What to do if i'm not meeting my calorie intake?

Hey!

I've noticed in other programs that you have to eat your minimum caloric goal. Otherwise, you will throw your body into starvation mode. I even try to eat some of my exercise calories earned but not all - that would lead to maintenance, not weight loss. Pigging out at night is not smart either though. Maybe try eating higher caloric foods in the morning and afternoon may help you get those calories in.

MFP feedback each day is that I'm not getting enough calories. I do not want to start losing muscle. I'm finding it hard to get my calorie count up to 1230 and still keep my nutrition breakdowns at the recommended levels. My fiber count is always too high, is that because I choose whole grain foods? I need to increase carbs without increasing fiber (which I thought was a good thing!) The more veggies I eat, the more fiber I get. When I eat fruit, my sugar count is too high. My protein is often too high also. Need to learn how to balance it all out. I will definitly eat more, just more of what and still lose fat and not muscle.

MFP feedback each day is that I'm not getting enough calories. I do not want to start losing muscle. I'm finding it hard to get my calorie count up to 1230 and still keep my nutrition breakdowns at the recommended levels. My fiber count is always too high, is that because I choose whole grain foods? I need to increase carbs without increasing fiber (which I thought was a good thing!) The more veggies I eat, the more fiber I get. When I eat fruit, my sugar count is too high. My protein is often too high also. Need to learn how to balance it all out. I will definitly eat more, just more of what and still lose fat and not muscle.

MFP fiber levels are low. 25g-30g each day is recommended for healthy adults.

MFP protein levels are low for most. They're set at 15% of your total calories. You can change this. I personally eat 30% protein.

For me, MFP carb recommendations are high set at 60%, I think. Most people keep it somewhere between 40% and 60%, it seems.

Moral of the story is tinker around with your settings to find out what makes you feel the best.

I just started too, and am also finding that I generally don't meet my calorie goal each day. I think it is a little exaggerated to tell everyone if you miss your goal, even by just a little bit, that you are putting your body in starvation mode though, like the MFP site does. My calorie goal per day is 1200, plus I do some walking every day on the week days, so my calories get bumped up to around 1300/day. I'm not too worried if say for example, I only eat 1150 calories in a day....thats only 150 short of my goal, so I'm not going to freak out about it. I think the trick here is to find an even balance for your calories and exercise combined, to reach your goal at the end of the day. I personally find that when I'm purposelyy trying to eat healthier than normal, I don't meet my caloric requirement. Add a little exercise on to that and I'm even farther from my calories for the day. I find myself eating a little extra here and there. Especially if you exercise, I think thats the best way to add calories. Just as long as you are eating some of the more healthy calories.