What in the world do you eat?! Help?

xLyric · February 2013

I've just changed my goal to 1600 calories a day, plus 400 exercise calories to be logged and eaten if they're done.

I went in to put in my food for tomorrow (helps keep me on track to log ahead of time) and I struggled to fill 1600, then was at a loss for 2000 when I remembered exercise!

What do you eat that fills the calories, but is still good for you?

Right now I've got 3 eggs, a SlimFast shake, hummus and wheat crackers, two small burritos, and a vegetarian egg/cheese/"bacon" biscuit.

Out of that, eggs and hummus/crackers are good for you, the veggie biscuit on the border line. I'm over on fat by 16, carbs 8.

I'm doing my weekly shopping tomorrow and a lot of this stuff isn't coming back. But I REALLY need some ideas on what to get, especially now that I've got so many calories to eat! I'm a vegetarian college student, so on top of having no money, I also need extra protein from other places than meat.

Help, please?

Most importantly, I'm beginning to start exercising and I need food that won't make me feel sluggish. I need foods that are good for keeping you energized. Mostly cardio, tiny bit of hand weights.

ClearNotCloudyMind · February 2013

Apples and oranges. 70 cals a pop and great for my 4pm sugar crash.

Bananas are 100+ cals and good potassium, plus they're nature's energy bar

melaniecheeks · February 2013

I'd lose the slimfast shake. Have some home made soup instead.

Nuts and avocados will help you reach your calorie goal.

shorty35565 · February 2013

Try protein powder to help with the protein. And what ab peanut butter toast for extra calories? pb has 200 cals (give or take) for 2 tbsp.

spamantha57 · February 2013

I can relate since I eat pretty much vegetarian & decided to up my protein a bit recently.

Cottage cheese, yogurts, tuna, beans, peas, nuts, vegan sausage patties,.. all have pretty good sources of protein that I've started eating more of.
Have you checked your iron? I decided to do that this past week since I had a feeling I was low & was right - also since I started exercising again a few weeks ago & am usually tired. Looked up foods with iron & being a vegetarian, there wasn't a whole lot I liked besides beans & greens.
If I wanted to up my cals, I'd probably eat more cheese, or have an avocado, or put honey in my tea, maybe have a hot chocolate with rice milk before bed...

MoreBean13 · February 2013

Its late at night, so I am mostly tagging this to come back to it tomorrow because I am totally sympathetic to the college vegetarian healthy choices struggle. But most important, and this is the message I really want you to hear, you dont have to obsess about every choice being perfect. There are lots of options for low-cost choices that, as part of an overall diet, are healthy and balanced. Pizza is a food example

having more calories opens doors, it shouldn't make it harder. It means that you aren't restricted to perfect nutrition in every bite, because you have room to add foods to balance. Tomorrow I will come back and give you better options for cheap healthy choices to equal your allowance. I would tell you to look at my diet, because I eat high-protein vegetarian...but I have been a little naughty lately. Well, you can still look of you like, its still pretty well balanced.

Do you eat dairy and eggs?

littlebluej · February 2013

How about a protein smoothie instead of a slimfast shake? You can add a banana and/or some kind of nut butter for extra calories.

xLyric · February 2013

I eat dairy and eggs, but I haven't found a good yogurt that doesn't have gelatin and I don't drink milk unless it comes with a cookie, haha. Otherwise it's gross.

Athena98501 · February 2013

I'd lose the slimfast shake. Have some home made soup instead.

Nuts and avocados will help you reach your calorie goal.

I second nixing the slimfast. If you're over on fat and carbs, you need to add protein sources. Egg whites are a great way to get it without adding fat. I would also suggest adding a protein powder smoothie, which could be a good replacement for the slimfast. I make mine with unsweetened vanilla almond/coconut milk, and frozen fruit. Ground flaxseeds are another good way to add calories, but they also add (healthy) fats, so that would have to fit your needs.

squirrelythegreat · February 2013

I'm not picky about macro %'s so i tend to eat a lot of fats.

Tree nuts, Avocados, Sweet Potatoes, Quinoa, Couscous, Carrots, Celery or Apples with Peanut Butter (yum), Greek Yogurt+Protein Powder(1 scoop per half cup). That's all I've got off the top of my head for now, hope it helps

xLyric · February 2013

I'm probably low on iron, yes. I've started taking a multi vitamin to see if it helps with that at all, but foods with more iron and protein are probably what I want most of.

The Slimfast shakes aren't coming back once I run out. They taste good and they had some nutrients I knew I was missing by eating pretty poorly, but I shouldn't need that any more if I do this right.

xLyric · February 2013

These are all really really helpful, thank you all! More suggestions are always welcome, but I think I've got a good starting point now!

Sarauk2sf · February 2013

Nuts and seeds (and nut and seed butters)
Eggs
Dairy, including greek yogurt and cottage cheese
Whey protein powder
Quinoa, beans and pulses

You can also throw in ice-cream and pizza every now and again it if fits your macros.

Xiaolongbao · February 2013

"Right now I've got 3 eggs, a SlimFast shake, hummus and wheat crackers, two small burritos, and a vegetarian egg/cheese/"bacon" biscuit."

You've got no fruit. Very minimal vegies. This is not a healthy way for a vegetarian to eat on a regular basis (I have no idea whether or not this is typical for you).

There are loads of delicious things you can eat. Nuts, avocado, fruits are all easy and require no preparation. Lose the shake and add in some of them. I'm a vegetarian and you are welcome to check out my diary although I'm not sure it will suit you as struggling to get enough calories has never been a problem for me. I get up at 4:45am during the week (soon to be 4:30am arrrrghhh) and I get around the time issue but doing a huge cook on weekends. It's much cheaper to prepare in bulk from scratch than it is to buy processed foods as you go along.

Good luck with finding choices that suit you.

vestral · February 2013

I'm only just getting back on the wagon and am no expert, but I am a long term vegetarian. My suggestions are:

Swap slimfast shake for a protein powder. I did a quick google on slimfast and it seems my protein powder, prepped with a cup of skim milk has about 15 more calories, but half the carbs and three times more protein. That'll reduce your carb overage and up your protein right there giving you room to play around with the rest of your diet.

My only other suggestion is look at the carb heavy things in your diet, like wheat crackers and the burrito wrappers and the biscuit. Do you need these? Bean based protein sources have carbs in them, unlike eating straight flesh as I'm sure you know. So can you look at skipping the carb in that meal, and having more of your protein source? For example, instead of a burrito, have a plate of beans (i'm assuming these are bean burritos) without the tortilla, and have EXTRA of the filling.

I've just taken that approach myself, was going to make this week's lunches of beans and rice, and decided to NOT have rice, but more beans.

vestral · February 2013

Side note on taking a multi vitamin. Don't automatically assume you are low on iron for being vegetarian. I got checked by my doctor when I was suffering a lot of fatigue. My iron was fine, in fact way into the healthy range. My vitamin D was scarily low though. If you feel fine without a supplement, you probably are. If you dont feel fine, see the professionals, get a blood test!

Fredrigo · February 2013

I'd suggest nuts and greek yogurt the protein contents are solid and you'll pick up some nutrients that are less common in other fruits and vegetables.

Martucha123 · February 2013

IMO you need more fruit, more vegs ( I eat about 4 portions of each)
Some source of calcium - milk, yogurt, cheese
And a lot more of protein, if you don't eat meat or fish then have whey protein with water/milk, greek yogurt, diary in general, beans...
Don't worry about getting over carbs or fat, make sure you are at or over your protein goal.

xLyric · February 2013

"Right now I've got 3 eggs, a SlimFast shake, hummus and wheat crackers, two small burritos, and a vegetarian egg/cheese/"bacon" biscuit."

You've got no fruit. Very minimal vegies. This is not a healthy way for a vegetarian to eat on a regular basis (I have no idea whether or not this is typical for you).

There are loads of delicious things you can eat. Nuts, avocado, fruits are all easy and require no preparation. Lose the shake and add in some of them. I'm a vegetarian and you are welcome to check out my diary although I'm not sure it will suit you as struggling to get enough calories has never been a problem for me. I get up at 4:45am during the week (soon to be 4:30am arrrrghhh) and I get around the time issue but doing a huge cook on weekends. It's much cheaper to prepare in bulk from scratch than it is to buy processed foods as you go along.

Good luck with finding choices that suit you.

Yeah, that's pretty much the point of the post. I've been eating worse than this, really. The time has come for a change to be made, haha.

ninhogorgfan · February 2013

My bread n butta: Brown rice ,mixed vegetables (frozen), canned beans. Tons of calories. Complex ones at that! Homemade chipotle!

What in the world do you eat?! Help?

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