Struggling to eat enough?????

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deaglesuk
deaglesuk Posts: 5 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm sure I must have a setting wrong somewhere. I know I'm a big lad at only 5'10 and 238lb (17 stone) but my app is telling me that I should be eating 2050 cals a day plus whatever I exercise.

Because I've tried to clean up my diet recently and only eat food cooked from scratch (without being silly, still the odd takeaway) I'm actually struggling to eat enough calories a day. Have I set something wrong? Do I have the wrong idea? Or was my old "lifestyle" (I'm not on a diet, I'm changing my lifestyle) THAT far out???

Replies

  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
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    Add another egg to that morning omelet, snack on a handful of raw almonds, slice the apple and dip it in peanut butter, have a piece of cheese.....small portions of these foods pack some good calories, and will get you closer to goal without having to eat a ton.
  • ladynocturne
    ladynocturne Posts: 865 Member
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    So I ran some numbers for you.
    http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/tdee-calculator.html

    Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) on Sedentary is 2647, this is to maintain your current weight with zero exercise.

    For a 1lb a week loss you'd need to eat 2147 calories + exercise calories. So it sounds like MFP is pretty spot on.
  • jwdieter
    jwdieter Posts: 2,582 Member
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    Nuts, bananas, and if you use oil/butter while cooking, count that.
  • lauren3101
    lauren3101 Posts: 1,853 Member
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    You need to eat foods that are high in calories but low in density. Nuts are a classic, peanut butter you could eat off the spoon and make up your calorie allowance in no time. Try cooking with oil, eating fattier bits of meat, using full fat milk or cheese, etc.

    I see that a lot of people decide they will be really 'good' and switch everything to diet versions, and then can't hit their calories.
  • deaglesuk
    deaglesuk Posts: 5 Member
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    Some great tips thanks folks.

    I can easily add nuts and bananas to my day. Also making breakfast a 3 egg omelette with cheese won't be too much of a hardship :)

    Glad to know the numbers are right though
  • spickard34
    spickard34 Posts: 303 Member
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    Try adding coconut oil. I have to eat Sugar and Wheat Free so I was stuck on how to add cals so I now eat a tbps of coconut oil three times a day. It is GOOD fat for you and is 120cals. I just eat it out of the container, I tired cooking with it but it my food smells like a tanning salon lol.
  • trogalicious
    trogalicious Posts: 4,584 Member
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    Add another egg to that morning omelet, snack on a handful of raw almonds, slice the apple and dip it in peanut butter, have a piece of cheese.....small portions of these foods pack some good calories, and will get you closer to goal without having to eat a ton.

    yup. this.
  • ItsCasey
    ItsCasey Posts: 4,022 Member
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    Eating big is a skill, and, like all skills, you must practice. Don't just say "I can't." Whatever you're eating already, just eat more of it.
  • magerum
    magerum Posts: 12,589 Member
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    Ice cream.







    Or pop tart ice cream sammiches.
  • amcgltdchix
    amcgltdchix Posts: 24
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    Wow.. I did the TDEE on Fitness Frog and I'm supposed to be eating 2268 calories per day!? I'm doing 1200 following the calculations on here for the past 2 weeks have lost only a pound with all of the working out I've been doing.

    I wonder if I'm doing the diet totally wrong. :(
  • _noob_
    _noob_ Posts: 3,306 Member
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    remember what you ate to get you to 238? just eat a little less of the same food that got you there.
  • kellijauch
    kellijauch Posts: 379 Member
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    Well, that's a lot of calories. Maybe you should change it and lower it to maybe 1800? Plus- I never eat back exercise calories. You need to burn calories to lose weight, not burn them, then eat them again. That doesn't make sense to me.
  • kellijauch
    kellijauch Posts: 379 Member
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    Wow.. I did the TDEE on Fitness Frog and I'm supposed to be eating 2268 calories per day!? I'm doing 1200 following the calculations on here for the past 2 weeks have lost only a pound with all of the working out I've been doing.

    I wonder if I'm doing the diet totally wrong. :(

    I doubt you should be eating 2268, but you probably should be eating more than 1200 (especially if you aren't losing much weight, but keep in mind, working out helps you gain muscle, so even though you may not be losing weight, you could be losing inches). I think 1500 is good for an active woman, maybe 1800 if you have a job where you move around alot and exercise too.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
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    Well, that's a lot of calories. Maybe you should change it and lower it to maybe 1800? Plus- I never eat back exercise calories. You need to burn calories to lose weight, not burn them, then eat them again. That doesn't make sense to me.

    It completely depends on what method you are doing. If you are using MFP, it is a NEAT method calculator...with the NEAT method, exercise is extra as you do not include it in your activity level when you set your profile. With the TDEE method you include your exercise in your activity level setting...so that exercise is already accounted for...thus you don't eat back exercise calories.

    You need to do a little more research on what tool for weight loss you are using.
  • Danvman1980
    Danvman1980 Posts: 27
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    Hi

    I was bigger than you when i started 3 weeks ago i was 18.6 stone 6'2 and i made the same mistake. Took me a few days to notice i set my activities wrong i was counting the amount of exercise into how active i was which is not the rite thing to do unless you have a very busy none stop moving around job..? Once i change that my amount dropped to 1720 in take
  • deaglesuk
    deaglesuk Posts: 5 Member
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    Had a play with my settings. Changed to "lose 2lb a week" and that's sorted my calorie intake to a more sensible 1760 a day + exercise.
  • shaunap3
    shaunap3 Posts: 206 Member
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    Make sure you get all of you fruits and veggies, but add in more meats (watch your fats), and nuts/peanut butter/almond butter, and things like brown rice, quinoa, and black beans. You're doing awesome.
  • Joehenny
    Joehenny Posts: 1,222 Member
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    I'm sure I must have a setting wrong somewhere. I know I'm a big lad at only 5'10 and 238lb (17 stone) but my app is telling me that I should be eating 2050 cals a day plus whatever I exercise.

    Because I've tried to clean up my diet recently and only eat food cooked from scratch (without being silly, still the odd takeaway) I'm actually struggling to eat enough calories a day. Have I set something wrong? Do I have the wrong idea? Or was my old "lifestyle" (I'm not on a diet, I'm changing my lifestyle) THAT far out???

    Well if you have gotten to that weight you've obviously been consuming many more cals than you are currently now struggling to consume.

    Most likely then you drastically reduced the density of your food choices and upped the volume. You have to find denser foods.
  • deaglesuk
    deaglesuk Posts: 5 Member
    Options
    I'm sure I must have a setting wrong somewhere. I know I'm a big lad at only 5'10 and 238lb (17 stone) but my app is telling me that I should be eating 2050 cals a day plus whatever I exercise.

    Because I've tried to clean up my diet recently and only eat food cooked from scratch (without being silly, still the odd takeaway) I'm actually struggling to eat enough calories a day. Have I set something wrong? Do I have the wrong idea? Or was my old "lifestyle" (I'm not on a diet, I'm changing my lifestyle) THAT far out???

    Well if you have gotten to that weight you've obviously been consuming many more cals than you are currently now struggling to consume.

    Most likely then you drastically reduced the density of your food choices and upped the volume. You have to find denser foods.

    Honestly my old diet was APPALLING. Triple burgers with fried egg, bacon, cheese, Canadian steak and mayo...... for LUNCH. Looking back I was probably eating the best part of 4000 calories a day with zero exersize. I've been eating better for a while now but not tracking anything (I was about 19 stone). and I'm already feeling a LOT better.

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