Can't reach maintenance calorie goal

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Replies

  • Rawrsawrus29
    Rawrsawrus29 Posts: 36
    There is an easy solution to this problem. It is found in the frozen section of grocery stores.

    Ice cream.

    LOL. That's my solution.. I find it SO HARD to reach my calorie goal, so I eat Ice cream with hazelnuts.. However, that isn't the best option..
    Maybe try eating nuts, adding cheese onto your sandwich and eating some dark chocolate at tea?
  • elka67
    elka67 Posts: 268 Member
    Seeded breads are higher in cals and you could add butter, cheese and mayo to the sarnie.
    For snacks you could try peanut butter as said before with crackers, or humous or cream cheese perhaps.
    Dried fruits are a good snack too or can be added to breakfast.
  • Boogage
    Boogage Posts: 739 Member
    In for ideas.

    I've been trying to increase my daily calorie intake but I'm finding it a struggle and some days I'm less successful at reaching my goal than others. I started at around 800 cals and have been trying to up it really slowly.

    Sometimes I wonder if I'll ever find maintenance but six weeks in I'm now aiming for 1500 cals a day so I don't think it can be too far away. Some days I feel sooo stuffed and seem to be eating all day long but I'm beginning to get used to it and quite like being able to have more treats so that I don't have to graze constantly.

    I'm allowing myself more pasta, cheese and nuts and sauces to help up the cals as well as more chocolate :o)

    For extra protein I've fallen in love with Quark cheese. In 80g theres about 10g of protein. I add in a splash of milk and a sachet of hot chocolate powder and mix well. Its quite like Angel Delight.

    I wouldn't worry too much about gaining weight, just monitor your weight as you increase your cals to make sure you aren't gaining too fast (at the start you could retain some water but that should settle down again). I've actually lost a few lbs since I started upping the cals and according to my home scale my bf% has gone down a bit too so you don't always gain loads at the start.
  • scimitarslash
    scimitarslash Posts: 9 Member
    Reaching my calories seems nigh impossible. I completely agree with the ice cream idea. The only advice i would give is that while you definitely need to reach your caloric goal, you also have protein, fat, and carb goal individually, each of those in turn result in calories. Fat adds up quickly so while eating high fat foods will definitely help you reach your calorie goal you may surpasses your fat goal. Fat equals 9 calories per gram whereas protein and carbohydrates only give you 4 calories per gram respectively. So for me i always seem to pass my fat goal but not reach my total calorie goal, quite frustrating since not all of my fat is the good kind and heart disease runs in my family. just thought i'd throw that out there.
    best of luck.
  • Morgaath
    Morgaath Posts: 679 Member
    Meat lovers pizza, tbsp of peanut butter (94cals), sweet potato with all the fixings, french fries, full fat and sugar salad dressing, non-diet soda, good beer, half and half in your coffee, hit the coffee shop and buy stuff using the full cream, etc.
    You know, small amounts of all the stuff that got you to needing to lose weight.
    As long as you keep track of how much of them you are eating it will be fine.
  • NRBreit
    NRBreit Posts: 319 Member
    It's interesting that many of us who got to the point of needing to lose some weight then find it hard to eat enough to maintain a lower weight when it's all said and done. I think you just get used to eating certain foods to hit a lower calorie level and it's very hard to eat those types of foods for maintenance and bulking. You were able to eat enough to gain weight in the past so there should be no issue eating enough to maintain now. Just try to recall some of those calorie-dense foods you used to love and re-introduce them in moderation to fit your macro needs. Dried fruits, nuts, peanut butter, ice cream, cheese, chocolate etc. are all excellent calorie builders.

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