I can't eat enough calories!

Options
2»

Replies

  • asdowe13
    asdowe13 Posts: 1,951 Member
    Options
    I may be grasping at straws here but I am pretty confident.....like maybe 100% confident you "can" eat enough calories!
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,574 Member
    Options
    A cup of raw carrots has 52 calories. Eat 2 cups worth and you're over 100. How is that not worth counting?

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
    Options
    OP, you said you get plenty of protein??? I would argue that you should be aiming for 100+ grams/day, not the 40-50 you have been getting the last couple of days.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    Options
    Try to eat more for lunch, ideally including some protein. Your protein looked pretty low to me too, especially since the MFP goal tends to be pretty low when the overall calorie goal is.

    It looks to me like you might be having trouble figuring out what to eat for some meals where you used to eat bread or starchy stuff, and also that there are places you could fit in some healthy fats--cook vegetables in olive oil, add some avocado to your vegetarian chili, that sort of thing. I cut down starchy carbs for a while and was surprised at how low my calories were as a result. I increasingly added them back in (in moderation), but I also started replacing them with bigger servings of protein (to meet my goal), fruit or dairy, extra cooked vegetables, that kind of thing.
  • martinel2099
    martinel2099 Posts: 899 Member
    Options
    "I can't eat enough calories"

    So many things wrong with that statement. If you are really struggling to eat enough calories in your day to day that means you're not doing it right. If you are honestly full at 800 calories after accurately measuring and weighing your food, then it's time to break out the ice cream, there's always room for that. You must be eating a lot of veggies if you are getting super full on only 800 calories.

    What did you eat before you started here on MFP? What are foods you enjoy?
  • pinkshiningstar
    pinkshiningstar Posts: 140 Member
    Options
    Here's a question.

    Can you not physically eat enough food to reach more than 800 calories or are you afraid/anxious about eating more than 800 calories?

    I'm guessing the latter. And I *was* that person, too. I think most of us have been there at some point or another. I thought I had to stay low low low in calories to lose weight. I was tired, cranky, eventually the weight stopped falling off. Then I changed. I decided the "eat more to lose more" could work, and it has worked, and I'm seeing more loss now than I did in the past. I don't fear food. I fear bad health, which is exactly what you get by under (or over) eating.

    One thing to consider incorporating into your diet is whey protein. I have at least one shake a day (sometimes more, depending on workouts and such) but you can get a decent tasting shake for around 120-140 calories with 21-25 grams of protein. It's a great way to have a sweet treat and up your cals/protein a bit. If you're concerned about carbs, they're generally ultra low, too.

    Good luck!
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
    Options
    You are most certain not getting plenty of protein. Your fat is iffy too.

    Look at MFP's fat and protein goals as minimums. They're really low and you're not hitting either of them most days. If you're active then you really need quite a bit more than MFP tells you.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets
  • sweetpea03b
    sweetpea03b Posts: 1,124 Member
    Options
    Most days I looked at you either didn't eat lunch at all or had an 80cal smoothie. I eat salads with chicken everyday for lunch and that gives me about 300 calories for lunch. I also kind of have a hard time believing those small portions of meat for dinner... are you using a scale? Also, the only snacks I saw were junk. Maybe add in a serving of string cheese, yogurt, nuts (all those things you claim you have all the time for snacks) even a smoothie for a snack (again, don't know what kind of smoothie you get for only 89 calories because even if you made your own it would be over that.)

    1)I think you're eating more than you think
    2) Stop skipping meals.
    3) Add healthy snacks.
  • SamanthaD1218
    SamanthaD1218 Posts: 304 Member
    Options
    These posts drive me nuts.
  • CookNLift
    CookNLift Posts: 3,660 Member
    Options
    as some have said, if you have a problem eating a certain amount of calories (under your goal) incorporate more protein into your diet, and ADD YOUR VEGETABLES to your diary.

    just as a note: I buy frozen vegetables to make it easy to prep my meals for the next day. 3 broccoli spears are 45 calories, which can add up if you eat a lot of vegetables. I highly recommend buying a cheap food scale that converts grams, ounces etc. so you can weigh your food to accurately show what you're putting in.

    Remember - a lot of the food on here is user generated and some may not reflect the right calories, so do some research online to find out how many calories in x food to make sure they seem about right. I remember when I started I saw an entry for chicken breast 4oz portion - 25 calories. I knew that didn't seem right so I looked at others and checked online to pick the one that fits the appropriate calories.
  • LiftAllThePizzas
    LiftAllThePizzas Posts: 17,857 Member
    Options
    I basically cut bread and a lot of starchy food out of my diet a couple weeks ago because I had a real hard time with moderation.
    Either you are NEVER EVER going to eat these foods again, for the rest of your entire life, or you will have to learn how to eat them in moderation., or you will go back to eating them in excess. Those are the only things that can happen, so choose one.

    And yes, learning moderation can be difficult, but it isn't going to be any less difficult to learn next week or next year.
  • askeates
    askeates Posts: 1,490 Member
    Options
    To get a better idea of exactly how many calories you are eating, you should take the time to weigh everything, and if it enters your mouth you should log it! You would be surprised to see just how many calories you are getting with the veggies you are not logging! They still won't add up to a ton of calories, but some veggies have more calories than others.
  • parkscs
    parkscs Posts: 1,639 Member
    Options
    I basically cut bread and a lot of starchy food out of my diet a couple weeks ago because I had a real hard time with moderation.
    Either you are NEVER EVER going to eat these foods again, for the rest of your entire life, or you will have to learn how to eat them in moderation., or you will go back to eating them in excess. Those are the only things that can happen, so choose one.

    And yes, learning moderation can be difficult, but it isn't going to be any less difficult to learn next week or next year.

    I'd disagree with some of that. While you do need to learn to eat in a controlled manner, nothing says you have to eat all foods on a cut. If I only have 2000 calories to play with every day, I'm not going to eat a piece of cheesecake, but if I have 3500 calories to play with, I very well might. While you don't have to eliminate foods to lose weight, there's nothing that says you can't do so if that helps you achieve a caloric deficit. So might it be less difficult next week or next year? It very well might, if you're not cutting next week/next year, but instead looking to eat at maintenance or at a surplus.

    As for the OP struggling to eat 800 calories, I'm skeptical that 800 calories is really 800 calories. Track everything and track it accurately and you might be surprised how quickly you can get to 800 calories. All I've had so far today is a salad and a small handful of nuts and yet I'm over 1000 calories.
  • Siigh_duck
    Siigh_duck Posts: 161 Member
    Options
    sorry, it should be open now. A lot of the vegetables I don't bother logging because I eat them raw.

    I can eat about 200 cals in vegetables daily XD
  • Hornsby
    Hornsby Posts: 10,322 Member
    Options
    I basically cut bread and a lot of starchy food out of my diet a couple weeks ago because I had a real hard time with moderation.
    Either you are NEVER EVER going to eat these foods again, for the rest of your entire life, or you will have to learn how to eat them in moderation., or you will go back to eating them in excess. Those are the only things that can happen, so choose one.

    And yes, learning moderation can be difficult, but it isn't going to be any less difficult to learn next week or next year.

    I'd disagree with some of that. While you do need to learn to eat in a controlled manner, nothing says you have to eat all foods on a cut. If I only have 2000 calories to play with every day, I'm not going to eat a piece of cheesecake, but if I have 3500 calories to play with, I very well might. While you don't have to eliminate foods to lose weight, there's nothing that says you can't do so if that helps you achieve a caloric deficit. So might it be less difficult next week or next year? It very well might, if you're not cutting next week/next year, but instead looking to eat at maintenance or at a surplus.

    As for the OP struggling to eat 800 calories, I'm skeptical that 800 calories is really 800 calories. Track everything and track it accurately and you might be surprised how quickly you can get to 800 calories. All I've had so far today is a salad and a small handful of nuts and yet I'm over 1000 calories.

    While I definitely believe in IIFYM, this guy makes a good point. It is much harder to fit some things in when your calorie count for the day is so low. I cut out certain foods because on 2K a day to lose, I had to pick my battles. Now I have a TDEE of around 3500 so I can eat whatever and make it fit, but is definitely hard to do in the beginning.
  • 4daluvof_candice
    4daluvof_candice Posts: 483 Member
    Options
    Sorry, OP but you're not logging everything you eat honestly and I beleive that you are well over 800cal/day as you claim. therefore, Im confused at your post and what help you actually need.

    sorry I had to say (type) it, if noone else would..:ohwell:
  • SamanthaD1218
    SamanthaD1218 Posts: 304 Member
    Options
    Sorry, OP but you're not logging everything you eat honestly and I beleive that you are well over 800cal/day as you claim. therefore, Im confused at your post and what help you actually need.

    sorry I had to say (type) it, if noone else would..:ohwell:

    Amen!
  • LiftAllThePizzas
    LiftAllThePizzas Posts: 17,857 Member
    Options
    I basically cut bread and a lot of starchy food out of my diet a couple weeks ago because I had a real hard time with moderation.
    Either you are NEVER EVER going to eat these foods again, for the rest of your entire life, or you will have to learn how to eat them in moderation., or you will go back to eating them in excess. Those are the only things that can happen, so choose one.

    And yes, learning moderation can be difficult, but it isn't going to be any less difficult to learn next week or next year.

    I'd disagree with some of that. While you do need to learn to eat in a controlled manner, nothing says you have to eat all foods on a cut. If I only have 2000 calories to play with every day, I'm not going to eat a piece of cheesecake, but if I have 3500 calories to play with, I very well might. While you don't have to eliminate foods to lose weight, there's nothing that says you can't do so if that helps you achieve a caloric deficit. So might it be less difficult next week or next year? It very well might, if you're not cutting next week/next year, but instead looking to eat at maintenance or at a surplus.

    As for the OP struggling to eat 800 calories, I'm skeptical that 800 calories is really 800 calories. Track everything and track it accurately and you might be surprised how quickly you can get to 800 calories. All I've had so far today is a salad and a small handful of nuts and yet I'm over 1000 calories.

    While I definitely believe in IIFYM, this guy makes a good point. It is much harder to fit some things in when your calorie count for the day is so low. I cut out certain foods because on 2K a day to lose, I had to pick my battles. Now I have a TDEE of around 3500 so I can eat whatever and make it fit, but is definitely hard to do in the beginning.
    Except the problem is not that those foods are too calorie dense to fit into her goals.
  • Hornsby
    Hornsby Posts: 10,322 Member
    Options
    I basically cut bread and a lot of starchy food out of my diet a couple weeks ago because I had a real hard time with moderation.
    Either you are NEVER EVER going to eat these foods again, for the rest of your entire life, or you will have to learn how to eat them in moderation., or you will go back to eating them in excess. Those are the only things that can happen, so choose one.

    And yes, learning moderation can be difficult, but it isn't going to be any less difficult to learn next week or next year.

    I'd disagree with some of that. While you do need to learn to eat in a controlled manner, nothing says you have to eat all foods on a cut. If I only have 2000 calories to play with every day, I'm not going to eat a piece of cheesecake, but if I have 3500 calories to play with, I very well might. While you don't have to eliminate foods to lose weight, there's nothing that says you can't do so if that helps you achieve a caloric deficit. So might it be less difficult next week or next year? It very well might, if you're not cutting next week/next year, but instead looking to eat at maintenance or at a surplus.

    As for the OP struggling to eat 800 calories, I'm skeptical that 800 calories is really 800 calories. Track everything and track it accurately and you might be surprised how quickly you can get to 800 calories. All I've had so far today is a salad and a small handful of nuts and yet I'm over 1000 calories.

    While I definitely believe in IIFYM, this guy makes a good point. It is much harder to fit some things in when your calorie count for the day is so low. I cut out certain foods because on 2K a day to lose, I had to pick my battles. Now I have a TDEE of around 3500 so I can eat whatever and make it fit, but is definitely hard to do in the beginning.
    Except the problem is not that those foods are too calorie dense to fit into her goals.

    No, but she said she has a hard time with those in moderation. Maybe it is easier to cut them out for now? Doesn't mean she will cut them out forever. If I really believed that she was eating only 800 cals per day (that doesn't seem to be the case), then obviously, add some of that back in, but I understand having a hard time eating something in moderation.

Categories