I want to :P) and eat something, so I am hungry again at around 10 AM. That's two meals before you even get up. :)

    When do you eat dinner? Do you eat afterwards?
  • LisAllum
    LisAllum Posts: 55
    Firstly, I would ask why you are getting up so late, unless you are working night shifts? Get up, get moving. The more you do, the hungrier you will be and you will definitely want to eat more. Just make sure that it's all clean eating.. lots of fresh veg and lean proteins such as chicken and fish. Green veg are great for you! You don't need to know how to cook them if you buy yoursself a steamer. Sistema do microwave steamers for not a lot so all you need to do is peel and chop and press a button. Fish can be steamed too. Try adding turkey now and then instead of living on chicken. Lean red meats are also good .. lean cut steaks etc.

    Try to have 5 portions of fruit and veg a day. Start by adding fruit to your breakfast, it's a great way to pad out the meal and add extra calories. Snack on raw veg such as carrots or cabbage. Adding nuts to anything will increase the calories significantly too. Have a chicken salad and throw in a few nuts or seeds. Cheese is also good is you don't want to eat too much but need to add more calories. Even low fat cheese can throw those calorie counts right up!

    Remember, even though your goal is to eat clean, get healthy and lose weight, you CAN still have snacks! Throw in some icecream once in a while or a cake or a meal out. Grab a takeaway! Just make sure that you account for them. It doesn't do any harm to go over once in a while, it's good to take a day or a meal *off*.

    I wish you the best of luck! Feel free to add me if you like, there are plenty of people in my friends list with a wealth of information, advice and tips too :)

    Also, open your diary (Home/settings) then it will make it much easier for people to see what you eat and offer advice :)
  • xChryma
    xChryma Posts: 7
    Yeah the sleeping thing is a bit of a problem. My day normally consists of waking up between 10am-1pm and sleeping between 1-3am. MOST days I wake up pretty late though. Weekends 2-3pm sometimes. I find it difficult to sleep sometimes. I can't just lay there and fall asleep (I'll end up laying there for hours), so I just go to bed when I feel tired, which is at those times.. I should probably correct my sleeping pattern, but I don't NEED to, my schedule fits around it (classes are all after midday), that's why I haven't yet. Until now.

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