Trouble Meeting Calorie Goal

Options
245

Replies

  • fittestpal
    fittestpal Posts: 94 Member
    Options
    so youre not eating enough food to lose weight.. what are you worried about if you're not exceeding your daliy calories? you're losing weight and isn't that what you wanna do anyway?
  • mschicagocubs
    mschicagocubs Posts: 774 Member
    Options
    so youre not eating enough food to lose weight.. what are you worried about if you're not exceeding your daliy calories? you're losing weight and isn't that what you wanna do anyway?

    Well true, but I am sure the kid wants to reach his goal....as most of us do.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    Options
    so youre not eating enough food to lose weight.. what are you worried about if you're not exceeding your daliy calories? you're losing weight and isn't that what you wanna do anyway?

    Yeah this is totally true. I mean there is reason to worry about undereating if you are feeling to tired or lethargic to focus on your studies or do any exercise but if you have the energy to get through the day and you are eating healthy foods enough to get the necessary micronutrients and you are under your caloric "goal" and your intent is to lose weight then congratulations, you will lose weight faster.

    If your intent is to build muscle then yeah you might have to worry a bit more about your calorie intake but not until you lose the fat (your body makes up for that calorie deficit by consuming your bodyfat).
  • SpiderByte
    SpiderByte Posts: 24
    Options
    Not to mention the fact that largely I don't know how many calories some of the meals have. I had a Buffalo Chicken wrap today, and trying to enter it in was insane. There are literally dozens of calorie entries for the same food item, and I don't know which ones are accurate to the thing I've actually eaten.

    Probably none of them to be honest..

    You are in college...go have a beer, eat some ice cream, the peanut butter and chocolate sounds great....

    Just because you are trying to lose weight doesn't mean you have to give up food like that, just eat reasonable portions.
    A: I'm 19.
    B: I actually don't usually eat wraps. In fact, the reason I started eating them was specifically to try to reach my calorie goal. It's not a 'not eating what I don't like' thing, it's an 'apparently I'm eating half of my calorie goal every day' type thing.
  • fittestpal
    fittestpal Posts: 94 Member
    Options
    i rent a womans kitchen for sunday. you would be amazed at what people will do for money. oh lemme guess not everyone has 10$ though. its always excuses with some people.. just keep making them up and not getting anything done
  • PibbleLover88
    PibbleLover88 Posts: 40 Member
    Options
    Calculating food like a buffalo chicken wrap from a cafeteria with unknown calories can be really hard. When I get in this situation, I handle it one of two ways.

    The first, I surf some restaurant websites to try and find a restaurant that 1. has something that looks similar to what I ate, and 2. has nutrition information online. Then I use the calories for that item, recognizing it could be different.

    The second thing I will do is deconstruct the item. Example, log one large flour tortilla. Did your chicken wrap have grilled chicken, log the guesstimated amount of chicken it would have. Was their ranch dressing, you might guess two tablespoons? Log that.
  • RenewedRunner
    RenewedRunner Posts: 423 Member
    Options
    Ummm not sure why my post seemed offensive...

    but just wanted to show you that those are things that can be ate to help you make your goal. I used to work in the catering dept of our college cafeteria (aka, we fed the President of the University). They don't have rice and veggies and chicken???? Is it a really small school? I admit, I am old now (34) but I still remember foods like that being served when I was in graduate school. And they always had bowls of fresh fruit, yogurt, and sandwiches as an option for quick lunch stuff.
  • SpiderByte
    SpiderByte Posts: 24
    Options
    i rent a womans kitchen for sunday. you would be amazed at what people will do for money. oh lemme guess not everyone has 10$ though. its always excuses with some people.. just keep making them up and not getting anything done

    Yeah, shame on me for not being able to replicate your specific, unique situation.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    Options
    i rent a womans kitchen for sunday. you would be amazed at what people will do for money. oh lemme guess not everyone has 10$ though. its always excuses with some people.. just keep making them up and not getting anything done

    Yes dude, not everyone has $10 to spend. Not everyone has a "woman's kitchen" to rent. Not everyone lives in towns or neighborhoods or colleges like the ones you experienced in your own life. People have to work within their own means and it is asinine to just assume that they have identically resources to the ones that you have enjoyed in your life. Why don't you ask the OP what he has access to instead of just assuming.
  • fittestpal
    fittestpal Posts: 94 Member
    Options
    im just saying if you want something bad enough you can get it. set your mind on something and do it. ask questions, fail, be deterred, fail again, but never give up and you will succeed. you would be amazed at how those failures shape your success.
  • Iknowsaur
    Iknowsaur Posts: 777 Member
    Options
    Not to mention the fact that largely I don't know how many calories some of the meals have. I had a Buffalo Chicken wrap today, and trying to enter it in was insane. There are literally dozens of calorie entries for the same food item, and I don't know which ones are accurate to the thing I've actually eaten.

    Probably none of them to be honest..

    You are in college...go have a beer, eat some ice cream, the peanut butter and chocolate sounds great....

    Just because you are trying to lose weight doesn't mean you have to give up food like that, just eat reasonable portions.
    A: I'm 19.
    B: I actually don't usually eat wraps. In fact, the reason I started eating them was specifically to try to reach my calorie goal. It's not a 'not eating what I don't like' thing, it's an 'apparently I'm eating half of my calorie goal every day' type thing.

    What does you being 19 have to do with anything?
  • SpiderByte
    SpiderByte Posts: 24
    Options
    Well the whole "Go Drinking" thing isn't a good idea when the legal drinking age is 21. At least it is here.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    Options
    I, for example, in my own experience had to pay for my college with a lot of government based loans as I could not afford it otherwise. Those loans covered my tuition and meal plans with the proviso that I do some work for the college itself but that income would go towards the loan. My days were spent in class, studying or working and that work did not net me spending money. The way the loans worked it covered the colleges meal plan which was access to the college buffet dinning area. I did not just get some cash to go to a grocery store with with my non-existent car in an area that didn't have grocery stores. After all of that when I was done with college I had about $30,000 in debt.

    No I wasn't renting kitchens and making grocery store trips nor was I in a position to do so. I sold myself into indentured servitude for the purpose of my education which I am now benefiting from. I am not complaining about this it was my choice but no not everyone has money and options for produce while at college.

    That said OP maybe you do actually. So that is a fair point. Do you have an income that you can spend on your own without having it diverted to loans? Do you have access to a kitchen? If you do then fittestpal is right in saying that you are perhaps making excuses that could be remedied with a bit of hard work.
  • Iknowsaur
    Iknowsaur Posts: 777 Member
    Options
    Well the whole "Go Drinking" thing isn't a good idea when the legal drinking age is 21. At least it is here.

    All I hear from you is "I can't."
    Go eat a freaking burger and stop making this posts.
    This is like your 3rd one.
    Major buzzkill.
  • nomad1000
    nomad1000 Posts: 206 Member
    Options
    So what does your caf serve since it seems to be different than college cafeterias some of us have experienced? Does it have a cereal bar or deli station? Does it have a salad bar? Is there only one entree served at each meal?

    Are you able to store some snacks like nuts, PB, etc. in your room? Do you have a mini fridge in your room to store perishables like cheeses and other dairy?
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    Options
    I can pretty confidently say that a vast minority of people pay for college out of pocket.
    I will have loans for days when I finish, but I can still afford to hop on over to CVS or Walmart for some basic groceries, non-cook if needed.

    But can the OP do that? We don't know until he says and no one has bothered to ask. Again your life situation and my life situation are not necessarily his life situation. People don't necessarily have the same resources that we had. Some have less, some have more and the only way to find out is to ask.

    Spyderbyte. Can you get to a grocery store? Can you get access to a kitchen? Do you have the money necessary?
  • RunsOnEspresso
    RunsOnEspresso Posts: 3,218 Member
    Options
    The OP hasn't given us a lot to go on. We don't know what all the cafeteris has/doesn't have. We don't know if there is a way for him to keep food in his dorm (I assume he is in the dorm). We don't know if there is a grocery store, gas or convenience store within walking/biking distance. We don't know if he knows someone with a car that probably could drive them to said stores if not in walking distance. We don't know if the OP has extra money to spend on groceries.

    It is really hard to offer advice based on what little info we have.

    Yes, everyone's collge experience is different and without knowing what is available it is difficult to offer advice except based on what we did or someone we know did.

    My college had a decent cafeteria with a lot of options within walking distance, including a small grocery store and several gas stations at which you could buy some staples for cheap, like bananas were way cheaper than grocery store. As was the milk.
  • Holly_Roman_Empire
    Holly_Roman_Empire Posts: 4,440 Member
    Options
    How did you get fat, then?
    /Thread

    It's easy to hit or vastly exceed calorie goal or TDEE eating ice cream and pizza. Its harder eating chicken breast and broccoli. I've been in the boat of struggling to eat enough while on a diet of healthy foods.

    Having some of your calories as a liquid in the form of something like a protein shake with milk can help.

    Then eat some ice cream. Problem solved.
  • ladykaisa
    ladykaisa Posts: 236 Member
    Options
    Well the whole "Go Drinking" thing isn't a good idea when the legal drinking age is 21. At least it is here.

    All I hear from you is "I can't."
    Go eat a freaking burger and stop making this posts.
    This is like your 3rd one.
    Major buzzkill.

    He said he was 19..... This is an extremely valid excuse for not going out and getting drunk... it's not legal. Nuts to him for not wanting to do something illegal, right?


    OP, when I was in college I lived at home and still had a part time job, so I had an entirely different situation than living in rez with a cafeteria. I know money was tight, however. If you have an extra $10-$20 a week, bulk stores are great for nuts/snacky things. If you have a local Farmer's Market you can make it to, veg and fruit tends to be reasonably priced (at least at mine it is).
    If you don't have a little extra money (and it's perfectly reasonable that you don't), maybe picking up double when you go to the cafeteria, to last through the day? Jar of almond/peanut butter and an apple , or a couple hard boiled eggs are a great snack.

    Does your school have a website with a cafeteria link? It may help if we can take a peek if you're really at a loss of what would be calorie padding options.
  • Iknowsaur
    Iknowsaur Posts: 777 Member
    Options
    Well the whole "Go Drinking" thing isn't a good idea when the legal drinking age is 21. At least it is here.

    All I hear from you is "I can't."
    Go eat a freaking burger and stop making this posts.
    This is like your 3rd one.
    Major buzzkill.

    He said he was 19..... This is an extremely valid excuse for not going out and getting drunk... it's not legal. Nuts to him for not wanting to do something illegal, right?


    OP, when I was in college I lived at home and still had a part time job, so I had an entirely different situation than living in rez with a cafeteria. I know money was tight, however. If you have an extra $10-$20 a week, bulk stores are great for nuts/snacky things. If you have a local Farmer's Market you can make it to, veg and fruit tends to be reasonably priced (at least at mine it is).
    If you don't have a little extra money (and it's perfectly reasonable that you don't), maybe picking up double when you go to the cafeteria, to last through the day? Jar of almond/peanut butter and an apple , or a couple hard boiled eggs are a great snack.
    Does your school have a website with a cafeteria link? It may help if we can take a peek if you're really at a loss of what would be calorie padding options.

    Honestly, I was referring to all of his posts.
    But please don't be that person who pretends that a majority of college students don't drink before they're 21.
    If he doesn't want to that's his choice, but I never told him to go drink.
    I told him to eat a burger.
    Or some ice cream.
    Or a piece of pizza.
    Or a peanut butter sandwich.
    Or anything.

    The only answer to this post is to eat more calories.
    So I don't know why people make these posts.
    You became overweight by eating at more than maintenance, so how the hell is eating enough to reach a deficit goal suddenly so hard.
    Sure, maybe he's eating less calorie dense foods. So add back some calorie dense foods. The end.

Categories