Struggling to meet my 1200 calorie goal :(

But how to you record food that can't be scanned that contain the right nutrition for example lose fruit, home made meals etc?

Do a google search for the piece of Fruit
I like Livestrong's site, and also FoodSecrets for nutritional info.

Regarding home made meals.
You will need to combine the nutritional info from all the foods that are used to make the meal.

To the OP: I suggest you find an eating plan that you agree with and follow that. Do not try to take nutrition advice from the people on this board because you will go nuts trying to decipher what everyone else believes. One person will tell you to eat clean while someone else will tell you to eat whatever you want as long as it fits your macros. Then the two will bicker back and forth about it and the end result will be nine pages of people not helping you.


I personally follow the Eat to Live plan by Dr. Joel Fuhrman. Not perfectly, but his plan is always in the back of my mind. It just seems healthier to me than other eating plans.


To answer your original question, I think you should spread out your calories throughout the day, not try to stuff yourself in the evenings. I also don't think the world is going to end if you go below 1200 calories from time to time.

Well this thread completely fell apart. Poor OP confused by bickering over philosophies and half truths. Meanwhile she is eating way less than a human should be eating. You guys are champs, keep up the stellar work. :flowerforyou:

And thank you for this amazing contribution!!

Just thinking the same thing, myself. Thanks for the extra dose of sass today, whierd.

Actually I always appreciate whierd. Keep on truckin! :drinker:

Aww, I could never get mad at you. :blushing:

There is no single food that is more healthy than any other single food. Filling your day with only One Singular 'Healthy' Food is no better than filling your day with only one 'Unhealthy' food.

uhm. okay.

i would really like to know what your definition of healthy is then.

filling your day with one singular "healthy" item that has a variety of macronutrients and micronutrients is most certainly healthier than filling your day with one singular "unhealthy" item that, say, is only made of fat and sugar and has no micronutrients (but sure as hell has a whole lot of other crap.)

i'm really curious as to what your logic here is.

For me healthy is hitting all of my macros and micros, something that can only be achieved with a variety of food. I could do that eating Big Macs and Salads from McDonald's and I could that that eating boiled chicken breast and squash cooked in olive oil, but either way if my macros and micros end up in the same place neither meal/selection was more healthy than the other. Thus there is no 'unhealthy' food.

The logic is actually really really simple.


Or basically what jonnythan said. He responds faster and states my point with 1/3 of the words. Stealing my shine.

i think you're missing the argument.

under his logic, it doesn't matter if you smoke or not, just as long as you're getting air.

False comparison.

*sigh*

Sometimes I wonder why I even try.

There is no single food that is more healthy than any other single food. Filling your day with only One Singular 'Healthy' Food is no better than filling your day with only one 'Unhealthy' food.

uhm. okay.

i would really like to know what your definition of healthy is then.

filling your day with one singular "healthy" item that has a variety of macronutrients and micronutrients is most certainly healthier than filling your day with one singular "unhealthy" item that, say, is only made of fat and sugar and has no micronutrients (but sure as hell has a whole lot of other crap.)

i'm really curious as to what your logic here is.

For me healthy is hitting all of my macros and micros, something that can only be achieved with a variety of food. I could do that eating Big Macs and Salads from McDonald's and I could that that eating boiled chicken breast and squash cooked in olive oil, but either way if my macros and micros end up in the same place neither meal/selection was more healthy than the other. Thus there is no 'unhealthy' food.

The logic is actually really really simple.


Or basically what jonnythan said. He responds faster and states my point with 1/3 of the words. Stealing my shine.

i think you're missing the argument.

under his logic, it doesn't matter if you smoke or not, just as long as you're getting air.

False comparison.

*sigh*

Sometimes I wonder why I even try.

I don't know about you, but my mmo is still down for weekly maintenance. At the point where it comes up, I throw in the towel.

I think you're intentionally misunderstanding.

lol. yes, i'm so terrible.

I think you misunderstand his logic, to be honest. There are no 'good' or 'bad' foods, there is only food. Some is more calorie dense and some is more nutritionally dense but neither is 'good' or 'bad' or inherently more healthy than the other. No single food will make you healthy, no single food is more 'healthy' than another.

I don't understand this logic. Is it a philosophical thing? Or are you unwilling to judge a certain food over another?

I don't understand how someone can believe that no single food is more healthy than another. Surely we can agree that an apple is healthier than an oreo cookie. The apple is much more beneficial to the human body than the oreo. So when a new person comes onto this site and is confused about nutrition, why confuse them by saying junk food is just as good as fruit? I doubt you believe that eating junk food will positively contribute to a healthy body.

Here's my list of 'healhy' foods to add when I need to: banana, peach, box of raisins, micro popcorn, cubed cheddar or swiss cheese, tuna on crackers, V-8 or tomato juice (if you aren't sodium restricted), hard boiled egg, 1/2 Cliff Bar, string cheese, applesauce cup. Good Luck!

There is no such thing as "healthy" food. Food is food. There are more calorie dense foods, such as cheese cake. But, cheesecake is not bad food. Get the good food/bad food demon out of your head.

Why is it usually the muscle bound men who are giving women this terrible advice??? Food is not all the same and that's a completely illogical statement. Food that is highly processed that is stamped with a brand name is not the same as a whole food, for instance a head of lettuce or a handful of raw nuts, etc. Please stop this.

Cheesecake is not "bad" food, but it should be only an "occasional" food for those of us with health issues (inc obesity). I guess it's all in my head that processed food, especially those high in sugar, don't help me succeed. I should just consume them anyway and struggle with cravings, hunger and keep thinking I can fight it with "willpower". Yeah, you can do that. But I actually enjoy eating healthy food so I think I'll stick with what I'm doing. 20 years of being obese and struggling when all it took was to eat healthy, nutrient dense (but not sugar dense) food and to stop starving myself. Almost 70 pounds of fat lost in the last year with no cravings and no hunger. Poor me. I'm just suffering terribly from avoiding all those processed foods. Not.

I seriously worry about you and your stance on fat intake. On the 13th you had over 20g of saturated fat which represented almost 50% of your caloric intake...you are literally lucky you didn't have a stroke (and I am not saying that tongue in cheek).

The type of fat matters, it just does. Do you know James Gandolffini was estimated to have taken in over 50g of saturated fat on the day he died?

Kraft mac and cheese is loaded with sat fat as is most McDonald's products. Don't take my word for it, look up their nutritional guidance (which they fought tooth and nail to keep secret).

We are all here for a reason: to get healthy at whatever weight is healthy for you. But spreading false information like "all foods are the same as long as they fit your nutritional macros" is just not the whole truth. Drill into your macros and look at the micro values you are taking in and then lets discuss.

There is no such thing as "healthy" food. Food is food. There are more calorie dense foods, such as cheese cake. But, cheesecake is not bad food. Get the good food/bad food demon out of your head.

Why is it usually the muscle bound men who are giving women this terrible advice??? Food is not all the same and that's a completely illogical statement. Food that is highly processed that is stamped with a brand name is not the same as a whole food, for instance a head of lettuce or a handful of raw nuts, etc. Please stop this.

Cheesecake is not "bad" food, but it should be only an "occasional" food for those of us with health issues (inc obesity). I guess it's all in my head that processed food, especially those high in sugar, don't help me succeed. I should just consume them anyway and struggle with cravings, hunger and keep thinking I can fight it with "willpower". Yeah, you can do that. But I actually enjoy eating healthy food so I think I'll stick with what I'm doing. 20 years of being obese and struggling when all it took was to eat healthy, nutrient dense (but not sugar dense) food and to stop starving myself. Almost 70 pounds of fat lost in the last year with no cravings and no hunger. Poor me. I'm just suffering terribly from avoiding all those processed foods. Not.

I'm no muscle bond man and I'd give the same advice.

I've got a cheesecake in my frig right now, perfectly portioned, and I intend to have a slice everyday until it's gone. /shrug

White chocolate raspberry truffle, with a chocolate crust, if anyone is curious. Pretty amazing.

I was... and now I"m also hungry.

Whenever I see people struggling to meet their calorie goal and they are dieting.

Why were you ever bigger in the first place?

it doesnt make sense.

Thats like saying I can run a mile but I cant run 10 feet

I agree. For some reason they get this thought stuck in their head that they have to eat nothing but salads and quinoa to be "healthy".

Right because there is no possible way that reducing the amount you were eating (simply because it was in front of you) , down to the amount you should be eating, could cut your calories that much. Like never having a doggy bag at a restaurant to having over half your plate to take home can't possible be the reason why. Instead of eating 3 chicken breasts, because they were there, not because you were hungry, only eating one and a nice salad could possibly cut your calories that much. Replacing McDonald with homemade hamburgers couldn't possibly cut your calories that much.

Seriously...

good if you need to increase your calories go back to the mcdonalds burger

That would be the opposite of healthy.

If you haven't gone through it, and have nothing helpful to say then you shouldn't comment. Just because you have no problem eating however many calories you are aiming too, does not mean it's easy for everyone. A friend of mine decide to "try this healthy eating thing" as she put it. She stopped eating all the junk foods.. and didn't change anything else. she was eating 800 calories a day. Because she ate healthy and then topped it off with ice cream and candy etc.. all day long. She had to learn how to snack healthy. Giving real advice on what to eat is helpful. Saying "Well how did you get fat" or "eat more" is not.



ETA: i agree with the breakfast comment above. I cant' really eat breakfast in the morning it makes me feel bad, but I can drink a smoothie and that helped me tremendously in getting my calories up.

I think you are Confuzzled about nutrition.

Why? Because I've been where the OP is? Struggling through the eating too little issue? Overcoming it one step at a time? I didn't say eating 800 calories is good. I simply said I can understand how you get there and why it's hard to overcome. Just because your journey and struggles are different does not make anyone else's dumb, stupid or easy to overcome. If you hadn't struggled or hadn't had stuff to learn and overcome i doubt you'd be on here.

Obviously we know that it isnt hard to eat in excess if you already ate in excess previously.

What struggle?

I have never struggled meeting my daily caloric requirements because its a joke.
I could eat more if I wanted to

Exactly. You've never struggled with it. So you don't know what you are talking about. It's not a joke. I eat the same types of foods I did before. Only I eat a portion instead of an overflowing plate full. I don't eat fat food or a plethora of junk foods or processed foods (don't care your view on them, I don't do it) Cut all that out and amazingly you are full, satisfied and not eating enough. At least this OP realizes that she needs to correct it before something bad happens. I had to unlearn a lifetime of wrong dieting and losing weight philosophies in order to eat more. That's not what you are taught. That's not what diets tell you, that's not what google tells you, and you can't even get a definitive answer from a nutritionist .It's not easy. Glad you never had to struggle with under eating. But you should recognize that it's just as hard to overcome as over eating.

to the other poster:
Yes I understand nutrients. .. my post had nothing to do with them, i was talking from a caloric intake stance.

Exactly. You've never struggled with it. So you don't know what you are talking about. It's not a joke. I eat the same types of foods I did before. Only I eat a portion instead of an overflowing plate full. I don't eat fat food or a plethora of junk foods or processed foods (don't care your view on them, I don't do it) Cut all that out and amazingly you are full, satisfied and not eating enough. At least this OP realizes that she needs to correct it before something bad happens. I had to unlearn a lifetime of wrong dieting and losing weight philosophies in order to eat more. That's not what you are taught. That's not what diets tell you, that's not what google tells you, and you can't even get a definitive answer from a nutritionist .It's not easy. Glad you never had to struggle with under eating. But you should recognize that it's just as hard to overcome as over eating.

to the other poster:
Yes I understand nutrients. .. my post had nothing to do with them, i was talking from a caloric intake stance.

You aren't talking from a caloric intake stance based on what I bolded above.

I seriously worry about you and your stance on fat intake. On the 13th you had over 20g of saturated fat which represented almost 50% of your caloric intake...you are literally lucky you didn't have a stroke (and I am not saying that tongue in cheek).

The type of fat matters, it just does. Do you know James Gandolffini was estimated to have taken in over 50g of saturated fat on the day he died?

Kraft mac and cheese is loaded with sat fat as is most McDonald's products. Don't take my word for it, look up their nutritional guidance (which they fought tooth and nail to keep secret).

We are all here for a reason: to get healthy at whatever weight is healthy for you. But spreading false information like "all foods are the same as long as they fit your nutritional macros" is just not the whole truth. Drill into your macros and look at the micro values you are taking in and then lets discuss.

:huh:

I seriously worry about you and your stance on fat intake. On the 13th you had over 20g of saturated fat which represented almost 50% of your caloric intake...you are literally lucky you didn't have a stroke (and I am not saying that tongue in cheek).

The type of fat matters, it just does. Do you know James Gandolffini was estimated to have taken in over 50g of saturated fat on the day he died?

Kraft mac and cheese is loaded with sat fat as is most McDonald's products. Don't take my word for it, look up their nutritional guidance (which they fought tooth and nail to keep secret).

We are all here for a reason: to get healthy at whatever weight is healthy for you. But spreading false information like "all foods are the same as long as they fit your nutritional macros" is just not the whole truth. Drill into your macros and look at the micro values you are taking in and then lets discuss.

Good lord.