i'm also still working up to the higher cals (up'ing slowly because let's face it, that's a big number!) when i find i have a lot of cals left at the end of the day, i've started stocking pistachios and almonds and cheese in the house. these are supposed to be healthier fats , calorie dense, high good stuff! i like these for what i call the 'nibble effect', i plop down in front of the tv for the last hour or two of the night before bed, if i make myself a small bowl of nuts, a slice of cheese or any combination, i will mindlessly snack and not realize it. the next morning i usually feel better than the days when i don't snack late and leave a large deficit.

good luck, i'm also curious to hear what others (more experience!) have to say!

In addition to above great suggestions, don't eat non-fat or low-fat versions of anything. That usually helps.

I agree with the above post. The 5-7 meals works wonders and choosing some of the higher calorie clean foods like almonds and bananas or beefing up the calories using protein shakes and bars. Your body really needs those calories even though it doesnt seem like it because you are getting false signals that you are not hungry. Once you break through a certain point the eating gets much much easier. I pinky promise!

I was on a very low calorie diet of 1200-1500 cal for a long time and I am still fixing my body ( I even lost my menstral cycle for 7 months and counting) but it gets easier every day. I am 5'5 and 164 lbs and now eat about 2800 and am maintaining. Even though that is technically still a deficit for me since my average TDEE is 3000-3200. Hopefully your case of undereating is not as drastic, but have faith. The process takes patience but is 100% worth it.

I can relate a little to this. Like others, I try to have healthy, calorie dense foods around to snack on when I need the calories. I find things like a slice of peanut butter banana toast, homemade granola with milk, nuts, protein powder, avocado, cheese etc., to be good, clean sources of calories. Also, try to have more at breakfast to get them in early in the day before you're full. I'm also a fan of prelogging my meals and snacks so I can keep on track and not be left with tons of calories to eat in the evening.

Take my advice with a grain of salt though, I'm still upping calories and am not there yet, lol. I'm currently working on maintaining/strength training and getting my calories up to the 1800-2000 range to see how that works for me.

I have a similar problem - made worse because I fast twice a week (for health) so have to eat my TDEE the rest of the time (currently 2240 cals as I exercise alot). What I find helps is making sure everything I eat is full fat, snacking on unsalted mixed nuts (just 50g can boost my cals by 200+ cals), not scrimping on olive oil and butter, eating slightly bigger portions.