not eating nearly "enough" calories (vegan)

You should be trying to get at least 1200 calories a day I am a vegan as well and when I have trouble getting enough cals I eat peanut butter, or other nuts.

I know lots of vegans with this problem. Nuts and avocados and oils are your friends!

1000 cal a day is not enough. You will make yourself sick/unhealthy (from person experience) and slow down your metabolism
Open your diary. There are plenty of delicious ways to get enough calories on a vegan diet (I ate vegan for several years)

Trail mix
Various nut butters on whole grain bread. Add bananas or sliced strawberries or apples or just some good jam.
Avocados! Make guacamole and dip pita chips (or delicious tortilla chips, you've got the calories! Just be reasonable on your amount)
Hummus. Again with pita or other veggies
Rice and beans
Winter squash (pumpkin/butternut/acorn) cooked in coconut milk and flavored with curry and ginger. Add any other veggies you like - fantastic with some chard or kale thrown in for the last 5 min.

You are low enough that I would add a smoothie at least once a day. Almond/hemp/rice/coconut milk for the liquid. Coconut milk will be the highest in calories. Add any fruits you like - banana, berries, peaches when they are in season, mangos, pineapples - fresh or frozen. Add some veggies - greens like kale/chard/spinach and/or root veggies like carrots or beets. Ground flax seeds for omega fats. Avocado. Nut butters. Get a vegan protein powder for added protein. You can easily make a smoothie with 200 calories or all the way up to 1000+ cal if you need.

Message me if I can help further


P.S. Beer is an easy source of calories and vegan ;-)

Plant fusion, plant based, vegan friendly protien powder. I swear by it!

as a vegan you're going to find it harder to get enough protein to maintain your lean body mass. If you're eating only 1000 cals a day, then that's going to put you at an even higher risk of losing lean body mass. So yes, I think you need to eat a lot more. Add in vegan friendly sources of fat, e.g. avocado, vegetable oils (cold pressed ones retain more nutrients), nuts and seeds. Also, be sure you're getting enough protein. Lentils, chickpeas, beans etc are quite high in carbs, so they should bump up both your protein and calorie levels. it's possible to get all the nutrition your body needs on a vegan diet, but harder. You should supplement with vitamin B12 and D2 if you're not already.

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https://www.facebook.com/groups/VeganBodybuildingAndFitness/10152145451364859/?notif_t=group_comment_reply

as a vegan you're going to find it harder to get enough protein to maintain your lean body mass. If you're eating only 1000 cals a day, then that's going to put you at an even higher risk of losing lean body mass. So yes, I think you need to eat a lot more. Add in vegan friendly sources of fat, e.g. avocado, vegetable oils (cold pressed ones retain more nutrients), nuts and seeds. Also, be sure you're getting enough protein. Lentils, chickpeas, beans etc are quite high in carbs, so they should bump up both your protein and calorie levels. it's possible to get all the nutrition your body needs on a vegan diet, but harder. You should supplement with vitamin B12 and D2 if you're not already.

I weep for the amount of muscle I lost when I was in my early 20s and lost 50 pounds on a (first vegan and then) vegetarian diet.

It's really not hard getting enough calories as a Vegan I struggle to understand why people have such a problem. I hit 2000 -2500 calories daily with no problems. Beans, nuts, Oils, pulses all calorie dense. A banana is on average 100 calories. Make a smoothie with some fruits Almond or soy milk and a spoon of peanut butter and you can easily hit 300 calories. A little olive or rapeseed oil as part of a dressing. Or just eat something like a peanut and oat trek bar which is 250 calories.

Do you have a lot of food rules for yourself outside of the vegan ones? The reason I ask is that it's easy to get tons of calories on a vegan diet. If you have a lot of other rules, like limiting added fats in cooking or grains like pastas, it can be a little harder. But you should be able to hit whatever calorie goal is appropriate on a vegan diet.

Banana (100) + Cherries (90) + peanut butter/almond butter/cashew butter (200) + protein powder (120) + nondairy milk of choice (50) = 560 calories. (You can add spinach and not taste it.) Add in chia seeds (150) or ground flax (70) and easily surpass 600 calories.