New to EM2WL

Hello all. I'm new to this group and wanted to say hi. I upped my calorie intake allowance from 1200 to 1600, I thought I would up the intake slowly. According to the scooby site my BMR is 1499, TDEE is 2324 and I should be eating 1859 calories/day. I have trouble eating 1200 each day, so I'm not sure how I'm going to eat 1600 let alone over 1800. I cook most meals at home and snack on healthy things such as fruit, veggies, nuts, greek yogurt, etc. Grains are whole, no enriched (except when I make bread, whole bread hasn't turned out right) grains, including rice. I'm just not hungry and my children frequently eat more than I do. I drink a lot of water. Any suggestions to eating 1600 calories?

Replies

  • LuluProteinFueled
    LuluProteinFueled Posts: 261 Member
    Hi there and welcome :)

    It's funny you know, some days I wasn't hungry eating 1200 but after upping calories I quickly realised that was because my metabolism had grinded to a halt.

    Once you start upping your calories (1600 sounds like a good start, and keep going from there) you will feel hungrier. Your metabolism will kick into gear and hopefully your proper hunger signals will start to return.

    It's easy to up calories without feeling like you're eating a huge volume of food. Use full-fat versions of cheese and yogurts, eat more nuts, avocado and my favourite - peanut butter! Don't be scared of fat, it's not the enemy like we've all been taught in the past.

    Once you've upped your cals for awhile, you may want to do a period of time (at least a few weeks) at your TDEE to ensure your metabolism is functioning exactly as it should. Have a read of the "reset" stickies. That way, when you return to your cut value, your body will be fighting fit to start losing fat.

    And strength training is your best friend!
  • tbellamy1
    tbellamy1 Posts: 353
    ^^^What Lu said :bigsmile:

    HOWDY!!!!! Welcome to em2wl the group of champions!!! lol Believe it or not I once ate 500 calories and struggled eating that:noway: I just finished reset @ TDEE of 2465 and I started getting hungry these last 2 weeks. The way I increased my calories was through my protein shakes. Id add nuts, nut butters, egg whites, bananas and milk. By the time I was finished with the shakes they were almost 5-600 calories. Feel free to check my diary for macros. The shakes took care of a huge part of my calories and I didnt feel like I was stuffing myself. Greek yogurts, and kind bars are good to. Good luck!!!!!! Feel free to add me if you wish.

    You are going to learn so much about your body, eating habits, and so many things are going to change for you mentally. This journey is going to be awesome.
  • LuluProteinFueled
    LuluProteinFueled Posts: 261 Member
    ^^^What Lu said :bigsmile:

    HOWDY!!!!! Welcome to em2wl the group of champions!!! lol Believe it or not I once ate 500 calories and struggled eating that:noway: I just finished reset @ TDEE of 2465 and I started getting hungry these last 2 weeks. The way I increased my calories was through my protein shakes. Id add nuts, nut butters, egg whites, bananas and milk. By the time I was finished with the shakes they were almost 5-600 calories. Feel free to check my diary for macros. The shakes took care of a huge part of my calories and I didnt feel like I was stuffing myself. Greek yogurts, and kind bars are good to. Good luck!!!!!! Feel free to add me if you wish.

    You are going to learn so much about your body, eating habits, and so many things are going to change for you mentally. This journey is going to be awesome.

    T, you are seriously just too cool! Always so positive and full of good info and motivation!!

    OP, listen to this girl!! :love:
  • letsgethealthy
    letsgethealthy Posts: 47 Member
    Thanks for the tips. It's hard to unlearn what we've been taught. Particularly about fats and such. My husband will be thrilled when he finds out the low-fat is gone from our house. I drink protein shakes but usually make with water instead of milk and I add as much frozen (fresh that I've frozen) fruit as I can to avoid the ice. Never thought about adding nuts. But I know they still don't have many calories. Hopefully by adding shakes and protein bars (I make those too) it'll help up my calories.

    I thought about doing a reset but didn't think I could make the goal of so many calories, hence why I'm upping slowly.

    One day everyone will eat properly and we will all know what is good and what is bad for us....I hope.

    And feel free to add me, I know I need help.