Doing more to eat more..

alondrasilva10
alondrasilva10 Posts: 63
in Health and Weight Loss
Does it make sense to excersise more in order to eat in more calories? I feel like I am constantly starving and by end of my work day I usually only have like 300 extra calories left to eat.

Here is the usual:
Morning (1 cup of special K cereal & 1 cup milk)
Mid Morning snacks (90 cal brownie, banana)
Lunch (Ham sandwhich, weat bread)
Before leaving for work (an apple).
Drink AT LEAST 8 glasses of water a day, never less.


Then when I get home I have a normal meal and will not eat anything after that. I am never under my calorie recomendation because of that last meal but If I don't have that last meal I'll be starving. It's not like I want to exercise to eat more junk food.. I simply want to eat more healthy foods. Does this make sense at all? Any adivce, tips?

Replies

  • kklemarow
    kklemarow Posts: 167 Member
    I have the same problem most days so I find myself working out more so I can have another snack. I'm not sure if this is the right thing to do but it seems to work OK for me. I'm interested in hearing other opinions on this too.
  • tripful
    tripful Posts: 40
    In my experience, when I was hungry all the time, I was eating too many carbs and sugars and not enough complex fibrous carbs and fat to replace them. And in general the quality of the food I was eating was not high enough. I remedied mostly all of that by dropping out the fattening carbohydrate ("fake food" of cereals, "whole" wheat, oats, all corn-derivative drink and solids and alcohol) to leave only delicious green leafy vegetables, making carb intake 5-10%, increased fat to 70+%, mostly healthy high quality saturated fat and mono-unsaturated (olive oil, red palm oil, coconut oil, butter, creme, nuts) and then protein to 15% or so, from local/free-range/grass feed beef, poultry, pork and high quality fatty fish.
  • anasantos61
    anasantos61 Posts: 86 Member
    I exercise because i enjoy it not to eat more, but that said I usually burn anywhere between 500 to 700 calories when i workout so i do eat more to fuel my body.

    Do you want to eat more health foods or are you hungry?
  • EmmaKarney
    EmmaKarney Posts: 690 Member
    Maybe you need to up your cals?

    How did you calculate your daily goal is it from TDEE or just what MFP put you at?
  • dangerousdumpling
    dangerousdumpling Posts: 1,109 Member
    I took a quick look at your food diary and it looks like you're eating under 1200 calories and not much protein. But before that you were eating 1500 or 1600 per day. Were you losing on that amount? Were you hungry? IMO you should definitely increase your calories and protein. So my advice is eat more and eat better.
  • alondrasilva10
    alondrasilva10 Posts: 63
    Maybe you need to up your cals?

    How did you calculate your daily goal is it from TDEE or just what MFP put you at?

    Its what MFP put me at to lose 1 pound a week. I am more hungry, but not so much for unhealthy food. I just want that extra banana or maybe another chicken breast (grilled, no skin). When I'm hungry and I know I can't eat anything else I have a mint to help me a little...but for some reason I just feel like I'm starving myself.
  • jenifo11
    jenifo11 Posts: 55 Member
    Took a peek at your diary, and I would suggest adding more vegetables in to your day. Eating veggies at lunch might fill you up and make you less hungry later. Also, if you used mustard instead of mayo on your sandwich at lunch, that would give you 200 more calories to use on healthier foods. And I noticed when I ate Special K in the morning, I was so hungry just a couple hours later. Some eggs or yogurt that have more protein might be better.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    for one thing, you don't need to be under you calorie recommendation...it's actually a goal...you should be right on goal to achieve your goals. If you exercise, yes...eat those calories back.

    That said, if you're starving...not bored, etc...but truly hungry and having hunger pangs, etc and you're achieving your goal, it's quite possible that your goal is too aggressive. Seems like everyone picks 2 Lbs per week loss which if you're female gives you 1,200 calories...it is not a realistic goal for many.
  • MissNordicLight
    MissNordicLight Posts: 140 Member
    I agree with tripful above, you are eating empty calories. Special K and skim milk would probably keep me full for 5 minutes!

    I have noticed that protein and fat helps me to keep full.
    For instance at breakfast I'll have cottage cheese, fruit and some nuts. Or eggs and ham. I don't eat low-carb, but I try to select slower carbs, sweet potatoes, quinoa, root vegetables and fruit. And of course, plenty of vegetables.

    The less calories you eat, the more important that you get good quality. If you feel like you're starving the whole time it's very likely that you soon will go on a binge. Anyway, that's how I work.
  • alondrasilva10
    alondrasilva10 Posts: 63
    MFP has my goal for 1330 calories a day. If it says more it's probably because I was given more due to exercise.

    Thank you all for your reply. I am writing everything down and will shop a little more wiser next time I go to the grocery store. I have never heard of 'empty calories' so I'm sure once I learn a little more about what foods fill you up the most and whatnot i'll be fine.

    This is very new to me but I'm glad you guys are helping me learn as much as possible.
    Thank you again! and any more advice/tips I will happily continue writing down.
  • EmmaKarney
    EmmaKarney Posts: 690 Member
    MFP has my goal for 1330 calories a day.

    You could probably up that by 200 a day - really, the best thing is to calculate your TDEE (search for it on here, there are like a bajillion threads....) and subtract 15-20% from that.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,431 MFP Moderator
    MFP has my goal for 1330 calories a day. If it says more it's probably because I was given more due to exercise.

    Thank you all for your reply. I am writing everything down and will shop a little more wiser next time I go to the grocery store. I have never heard of 'empty calories' so I'm sure once I learn a little more about what foods fill you up the most and whatnot i'll be fine.

    This is very new to me but I'm glad you guys are helping me learn as much as possible.
    Thank you again! and any more advice/tips I will happily continue writing down.

    Just keep in mind the 1330 is pre exercise. More than likely, you will be able to eat 1700+ calories if you are regularly exercising. And yes, you can workout longer if you want more calories.
  • smsisfat
    smsisfat Posts: 10
    My suggestion is - eat more veggies - I see very few on your list - and more protein - every meal should have some protein - with that apple, have some peanut butter or some almonds.
    protein helps you stay full longer.
    and I hope that ham sandwich has some veggies with it too.

    remember, we should eat at least 2 servings of fruit and 6 -7 servings of veggies a day.
  • alondrasilva10
    alondrasilva10 Posts: 63
    My suggestion is - eat more veggies - I see very few on your list - and more protein - every meal should have some protein - with that apple, have some peanut butter or some almonds.
    protein helps you stay full longer.
    and I hope that ham sandwich has some veggies with it too.

    remember, we should eat at least 2 servings of fruit and 6 -7 servings of veggies a day.

    I'll be completely honest, I HATE veggies. You should see the face I made every time I read "eat more vegies" as a response. I hate hate hate hate them. But if it will help then I will force it down my throat. I dont care :) Thank you for your advice. I am going to look into eating more protein and veggies. Can't wait to go grocery shopping this weekend!
  • Greenrun99
    Greenrun99 Posts: 2,065 Member
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

    Sounds like your struggling now and your eating pretty small.. maybe you should adjust for a lifestyle instead of a quick fix.

    Also eating back your exercise calories if you stay eating 1330 will help give you some more calories.
  • caseythirteen
    caseythirteen Posts: 956 Member
    I'll be completely honest, I HATE veggies. You should see the face I made every time I read "eat more vegies" as a response. I hate hate hate hate them. But if it will help then I will force it down my throat. I dont care :) Thank you for your advice. I am going to look into eating more protein and veggies. Can't wait to go grocery shopping this weekend!
    Maybe try eating them with something. I'm not a huge fan of carrots but I can devour them when I eat them with hummus! Maybe some peppers with a small bit of salad dressing. I think you just have to be more creative with how you eat them. My husband doesn't like veggies much either but loves french cut green beans mixed with roasted slivered almonds. Or even a mix of green and red peppers in a marinade and grilled. Sure, the extra stuff adds calories but it sounds like you could use a bit more of those anyway and lots of them can be good calories (almonds, olive oil, hummus).
  • smsisfat
    smsisfat Posts: 10
    I am a vegetarian, so for the most part, I love veggies, but there are some I just don't care for - all those lettuces - ugh - so I find others that I like.

    Maybe sneak some in other ways - soups, chili, smoothies - and look at a bunch of recipes - maybe it's just the types of veggies you've been eating that you dislike, but if you tried others you might be surprised.

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