Struggling to reach calorie goal

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juliscot
juliscot Posts: 6
in Getting Started
I started this on Saturday and whilst my KCAL goal is only sitting at 1300, I have struggled both days to actually reach my goal, one day sitting at 838 and the next day at 758.. Especially on weekends I struggle to make it and the program told me to raise it to at least 1200kcal when logging off in the evening.

Please note that I have not been deliberately starving myself, have recorded every single thing I have added to my dinner (even the soy sauce and cooking oil etc), drinking water or coke zero so unless I am missing a trick

I have 20kg to lose and as I am classified a BMI of 35 it's really crucial for me to get a grip on this.

Now during the week I predict I will be doing a bit better as my lunch is 447 kcal so I have just over a third taken in.

Any tips on how to get to the 1200/1300 mark more easily without overdoing it on the sat fats etc? My goal on saturates is 14g as opposed to the widely advertised 20g an adult is allowed.

Replies

  • akaMrsmojo
    akaMrsmojo Posts: 762 Member
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    Spoon of peanut butter.
  • LKArgh
    LKArgh Posts: 5,179 Member
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    Are you tracking everything you eat by weight, not just e.g. in cups, teaspoons etc? I think it is very easy to guess completely wrong when not using weight for food.
  • DismissMe
    DismissMe Posts: 8
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    Do you log also sugar and oil/butter?
  • sarahc142
    sarahc142 Posts: 156
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    Wow I wish I could only eat that much, I feel like all I'm eating is a salad and lemon tea for every meal and I still have trouble staying under 1200 every day
  • YvonneHunter1967
    YvonneHunter1967 Posts: 1
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    Make sure you weigh everything - its amazing how small 75gms of rice is!!!! You could be missigs loads if your not weiging it. Also make sure when you select food its one thats had lots of confirmations ( i was using the generic wholmeal fusili and it told me there were only 116 Kcal in 100gms when in fact there are over 250!)
  • juliscot
    juliscot Posts: 6
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    I'm scanning almost every single item, then weighing it on kitchen scale.. with some items you scan the packaging and then put in 1 or 2 slices and I compare it against the nutritional value on the pack..

    I never add any sugar so all the sugar I consume would be included in the scanned product if it's containing sugar.

    As I said I have added the oil as I used it yesterday to fry up a nice steak but you would typically not use more than 15 ml for this as the beef has enough own juices.... Saturday evening I have just had some soup which I have only cooked with water (also the onions at the beginning have just been blanched), our Chinese dumplings were only steamed so again no cooking fat involved here.
    I don't drink tea or coffee so no milk/sugar there which would add to my intake.

    I am not very good on weekends as I usually have just dinner and some snacks to lead me up to the evening.. but it's very common that it comes to 2/3pm and I haven't eaten anything for the day and not feeling desperately hungry.. So then it came to 4pm and I thought to myself that I probably need to keep eating all evening to reach my goal but will then choose the wrong things and be way up on sat fats / salt etc....

    I will start having breakfast again, even some cereal and milk should make a little difference.
  • CarlHelgesson
    CarlHelgesson Posts: 34
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    Are you calulating your calories from cooked or uncooked food?

    If you calculating on cooked food, that can be an explanation. You should always calculate on uncooked food.

    1g protein = 4kcal
    1g carbs = 4 kcal
    1g fat = 9 kcal

    I don't know what ratio you have on your macrnutrients, but if we count 1300kcal at 40/30/30 it would be:

    520 kcal protein = 105 gram
    390 kcal carbs = 97,5 gram
    390 kcal carbs = 43 gram

    Try to split your meals to at least five or six meals. It could look like this:


    Breakfast: 20g protein, 15g of healthy fats

    Snack 1: 20gr protein, 15g of healthy fats

    Lunch: 20g protein, 40g carbs

    Dinner: (after working out): 25g protein, 57g carbs

    Bedtime snack: 20g protein, 13g fat


    That would'nt be to harsh.


    Good luck!
  • juliscot
    juliscot Posts: 6
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    Thank you, I will compare everything with what's on the packaging, have done it from time to time and so far all has been correct.

    Oh I love wholemeal pasta... white pasta makes me rather sick these days :-) Switched to wholemeal 2 years ago.
  • rockmama72
    rockmama72 Posts: 815 Member
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    What were you eating before that made you overweight?

    If you have significantly changed your diet, like you used to eat nothing biput fast food and now you're not, or if you stop drinking a whole bunch of sodas or alcohol, can be hard to hit your calorie goals in the beginning. A day below here and there isn't going to hurt you, but you generally need more calories because you just can't get all the nutrients and fuel you need for optimal health in less.

    Keep working at it with your food diary. It's OK to fumble around in the beginning! It's all new.
  • juliscot
    juliscot Posts: 6
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    What were you eating before that made you overweight?

    If you have significantly changed your diet, like you used to eat nothing biput fast food and now you're not, or if you stop drinking a whole bunch of sodas or alcohol, can be hard to hit your calorie goals in the beginning. A day below here and there isn't going to hurt you, but you generally need more calories because you just can't get all the nutrients and fuel you need for optimal health in less.

    Keep working at it with your food diary. It's OK to fumble around in the beginning! It's all new.

    Thank you, yes I am trying to optimise by vitamin and calcium intake which will no doubt also add some sugars and calories.

    I think my diet has always been a steady up and down.. some days I would eat little and low calorie food, other days I would go all out.

    I have been overweight since I was about 12, now at 25 it has somewhat become who I am but would obviously love to finally get a grip on it. I will see how I get on in the following days and weeks.

    Loving the accuracy of the barcode scanner, it even recognises the weirdest of products :)
  • MelodiesFitness
    MelodiesFitness Posts: 1
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    I had the same problem. FOR YEARS I have tried to lose just six pounds! I was not eating ENOUGH calories. I now keep track of everything I eat. If it looks like I am not going to make my 1200 calorie goal, I just drink a protein shake which has 180 calories. I grab one when I am going to be out doing errands, to be sure I get the calories. HEB in Texas has a drink called Opti-Meal that comes in a double chocolate flavor - it's great...kinda like a milkshake. You have to get your calories up if you are going to lose the weight. I have been on this since January 9th...not even four weeks and I have lost six pounds. I want to lose another three pounds to get back to my weight 17 years ago. I am fitting into clothes that I had almost given up hope on wearing again. THIS WORKS! Be sure to drink the eight glasses of water a day. I fill up four water bottles every morning, so I can keep track of the water intake. I also add 1% milk to my meals if I need to boost the calories, or I'll eat hummus with carrots as a snack, or olives....those have the good fats that you need too and will add calories inbetween meals.
  • rockmama72
    rockmama72 Posts: 815 Member
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    Sometimes people will start a new program with a ton of restrictions on what's "allowed" or not. I have a friend (a big male friend) who is so terrified to misstep that he'll eat the tiniest pile of tuna on lettuce because he thinks it's in the safe zone. He could be so much happier! But he didn't ask for my advice :)
  • juliscot
    juliscot Posts: 6
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    I had the same problem. FOR YEARS I have tried to lose just six pounds! I was not eating ENOUGH calories. I now keep track of everything I eat. If it looks like I am not going to make my 1200 calorie goal, I just drink a protein shake which has 180 calories. I grab one when I am going to be out doing errands, to be sure I get the calories. HEB in Texas has a drink called Opti-Meal that comes in a double chocolate flavor - it's great...kinda like a milkshake. You have to get your calories up if you are going to lose the weight. I have been on this since January 9th...not even four weeks and I have lost six pounds. I want to lose another three pounds to get back to my weight 17 years ago. I am fitting into clothes that I had almost given up hope on wearing again. THIS WORKS! Be sure to drink the eight glasses of water a day. I fill up four water bottles every morning, so I can keep track of the water intake. I also add 1% milk to my meals if I need to boost the calories, or I'll eat hummus with carrots as a snack, or olives....those have the good fats that you need too and will add calories inbetween meals.

    Thank you so much this is very helpful... I love Humous with carrots and olives.... :) I'm not a big fan of shakes (used to do a horrible meal replacement diet which was absolutely not worth it).

    I will see how I get on in the next couple days and if the work routine helps me to boost my intake due to a more structured day than on the weekends.

    Will try and get myself a plan together that will aid my calorie intake
  • juliscot
    juliscot Posts: 6
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    Sometimes people will start a new program with a ton of restrictions on what's "allowed" or not. I have a friend (a big male friend) who is so terrified to misstep that he'll eat the tiniest pile of tun on lettuce because he thinks it's in the safe zone. He could be so much happier! But he didn't ask for my advice :)

    My portions are never small... I suppose you could say if I eat then I EAT :) haha.. I do try to get along without added sugars and oils etc as much as possible.. will just tuck into my second sandwich today mmmhhh :)
  • MissBabyJane
    MissBabyJane Posts: 538 Member
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    Maybe some nuts, avocado - they're high on calories...
  • sunnshhiine
    sunnshhiine Posts: 727 Member
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    Spoon of peanut butter.

    see your spoon of peanut butter, and raise you 2 more spoons of peanut butter, bacon, and... chocolate cake? because I can.
  • ell_v131
    ell_v131 Posts: 349 Member
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    Sorry to say but it is more likely that what you're logging is inaccurate.

    You have 20 kilos/pounds to lose (sorry don't remember which) and you didn't get this overweight by not being able to eat 1300 cals a day.

    It's ok to have full fat daity, bread, pasta, pizza, meat, burgers, whatever you want (I eat a lot of meat for example) as long as thats within your calories. And I suspect that's where things go wrong for you. So you own a digital scale? If not, get one. You will surprised what one "serving" actually looks like and how inaccurate cups and spoons really are. Major difference.

    If you weigh everything and use the correct (USDA preferably) database entries and still not reaching your goal, consider more calorie dense foods, cheese, avocado, nuts, peanut butter, etc.

    Edited to say I just read that your portions are never small... That supports my theory above. You say you're having your second sandwich today. A sandwich depending on size and what's in it can be 500-1600cals alone. So before adding any more food to your diet, please try to do the weighing.

    And edited again that I see you have a scale. Would you try another one, just in case this one is off? I have a hard time seeing how what you describe as your food would come up as low. If you open your diary we can have a better look and help you figure out how to approach this.
  • akaMrsmojo
    akaMrsmojo Posts: 762 Member
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    Spoon of peanut butter.

    see your spoon of peanut butter, and raise you 2 more spoons of peanut butter, bacon, and... chocolate cake? because I can.

    This

    I would like to second the bacon thing.
  • violet791
    violet791 Posts: 13 Member
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    Add butter to your cooked vegetables, snack on nuts, drink more milk (increase the fat content of whatever milk you are drinking), put (more) cream in your coffee, top your salad with nuts ...

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