Eating enough calories

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rshunk
rshunk Posts: 167 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Okay, here is my problem. My daily calorie goal is 1310 and it seems like there are days that I either don't get that or I get just above there, then my calories burned puts me right back under 1200 for the day. Most of the time on those days I have to make myself eat just to get the calories in that I do. I don't want to skip working out just because I haven't had enough calories! I also don't want to put my body in starvation mode. anyone have any idea how long it takes before that actually happens anyway? So should I be making myself eat more when I am not really hungry just to keep my calories from going to low?

Replies

  • kelsully
    kelsully Posts: 1,008 Member
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    While marathon training I desperately needed to stop losing and maintain my weight. I was trying to eat all my calories...maintenance plus my exercise cals. The things I had trained myself and my body to do to lose weight were now hurting me. I had to be reminded that I could put peanut butter on my apple slices etc. I was noshing on nuts but would eat 5-6 as a snack but when I needed to up my calories I had to remind myself to eat a whole serving...also beverages like gatorade and chocolate milk are easy ways to up cals without eating more...good luck
  • rshunk
    rshunk Posts: 167 Member
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    Oh, and if you look at my food diary, ignore the few days at the end of Oct going into Nov, long story there, and lots of stress eating!
  • MissReRe
    MissReRe Posts: 9 Member
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    I am not an expert on this yet but I do know that you want to burn more calories than you eat. I will do my research and find more information for you. If you stay under your calorie goal you should be okay. Keep up the great work! :smile:
  • kmac_29
    kmac_29 Posts: 3
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    try filling up those extra calories with beverages.. like gatorade or milk/choco milk.. things that are still good but give you that extra boost. on days where i'm like that i usually will let myself treat a bit.. like cheese on my sandwhich/salads. gives you the extra calories to save you from stravation mode while still making a healthier choice.
  • scrapjones
    scrapjones Posts: 9 Member
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    I'm no expert, but I do know that you should never be below 1200 calories. That is bare minimum, for health safety reasons. How often are you working out? I try to get my goal calories and most of the time I don't eat all of my exercise calories (except on my cheat day) I do eat some of them though. I am eating 5-6 small meals a day which revs. the metabolism. I excercise quite a bit though...I also try to listen to my body and when it's hungry I eat. You want to think of food as fuel, try thinking about your car if you you don't put enough gas in it, it stops, and if you don't eat enough your body will stop loosing weight. Hope this helps!
  • TateFTW
    TateFTW Posts: 658 Member
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    gatorade and chocolate milk are high g.i., simple carbs, which are not good at all.

    I looked at your diary, and you need to eat more. Forget 1200. It's not some magical number with special powers. You are definitely undereating. you need to make it your goal to stay within 200 calories of your goal. So if your goal is 1568 calories, you need to eat AT LEAST 1368 calories. If you go over your goal on some days (there's NOTHING wrong with going over every now and then), and more then 200 under on others, then no big deal, but you're consistently 2-500 calories under your goal. You're telling your body that you don't have access to food, so it's going to hold on to the fat you have and try to store everything you put in it, especially that cookie you had the other night.

    Remember, the deficit is already built in for you. You don't need to stay under your goal. In fact, being that far under your goal all the time is counter-productive to your goals of fat loss.

    If you need help getting your calories, go for foods that are high in good fats, such as salmon, tuna, nuts, eggs, whole milk, cheese and natural peanut butter. A handfull of almonds gives you a TON of calories, and the emerald version with the coco powder on them is like candy.

    Try to be aware of what days you will be training and how much you will be doing, and plan accordingly. If you know you're going to burn a lot of calories, then eat more throughout the day, but DON'T eat unhealthy just to try to get your calories! Good fats, complex carbs and proteins are the way to go, just like always, but more. Make sure you're eating plenty of carbs and protein 30 min-1 hr before and immediatly after your workouts too.
  • james3302
    james3302 Posts: 119
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    You should come withing 200 calories of your calorie goal in my opinion. If you are falling short on calories do eat something good for you. I use Smart Balance Natural Peanut Butter, it has 180 calories for 2 tablespoons and has no trans fat. I think you would have to go way below your calories for days at a time to go into starvation mode. Remember calories are turned into energy so eating enough calories will give you more energy.
  • NoAdditives
    NoAdditives Posts: 4,251 Member
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    When I first started here about 5 weeks ago I was in starvation mode. I was eating about 1000 calories a day and then burning 300 or more. I started my goal at losing 1 pound per week which meant I had to eat at least 500 more calories a day, more if I was exercising. It was difficult at first. The first few days I had to make myself eat and I just couldn't believe how much more food I had to eat. One thing that helped at first was beverages. Some juice, even a soda, just to add some calories.

    It will take some time to get used to eating more, you really have to retrain your body. You can start slow if you need to. Instead of eating more food at meals try eating small snacks in between.

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