Increasing Calories

Options
sarah_lou22
sarah_lou22 Posts: 79
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello, everyone!

I don't want to waste time so i'm going to cut right to the chase:

I attempted to increase my calories from 1200-1450 over the past few weeks but I was struggling, HARD to be able to eat the 1450 and started eating **** just to get my calories up. I would add mayo to things, eat cookies, etc because I knew that I needed calorie laden food

I eat mostly lean meats, fruits, and vegetables.

I just calculated my TDEE-20% and found that I am supposed to be eating upwards of 1800 calories a day!

Needless to say, I find that this is INSANE especially considering I struggle with meeting 1450!

Advice? How can I get more calories in without eating junk

*BTW my dinners will always be more. because of my schedule I can only workout in between my two jobs. so I get nervous eating too much during the day if I don't know if and for how long I will be able to work out in the evenings.
«1

Replies

  • sarah_lou22
    sarah_lou22 Posts: 79
    Options
    bump
  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
    Options
    Avocados, nuts & nut butters, full fat dairy, use olive & coconut oils in cooking and dressings, whole eggs, dark chocolate, cheese - all these things are calorie dense foods, packing some good calories and nutrition into small portions, so you can easily get closer to goal without eating junk.

    My daily goal is 1900, and I have no problems eating 1800-2000 cals a day for the past year and half (my TDEE minus 15-20%), and it's worked great for losing the fat. Diary is open, feel free to look through it. Bear in mind that it's summer, and I haven't always made the best choices on a daily basis, but that's the beauty of TDEE - I know my limits, and as long as I stay under that high end TDEE number, I won't gain.

    :bigsmile:
  • mebepiglet123
    mebepiglet123 Posts: 327 Member
    Options
    Yep.

    Peanut butter, nuts, carbs are always high... Dont eat anything low fat.. like low cal mayo, just use normal, butter is a high fat oil too, and natural as hell, You will get used to it. Maybe join the eat more 2 weigh less thread, check out their dairies and you get some ideas of high calories eaters.
  • honeysprinkles
    honeysprinkles Posts: 1,757 Member
    Options
    I love cheese, so for me that's a really easy way to increase my calories. My favorite brand of extra sharp cheddar cheese has 110 cals/oz and I can easily eat a serving or two by itself! I also really like Luna Bars, and those are easy snacks that can help you add 180-200 calories, they have protein ones too (I love the chocolate peanut butter protein bar) and it's pretty small so it's not filling at all and easily adds 190 calories.

    Cook in olive oil, add cheese when you can, eat nuts...basically healthy fats are the way to go to get extra calories without having to eat a lot more!
  • sarah_lou22
    sarah_lou22 Posts: 79
    Options
    thanks for the advice, guys :)
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
    Options
    The biggest thing I would suggest would be to avoid all diet and lite foods; go for the full fat full sugar versions instead.
  • leslieschoenle
    leslieschoenle Posts: 47 Member
    Options
    This is awesome, I am going to check back in here later as I am trying to get to my maintenance level now and finding it a hard reality to up my calories!
  • kmorales_4
    kmorales_4 Posts: 208 Member
    Options
    Hello, everyone!

    I don't want to waste time so i'm going to cut right to the chase:

    I attempted to increase my calories from 1200-1450 over the past few weeks but I was struggling, HARD to be able to eat the 1450 and started eating **** just to get my calories up. I would add mayo to things, eat cookies, etc because I knew that I needed calorie laden food

    I eat mostly lean meats, fruits, and vegetables.

    I just calculated my TDEE-20% and found that I am supposed to be eating upwards of 1800 calories a day!

    Needless to say, I find that this is INSANE especially considering I struggle with meeting 1450!

    Advice? How can I get more calories in without eating junk

    *BTW my dinners will always be more. because of my schedule I can only workout in between my two jobs. so I get nervous eating too much during the day if I don't know if and for how long I will be able to work out in the evenings.

    Sheesh! I wish my problem was not being able to eat more calories. God bless.
  • RacerX_14
    RacerX_14 Posts: 578 Member
    Options
    Protein shake/drinks work well for adding calories too.
  • cutchro
    cutchro Posts: 396 Member
    Options
    Avocados, nuts & nut butters, full fat dairy, use olive & coconut oils in cooking and dressings, whole eggs, dark chocolate, cheese - all these things are calorie dense foods, packing some good calories and nutrition into small portions, so you can easily get closer to goal without eating junk.

    My daily goal is 1900, and I have no problems eating 1800-2000 cals a day for the past year and half (my TDEE minus 15-20%), and it's worked great for losing the fat. Diary is open, feel free to look through it. Bear in mind that it's summer, and I haven't always made the best choices on a daily basis, but that's the beauty of TDEE - I know my limits, and as long as I stay under that high end TDEE number, I won't gain.

    :bigsmile:

    ^^^this is me!! Just a handful of nuts is couple hundred calories. Spoonful of peanut butter.
  • flab2fit_30
    flab2fit_30 Posts: 66
    Options
    avocado, peanut butter, beef jerky, etc.... adding things things will add calories but are still really good for you versus the mayo you are currently adding. also cooking with olive/coconut oil will help and be healthy as well.
  • sarah_lou22
    sarah_lou22 Posts: 79
    Options
    all great ideas! especially the nuts to things and beef jerky! I haven't had beef jerky in so long!

    thanks everyone :) really appreciate the insight!
  • wamydia
    wamydia Posts: 259 Member
    Options
    What everyone else said, plus you might consider trying to do some meal planning at least a day ahead. If you already have planned out a general idea of what you are eatng when, it alleviates a lot of the problems with trying to save enough calories for dinner and such and then having a ton leftover.
  • sarah_lou22
    sarah_lou22 Posts: 79
    Options
    What everyone else said, plus you might consider trying to do some meal planning at least a day ahead. If you already have planned out a general idea of what you are eatng when, it alleviates a lot of the problems with trying to save enough calories for dinner and such and then having a ton leftover.

    I do that. I plan about a week or two out. the issue isn't saving calories for dinner. the issue is that I eat more at dinner because I don't know if i'll be able to work out during the day. so when I am able to work out, I have to eat more at dinner to make up for what I lost...
  • CkepiJinx
    CkepiJinx Posts: 613 Member
    Options
    What everyone else said, plus you might consider trying to do some meal planning at least a day ahead. If you already have planned out a general idea of what you are eatng when, it alleviates a lot of the problems with trying to save enough calories for dinner and such and then having a ton leftover.

    I do that. I plan about a week or two out. the issue isn't saving calories for dinner. the issue is that I eat more at dinner because I don't know if i'll be able to work out during the day. so when I am able to work out, I have to eat more at dinner to make up for what I lost...

    My understanding of doing TDEE-20% is that you no longer eat back exercise calories, you would eat the 1800 daily and that is it, so you would not have to worry about the extra from exercise. I am sure some one can correct me if I am wrong. Good luck! And you have gotten great advice about food options already.
  • sarah_lou22
    sarah_lou22 Posts: 79
    Options
    What everyone else said, plus you might consider trying to do some meal planning at least a day ahead. If you already have planned out a general idea of what you are eatng when, it alleviates a lot of the problems with trying to save enough calories for dinner and such and then having a ton leftover.

    I do that. I plan about a week or two out. the issue isn't saving calories for dinner. the issue is that I eat more at dinner because I don't know if i'll be able to work out during the day. so when I am able to work out, I have to eat more at dinner to make up for what I lost...

    My understanding of doing TDEE-20% is that you no longer eat back exercise calories, you would eat the 1800 daily and that is it, so you would not have to worry about the extra from exercise. I am sure some one can correct me if I am wrong. Good luck! And you have gotten great advice about food options already.

    you are correct! but, I set it as sedentary because I don't know if i'll be able to workout until literally I am at the gym. my work schedule is CRAZY and I could have evry intention of working out and then not be able to. so I set it as though I am sedentary so that if I am unable to I won't be GAINING weight.

    does that make sense?
  • Jenelle64
    Jenelle64 Posts: 36
    Options
    bump
  • sarah_lou22
    sarah_lou22 Posts: 79
    Options
    bump
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    Options
    I went from 1500ish to 1700 and had the same problem, but now after a few months I have no problem meeting my calories, because I'm hungry (I'm also more active)! I do have 'junk' though, 100-200 calories worth a day sometimes, but it's what's making losing weight 'easy'.

    But I say, if you're not hungry and don't feel like having a treat, just don't eat.
  • bumblebums
    bumblebums Posts: 2,181 Member
    Options
    Are you weighing your food on a digital scale? That's the first thing I would check when debugging weight loss problems. If you increase your intake following the suggestions in this thread and start gaining, that will probably be the reason--you might be eating way in excess of your 1400 kcal/day or whatever. Which is why you are finding it hard to eat more.

Categories