We are pleased to announce that as of March 4, 2025, an updated Rich Text Editor has been introduced in the MyFitnessPal Community. To learn more about the changes, please click here. We look forward to sharing this new feature with you!

Question about calories

abeisnerrr
abeisnerrr Posts: 4
edited February 6 in Health and Weight Loss
Okay, sorry if this gets long but I want to explain this in a way so I can get some help.
I am 5'5 and throughout my life I have been between 130-145 pounds. From about when I was 15 to 21.
Now that I am 23, I am at an all time high, 170 pounds. I am not sure how this happened, but I have changed nothing about how I eat/exercise over the last 8 years and for some reason over the winter I gained at least 30 pounds.

I have had an under active thyroid for the last 3 or so years and been on the depo shot for the last 4 years, so im not sure if those factors could have suddenly caught up with me? Not sure, but I also quit smoking last year too which I think could be why I gained so much weight.

Besides that, I have tried every diet over the moon. I cut out soda and fast food, didn't help. I started going to the track and running 6 days a week, didn't help. I am determined now more than ever to lose weight so I decided to join the gym just last week. I got a personal trainer so I will be doing 2 full body workouts 2 times a week (those kick my *kitten*) and I also do 30-45 minutes of cardio 5-6 times a week (what i was doing even before i joined the gym). She gave me a simple diet plan to follow, and I notice that when I enter everything into myfitness pal I am only consuming about 800 calories a day. I will give you a breakdown of what I eat:
Breakfast: oatmeal or yogurt
Lunch: Protein (usually chicken) with veggies
Dinner: Protein (chicken, pork chops, whatever meat i have) with veggies and usually cottage cheese or potatoes
Snacks: almonds, raspberries, crackers

Now even with these 3 meals and snacks in between I am only clocking in at 800 calories!! I am not sure what to do to increase my caloric intake because this is more than enough food for me. I know I could easily increase it by eating some junk food, but I want to eat food that is relatively good for me but still gives me enough calories for the day without feeling like I am eating too much.

Does anyone have any opinions on this, and can give me some advice on what to do to finally get back to 140 pounds?

Replies

  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
    are you taking medication for your thyroid?


    Foods that are healthy and have high calories:
    Avocado
    Nuts
    Peanut butter
  • justiceevers
    justiceevers Posts: 43
    You may be eating more calories than you think, you have to measure how much you are eating. Just because you eat some crackers doesn't mean you only ate 1 serving. If you are having almonds as a snack, those are actually pretty high calories, because they are mostly healthy fats. Take a look at how much you are eating and recalculate calories. Hope that helps :)
  • Abbaprincess
    Abbaprincess Posts: 36 Member
    Seems like something is wrong. The underactive Thyroid can really mess a person up and make everything you eat be stored as fat, and not allow your body to release fat when you work out. So you want to check in with the doctor and get some blood work done to find out what can be done.
  • LaGioconda57
    LaGioconda57 Posts: 9
    I thik 800 calories is way too low! I am 5'5 and 125 lbs and eat 1750 per day....
  • abeisnerrr
    abeisnerrr Posts: 4
    Yes, I am taking medication. I am seeing the doctor though tomorrow with a blood test so it will determine what my levels are and if the medication has helped at all
  • abeisnerrr
    abeisnerrr Posts: 4
    You may be eating more calories than you think, you have to measure how much you are eating. Just because you eat some crackers doesn't mean you only ate 1 serving. If you are having almonds as a snack, those are actually pretty high calories, because they are mostly healthy fats. Take a look at how much you are eating and recalculate calories. Hope that helps :)

    Thank you for your help. I do pay close attention to serving size, I will usually have 4 crackers with cheese and a few raspberries for a night time snack and they only clock in as about 110 calories. As far as the almonds, I only eat about less than 10 a day, just a few here and there.
  • abeisnerrr
    abeisnerrr Posts: 4
    I thik 800 calories is way too low! I am 5'5 and 125 lbs and eat 1750 per day....

    Yes I agree it is very low, that is why I am asking for help. If anyone has ideas as far as something extra to eat that wont necessarily make me feel stuffed but add those extra calories would be very helpful
This discussion has been closed.

Categories