My theory on why people fall under their calories

I find it very easy to rack up a calorie overage on vegetables alone. Sure, a serving of broccoli has 30 calories, but after you have four or five servings in a day that is 120 cals. Then add the drizzle of olive oil and its gonna be around 200. People who can't meet their calorie goal just arent trying. Especially if there is a chicken breast involved. Also, I think people have at that point gotten almost afraid to eat any thing with higher calories. They have been eating so much garbage for so long, they may worry that a high calorie item is a bad idea. I think it takes time to get comfortable in a new dietary plan.

i eat 2500 to 2700 calories a day and there is no way I am going to hit that on brocoli and olive oil ...

OP - I see what you are saying. I sometimes will have dinner which is usually around 1000 to 1200 cals and am like damn I am eating a lot ...but if you substitue in some steak or pork then you can usually get there and not feel like you are stuffing yourself....I usually do not have chicken for dinner..it is more steak strips with brown rice...something slow cooked..fish on my low cal/rest work out day..etc...

I didn't say I only eat broccoli and olive oil. Geesh.

I really dont understand you people... I eat realatively healthy (keeping added sugar, sodium, cholesterol below recommended), and at 3000 cal a day i am hungry all the time. Imagining, how someone can eat below 2000 cal, and STRUGGLE to get it, even using dirty foods, is mindblowing. All your daily calories are like a half a chocolate bar...

Umm... I know it is supposedly bad for metabolism etc etc but I struggle to get above 800 cals a day. In fact if I just eat when hungry I would have only clocked 700ish calories and then panick 'ooh I havent eaten enough calories!!' and try to get in another milky tea or something but still... just proof that not all overweight people stuff themselves silly, its just not always the case.

I'm guessing you're not eating enough variety, or not doing enough activity to GET hungry. If all you eat is salad then you won't be hungry but your body will not be nourished.800 calories is a MEAL not a daily allowance!

I have no trouble eating 1400, but when I first put it up to that I did struggle because I was scared of adding extra stuff now I'd got out of the snacking habit - I didn't want to eat crisps and chocolate for the sake of it! I now tak a pre-weighed portion of nuts as well as another snack, but don't necessarily eat the second if the nuts have filled me up. I just have a bigger protion in the evening. (Not eating the second is rare - only if I'm too busy to get it out of my bag!!)

I think the biggest thing people are missing here is the easiest answer to making up those missing cals you just can't find room for...

DRINK YOUR CALORIES.

Most people who jump on the fitness bandwagon start drinking crazy amounts of water, and stop drinking milk, juices, and sodas because they don't want to drink "empty" calories. Then they end up under and can't squeeze another broccoli stalk into their mouth. Here's an idea: drink orange juice or milk with breakfast, have some real fruit juice with lunch, have a regular full-calorie soda or a tall glass of milk with dinner! If you've had a real good day and are still 400 calories short, make yourself a couple cocktails or have the few beers you've likely deprived yourself of on the road to fitness and weight loss. If that's not your style, spread out two of your meals by an extra couple hours and add a protein shake using milk or yogurt or a blended smoothie using real fruit juices with whole fruits/veggies.

There's an easy 400-500 calories injected right back into your diet if you add to every meal. You can still get all your water in between or in addition to drinks with meals.

"My theory on why people fall under their calories"... it is an individual thing.

Yes, there are general guidelines, but we don't all do the same things everyday and our bodies do not all respond the same to everything we eat.

I think the main thing is to pay attention to your own body and how you FEEL.

One day I may eat 900 total calories and the next I may eat 1300 total calories. I don't sweat over that because my body didn't need any more than that 900 total calories that day. If I'm energized and "feeling good" then why would I stuff myself just to meet an estimated number? (key word: energized)

Everyone isn't the same and again, these are guidelines.

When I was young the FDA recommended eating an enormous amount of food/calories and as a kid I was always told to eat ALL the food on my plate. All of that is now debunked.

My calories on a day of hiking is totally different than my calories on a day of sitting on my butt at the office and not getting in a workout.

I started out using the "guidelines" and that was a good base for me. I learned a lot. Now, I've worked that into my own thing... what works for me.

Listen to your own body and let others do what they FEEL is best for them.

Bottom line... you don't have to reach a certain amount of calories to be the best YOU. If you're feeling good and energized, then... well, that's it.

I love peanut butter....I miss it.

Give me your chocolate.

I am reading this topic with interest as I am confused as to why so many of you need to be on a calorie counting website if you find it so hard to eat enough food?? Surely, your love of food (or too much of it) is what bought you here so why all of a sudden have you lost your appetities? I eat between 1,500 and 1,600 daily (sometimes 2,000+ on a weekend) and I am never so full I can't possible eat anymore! I eat 5 x 300-400 calorie meals a day and hitting my target is easy, it's staying under it that's hard, I love food!

I get that you don't want to eat junk food but what about changing from skimmed to full fat milk, add cheese to your salad, add butter to your bread - not all fats are bad fats! Even just cooking with a little oil can add 100 cals to a meal. Then there's things like grains, pulses and other complex carbs that actually give you energy! How do you people find the strength to work out whilst eating lettuce leaves?? That is just not sustainable. Eat in a way that you can do (and enjoy!) going forward, this should not be a faddy diet, it just won't last.

Good luck to all!

This!!!
I WISH I was one who had trouble meeting calorie goals. I eat healthy 90% of the time and I still have issues with not going over.

I also have trouble getting to my 1500 a day that MFP says I need to be at. Actually, just today I decided to add 3 eggs to my breakfast. Before today, I had just been eating fruit for breakfast normally, a flat bread sandwich for lunch, and usually a healthy dinner of some sort. This would leave me at literally like 900 calories.

This weekend I am going to start adding Whole Raw Milk from my buddy's farm so that should help as well and give me some added nutrients and brown fats.

I agree with you. For me though, it's not even just that the healthier foods tend to be filling at a low calorie count. For me, it can be a struggle because I never ate that many calories in the first place, I drank them. Before I started changing my diet, I would eat about a 1000-1200 calories worth of food in a day and drink well over a thousand calories worth of sodas and sugary drinks like lemonade-- I drank sodas like I drink water now. If I wanted something sweet, I'd always chose a huge bottle of soda over actual food.

No was on a 1200 calorie diet trying to up it to 1500 - 1600 and will eat back most of the Insantiy calories on top of that, might be a bit bonkers and uninformed in the nutrition stakes but also understand that I need to have enough energy to get out of bed in the mornings :-)

I love nutella so I don't buy it because i dip into it with dried veggies and before you know it, I'm full and the jar is empty...

I find the puzzle is sometimes a pain. I don't eat a lot for breakfast one day because I'm not hungry, but then it comes to lunch and I gauge my calories based on what I usually eat and then by the end of the day, I have calories left over because I was 'saving' them for dinner and found myself not hungry. So then the next day I overcompensate.

It's a balancing act and unless I eat the same thing every day, I'm always up and down on my macros.

Dunno what you are talking about. If I need to eat more, a good handful of nuts or an avocado usually takes care of those calories for me.