Am I missing something here?

I agree - I'm allowed 1600 calories a day - I eat the recommended three balanced meals and two snacks and I sometimes am struggling to keep the 1600 calorie limit. You have to eat balanced meals people!!!! If you are getting in your recommended vegetables, fruit, protein, carbs etc.... there is no way you should be under 1200 calories! To those people I recommend you take a good look at what you are eating and try to balance out your meals because something is not right!

Here was my deal: I was scared. I was scared to eat what I used to, so I overcompensated. I ate low calorie all the time, and small quantities. I would eat boring food because I thought that's what being on a "diet" was all about. It didn't take me long to realize the err of my ways, and now I can barely stay at my 1400 per day. I think it just takes being used to the lifestyle for awhile and experimenting to see what foods are "okay" for you.

I get frustrated seeing the same posts over and over about this, but I realize that I was there once too, and I needed some gentle guidance, which I received. They will get it eventually, and then they will be begging for calories like I do! :laugh:

I'm curious, too. I tend to lose my appetite in the summer due to the heat & for whatever reason right now I'm going through a weird "food is gross, I don't want anything" phase, but I still get my calories in!

I'm one of "those people" who struggle to eat all my calories a day and I know to some it's hard to explain so I'll do the best that I can. If I wouldn't exercise I wouldn't have a problem almost eating all the calories, but my calories burned during my workouts puts me in extreme deficits. Yes I was (and still at times still am) an overeater. I think this website allows me to see exactly how many calories I am consuming from things and makes me go WOW, it's not worth it! So now i have become more aware and more resistant to eating those foods that used to rack up the calories (ex. chips, dip, starbucks, pizza). I'm also very petite (only 5'1) so maybe my body needs less than what someone else's body would need who is taller? I'm not sure I have a great answer for you, I just wanted to let you know my perspective on it. To make a long story short, my goal is not to lose weight but to be healthy. That is eating healthy, exercising, etc. Yes, I could make my calories by eating chips, or pizza or whatever but that would go against my goal to "healthy". I'm just trying to do the best that I can without compromising my goals.

A typical lunch for you is different than a typical lunch for me. Today I had:

A spinach salad (2 cups of spinach) with grilled chicken, mandarin oranges, carrots, and fat free salad dressing. Also, I had half a yam that didn't not have any salt, butter, or sugar on it. I couldn't even finish my lunch because I was too full, but yet, it was less than 250 calories.

I also shake my head about this, but I can also see how it can be difficult at first. Healthy foods are less calorie-dense, so they are going to fill our stomachs on fewer calories. I don't shy away from the healthy fats, though, so that makes it easier for me to reach my calorie allowance.

If I were making that spinach salad mentioned above, I would make a dressing out of 1 tsp olive oil, 2 tsp lemon juice and a pinch of salt and pepper. I'd also toss in a small handful of cashews and voila! More calories without a lot of bulk PLUS a good dose of some healthy fat.

I eat 5-6 times a day. Almost all of my meals are between 200-300 cals. Most are under 100.
Veggies: I eat 1 cup of veggies with almost every meal. I make a lot of "mock parms" like eggplant, sauce, and cheese. This comes to less than 100 cal single serve. Desert is in 2 cycles veggie first then a bit of fruit.

Soups: I make lots of soups the same thing most are between 75-100 cals.

Protein: For protein I eat a lot of chicken, tofu and I love cheese.

Carbs: My carbs come from the veggies and proteins or a Josephs tortilla. (Mock pizza, a pbj pizza or baked for a salsa dip)

I do not use olive oil or butter. I also do not add any salt.

So lots of days I meet or go over but not by much on fiber and protein, but am under on calories, fat and carbs.

I think it's because so many people misconceive what "healthy" food is. Just because something has fat or calories doesn't make it unhealthy! Peanut butter (natural) is a very healthy food! Is it low in calories? No way.

A dieter's natural inclination is to choose the lowest fat, lowest calorie food available. By doing so, it can be difficult to get to 1200 calories a day. But, by adding in HEALTHY higher calorie foods like nuts and dairy, it's easy to increase your calorie intake. Sometimes it takes a while for people to "get it." I know it took a while for me to grasp the concept that "low fat" and "low cal" options aren't always the healthiest. Now I try to choose nutrition dense foods which are often not low calorie at all yet they're still a healthier choice than many foods that are lower in calories.

I have trouble reaching 1100 (my goal is 1000-1100) and thats with 2 snacks and 3 meals...its because if u eat the actual portion serving of healthy foods theyre way lower in cals than pigging out on fried foods and pizza along with chips soda etc....but if u eat a serving of chicken with a serving of veggies and lets say brown rice for example... thats only about 300 cals ....and for lunch i go light and eat a serving of lean meat which is approx 110 in cals and a veggie so thats only 150ish in cals...and breakfast is oatmeal which is only 150cals so for meals thats only 600....where as before id eat 3 meals from mcdonalds in one sitting lol

This thread is very interesting. I would like to hear more from people like amillward27, who have a hard time.

My wife stopped logging her food, because she found herself severely overcompensating and not eating enough during the day. For some reason she couldn't make the disconnect between logging her food and "dieting."

I agree that when you cut out the "bad for you foods," like chips, pizza, ice cream, etc... it is easy to reduce caloric intake. By the same token, that doesn't mean you can't eat "high calorie" foods and still eat healthy. Long grain rice (like basmati), sweet potatoes, baked potatoes, and whole wheat breads are all examples of where you can get your calories but still eat healthy.

I can eat the hell out of 1200 calories and more :bigsmile:

@haisiangirl and durbanski: Congrats on the life change to exclude Mickey D's and BK. I used to eat BK about 13 times a week or more, but haven't had any since December. I know what a big deal it is to give them up.

:bigsmile: Okay... for those who think we are fooling ourselves or not understanding possibly I will be able to enlighten you to 'my' situation. I've been dealing with excessive weight for literally years. My doctors would say - "Eat less and exercise" but they didn't tell me how much or little. So for years I ate 'very' lite... prior to starting here my day entailed about 600 calories a day and I was at a point where I was starting to gain again - I stumbled upon MFP. Since then, I've had to re-program myself of years of "eating less" to actually eating more than I was accustomed. I have been here since January and am now starting to get a handle on this. I cannot speak for others - this is my situation. You can say it is all in my head (as my siblings do - yet the changes they have witnessed are in front of them). I track my intake honestly and with commitment. I do have health issues where there are some foods that I would love to eat but shouldn't or can't and would love to have more variety but preparing a meal for me alone is not that interesting to me. But I feel I am doing well with this situation of staying up to my caloric recommendation but for some time it was difficult. Remember - it is all about perception and habit. Lifestyle change in the works. :flowerforyou:

We will get there. Just takes some time and know-how, I suppose.

I think metabolic systems have alot to do with it, too. I am a fast oxidizer (my system processes my food quickly) and I can fill up on veggies but I am not satisfied and can't stay full on them for very long. I am soon looking for something more to eat. I really need heavier types of food at meals, which means that my calories are "eaten up" pretty quickly. My husband (a slow oxidizer), on the other hand, can go all day without eating until dinner time and still not overeat. I simply cannot be satisfied on 1200 calories a day for more than a day or two and so I will do workouts that burn the most calories possible so I can eat more. I can't identify with the folks who are filled up quickly and stay full on small amounts of food. I'm relatively petite ( about 5'1") and have only about 15 lbs. of leftover baby weight to lose but I really struggle to stay within my calorie allowance.

It's strange, I've been overweight my entire life! I have done basically every diet known to man. BUT I haven't counted calories in about 20 years, LOL. I've always been most successful on the high protein/low carb diets and when I was just making sure that what I chose was healthy and acceptable for those requirements I did fine, but once I lost it was hard to maintain and I yo-yo'd back up. So, counting calories is quite hard for me right now. Thank goodness for MFP and it's wonderful database of items.

I've been on MFP for a week now, and it has been very eye-opening. I actually look at calories now. BUT I also pay attention to where my calories come from. I would love to eat my 1200 calories a day by eating 12 of the 100 calorie packs of oreos or something like that, but it's not good for me and wouldn't be satisfying. Most of my calories come from things that are high in protein and low in carbs (cheese, nuts, cottage cheese, eggs, lean meat, etc)... So my meals add up quickly. So, I find I need to workout so I can add on some more calories.

A couple of weeks ago I caught myself exercising extra so I could add an apple to my food diary. I realized I didn't get my proper fruit for the day. To me that's success!