WAY under my calories!!

lilmissbamaqueen
lilmissbamaqueen Posts: 184
in Food and Nutrition
Hi all,

I'm a little distraught. My daily calorie goal is 1400. Today, I have had three reasonably healthy meals, plus a little bit of sweets, and my calorie intake is just a little over 1000. Take out what I burned in exercise, and I've only taken in 888. That's disturbing, and I have no idea what to do. I've heard that if you don't take in enough calories, your body stores more as fat, and I definitely don't want that. Any ideas? Thanks!
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Replies

  • rwhyte12
    rwhyte12 Posts: 204 Member
    Great. Try a spoonful of peanut butter. Or worse yet, a bag of ketchup flavoured rice cakes. Eat the whole bag and that's like 400 cal.
  • foleyshirley
    foleyshirley Posts: 1,043 Member
    One day isn't going to hurt. The great thing is that you asked the question. What do you do? I'm not trying to be mean, but the answer is pretty simple. You either eat more, or you eat higher calorie foods. You don't need to eat junk to do this. You can add full fat dairy, nuts, peanut butter, avocado. There are lots of possibilities. Sometimes in the beginning people restrict a little too much. Don't beat yourself up over it just for one day. Make small changes. Even an extra apple or some yogurt would have helped. Best of luck.
  • cherry5oda
    cherry5oda Posts: 10 Member
    I read that "starvation mode" doesn't kick in until like 2 days without food. I think you'll be fine if you are not hungry. It's just one of those great days when a little bit fills you up!
  • KimLovesDon
    KimLovesDon Posts: 152 Member
    I've had the same problem. A half of a peanut butter sandwich is 200 cals. Add a glass of milk and you should make up the difference.
  • cbailey28072
    cbailey28072 Posts: 18
    Try using the logs as a planner rather than as a diary of what you ate & exercised. Write down what you plan to eat and what you plan to exercise and see how it measures up. I write in breakfast first, then my planned exercise for the day, then my dinner and then use lunch and snack to round it out, so that I am hitting my goals for calories burned, net calories, fat, protein and fiber. Then I print it out and use it as a guide to my eating & exercising for the day. I may need correct it at the end of the day, if things didn't precisely according to plan; that's okay, it usually isn't too far off. For example, if I didn't get in that last set of exercises, that would put me over my calorie limit, so I might cut out dessert for the evening and still be on target.

    It's also helpful to look at your overall food plan and see if you are getting lean protein at every meal, at least 3 veggies, 2 fruits and 2 dairy servings a day. I find if I do that, everything else pretty much falls into place.
  • Topher1978
    Topher1978 Posts: 975 Member
    Ummmm, eat more food?
  • trogalicious
    trogalicious Posts: 4,584 Member
    I'm willing to bet you're further under your goal than you realize. You did the BMR/TDEE calculations in another thread earlier and it came up between 1900-2200 calories right?
  • Cal28
    Cal28 Posts: 514 Member
    I'd love to have this problem! lol.

    What kind of meals are you eating? Can swap some ideas if you like? I could do with a few lower cal ones :-)
  • Cal28
    Cal28 Posts: 514 Member
    You did the BMR/TDEE calculations in another thread earlier and it came up between 1900-2200 calories right?

    I did this today, think you also posted on that thread. Thanks.

    Mine was 1320 which is around what I'm eating... (no fun!) Oh to be taller!
  • AmberCHM
    AmberCHM Posts: 425 Member
    Peanut butter...2 Tbsp is 190 calories.
  • meshashesha2012
    meshashesha2012 Posts: 8,329 Member
    i think you should make a called to dr ice cream
  • foleyshirley
    foleyshirley Posts: 1,043 Member
    You did the BMR/TDEE calculations in another thread earlier and it came up between 1900-2200 calories right?

    I did this today, think you also posted on that thread. Thanks.

    Mine was 1320 which is around what I'm eating... (no fun!) Oh to be taller!

    1320 sounds like your BMR. You need to know your TDEE.
  • chl823
    chl823 Posts: 48
    :smile: Treat yourself to something you like to finish off the remaining calories, its like your reward for doing so well! Good luck.
  • ChaseAlder
    ChaseAlder Posts: 804 Member
    30g of almonds, 20g of raisins, 20g of dried cranberries = 300 calories and a fantastic sweet snack.
  • missmegan831
    missmegan831 Posts: 824 Member
    I wish I could figure out me BMI, BMR, TDEE..and all that good stuff.. every site I go on its different or im doing something wrong..
  • maxamus04412
    maxamus04412 Posts: 4 Member
    protein shakes are a good snack without feeling like you're being bad
  • rduhlir
    rduhlir Posts: 3,550 Member
    Try cooking with some olive oil, that will bring the calories up.
  • Fhoover
    Fhoover Posts: 62 Member
    I wish I could find the calorie counter thing too.. to find how many calories I should be eat.. anyone know??
  • monbeaucher
    monbeaucher Posts: 75 Member
    I have this problem, too. Really bad :( Booo.
  • VeronicaAM
    VeronicaAM Posts: 69
    I read somewhere that iss not such a thing as "starving fat people" Always believe that but seems like we get overweight for eating more than we should , you can see my diary I am eating under and this time I am not scare to eat to little.
  • AmberCHM
    AmberCHM Posts: 425 Member
    A lot of people here on MFP use this post to help.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12
  • Mary2302
    Mary2302 Posts: 27 Member
    Wow.. I never thought of doing that.. Sometimes,, even if I'm under my target.. I am over the fats, sugars and proteins specially.. Im definitely going to try it that way..
  • mmddwechanged
    mmddwechanged Posts: 1,687 Member
    30g of almonds, 20g of raisins, 20g of dried cranberries = 300 calories and a fantastic sweet snack.

    Yum! I guess I should have read this before I ate my extra calories in red wine and all dressed potato chips.
  • Mary2302
    Mary2302 Posts: 27 Member
    Try using the logs as a planner rather than as a diary of what you ate & exercised. Write down what you plan to eat and what you plan to exercise and see how it measures up. I write in breakfast first, then my planned exercise for the day, then my dinner and then use lunch and snack to round it out, so that I am hitting my goals for calories burned, net calories, fat, protein and fiber. Then I print it out and use it as a guide to my eating & exercising for the day. I may need correct it at the end of the day, if things didn't precisely according to plan; that's okay, it usually isn't too far off. For example, if I didn't get in that last set of exercises, that would put me over my calorie limit, so I might cut out dessert for the evening and still be on target.

    It's also helpful to look at your overall food plan and see if you are getting lean protein at every meal, at least 3 veggies, 2 fruits and 2 dairy servings a day. I find if I do that, everything else pretty much falls into place.


    I've never tought of doing it like this.. Somedays even if I'm under my daily target.. I'm over the target on fats, sugars and proteins, specially..

    I'm definitely going to try it this way.. Planning your meals for your the next day.. I bet I'll keep me from snacking the wrong foods..
    Thanks a lot for sharing this
  • eyeshuh
    eyeshuh Posts: 333
    For those of you asking about how to figure out your proper TDEE, here is the info: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

    To OP: It's good that you want to eat more! It's not hard to eat more calories without feeling like your forcing yourself to eat. Just grab a spoonful of peanut butter, or an avocado, or some chocolate milk! Don't be afraid of high calorie foods if you're having issues with getting enough in to fuel your body!
  • Fhoover
    Fhoover Posts: 62 Member
    http://www.iifym.com/tdee-calculator



    Found a nice site
  • Xhell_on_heelsX
    Xhell_on_heelsX Posts: 299
    Honestly, I went through the same thing today..after I did my workout I had 300 some calories left to my day!! I heard that if you don't take in enough calories your body goes into "starvation mode" and it's harder to lose weight. I just ate a snack ( some chips and salsa) and I rewarded myself with an alcholic beverage for doing so well the past couple days haha. Probably not the best choice..but my daughter just turned 6 months and I'm in a great mood, so I figured I'de treat myself = ]
  • RadioactivePirate
    RadioactivePirate Posts: 212
    If you're not hungry, eat them tomorrow. I do this all the time. On my cardio days I can burn over 600 calories, and rather than pig out on those days to make it up to my goal, I just count some calories from the next day into that burn. Your body doesn't reset at midnight.

    I even created an extra "carryover" meal category just for this purpose. It's very convenient.
  • lilmissbamaqueen
    lilmissbamaqueen Posts: 184
    I'm willing to bet you're further under your goal than you realize. You did the BMR/TDEE calculations in another thread earlier and it came up between 1900-2200 calories right?

    That's right... which makes it even worse.
  • underwater77
    underwater77 Posts: 331 Member
    Eat an avocado. Like 250 calories and some good fat.

    Brown rice cake with almond butter. Easily 200 cals.

    I will never understand this problem. I eat pretty well and have to workout daily so that I can eat full, well rounded meals without going over. Such is life.

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