i cant get enough calories

My eyes are bleeding from the overwhelming amount of BS in this thread.

That is very judgmental. Your not playing nice in the sand box.

how is it judgmental to point out the obvious, which is how can someone go from consuming 2000+ calories a day, but then when they start trying to lose, that same person cannot eat 1200 a day? Makes no sense...

Oh, no, she is right. I am being judgmental. I have no qualms about being judgmental, especially towards people who insult my intelligence by expecting me to believe....yeah, you get it.

spoiler alert: I am also a bit sexist as well but hey, you will never have to take out the trash, change your oil or open a door when you are around me. Guess there is always trade-offs.

Well darn! You're all the way over there. And here I am over... here. You're welcome to come take out MY trash!

OP - thought I'd throw in my two cents. If you don't like peanut butter, eat some chocolate. Yum! (and unless you have a scale, you're likely eating more than you think you are... and, no, I don't weigh my food either - but I never claimed to be consistent)

I figured it was simple math calories in vs calories burned = weight loss. Not so much.

how isn't it?

well I am suppose to eat 1200 not including the extra 400-500 for exercise.
I was eating around 1000 (even though I was not logging it-I can keep track in my head) and I have not lost a single lb.
I need to eat more to loose weight.

I also want to say I was never a binge eater or had a hard time consuming more food. I chose to eat around 1,000 calories and felt satisfied.

i ate peanut butter this morning:D

Take a bite of peanut butter BAM 200 calories!

Yupp. 2 tbsp. for about 200 calories. Easy add on. And besides, no one is ever too full for two spoons of peanut butter before bed

yes you ate peanut butter today but why did you only have 1 tablespoon plus a handful of grapes. why not 2. why not 2 hardboiled eggs. you seem to eat fast food a lot - is there a reason? i understand you are struggling to eat 1200 calories but even that is too low. you also need to add veggies to your diet. i just had an oz of edamame with my lunch. how about adding some nuts to your snacks/meals. if you're going to eat a chicken leg why not have 2 or better yet chicken breast or thigh. how about making your own salads for lunch - chicken strips, lettuce, tomatoes, avocado, nuts, cheese yum!

I cannnnnot believe I am throwing myself to the wolves here, but I can relate. I would have to disagree about meeting the 1200 calories, I can do that--we all can do that. 200-300 calories left over is a banana, some protein powder, almond milk, maybe a few blueberries and you got yourself a yummy shake! What I'm struggling with is trying to eat back those calories burned working out. I gained 68lbs when pregnant with my son. I ate and ate and ate and ATE and never logged my food (duh!) Clearly I was over the "allowed" calories for the day..month..year. Now here I am working out 6-7 days a week, drinking ONLY water and an occasional coffee, and logging every thing I put into my mouth. If you're truly honest with yourself, it's an eye opener. I find myself choosing not to eat certain things because logging it would be a hassle or I cannot find what I'm looking for or I don't have the means to create my own recipe and/or I don't want to see that I ate a Hershey bar and 6 girl scout cookie which is the calorie equivalent of meal. I was always told that you had to burn more calories than you're taking in. I get that MFP already factors in your normal activity to calculate your "allowed" calories. What I'm struggling with is (and maybe you other ladies can relate with this) I do all this work at the gym only to have to EAT my calories back when I'm not even hungry?? I will burn between 600-800 calories at the gym (which may not be a lot for some, but quiet a milestone for me) and I struggle to eat any of those calories back. At first, no problem, but I'm about 30 days in, I drink a ton of water and I'm quite satisfied (hunger-wise) most days (because I'm eating the RIGHT food) and I can have 700-800 calories left! I don't want to eat when I'm not hungry- that makes no sense to me. I'm less hungry throughout the day when I work out ( I work out in the morning before work) and I'm more aware and conscious of what I'm putting in my mouth. I'd reallllly love a big fat greasy cheeseburger and fries right now. I have the calories to eat it, but that doesn't mean I should, right?!

Hey there! I am in the same boat. I never get close to my 1400 calorie range. I eat all day long but I eat low calorie foods...apples, celery and hummus, bananas, a Shakology shake, cottage cheese, chicken, fresh juiced veggies and fruits. I am never hungry and if I am..I eat. it is 1:15 and I still have 1,424 calories to eat, so far I have had a huge bowl of homemade, clean chicken sausage soup, cottage cheese, 2 cups of coffee and 4 hard boiled egg(No yolks). I have not lost a lb since January! I stopped logging thinking I would eat more- I think I eat less. I am going to go back to logging. any help would be much appreciated.

Eating "apples, celery and hummus, bananas, a Shakology shake, cottage cheese, chicken, fresh juiced veggies and fruits" all day long can easily add up to far more than 1,400 calories. "Clean" foods don't suddenly make you lose weight. It is actually very, very easy to overconsume on higher calorie fruits like bananas, dips/fillings like humus, and cottage cheese. Heck I LOVE frozen granny smith apples, could down three without blinking an eye, and that's over 300 calories on apples alone.

If you're not getting anywhere close to your 1,400 calorie range, than you're overeating on "apples, celery and hummus, bananas, a Shakology shake, cottage cheese, chicken, fresh juiced veggies and fruits".

I cannnnnot believe I am throwing myself to the wolves here, but I can relate. I would have to disagree about meeting the 1200 calories, I can do that--we all can do that. 200-300 calories left over is a banana, some protein powder, almond milk, maybe a few blueberries and you got yourself a yummy shake! What I'm struggling with is trying to eat back those calories burned working out. I gained 68lbs when pregnant with my son. I ate and ate and ate and ATE and never logged my food (duh!) Clearly I was over the "allowed" calories for the day..month..year. Now here I am working out 6-7 days a week, drinking ONLY water and an occasional coffee, and logging every thing I put into my mouth. If you're truly honest with yourself, it's an eye opener. I find myself choosing not to eat certain things because logging it would be a hassle or I cannot find what I'm looking for or I don't have the means to create my own recipe and/or I don't want to see that I ate a Hershey bar and 6 girl scout cookie which is the calorie equivalent of meal. I was always told that you had to burn more calories than you're taking in. I get that MFP already factors in your normal activity to calculate your "allowed" calories. What I'm struggling with is (and maybe you other ladies can relate with this) I do all this work at the gym only to have to EAT my calories back when I'm not even hungry?? I will burn between 600-800 calories at the gym (which may not be a lot for some, but quiet a milestone for me) and I struggle to eat any of those calories back. At first, no problem, but I'm about 30 days in, I drink a ton of water and I'm quite satisfied (hunger-wise) most days (because I'm eating the RIGHT food) and I can have 700-800 calories left! I don't want to eat when I'm not hungry- that makes no sense to me. I'm less hungry throughout the day when I work out ( I work out in the morning before work) and I'm more aware and conscious of what I'm putting in my mouth. I'd reallllly love a big fat greasy cheeseburger and fries right now. I have the calories to eat it, but that doesn't mean I should, right?!

I know exactly what you mean! i feel like i am in the same boat.

How is it that this board is packed with so many of us who are/were very overweight to obese, but suddenly, when calorie counting, there is an endless amount of people who now can't get enough calories in?

This.
And this:

My eyes are bleeding from the overwhelming amount of BS in this thread.

I think it's some twisted novelty thing. Like "I used to over-eat, but now that I'm eating healthy, I just caaaaan't get my required calories, isn't that so cool that an overweight person can, like, have this problem? Isn't this AWESOME?"

The answer is simple: How do you eat more? Find food. Open mouth. Insert. Chew. Swallow. Later, poop. Rinse, repeat.

To those who are saying we're being "rude" - stick around. I'm sure you'll be shocked when the next thread about this subject rolls around. Here's hoping the shock wears off by the time the 30th thread like this pops up.

*high five*

How is it that this board is packed with so many of us who are/were very overweight to obese, but suddenly, when calorie counting, there is an endless amount of people who now can't get enough calories in?

This.
And this:

My eyes are bleeding from the overwhelming amount of BS in this thread.

I think it's some twisted novelty thing. Like "I used to over-eat, but now that I'm eating healthy, I just caaaaan't get my required calories, isn't that so cool that an overweight person can, like, have this problem? Isn't this AWESOME?"

The answer is simple: How do you eat more? Find food. Open mouth. Insert. Chew. Swallow. Later, poop. Rinse, repeat.

To those who are saying we're being "rude" - stick around. I'm sure you'll be shocked when the next thread about this subject rolls around. Here's hoping the shock wears off by the time the 30th thread like this pops up.

*high five*

So you get annoyed that people ask the same "dumb" questions over and over again, yet you answer them. Stop!

There are plenty of other people on this website that will respond to them. You don't need to....

How is it that this board is packed with so many of us who are/were very overweight to obese, but suddenly, when calorie counting, there is an endless amount of people who now can't get enough calories in?

This.
And this:

My eyes are bleeding from the overwhelming amount of BS in this thread.

I think it's some twisted novelty thing. Like "I used to over-eat, but now that I'm eating healthy, I just caaaaan't get my required calories, isn't that so cool that an overweight person can, like, have this problem? Isn't this AWESOME?"

The answer is simple: How do you eat more? Find food. Open mouth. Insert. Chew. Swallow. Later, poop. Rinse, repeat.

To those who are saying we're being "rude" - stick around. I'm sure you'll be shocked when the next thread about this subject rolls around. Here's hoping the shock wears off by the time the 30th thread like this pops up.

*high five*

So you get annoyed that people ask the same "dumb" questions over and over again, yet you answer them. Stop!

There are plenty of other people on this website that will respond to them. You don't need to....

Who me? I am not annoyed!! Not in the slightest!! And yeah. You don't know my history. You don't know what has happened in my life and why I feel compelled to respond to these threads. And because you don't know me and don't know my history you have no right to tell me what I can and can't respond to. I am trying to be helpful. While being blunt and honest. It's exactly the kind of advice I read when I was struggling. And it helped me.

So you get annoyed that people ask the same "dumb" questions over and over again, yet you answer them. Stop!

There are plenty of other people on this website that will respond to them. You don't need to....

I respond to the public threads that I feel like responding to. The baffling ones in particular, such as this one and its ilk. This is part of the "danger" of public forums. Very rarely have I felt someone should not have responded to a thread, and that's generally when the OP's immediate health (physical or mental) was in clear danger. This is not one of those threads, so whomever wishes to respond, can and should.

Newsflash: I know what a carb is and what turns into sugar and sugar gets stored as fat. I drink very little alcohol.

2nd newsflash: not true about eat less=lose. eat too little and lose nothing.

is that even you in the picture?

ND? That's him in the picture.

threads like this always baffle my mind...

How did you end up obese if you cannot consume more than 1200 calories a day? I assume in your over-eating days that you were eating 2000+ a day, which is how you put on the weight, yes?

i never claimed to be obese. just 15-20lbs fluffy!
I can honestly answer that question. At my heaviest, I was 325 lbs. I NEVER exercised, never ate breakfast and I ate high fat, high carb foods. When I started MFP, I logged what I normally ate in a day for about 3 weeks. I wanted to know exactly what I was doing wrong. I didn't feel like I was eating that bad and I was only eating two meals per day... Well, I learned that I typically ate only 700 - 800 calories per day but they weren't healthy calories. It was all garbage. Imagine my surprise when I learned the "salad" I chose to eat for lunch was packed with more fat than a Whopper and none of the protein!

Believe me when I say that not all obese people eat a lot of food... we just choose the wrong foods and we don't move consistently to burn off the calories we are consuming. For many years, I tried every fad diet out there and convinced myself that I either couldn't lose weight or had some kind of medical issue. It wasn't until this little diary slapped me in the face and taught me about my mistakes.

I still struggle to lose... over the last few years, I have lost 110lbs... recently gaining a few more back than I like. I never give up, I just keep logging and moving.

Please try to understand that those of us that are "obese" are not always over eaters... just highly misinformed about what healthy eating looks like. Thankfully, we are capable of educating ourselves and making changes. It's a long hard road... but definitely worth the journey.

I am sorry, but there is no way you were consuming 700 to 800 calories a day and you were obese. Did you have a food scale? Did you weigh, measure, log every single bit of food you ate? If one could only consume 700 calories a day and be obese then most of Africa would not be dying of starvation, and those people in the concentration camps would have been obese rather then all skin and bone...

ever heard of the "Twinkie diet"..? Look it up ...

Trust me, it really is as simple as calories in vs calories out...

This may not help in the calorie dept but I eat special K protein cereal (it has a sweetner on it so it actually tastes good, not like normal special k). The cereal is about 120 calories for a serving but has 10 grams of protein in it and I think 4 grams of fiber (not 100% sure) so this may help you reach your macros goals at least, which tends to suffer if you eat below 1200.

Better to have a Kind bar than this, Special K bars are full of chemicals/processed nonsense and probably not the healthiest thing to add when trying to get more calories (or, really ever)- cook with olive oil, use almond butter, eat some nuts or cheese....healthier/less proceessed is the better option more times than not.

I usually only eat the special k cereal (not the bars). I never really looked at the cereal to see if it has anything bad in it so idk, the cereal may be okay, but I do agree not to have the bars.

It seems I'm in the minority here with not weighing my food. I get why people do it, but I use balances all day at work, I think I would lose it if I had to weigh more stuff just in order to be able to eat when I get home.

I'm in the severe minority here as I don't weigh, measure, or count calories at all.

But whether you weight or not, for the vast majority of people, if you're not losing weight, or gaining weight, but think you're in a deficit...you aren't.

It's extremely common for human beings to underestimate their calorie intake. Very, very easy. Most of these people on this board claiming that they aren't losing on 1200 and less calories, yet they're fat, are mistaken.

It's not a judgment, it's a reality. They have no real idea what's actually going in their mouths. Often they're eating more "clean" foods than they think. Or they're drinkers who wildly underestimate the beer and wine they're consuming. Or they're mindless grazers who have a cookie here, a piece of candy there, and don't count it. It's TOO easy to overeat in our society with the typical foods made available to us. I read a study just yesterday regarding underreporting. One woman was reporting that she was only eating 1000 calories a day, but the scientists tracked her and discovered she was eating over 3,500 calories a day! In fact of all the women in the study, 8 I believe, only ONE actually was undereating for her TDEE.

The majority of people on this board who are claiming that they're barely eating, yet still not losing, are overeating. That is just a fact.