can't eat enough calories

Something that you can eat that you can get calories easily from is like almonds or some type of peanut. I'm having a hard time with just getting in all my required calories,and that doesn't include exercise. But once I start exercising this week it will be interesting!

Nut butters and milk.
2 tbs of natural peanut butter & 16oz lowfat milk is about 400 calories.

SO you are not loosing?

You are burning calories do to working out. If you eat you 1200 a day, and allow the deficit, you should be loosing. When you eat more, because you earned more calories, doesn't mean you need to eat those earned.
If you eat the 1200 a day (NET) and just allow the deficit, you will loose. It doesn't mean you need to eat those additional calories. The goal is to burn more calories than you take in. 30 min on an ellliptical machine on average is around 400 calories for 30 min.
Don't eat those calories that you earned. If you want to do a light snack, than go for it. The goal is to be negative on your caloric intake. But, you do need to come very close to your allowed calories, which is 1200 a day.

You won't loose if you eat the 400 to 600 calories you earned. You will just maintain your current weight.

Make sense?

NO!! That does NOT make sense....and here we go.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/23912-links-in-mfp-you-want-to-read-again-and-again

Please educate yourself before giving advice to someone to eat so little that they can cause permanent damage not to mention not lose any weight at all.
Please please read these links....scroll thru all the pages, there are many very smart and educated people here on mfp who are either in the medical profession, or are long-term successful fitness and weight mainainers. Please be careful. You only get one body.

I have determined that I was not eating enough throughout the day. My boyfriend even commented - "you don't eat that much!". It can be tough to eat the calories, but plan out your meals. A good breakfast is one way. Prevention.com now has 400 calorie meals on their site too. I have to say that I am eating more and losing weight! I don't always eat all of my exercise calories, but I try to.

Here's a link with really good info, this guy is a coach/trainer and posts a lot of good stuff. I haven't posted a link before, so I hope you can click on it. If not, copy it and paste it in your browser "url" at the top.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo

And here's an excerpt from the bottom section, the "range" he refers to is the range where your body won't store fat because it thinks it is starving.

Not eating exercise calories can bring you outside that range and (if done over an extended period of days or weeks) will gradually send your body into survival mode, making it harder (but not impossible) to continue to lose weight.

I have determined that I was not eating enough throughout the day. My boyfriend even commented - "you don't eat that much!". It can be tough to eat the calories, but plan out your meals. A good breakfast is one way. Prevention.com now has 400 calorie meals on their site too. I have to say that I am eating more and losing weight! I don't always eat all of my exercise calories, but I try to.

Here's a link with really good info, this guy is a coach/trainer and posts a lot of good stuff. I haven't posted a link before, so I hope you can click on it. If not, copy it and paste it in your browser "url" at the top.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo

And here's an excerpt from the bottom section, the "range" he refers to is the range where your body won't store fat because it thinks it is starving.

Not eating exercise calories can bring you outside that range and (if done over an extended period of days or weeks) will gradually send your body into survival mode, making it harder (but not impossible) to continue to lose weight.

Banks (now known as SHBoss1673) is not a coach/trainer. - according to his profile. And he is studying to become a Personal Trainer, I think - very different. But he is very educated on the body. Please see his profile. He is currently training for the profession, but when he posted that thread, was not a coach trainer. He is careful to research and state FACTS though, and is backed up by others on mfp who are educated and professionals.

_________________________________________________

The first time I used myfitnesspal I used every light/low fat/diet item I could find. And, like you by the end of the day I'd have a load of calories leftover that I needed to somehow eat. What I found was that during the day it was better for me to choose some higher calories alternatives. For example, instead of non-fat sour cream I added back in regular sour cream (which I like much better anyway). I changed from nonfat milk to 1%. Also, on a sandwich I'd have 3 oz of meat instead of 2 oz or put some jelly on my peanut butter. I'd have 1 1/2 servings of cereal for breakfast... you get the idea. And, on days I was still short I kept a bunch of meal replacement shakes in the fridge that I could drink before bed to get my numbers more even. Anyway, hopefully you are able to get your calories up & your weight moving back in the right direction.
Best of luck!

Niccole! Wow! Great to see you here! You look fantastic. It was funny, because when I read this topic on the boards this morning, I remembered WAAAAAAYYYYY back in Sept or Oct of 2007 ( ! ) that I posted this same question on the boards, and YOU answered it - - in pretty much the same way as you just did.

Obviously my impatience for the "Well, just don't eat" response someone gave above precluded my ability to answer in a productive way, but thank you for answering it the same way you did two and a half years ago.

I remember you saying that you and your parents had had the same discussion, and they said, "Eat regular sour cream and higher fat milk etc."

I remember thinking at the time - "Well, that is so sensible!"

Thanks for that sensible advice, again!:flowerforyou:

The first time I used myfitnesspal I used every light/low fat/diet item I could find. And, like you by the end of the day I'd have a load of calories leftover that I needed to somehow eat. What I found was that during the day it was better for me to choose some higher calories alternatives. For example, instead of non-fat sour cream I added back in regular sour cream (which I like much better anyway). I changed from nonfat milk to 1%. Also, on a sandwich I'd have 3 oz of meat instead of 2 oz or put some jelly on my peanut butter. I'd have 1 1/2 servings of cereal for breakfast... you get the idea. And, on days I was still short I kept a bunch of meal replacement shakes in the fridge that I could drink before bed to get my numbers more even. Anyway, hopefully you are able to get your calories up & your weight moving back in the right direction.
Best of luck!

I like these positive sugestions! I have been trying to eat more cals for a few weeks now so this really helps give me moe ideas. Thanx

Perhaps you should adjust your calorie goal. Sounds like you are surviving quite well on 1000 or less so make that your goal and relax. Are you losing weight? If not, you definitely need to adjust your goal. 400 a day seems a bit low, but 800-1000 is still a healthy goal.

The suggestions below are great if you are losing too much weight too rapidly.

Disagree. Again.

Sallypal, you have 112 lbs to lose. You could cut back that much. The original poster has 24 lbs to lose. She cannot afford to cut back that much calorie-wise! Please read all those links above and educate yourself on the way your body looks at food. You got to be 112lbs overweight by not educating yourself. Take the time to do it right this time, and you will find lifelong success.

Good luck to you all. :flowerforyou:

I'm sorry. I am not "not educated".. apparently what I wrote was misunderstood, or perhaps I misunderstood the original post?

I may be new here, but I find it outlandish to follow a 1200 calorie a day diet and meet it 100%, work out for 1 hour (or more) than go home and eat 600+ calories that this site indicates I have "earned" it. If I ate the 600 more calories I earned, at 8 to 9'oclick at night, that's an entire meal. My doctor would have a heart attack if he knew I was eating two diners because an online tool told me too.

In no way was I suggesting this person do not eat or meet their caloric needs. Never said that. If that was the way It was read, I do apologize.

It might be easier for people to make suggestions if you opened your food diary for public viewing. Even if you can't drink milk, there are other types of milk you can have, such as soy milk, almond milk, coconut milk, hemp milk. All of these come in an enriched version (make sure you get the enriched) that will give you calcium and other nutrients. These are also higher in calories than the skimmed or 1% milk that many people drink, and will help you hit your calorie goal.