Cant eat enough calories

If you're getting the results you want, I wouldn't worry. It sounds like you're eating healthily. I have a hard time meeting my calorie goals, too.

Simple solution: stop exercising while dieting? I stay away from any strenuous activity while on a calorie restricted diet. Always works well, once the weight is off, then I can work out to keep it off.

I don't agree with this advice. Exercise is very important if you're trying to be healthy, which should be your main goal (not just losing weight). Exercise helps keep you strong, lowers cholesterol, keeps your overall body running better and prevent you from losing muscle mass.

Try fitting in a little more calore-rich but healthy foods (avocado, whole milk dairy instead of low/no-fat, cook with olive oil - a healthy fat, etc.)I recommend getting away from the cereal for breakfast - try eggs and oatmeal or something of that caliber - a bowl of cereal doesn't provide much protein/fat, which is important to keep you going all day. I aim for 300-400 calories per meal (breakfast/lunch/dinner) plus snacks. I would add broccoli or lima beans or something like that to the dinner you mentioned - a higher calorie veggie to go with the chicken and rice. Maybe add a good protein along with what you had for lunch (more than what the cottage cheese provides).

It would be hard to make all these changes at once, but pick one thing and work on a little at a time. I'd start with breakfast, then work on consciously adding more calories to lunch and then dinner. Evening snacks are okay too - it's a myth that it's bad to eat at night!

Simple solution: stop exercising while dieting? I stay away from any strenuous activity while on a calorie restricted diet. Always works well, once the weight is off, then I can work out to keep it off.

I don't agree with this advice. Exercise is very important if you're trying to be healthy, which should be your main goal (not just losing weight). Exercise helps keep you strong, lowers cholesterol, keeps your overall body running better and prevent you from losing muscle mass.

Try fitting in a little more calore-rich but healthy foods (avocado, whole milk dairy instead of low/no-fat, cook with olive oil - a healthy fat, etc.)I recommend getting away from the cereal for breakfast - try eggs and oatmeal or something of that caliber - a bowl of cereal doesn't provide much protein/fat, which is important to keep you going all day. I aim for 300-400 calories per meal (breakfast/lunch/dinner) plus snacks. I would add broccoli or lima beans or something like that to the dinner you mentioned - a higher calorie veggie to go with the chicken and rice. Maybe add a good protein along with what you had for lunch (more than what the cottage cheese provides).

It would be hard to make all these changes at once, but pick one thing and work on a little at a time. I'd start with breakfast, then work on consciously adding more calories to lunch and then dinner. Evening snacks are okay too - it's a myth that it's bad to eat at night!

I totally agree.

Cutting out exercise for a few months while dieting isn't going to cause your body to shut down or make you less healthy. If the OP is having a hard time eating enough calories to make up for the working out then they should either force more food or work out less.

And eating more food is by far the healthier option. I disagree that cutting out exercise for a few months is not going to cause any problems. Your body won't shut down and you may not have any obvious bad health effects, but I know from personal experience that when I stop exercising for more than a few weeks, I can definitely feel a difference. Exercise has so many benefits - mental, emotional and physical. It's key to good health.

How much weight are you trying to loose? I believe exercise will help you get the weight of faster with better visible results. I exercise 5 days per week and am usually under my total daily calories, and I'm still healthy. (Says the Doc. ) Once you meet your goal weight you can always up your calorie intake to maintain the weight. Exercise is important.

I almost never eat all my exercise calories and I've done fine. I do try not to drop below 1200 cals, though and I eat if i'm hungry. The problem for me is adding calories that are healthy! I would have no problem adding them with cookies and chips!!!

Cutting out exercise for a few months while dieting isn't going to cause your body to shut down or make you less healthy. If the OP is having a hard time eating enough calories to make up for the working out then they should either force more food or work out less.

And eating more food is by far the healthier option. I disagree that cutting out exercise for a few months is not going to cause any problems. Your body won't shut down and you may not have any obvious bad health effects, but I know from personal experience that when I stop exercising for more than a few weeks, I can definitely feel a difference. Exercise has so many benefits - mental, emotional and physical. It's key to good health.

Yes, exactly. Plus, if you read the OP's profile you would see that arthritis and a family history of cancer is a concern. Exercise is crucial to keeping arthritis at bay and we all know a healthy lifestyle is important factor in reducing cancer risk. Should I even mention osteoporosis and other things that women in our age group need to start being concerned about?

Please, keep exercising! Treat yourself to delicious avocados, (if you can get them) Also, try greek yogurt with 1 or 2% fat. Another thing to try is Quinoa! It's a complete protein and has a higher calorie count than other whole grains. Use like you would use rice, it's really delicious and SO healthy!