(rant) "Help, I can't eat enough calories!"

southernmaidbrat · February 2013

I don't understand how so many of us are here to lose weight, and all of a sudden cannot get "enough" calories and have to ask the forums how to eat calories. Seriously? You didn't have that problem before! Every day, I see multiple posts from people saying they just CANT eat enough calories, no matter how hard they try. Where was this problem when we were overweight but not tracking?

if you were overweight, your body was storing energy you were eating but weren't using. obviously, you had no problem getting "enough" calories then! What has changed?

It is just surreal to watch a bunch of people with weight to lose coaxing each other to eat. I'm not saying everyone should eat 800 calories a day and not complain, or that people are lying when they say they can't "fit" their calories in. But, frankly, it doesn't seem realistic that we're all sitting around, overweight and not eating enough and full anyway, every day, and not losing weight. and if you're eating only fruits and veggies and are trying to fit 1,500 calories into a vegan, low-fat diet, then you're just as unrealistic as someone trying to hit their macros comfortably at Carl's Jr. every day. It's hard to eat 1,500 cals of produce. it's also (likely) unsustainable in your real life, so you're missing the chance to practice eating in a realistic way.

I'm not trying to hate on people or discourage anyone from being healthy and happy. It seems like people aren't really trying to find a permanent, sustainable way to eat, and that's why they're having "trouble" eating a normal number of calories. and that's the same problem they had when they were overweight and gaining, just in the other direction.

At this point, if i am not hungry, and I've had "too few" calories (e.g. 1,000 instead of 1,500), then good. trust me, it will be a fluke! and my follow-up advice to people is that if you're full, don't eat (even if you have calories to use).

I fully accept whatever backlash i get for this post. Also, i'm not trying to take a stance on any "science" aspect of this discussion, except to say i'm pretty sure we didn't all get here because of a chronic calorie shortfall.

I think the issue is not that we cant find the calories to eat we are trying to find the RIGHT calories to eat--not processed junk, i could sit and eat a whole bag of sour cream and onion chips but that defeats the diet--and i hate to really eat quanity of food--so yeah the calories arent really the issue its the good health calories that actually require MORE food...hope this is making sence!

pariskathryn · February 2013

Wow, I thought this was supposed to be a place for support...? Yeah, I used to have no problem consuming 3000-4000 calories a day. Now that I exercise regularly and eat clean, it can be difficult to reach a healthy caloric goal. Everyone's journey is different, and as you all should know a "simple google search" can turn up 50 different answers. No need to rip on people for coming here for answers, it IS "General Diet & Weight Loss Help". I see 5000 people a day on these forums struggle to post a simple image, you don't see me making generalizations about them and mocking them on a thread.

Felicias64 · February 2013

Before my lifestyle change which is DEFINITELY what this is for me. I NEVER ate breakfast.... just wasn't hungry in the mornings. I would grab lunch on the go (Fast food most of the time) and then have a decent dinner (meat, a vegge, carb such as pasta potato or rice) I have no clue how many calories I was eating. I wasn't excercising at all.

Now, I excercise everyday, eat breakfast EVERYDAY, eat lunch at home and have a nice dinner and have snacks in between. I definitely feel like I eat MORE now then I did then. Some days I do net 800 calories and feel full! Especially when I have a nice big salad for lunch. I am still learning as is everyone else on these threads.

I think it is GREAT that people are on these threads posting ANYTHING about what to do and how to do it. If you have never paid attention to what you eat and never monitored calories and neveer excercised on a regular basis this is a lot to take in all at once! It may be frustrating for someone that already understands it and has balanced their diet. Some of us are still trying to figure out how to eat healthy responsibly WITHOUT starving ourselves. I don't think anyone is trying to make excuses or annoy anyone we are just trying to find our way. I also believe alot of us overweight people are afraid of food because we feel like that is what I got us here. I am learning that more than likely what got me here was being lazy and not getting off of my butt and movng!!!!! Food is not the enemy the couch is!!! I have learned ALOT from just going through and reading threads and I am slowly adding things back into my diet to meet my calorie goal. I appreciate all of the helpful posts that happen in here as well as all the questions people ask so I don't have to.

I hope we can all take our experiences and knowledge to help each other and not beat anyone down. Either way the post is good because it gets people thinking about what they are eating and the topic of calorie intake.

llpaq · February 2013

@robinmvd

I would love to know what was hypocritical about my post. If it was people can be a-holes, especially on the internet, nothing I said was mean, I simply came in defense of people that have an issue and seem to get blasted for it.

If the OP's argument was why so many people write a thread about the same thing, when they could just search for the answer, then I would understand. But the OP basically stated that you were fat at one point, so you shouldn't have problem eating the calories you need, and this statement is inaccurate.

I actually don't watch my calories cause I need to increase them. I don't like nuts so adding that to my diet won't work. And I do opt for more calorie dense options but that still doesn't get around the fact that if I'm not hungry, I don't want to eat.

I stand by everything I said and if you can't offer help, what's the point of posting. You see it as ranting and letting off steam, but I see it as hurtful, and could really be detrimental to some people's weight loss experience with MFP. Weight loss can be a very emotional and having someone state that you are lying or are being dramatic and want attention isn't helpful at all. I know OP says that their intent is not to imply that people having this issue are lying, but that was basically all the post was about.

Ranting is fine when it's not hurtful, but if you don't see an issue with making yourself feel better (via a rant) while making others feel bad, then there's really nothing more I can say on the matter.

Well said!!! BOTH TIMES!

And I see there was no answer to your question about you being hypocritical. Because you weren't AT ALL.
Cheers to cheering people on and helping out those who need it! :drinker:

jofjltncb6 · February 2013

I don't understand how so many of us are here to lose weight, and all of a sudden cannot get "enough" calories and have to ask the forums how to eat calories. Seriously? You didn't have that problem before! Every day, I see multiple posts from people saying they just CANT eat enough calories, no matter how hard they try. Where was this problem when we were overweight but not tracking?

if you were overweight, your body was storing energy you were eating but weren't using. obviously, you had no problem getting "enough" calories then! What has changed?

It is just surreal to watch a bunch of people with weight to lose coaxing each other to eat. I'm not saying everyone should eat 800 calories a day and not complain, or that people are lying when they say they can't "fit" their calories in. But, frankly, it doesn't seem realistic that we're all sitting around, overweight and not eating enough and full anyway, every day, and not losing weight. and if you're eating only fruits and veggies and are trying to fit 1,500 calories into a vegan, low-fat diet, then you're just as unrealistic as someone trying to hit their macros comfortably at Carl's Jr. every day. It's hard to eat 1,500 cals of produce. it's also (likely) unsustainable in your real life, so you're missing the chance to practice eating in a realistic way.

I'm not trying to hate on people or discourage anyone from being healthy and happy. It seems like people aren't really trying to find a permanent, sustainable way to eat, and that's why they're having "trouble" eating a normal number of calories. and that's the same problem they had when they were overweight and gaining, just in the other direction.

At this point, if i am not hungry, and I've had "too few" calories (e.g. 1,000 instead of 1,500), then good. trust me, it will be a fluke! and my follow-up advice to people is that if you're full, don't eat (even if you have calories to use).

I fully accept whatever backlash i get for this post. Also, i'm not trying to take a stance on any "science" aspect of this discussion, except to say i'm pretty sure we didn't all get here because of a chronic calorie shortfall.

I think the issue is not that we cant find the calories to eat we are trying to find the RIGHT calories to eat--not processed junk, i could sit and eat a whole bag of sour cream and onion chips but that defeats the diet--and i hate to really eat quanity of food--so yeah the calories arent really the issue its the good health calories that actually require MORE food...hope this is making sence!

Except that's the point...it doesn't. As part of a comprehensive approach to eating where total calories are kept at an appropriate level (which includes consuming *enough* calories, not just restricting them), this bag of chips does *not* defeat anything. Certainly, to the point that it replaces other foods (by squeezing them out of the overall consumption) that ultimately results in a deficiency in macro/micronutrients, then yes, it is less than ideal, but by itself defeats nothing.

IMHO, eating "healthy foods" but at an amount that creates too large of a deficit is far more damaging to your health long-term than also consuming some "less than healthy" foods to bridge the gap. It's also far more likely to be sustainable.

palmerdanielle · January 2014

I get what everyone is saying here- I'm fairly new to this, been on and off MFP a few times but I find if I eat mostly healthy, I crave the "junk" food less, since watching what I'm eating I even find it hard some days to eat enough calories, I'm set at about 1800 and then when I exercise I end up with more, today I earned about 600 more. I know I need to eat enough calories and all that but some days it's difficult, especially for those like me who if they have the "junk" food they want more. I'm worried I'll slip back into old habits as I've only been eating well the past two weeks. It's been easy, I haven't completely cut out that stuff, but I don't keep it in my home or I'll want it and binge. When I make poor food choices I eat that, and then whatever other junk I can find...It's not hard to eat enough if I were to eat how I used to, that's why I'm here, I can't continue to eat like that. Most days I hit about 1600-1800 by the end, but then if I work out I have so many calories I'm supposed to eat back. I'm still figuring out what works for me etc. and making sure I'm getting a decent amount of calories in one way or another, but I can see how others may have the same issues. I've personally been trying to add in snacks in the day, or if my breakfast and lunch were really low, I'll go for a higher calorie dinner.

Liftng4Lis · August 2014

Sorry but I love food and there are so many options! The first couple of days of what I call my "raise" (upped my cals by 300), was different but really a tablespoon of peanut butter is like 190 calories.

(rant) "Help, I can't eat enough calories!"

Replies

Categories