How can I add in more healthy calories?

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amelia4153
amelia4153 Posts: 27 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Okay, so I've been on my weight loss journey for 9 weeks now and I've lost 29 lbs at a steady rate. I'm 27 years old and 5'9" tall. I weigh myself every Thursday. Last Thursday I was 261 and today when I weighed in I was 262! That means this past week I GAINED a pound! :cry: I did exactly the same thing that I had been doing, except I started exercising. I eat 1200 calories a day and I exercised about 4 times burning around 800 calories each time I exercised. After reading on the forums, it sounds like I should be eating more calories on the days that I exercise. Is this right? I have trouble getting in enough healthy calories already. What are some good ways to add healthy calories? I read that almonds are a good, healthy way to add calories but does anybody have any other ways I can easily add calories on days that I workout?

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  • simplyshannal
    simplyshannal Posts: 188 Member
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    It sounds like you may be eating too litte calories and sending your body into "starvation mode". I know how easy it is to eat less with the thought that you will lose more but it just isn't the case. Are you eating 5-6 small meals a day? If you are looking for some fillers to go in between your larger meals try a handful of almonds or some fruit. That will add calories and energy. The sugars in fruits help your energy and allow you a better burn. I have a hard time completely giving up the things that I love so I have just cut down the portion size.. I still eat potato chips but they are baked and I only eat a few and when I am craving something sweet I try to eat some type of pudding or yogurt.
  • TrainerRobin
    TrainerRobin Posts: 509 Member
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    Good work so far, girl! Congratulations!!

    You're also doing well by only weighing in once a week. That said, please don't take any discouragement from a slight rise in your weight, especially since you know you have been on track. That is totally natural and to be expected after such dramatic success.

    Try to look at this as a lifelong endeavor and be patient with your body's adjusting to the new healthier way of eating.

    Here is a list of healthier things to add to your cupboard:
    Steel Cut Oatmeal
    Brown Rice
    High Fiber Whole Wheat Bread
    Wheat 'n Bran Post cereal (mini shredded wheat biscuits)
    Kashi Go Lean cereal
    Non Fat Milk
    Non (or low) fat Cottage Cheese (I like it mixed with a small diced apple with sweetener and cinnamon)
    Apples, Blueberries, melon, raspberries, blackberries, oranges, broccoli, dark greens (as opposed to iceberg lettuce), etc.
    nuts
    Healthful peanut butter (avoid the 99% of peanut butters that have partially or completely hydrogenated oils ... I like Skippy natural because it takes like "regular" peanut butter!) or almond butter

    Those are my favorites and I hope some of them become yours.

    Good luck and keep us posted!
  • TrainerRobin
    TrainerRobin Posts: 509 Member
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    Oh and you do NOT have to eat your calories burned through exercise. On occasion, I'd suggest eating SOME of them, but don't get into the habit of doing that or it'll slow your progress. And if you're eating a good quantity of healthful foods, you won't need the extra calories and you won't be hungry! :)
  • amelia4153
    amelia4153 Posts: 27 Member
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    Thank y'all so much for the advice! I will try to add some healthy calories on the days that I work out, but I will try not to eat all of the calories back that I burn. MFP suggests that I eat 1700 calories a day, but I keep changing my goal to 1200 calories a day. I'm going to try adding a few healthy calories each day to see if that helps! Since I started exercising this week and gained it makes me feel discouraged to exercise, but I know exercising is important. Once I get to my goal weight, I will have lost 125 lbs and I am so worried about excess skin. :embarassed: I've read that exercising while you're losing weight can help reduce excess skin. A fellow MFP friend also suggested to me that I should increase water intake on the days I work out. Hopefully, this next week will be successful!! :smile: Thank y'all again for the support!!
  • yanicka
    yanicka Posts: 1,004 Member
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    Oh and you do NOT have to eat your calories burned through exercise. On occasion, I'd suggest eating SOME of them, but don't get into the habit of doing that or it'll slow your progress. And if you're eating a good quantity of healthful foods, you won't need the extra calories and you won't be hungry! :)

    never mind
  • glassyo
    glassyo Posts: 7,652 Member
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    Seriously! The girl is 261 lbs and living off 400 net calories a day. The 1200 calories amelia WANTS to eat isn't enough to sustain a 98 year old woman who sits around watching Wheel of Fortune all day.

    amelia, for the love of god, eat most, if not all of your exercise calories back or at least eat the 1700 mfp says you should eat. The deficit to lose weight is already calculated into that.
  • DaddyMantz
    DaddyMantz Posts: 145 Member
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    I am definitely not a trainer and not a doctor. I read that there is a starvation mode but that can't last forever, can it? Maybe it slows down your metabolism and makes it harder to lose weight but I personally find it hard to believe that someone could start at a weight over 200 lbs and eat less than 1200 calories a day and gain weight. I don't want to take the place of a doctor's advice and if you feel that something is wrong, you should see a doctor, but a couple things that helped me.
    1) I bought a kitchen scale and a conversion book. It helped me realize that I was not accurately recording my calories and I was underestimating my portion sizes. Maybe it's possible that you are eating more calories than you think you are?
    2) It's also possible that you are over-estimating the number of calories burned with each workout.
    3) Are you weighing yourself at the same time of day every time. My weight fluctuates from it's lowest in the morning to sometimes as much as 4-5 pounds higher in the middle of the day. All due to normal water retention. Maybe you are weighing yourself at different times of the day?

    Best of luck in your journey!
  • yanicka
    yanicka Posts: 1,004 Member
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    Seriously! The girl is 261 lbs and living off 400 net calories a day. The 1200 calories amelia WANTS to eat isn't enough to sustain a 98 year old woman who sits around watching Wheel of Fortune all day.

    amelia, for the love of god, eat most, if not all of your exercise calories back or at least eat the 1700 mfp says you should eat. The deficit to lose weight is already calculated into that.

    You said it better then me, I edited my post because I was not being as nice as you
  • knurtslk
    knurtslk Posts: 4
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    I don't know how much you are exercising but exercise can actually cause the scale to go up. Exercise builds muscle and muscle weighs more than fat so that could be what's happening. Also if you aren't eating enough for your body's needs your body goes into "starvation mode" and it will hold on to the wieght because it thinks you will need it to survive. Just a couple of things to consider.
  • amelia4153
    amelia4153 Posts: 27 Member
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    @glassyo - I think I'm gonna try doing the 1700 calories a day like MFP suggests and see if that works. You're response made me laugh! :)

    @mmantzouris - I started off at 290 and have ate 1200 a day for 8 weeks and have lost 29 lbs so dieting alone worked great, but this 9th week I added exercise and ended up gaining. I agree with you though and cannot understand how I would have gained. One day my elliptical machine said I burned 1035 calories in 45 mins so I'm not sure how accurate it is. It has a bulit in heart rate monitor and you enter your age. I also don't measure my food but I've been doing a meal replacement shake for breakfast and a meal replacement shake for lunch (both around 200 calories each) then for dinner I do a 1/4 of my plate lean meat, 1/4 of my plate complex carb and the other half green veggies. If I don't reach 1200 calories by doing that then I add a fiber one bar. I was doing really good until I started adding the cardio. I kind of feel like I wasted this week... I really hope that it's just because I didn't eat enough. I didn't do great getting all my water in this week so maybe that didn't help either. I have a hard time getting enough calories since I'm doing the meal replacement shakes so I just don't know how I'll add enough calories in a healthy way. Oh, and I always weigh as soon as I get up, after using the restroom (TMI, I know! lol)

    @Knurtslk - I'm only exercising about 4 times a week (just started this week) and I do 45 mins on my elliptical machine. I feel like it's too soon to be muscle weight but I don't know a lot about that. I'm hoping that I've just entered starvation mode since I'm only getting about 400 net calories on the days I exercise. I just don't understand how somebody my size would enter "starvation mode" because I have so much stored fat already. Why wouldn't my body just use the stored fat I have? It seems so complicated!

    THANK YOU ALL FOR THE RESPONSES! It's so nice, as a beginner, to be able to get so much information!! I really, really appreciate it!! :)

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