What to eat when you're under your calorie goal?

Lately I've been having a problem with reaching my calorie goal. I'll be really good about my eating all day, getting my exercise in, ect. but at the end of the day, I'll be as much as 600 calories under on same days. What is the best way to go about reaching my calorie goal on days like this?

The confusing part for me is that I feel full and satisfied on these days, even though I am under my calorie goal. I've just been eating really low-calorie foods. I feel like I'm forcing myself to eat just so I can get up to my calorie goal, even when I'm not hungry...is this something I should be doing? And if so, what kind of foods should I be eating to get my calories up? I assume I shouldn't just dive in and have a piece of cake to get rid of my excess calories, but it's hard for me to reach my goal eating healthy foods.

(I recently just adjusted my calories to 1200 a day since I was having a much harder time reaching my original 1600 goal)

You should start eating some good fats to rev your metabolism. Avocado is a fantastic food as is coconut oil (a great source of medium chain triglycerides--good for fat-burning). Are you working out? If you are, 1200 is WAYYYY too low. You need to "NET" at least 1200 calories (your net calories are your allotted calories minus your exercise calories) or you risk damaging your metabolism.

Today I knew I was not going to meet my calorie goal so I added 2 tbsp of all natural peanut butter to my regular protein shake. That bumped me up the extra 200 cals I needed and also added some satisfying fat to my day. So, that's what I do when I know I'm going to fall short. I add some calorie dense, healthy food to my day and call it good!

Mmmmmmm. Peanut butter. Yes.

Two words - Peanut Butter

Milk, nuts, peanut butter, avacados, and cheese.

Almond butter

I think have the same problem.. I simply don't feel hungry. I have to remind myself to eat. I looked at your diary. I think you just need to add more in when you eat or do as I did, and split your day up into 6 meals. What really helped me was eating breakfast. To help myself I made protein shakes in the morning at first. It did help, and recently I've gotten away from it, but have trained myself to eat int he morning. Those 200 or so calories in the mornings make a huge difference for me.

Natural peanut butter spread on an apple is a great snack. I have that often. Plain Greek yogurt with a squeeze of honey is a great snack as well. I also don't use low fat food (except my greek yogurt, but that's because I don't like the full fat version of it).

Make sure there is a fruit and veggie at every meal, carbs are not the enemy. I did't reach 1200 today either. I did yesterday but I didn't many days last week. I need to train my body to expect to be fed more often, like creating hunger. You probably need to do the same thing.

Under eating isn't any better then overeating.

I do the same, and I know better, I got here by not eating.

Old habits die hard -
Breakfast - coffee
Lunch - no time
Dinner - too hot, salad

All this eating, is,overwhelming, I am trying!

I've been having this problem too, certain days. I feel like I'm eating all day and end up 600 short. So after dinner and I put in my meals, I'll have another protein shake and a couple granola bars. The calories isn't the hard part- its the macros. Trying to keep the fat and sodium down is hard. The weekends are easy because a couple beers fills up the count pretty fast!

Almond butter

Way more nutritious and healthy for you than peanut butter. You get a gold star.

I've always got this problem. Some days I would end up around 600 calories total.... my net would end up negative after workouts

Definitely not a good thing.. I just have to echo what other people have said.. peanut butter.. it's good protein and easy calories
Other thing I will do is sometimes just add in a protein shake or something like that.

Good luck

My favorite high calorie snack is triscuits (120 cals for 6) and smuckers natural peanut butter (200 cals for 2 tablespoons). That's 320 good cals right there and let's face it...I rarely only have 6 triscuits

Almonds are also great as someone else mentioend - I need some flavor so I opt for the dark chocolate dry roasted (150 cals for an ounce).

An avocado sliced up with a dash of sea salt and some pepper - delicious and 250 cals. Yum.

you need to NET at least 1200. So if you are burning 600 at the gym, you need to eat at least a total of 1800 to stay within a healthy range. If i know i'm going to be having a day where i'm going to burn more than usual, i try to plan for it throughout the day and take in some peanut butter, almonds, protein shakes. Add avocado to a salad or sandwich.

I am new and have the exact same trouble every day. I know need to do some food adjusting. I do eat pretty healthy and count everything I eat. Burn an easy 600-800 calories at the gym everyday so that kills me hitting my calorie goal of 1200 calories pretty much every day. I lost 7 lbs in the first 2 weeks I started. Then gained 3 lbs back and have no clue how or why. very defeating and frustrating. So I am seeing nuts, peanut butter etc. I feel like I need to cut out carbs. Seems to get close to carb goal with Special K every morning. Rambling now but frustrated I worked so hard the last 2 weeks and got psyched I lost the 7 lb loss then gained 3 back. What am I doing wrong? I am really ready and committed to this. Just feel a bit lost in the quest.

I'm having the same problem as you are. I exercise 4-5 days a week, and when I do, I burn at least 600 calories. Sometimes my net calories only end up being 400-500 for the day. After reading these posts, I need to get out of this mindset and be okay with seeing a negative calorie amount (showing that I have gone over for the day). I usually freak out if I have over 1,200 calories...