Too MANY calories?!

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  • EmmaOnTrack
    EmmaOnTrack Posts: 425 Member
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    Would you mind sharing some days of your diet? I don't think you can fit a whole lot of food in 1200 unless you're eating celery (and I HATE celery). I always have serious stomach growling if I eat less than 1500 and myfitnesspal app sets me at 1200...
    this is a standard day. Big omelette for lunch, meat and vege for dinner, ice cream for dessert. I did 30 mins cardio and some weights at the gym. If you have no idea what some items are it'll be because I'm in New Zealand and we eat weird stuff!

    Breakfast Calories Carbs Fat Protein Sugar Fiber
    Berocca. 5

    Lunch
    Deli Meats - Shaved Ham, 2 slices 31
    Pams - Frozen Spinach, 37.5 g 13
    Kraft - Vegemite, 5 g 9
    Valumetric - Colby Cheese (Suggested Serve), 20 g (suggested serving) 82
    Woodland - Free Range Eggs, 2 Egg (46 grams) 132
    Add Food Quick Tools 267

    Dinner
    Brocolli - Fresh - Brocolli - Boiled, 1/2 c cooked 22
    Anchor - Butter 100 g , 7 g 52
    Generic - Pumpkin - Baked/Roasted/Boiled (No Fat Added), 122.5 gm 24 6
    Brussels sprouts - Cooked, boiled, drained, without salt, 2 sprout 15
    Cauliflower - Cooked, boiled, drained, without salt, 3 flowerets 12
    Country Goodness (Nz) - Lite Sour Cream, 25 g 38
    Protein - Grilled Sirloin Steak 85 g, 4.5 ounces 201
    Mushrooms - Raw, 1 large 5
    Add Food Quick Tools 369

    Dessert
    Home Made - Chocolate Pudding, 3/4 cup 280
    Tip Top - Light Hokey Pokey Icecream, 53 g 90


    Totals 1,006 39 36 60 20 7
    Your Daily Goal 1,572 216 52 58 31 18
    Remaining 566 177 16 -2 11 11
  • EmmaOnTrack
    EmmaOnTrack Posts: 425 Member
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    Today I had;

    Steak, egg and spinach for lunch.
    Home made cauliflower cheese pie with oven baked fries for tea.
    Ice cream with home made lemon curd for dessert.
    15 min walk (ie. no real exercise)

    Total 896 cals. Still 304 left and nice full tummy.
  • JesterMFP
    JesterMFP Posts: 3,596 Member
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    How did you become overweight if you can't even eat 1200 a day?

    I don't mean to be impertinent but are you really short, and/or very inactive?

    This question gets asked fairly frequently and it just doesn't make sense to me how an adult can gain weight on that little.

    Good question. I became overweight (by 10kgs/22lbs) because when I'm NOT using MFP to track my food I am a total fried foods, chocolate and cream-filled-lovely-stuff freak. Now that I'm back to eating a normal diet of mainly whole foods and regularly exercising again I just can't seem to make up the numbers.

    Much as I'd LOVE to catch up by devouring the dark chocolate and peanut slab that's been taunting me from the bottom of my handbag for the last week it just doesn't feel right...
    There's absolutely nothing wrong with dark chocolate and peanuts, especially if included as part of a well balanced diet. You say you're "back to eating a normal diet" and yet you're purposely not eating something that you have in your handbag that you enjoy... sounds like you're "on a diet" to me. Which is fine, that's your choice. But, is that something you can sustain long-term? It seems to me that most of the people who are really successful are the ones that manage to incorporate the foods they enjoy into their diet.

    You don't feel hungry because undereating has a big effect on the hormones that control appetite. Eat more, and your appetite should return. You don't have to stuff yourself with a high volume of food, just aim for the more calorie dense foods that others have mentioned. The chocolate and peanut slab would be ideal. I eat chocolate nearly every day, and it hasn't affected my weight loss/maintenance. 896 calories a day is nowhere near enough for a grown woman and you're risking losing too much lean mass, which will only give you more problems managing your weight later on.
  • EmmaOnTrack
    EmmaOnTrack Posts: 425 Member
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    How did you become overweight if you can't even eat 1200 a day?

    I don't mean to be impertinent but are you really short, and/or very inactive?

    This question gets asked fairly frequently and it just doesn't make sense to me how an adult can gain weight on that little.

    Good question. I became overweight (by 10kgs/22lbs) because when I'm NOT using MFP to track my food I am a total fried foods, chocolate and cream-filled-lovely-stuff freak. Now that I'm back to eating a normal diet of mainly whole foods and regularly exercising again I just can't seem to make up the numbers.

    Much as I'd LOVE to catch up by devouring the dark chocolate and peanut slab that's been taunting me from the bottom of my handbag for the last week it just doesn't feel right...
    There's absolutely nothing wrong with dark chocolate and peanuts, especially if included as part of a well balanced diet. You say you're "back to eating a normal diet" and yet you're purposely not eating something that you have in your handbag that you enjoy... sounds like you're "on a diet" to me. Which is fine, that's your choice. But, is that something you can sustain long-term? It seems to me that most of the people who are really successful are the ones that manage to incorporate the foods they enjoy into their diet.

    You don't feel hungry because undereating has a big effect on the hormones that control appetite. Eat more, and your appetite should return. You don't have to stuff yourself with a high volume of food, just aim for the more calorie dense foods that others have mentioned. The chocolate and peanut slab would be ideal. I eat chocolate nearly every day, and it hasn't affected my weight loss/maintenance. 896 calories a day is nowhere near enough for a grown woman and you're risking losing too much lean mass, which will only give you more problems managing your weight later on.

    That slab is earmarked for tomorrow...going to use it for fuel before my evening Zumba class.

    I hear what your saying but given what I actually consumed yesterday today (basically two large home cooked meals and dessert), I'm struggling to see why that's not enough food.
  • LisaWilson2012
    LisaWilson2012 Posts: 118 Member
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    Try throwing some weights into your exercise schedule... then you'll be hungry and will want to eat more! (said from experience!)
  • Teele86
    Teele86 Posts: 23 Member
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    Do you weigh your food? only asking as serving sizes are very small. I found that when I began to weigh my food I realised I was eating more than one serve at a time. Roasted pumpkin with a olive oil spray is still high (relatively) in calories when your eating 2 cups...yumm love roasted pumpkin!
  • flumi_f
    flumi_f Posts: 1,888 Member
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    I calculate me weekly exercise into my TDEE. So I have the same amount of cals daily. Might be easier for you for starters, than eating your 1200 + the exercise cals of that day, because you have a stable amout of alotted cals everyday.

    Works well for me and I just look at the cal deficit over a week instead of daily.
  • flumi_f
    flumi_f Posts: 1,888 Member
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    [/quote]

    To be honest, me too...you can fit an awful lot of food in to 1200 calories! I have done a bit of diary snooping and notice that there is a lot of packaged food being consumed by some, which I've always found to be deeply unsatisfying whilst being calorie-rich.

    Home cooking all the way here!
    [/quote]

    Yup, I am always surprised by that. I have never been big on processed foods and have increased my veggie intake even more, reduced my cheese (I live in Switzerland - good stuff here) since I started MFP. Just home cooking in my kitchen :wink: So much better in taste IMO.
  • MizzEngelChen
    MizzEngelChen Posts: 71 Member
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    Would you mind sharing some days of your diet? I don't think you can fit a whole lot of food in 1200 unless you're eating celery (and I HATE celery). I always have serious stomach growling if I eat less than 1500 and myfitnesspal app sets me at 1200...
    this is a standard day. Big omelette for lunch, meat and vege for dinner, ice cream for dessert. I did 30 mins cardio and some weights at the gym. If you have no idea what some items are it'll be because I'm in New Zealand and we eat weird stuff!

    Breakfast Calories Carbs Fat Protein Sugar Fiber
    Berocca. 5

    Lunch
    Deli Meats - Shaved Ham, 2 slices 31
    Pams - Frozen Spinach, 37.5 g 13
    Kraft - Vegemite, 5 g 9
    Valumetric - Colby Cheese (Suggested Serve), 20 g (suggested serving) 82
    Woodland - Free Range Eggs, 2 Egg (46 grams) 132
    Add Food Quick Tools 267

    Dinner
    Brocolli - Fresh - Brocolli - Boiled, 1/2 c cooked 22
    Anchor - Butter 100 g , 7 g 52
    Generic - Pumpkin - Baked/Roasted/Boiled (No Fat Added), 122.5 gm 24 6
    Brussels sprouts - Cooked, boiled, drained, without salt, 2 sprout 15
    Cauliflower - Cooked, boiled, drained, without salt, 3 flowerets 12
    Country Goodness (Nz) - Lite Sour Cream, 25 g 38
    Protein - Grilled Sirloin Steak 85 g, 4.5 ounces 201
    Mushrooms - Raw, 1 large 5
    Add Food Quick Tools 369

    Dessert
    Home Made - Chocolate Pudding, 3/4 cup 280
    Tip Top - Light Hokey Pokey Icecream, 53 g 90


    Totals 1,006 39 36 60 20 7
    Your Daily Goal 1,572 216 52 58 31 18
    Remaining 566 177 16 -2 11 11


    Soooooo.. you're struggling to meet your calorie goal but I see "diet" items in that list?
    Throw out the "Light" sour cream and get full fat. Replace the "Light" ice cream for normal one.... etc. See where that gets you.
  • lunarpixie
    lunarpixie Posts: 4
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    I wish I had that problem!! lol. If you're concerned about not eating enough, I'd go with nuts- good for you, but pretty high in calories.
  • JesterMFP
    JesterMFP Posts: 3,596 Member
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    That slab is earmarked for tomorrow...going to use it for fuel before my evening Zumba class.

    I hear what your saying but given what I actually consumed yesterday today (basically two large home cooked meals and dessert), I'm struggling to see why that's not enough food.
    Because your body doesn't care about the volume of food you're consuming, only the energy and nutrients that it gets. But, hey - if you're happy with what you're doing, carry on and good luck. :flowerforyou:
  • TheGoktor
    TheGoktor Posts: 1,138 Member
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    Fantastic advice. Most appreciated. Also, I'm super jealous of you living in Thailand. I'd go back in a heartbeat...and actually lost weight every time I've been in the past. The heat just made me less hungry, and it seemed to be lovely light and healthy food (comparitively).

    Glad to have been of some help!

    Yes, Thailand is wonderful - Chiang Mai is such an easy city to live in, and it is pretty easy to eat healthily (also easy to eat badly though!). I love the lightness of the food here, and yes, the heat means that overeating is horribly uncomfortable! That's not to say I haven't done it occasionally - I'm no saint! :laugh:

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