Trouble reaching calorie goals

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Malimaz
Malimaz Posts: 24 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
How many of us face this dilemma?

I daily fail to reach my calorie goals, now although I am eating purely healthy foods I actually struggle with portions. Not how you would think, see I had my stomache stapled few years back and I lost a lot of weight but slowly gained it back from stress, not eating right, and the failure of my thyroid paired with inability to excersize much due to MS and my 72 hour average work week (I am a recovering workaholic, yes it too is an addiction for some). Now that I stay home I have the time to give my effort to push myself, basically there is no excuse now.

So begins MFP, I am loving t so far and loving doing it side by side with my husband. Problem is I cannot achieve my caloric intake goals. Now many would say that's great means you will lose more weight but thats not the case. In actuality it can hinder your weightloss by hindering your metabolism sending into hibernation mode causing it to store fat, and in addition it causes malnutrition. Not enough nutrition can yes put an overweight person into malnutrition which can also make you ill and sometimes be life threatening.

So needless to say I am rather disappointed and really upset today that my body resisted food intake and was only able to consume 602 calories today. Am I alone in this battle?

Replies

  • melaniecheeks
    melaniecheeks Posts: 6,349 Member
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    One low day, not an issue. Your diary shows that you usually eat a decent amount of calories.

    How are you measuring exercise burns?
  • trinity5703
    trinity5703 Posts: 78
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    Are you trying to eat more than just 3 times a day?... maybe snacking on something mid morning and mid afternoon.
    I sometime ago had the problem of not eating enough of my cals...stress related. I avoided using "diet" food.. went straight for the whole egg instead of egg whites, regular bread instead of diet, added real butter to my toast, more protein at lunch and dinner etc.

    You might want to talk to your doctor as well, make sure the thyroid is functioning as it should, and get his input on the number of calories you need to take in daily.
  • CA_Underdog
    CA_Underdog Posts: 733 Member
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    : Athenos - Light Feta Cheese, 1/2 cup
    : Dano - Light Milk, 28 g

    Can you replace "light" dairy products with less-processed whole dairy products? Many nutritionists argue that is better for you except for the extra calories. And you actually need more calories!

    http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/02/12/275376259/the-full-fat-paradox-whole-milk-may-keep-us-lean

    : Boiled - Egg, 1 large egg 65
    : steamed vegetables

    Second, you are boiling and steaming your foods. Can you instead cook them in healthy oils? The eggs could be poaches or fried. The vegetables could be baked or stir-fried. Easy calories!
  • rm33064
    rm33064 Posts: 270 Member
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    Don't eat so clean. It's not hard to eat more calories, you just can't eat low calorie everything. An ounce of cheese, a tablespoon of olive oil, and a handful of nuts will get you over 1000 calories with no difficulty.
  • wilsoje74
    wilsoje74 Posts: 1,720 Member
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    So all you had for dinner was feta cheese and toast? Looking back a few days it looks like you eat 1600-1700 cals. And your exercise calories look really high FYI
  • Malimaz
    Malimaz Posts: 24 Member
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    One low day, not an issue. Your diary shows that you usually eat a decent amount of calories.

    How are you measuring exercise burns?

    I document everything including excersize but I do take days off workouts due to my MS and gradually increasing
  • Malimaz
    Malimaz Posts: 24 Member
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    Are you trying to eat more than just 3 times a day?... maybe snacking on something mid morning and mid afternoon.
    I sometime ago had the problem of not eating enough of my cals...stress related. I avoided using "diet" food.. went straight for the whole egg instead of egg whites, regular bread instead of diet, added real butter to my toast, more protein at lunch and dinner etc.

    You might want to talk to your doctor as well, make sure the thyroid is functioning as it should, and get his input on the number of calories you need to take in daily.

    We do 6 meals and I combine that with the swank diet which is diet of healthy foods for MS, but today my stomach resticted anything I tried to eat which causes a purge if I push myself to eat more this is a side effect of the gastric surgery. I take replacement med for my thyroid but am due for another blood test.
  • Malimaz
    Malimaz Posts: 24 Member
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    : Athenos - Light Feta Cheese, 1/2 cup
    : Dano - Light Milk, 28 g

    Can you replace "light" dairy products with less-processed whole dairy products? Many nutritionists argue that is better for you except for the extra calories. And you actually need more calories!

    http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/02/12/275376259/the-full-fat-paradox-whole-milk-may-keep-us-lean

    : Boiled - Egg, 1 large egg 65
    : steamed vegetables

    Second, you are boiling and steaming your foods. Can you instead cook them in healthy oils? The eggs could be poaches or fried. The vegetables could be baked or stir-fried. Easy calories!


    Thats a good idea to try to change up by adding good oils or foods higher in calories
  • Malimaz
    Malimaz Posts: 24 Member
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    Don't eat so clean. It's not hard to eat more calories, you just can't eat low calorie everything. An ounce of cheese, a tablespoon of olive oil, and a handful of nuts will get you over 1000 calories with no difficulty.

    I do have 1 free meal per week to eat anything with no restrictions and asked hubs to get nuts today as it will help too ty
  • Malimaz
    Malimaz Posts: 24 Member
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    So all you had for dinner was feta cheese and toast? Looking back a few days it looks like you eat 1600-1700 cals. And your exercise calories look really high FYI

    Yes eating has been pretty good, but still not reaching my goals, I dont pay attention to excersize calories because I should be burning more than I consume, todays dinner was even forced down I had to try something tomorrow is another day gonna try to switch it up a bit, may do a soup thats more hearty.
  • Malimaz
    Malimaz Posts: 24 Member
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    Thank you all for your in put, its much appreciated

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