Trouble meeting minimum calories

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  • gege0404
    gege0404 Posts: 17
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    I totally disagree with switching over to full fat items. Why? I know most want to see the numbers on the scale go down but aren't we all doing this to be HEALTHY? Why would one want to consume all those artery clogging foods that will cause medical issues such as high cholesterol, diabetes, etc. I am perplexed?
  • cmeiron
    cmeiron Posts: 1,599 Member
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    I totally disagree with switching over to full fat items. Why? I know most want to see the numbers on the scale go down but aren't we all doing this to be HEALTHY? Why would one want to consume all those artery clogging foods that will cause medical issues such as high cholesterol, diabetes, etc. I am perplexed?

    Dietary fat is an essential component of good health and nutrition. Dietary fat does not result in body fat. Certain fats actually reduce cholesterol. Do you want to make your entire diet consist of fats? Probably not. Should you limit trans fats? Probably. But you don't need to shy away from a good fat intake. 0.35g/lb body weight is a reasonable amount. Plus, fats help with satiety and since they're calorie-dense you can eat a small amount to help meet your calorie goals if that's something you struggle with.
  • jamiesillimandunn
    jamiesillimandunn Posts: 270 Member
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    I agree with the last posters, for me it's hard to distinguish between the two , what I meant by introducing more fats was not going ALL low fat , I can eat Greek yogurt in smaller portions than with low fat Greek and , before I cut extra virgin olive oil out because of the calories, but I see I can use it in moderation and have it be beneficial to me , so my point Is its confusing in the beginning for newbies ...I thought I had to cut my calories and portions ..period but I see that's not MY case ...I went to deep :)
  • da_bears10089
    da_bears10089 Posts: 1,791 Member
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    I totally disagree with switching over to full fat items. Why? I know most want to see the numbers on the scale go down but aren't we all doing this to be HEALTHY? Why would one want to consume all those artery clogging foods that will cause medical issues such as high cholesterol, diabetes, etc. I am perplexed?

    Dietary fat is an essential component of good health and nutrition. Dietary fat does not result in body fat. Certain fats actually reduce cholesterol. Do you want to make your entire diet consist of fats? Probably not. Should you limit trans fats? Probably. But you don't need to shy away from a good fat intake. 0.35g/lb body weight is a reasonable amount. Plus, fats help with satiety and since they're calorie-dense you can eat a small amount to help meet your calorie goals if that's something you struggle with.

    My husband and I made the switch from drinking skim milk to whole milk. We don't buy reduced fat anything anymore. If you think about everything that gets added into skim or low fat things to make them taste good, i will take the little extra fat.
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
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    Another thing... a lot of times the non-fat or low-fat items have some other ingredients that make it no more healthy than the full-fat version. Like increased sugar/carbs or sodium.

    I'm not suggesting anyone eat a stick of butter like it's a banana, but there's no reason to avoid avocados, salmon, nut butters, etc.
  • Leslie1124
    Leslie1124 Posts: 143 Member
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    drink some calories if you're not hungry. sometimes people dont realized how many calories are drank each day. Have a mocha or chai tea for a couple hundred calories that you dont have to physically eat.
  • SailorKnightWing
    SailorKnightWing Posts: 875 Member
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    It's really easy for some of us to go drastically under our calorie goal without meaning to. My calorie goal daily is 1400 without exercise, and yesterday I ate:

    3/4c Peanut Butter Multigrain Cheerios with skim milk (which I didn't drink, so only a little was actually consumed)
    1/2 large grapefruit without sugar
    10oz black coffee

    a smoothie made with
    -3/8c fat free frozen yogurt
    -1/2c skim milk
    -1/2 large banana
    -1T cocoa powder

    3oz grilled pork loin w/ coffee rub
    1/4C steamed peas without butter
    3.5oz canned peaches
    1/4C steamed brown rice without butter
    small piece of cola sheet cake

    My calorie count was only 800-something so I ate 2T of peanut butter after dinner to get more protein. At no point was I hungry. We're not starving or trying to drop weight unreasonably quickly, some of us have just accidentally trained our bodies to want less food than it needs.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    I don't like the full fat stuff either. You end up eating way less of it and maxing up your fat macro in no time. And no, it doesn't keep me fuller either.

    I have the same issue. And most days I am 200-300 calories under (my goal is 1800 though). And sometimes that's after having a chocolate bar, some ice cream, a beer... Whatever. Honestly I'm not sweating it anymore. If I'm not hungry, I'm not going to make myself eat.
  • da_bears10089
    da_bears10089 Posts: 1,791 Member
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    It's really easy for some of us to go drastically under our calorie goal without meaning to. My calorie goal daily is 1400 without exercise, and yesterday I ate:

    3/4c Peanut Butter Multigrain Cheerios with skim milk (which I didn't drink, so only a little was actually consumed)
    1/2 large grapefruit without sugar
    10oz black coffee

    a smoothie made with
    -3/8c fat free frozen yogurt
    -1/2c skim milk
    -1/2 large banana
    -1T cocoa powder

    3oz grilled pork loin w/ coffee rub
    1/4C steamed peas without butter
    3.5oz canned peaches
    1/4C steamed brown rice without butter
    small piece of cola sheet cake

    My calorie count was only 800-something so I ate 2T of peanut butter after dinner to get more protein. At no point was I hungry. We're not starving or trying to drop weight unreasonably quickly, some of us have just accidentally trained our bodies to want less food than it needs.

    Then purposely train your bodies to want more food. I used to stick to 1200 calories daily, and I wasn't hungry either. Then I increased my calories, and I felt like it was sooo much food. You adjust. Just like my body was 100% ok with eating 3500 calories a day before i started trying to lose weight. If you feel like you are already eating soooo much food and there is no way you could get anymore in, then switch to full fat yogurt and milk. That will increase your calories without forcing you to chew more.
  • ktmclellan
    ktmclellan Posts: 2 Member
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    I thought the same thing!
  • likitisplit
    likitisplit Posts: 9,420 Member
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    A lot of people, when they are trying to eat heathier on MFP, have trouble coming up with ideas for a balanced diet. However, MFP isn't about trying to eat the fewest possible number of calories. It's about learning to eat at a healthy level for your body - not too much and not too little.

    So you do need to eat all of your base calories and at least half of your exercise calories. Here are some ideas for adding healthy calories:

    Chicken with the skin
    Steak
    Cheese
    Whole eggs (including deviled eggs, egg salad)
    Full fat dairy (including cottage cheese, yogurt)
    Fruit,
    Peanut butter or other nut butters
    Nuts
    Avocado
    Dried fruit (raisins, apricots, apples)
    Dark chocolate
    Salmon
    Add Chia seeds to salads or yogurt
    Olive oil
    Smoothies
    Granola/sports nutrition bars
    Whole grains or whole grain products (like brown rice, Quinoa, oatmeal)
  • SailorKnightWing
    SailorKnightWing Posts: 875 Member
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    That's the plan. Just trying to explain to people who "don't get it."
  • likitisplit
    likitisplit Posts: 9,420 Member
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    Another thing I did was rename my meals. So breakfast is now "Breakfast - 300" and that's my calorie goal for the meal. That way I can be sure to stay on track throughout the day.

    There's so much misinformation out there about what healthy dieting looks like that I find it hard to blame people being confused on MFP about what and whether they should eat.
  • alexisdc
    alexisdc Posts: 117 Member
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    QUINOA!
  • Kris4squared
    Kris4squared Posts: 2
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    :smile:
  • Kris4squared
    Kris4squared Posts: 2
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    Hey Folks, I've just started this and I'm having a hard time getting past 950 calories although I am allowed 1200. This is why: I'm learning to stay under my fat/sugar/carb ratios and when I stay under those ratios my caloric intake suffers! This is because I'm also learning how to balance my meals, and what the different food values are. For those of you who've been at it for a while or who have the knowledge/ability to successfully meet your caloric intake and stay within your other ratios: please share instead of snark. I would find that most supportive and I'm sure so would others. I only have 19 lbs post pregnancy to loose, but much knowledge to gain. Oh yeah. One more thing: some folks are allergic to nuts, can't eat yeast/ corn or their derivatives: this too makes balancing your diet a bigger challenge. My issue isn't weight loss, it is healthier eating/ balance and that is why I use this app. If you can't post support, why bother posting?

    Don't limit fats for starters.

    When setting up macros you should be going for a minimum of .35 grams per pound of body weight, or if you're obese you can do it per pound of lean body mass.

    I personally feel (although I'm sure many disagree) that it's more important to meet your calorie goal than it is to eat "clean," so I would first satisfy my protein goal and make sure I'm getting a few servings of fruits/veggies, and then I would fill in with discretionary calories. Tonight I had ice cream. I limit discretionary calories to 20% of my goal. So today I had toast and fruit for breakfast, cottage cheese and garlic lime shrimp for lunch, some fresh veggies as a snack, chicken chili with beans for dinner, and ice cream for dessert. 1900 calories on the nose.

    Smoothies are also a great way to sneak in calories.

    You can't necessarily trust your natural hunger cues, especially if you've been under-eating. Hunger is at least partly hormonal. When I started here I was eating 900 calories per day and was no hungry, but that didn't mean that I didn't need more food.

    What a wonderful response. Very helpful and supportive. Perhaps the operative phrase should have been limiting junk such as potato chips, cookies etc. vs limiting fat. Knowing the author of that comment I know that is what she meant.

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