Trouble reaching calorie goals

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Malimaz
Malimaz Posts: 24 Member
in Food and Nutrition
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

  • kgeyser
    kgeyser Posts: 22,505 Member
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    Eat more calorie dense foods. Eat the foods you ate before going on a "diet," just less of them. You can still be healthy and get all your nutrients without having to restrict yourself to "purely healthy foods."

    If you are having problems eating in the physical sense due to medical issues, talk to your doctor.
  • Malimaz
    Malimaz Posts: 24 Member
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    Thank you, actually the healthy food is to aid in my MS I already eat small portions, I guess I have to find that happy medium to stay moving forward. Thanks so much for your input.
  • lynn1982
    lynn1982 Posts: 1,439 Member
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    To add to (and dare I say, correct) what the previous poster said - calorie dense foods can absolutely be healthy. Add in healthy fats - coconut oil, olive oil, nuts, avocados - all calorie dense and perfectly healthy (unless you have an issue digesting fat).
  • turtlefan137
    turtlefan137 Posts: 9
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    I have found that a slow drip of relatively low-calorie foods over the course of the day can make a huge difference in my hunger. The secret to my success apparently for the last few days has been wasabi peas. A lot of them are one serving and because they are spicy, you end up drinking a lot of water.
  • MelissaPhippsFeagins
    MelissaPhippsFeagins Posts: 8,063 Member
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    You are not alone. I just ate 100 calories of yogurt to hit my goal. I made myself do it. I am at my goal weight range (153-157lbs), but I am also a recovering bulimic. I let myself get 40lbs overweight because I was afraid of going back to that extreme, but then my knees started failing me and I knew I had to lose it and do it in an ordered way. That's what brought me to MFP. I needed an ordered way to relate to my food. Even knowing what I was doing, I had moments of panic as I got closer to my goal because I was attached to seeing the scale drop and that kind of thinking is a real problem for me.

    Anyway, some days I get to within 150 of my goal and I have to make myself eat those last calories because I don't want to eat anymore. Today was one of those days. My advice to you is to find a small piece of fruit or a 100 calorie yogurt - whatever your MS will allow you to eat - and make yourself eat it. Do that every day until your body is comfortable eating 700 instead of 600. Then add another 100 calories until you don't feel stuffed at 800. Do it over and over until your body is eating the goal amount. It's a process, learning to make yourself eat enough. I must say, it's been easier this time than it was in my 20's. Good luck to you!
  • Malimaz
    Malimaz Posts: 24 Member
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    Thank you girls yesterday was the only day I could only do 600 thankfully. Im actually doing great in my progress just hitting my goal is a struggle with food, but one day at a time right? Lots love
  • tracydr
    tracydr Posts: 528 Member
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    I love wasabi peas!
    I would increase your healthy fats, too. Almond butter, olive oil, avocados, nuts. Somebody mentioned homemade butter from raw cashews on another thread which sounds fantastic. Fatty fish or take an omega 3 supplement for inflammation and healthy nerves.
    Try to eat lots of small snacks like string cheese, pieces of turkey. ( hint, bake a turkey and slice it up, then freeze in small bags to have a fresh supply of lower sodium "lunch meat".
    Bake whole chickens and have cold chicken as a snack. If they are organic,free range chickens, feel free to eat the skin as they are rich in omega 3s. Not so much with factory raised. Boiled eggs are great, easy to eat snacks! I posted a lower fat deviled egg but you could make traditional ones. Also, I love having egg salad on toast.
    I raise my own meat chickens and eggs. Had a turkey pair but we are gatting ready to move so I've sold everybody.
  • Malimaz
    Malimaz Posts: 24 Member
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    Soumds good thanks for the advice
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
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    Thank you, actually the healthy food is to aid in my MS I already eat small portions, I guess I have to find that happy medium to stay moving forward. Thanks so much for your input.

    I think you're confusing "healthy" with whether something is calorie dense or not. There are numerous "healthy" foods that are also chock full of calories for very little volume...avocados for example pack a wallop of nutrition and are very calorie dense...same for nuts...cook your veggies and what not in olive oil....the list goes on and on.

    "Healthy" doesn't mean just eating fruits and vegetables...fats and proteins are essential macros and just as important to your overall health as are the vitamins and minerals that come with your fruit and veg.
  • NadiaGH
    NadiaGH Posts: 68 Member
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    I love wasabi peas!
    I would increase your healthy fats, too. Almond butter, olive oil, avocados, nuts. Somebody mentioned homemade butter from raw cashews on another thread which sounds fantastic. Fatty fish or take an omega 3 supplement for inflammation and healthy nerves.
    Try to eat lots of small snacks like string cheese, pieces of turkey. ( hint, bake a turkey and slice it up, then freeze in small bags to have a fresh supply of lower sodium "lunch meat".
    Bake whole chickens and have cold chicken as a snack. If they are organic,free range chickens, feel free to eat the skin as they are rich in omega 3s. Not so much with factory raised. Boiled eggs are great, easy to eat snacks! I posted a lower fat deviled egg but you could make traditional ones. Also, I love having egg salad on toast.
    I raise my own meat chickens and eggs. Had a turkey pair but we are gatting ready to move so I've sold everybody.

    To OP, this was a great question! I'm on day 1 of meeting my caloric goals, and it as so hard to! I already had a boiled egg, avocado, and some cheese, however I wish I could easily find lactaid yogurt in the market - I feel like that's a healthy yet calorie dense snack, but dealing with the gas is too painful :-/

    But thanks to some of the great suggestions tracydr made, I'll definitely plan on roasting a turkey and keeping the slices in the freezer for a lower sodium source than deli cut luncheon meats.

    Tracydr, you made some great suggestions, any more to offer? I can see myself getting 'bored' soon, especially since I wanna fill up on low volume/high density.

    Thanks!
  • snazzyjazzy21
    snazzyjazzy21 Posts: 1,298 Member
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    Thank you, actually the healthy food is to aid in my MS I already eat small portions, I guess I have to find that happy medium to stay moving forward. Thanks so much for your input.

    I think you're confusing "healthy" with whether something is calorie dense or not. There are numerous "healthy" foods that are also chock full of calories for very little volume...avocados for example pack a wallop of nutrition and are very calorie dense...same for nuts...cook your veggies and what not in olive oil....the list goes on and on.

    "Healthy" doesn't mean just eating fruits and vegetables...fats and proteins are essential macros and just as important to your overall health as are the vitamins and minerals that come with your fruit and veg.

    This. High calorie =/= unhealthy.

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