My Clean Eating Dilemma

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  • 21million
    21million Posts: 113 Member
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    Same problem here when eating clean. For awhile I averaged about 800 cals per day. I found that adding meats helped a lot; making my own beef jerky was also a calorie God-send. Funnily enough, I can eat about 3,000 cals easily of processed food, but when it goes all natural I am so satisfied. I made Jamaican rice and beans today, that alone was easily 1,200 cals, all clean. For quick cals eat 1 cup white rice (1 cup dry, yields a nice portion cooked) with some olive oil and a few veggies - thats about 800 cals alone.
  • ohmygodtherearenomoreusernames
    ohmygodtherearenomoreusernames Posts: 32
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    Ihave same problem. Since Im eating healthier, less processed foods, it is sometimes hard to eat a full 1200 (or more if exercising)...and stay within macros limits. I too get very full.

    THANK YOU!!! I feel like everyone thinks I'm either lying or an idiot. When I ate junk I kept my calories between 1200 and 1400 and I did lose weight, but now it feels like eating healthy means I can't get enough. It might have something to do with the fact that I don't have cravings anymore. When I was eating crap I craved crap and was more likely to pig out and now I don't really have any cravings anymore and I try to eat when I'm hungry, but only until I'm satisfied so I don't feel sick and skip more meals as a result. But, now that means not reaching the minimum calorie goal. Nut butter and Vegan protein shakes seem like it might help, though.
  • ohmygodtherearenomoreusernames
    ohmygodtherearenomoreusernames Posts: 32
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    Same problem here when eating clean. For awhile I averaged about 800 cals per day. I found that adding meats helped a lot; making my own beef jerky was also a calorie God-send. Funnily enough, I can eat about 3,000 cals easily of processed food, but when it goes all natural I am so satisfied. I made Jamaican rice and beans today, that alone was easily 1,200 cals, all clean. For quick cals eat 1 cup white rice (1 cup dry, yields a nice portion cooked) with some olive oil and a few veggies - thats about 800 cals alone.

    Jerky sounds good :) Isn't that weird though how you can overeat processed garbage and you don't feel satisfied, but when you eat clean you fill up so fast? I've been measuring my portion of rice after it was cooked and a cup of cooked jasmine rice with some fish and a little bit of veggies is like SUPER filling.
  • ohmygodtherearenomoreusernames
    ohmygodtherearenomoreusernames Posts: 32
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    Same problem here when eating clean. For awhile I averaged about 800 cals per day. I found that adding meats helped a lot; making my own beef jerky was also a calorie God-send. Funnily enough, I can eat about 3,000 cals easily of processed food, but when it goes all natural I am so satisfied. I made Jamaican rice and beans today, that alone was easily 1,200 cals, all clean. For quick cals eat 1 cup white rice (1 cup dry, yields a nice portion cooked) with some olive oil and a few veggies - thats about 800 cals alone.

    Jerky sounds good :) Isn't that weird though how you can overeat processed garbage and you don't feel satisfied, but when you eat clean you fill up so fast? I've been measuring my portion of rice after it was cooked and a cup of cooked jasmine rice with some fish and a little bit of veggies is like SUPER filling.

    BTW, can you tell me how you make your own jerky? I'd love to try that :)
  • 21million
    21million Posts: 113 Member
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    Same problem here when eating clean. For awhile I averaged about 800 cals per day. I found that adding meats helped a lot; making my own beef jerky was also a calorie God-send. Funnily enough, I can eat about 3,000 cals easily of processed food, but when it goes all natural I am so satisfied. I made Jamaican rice and beans today, that alone was easily 1,200 cals, all clean. For quick cals eat 1 cup white rice (1 cup dry, yields a nice portion cooked) with some olive oil and a few veggies - thats about 800 cals alone.

    Jerky sounds good :) Isn't that weird though how you can overeat processed garbage and you don't feel satisfied, but when you eat clean you fill up so fast? I've been measuring my portion of rice after it was cooked and a cup of cooked jasmine rice with some fish and a little bit of veggies is like SUPER filling.

    BTW, can you tell me how you make your own jerky? I'd love to try that :)

    It is odd! I am no doctor or anything but I think that we get the nutrients quicker in say, a banana, than a poptart, so its easier to be satisfied. I am currently posting from my phone, but basically you need 90/10 lean ground beef and a jerky gun. There are some nice seasoning recipes out there but it does take some hunting. You can do it in your oven and there are a ton of guides on YouTube and different websites. The jerky never lasts long enough for me to bother with finding a decent cure that I do not mind ingesting. I am not sure how safe it is to ingest uncured jerky, but so far so good!
  • ohmygodtherearenomoreusernames
    ohmygodtherearenomoreusernames Posts: 32
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    Same problem here when eating clean. For awhile I averaged about 800 cals per day. I found that adding meats helped a lot; making my own beef jerky was also a calorie God-send. Funnily enough, I can eat about 3,000 cals easily of processed food, but when it goes all natural I am so satisfied. I made Jamaican rice and beans today, that alone was easily 1,200 cals, all clean. For quick cals eat 1 cup white rice (1 cup dry, yields a nice portion cooked) with some olive oil and a few veggies - thats about 800 cals alone.

    Jerky sounds good :) Isn't that weird though how you can overeat processed garbage and you don't feel satisfied, but when you eat clean you fill up so fast? I've been measuring my portion of rice after it was cooked and a cup of cooked jasmine rice with some fish and a little bit of veggies is like SUPER filling.

    BTW, can you tell me how you make your own jerky? I'd love to try that :)

    It is odd! I am no doctor or anything but I think that we get the nutrients quicker in say, a banana, than a poptart, so its easier to be satisfied. I am currently posting from my phone, but basically you need 90/10 lean ground beef and a jerky gun. There are some nice seasoning recipes out there but it does take some hunting. You can do it in your oven and there are a ton of guides on YouTube and different websites. The jerky never lasts long enough for me to bother with finding a decent cure that I do not mind ingesting. I am not sure how safe it is to ingest uncured jerky, but so far so good!

    Thanks! I'm like so excited to try it!
  • donyellemoniquex3
    donyellemoniquex3 Posts: 2,384 Member
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    Your username... WHY ?
  • angelamb1970
    angelamb1970 Posts: 122 Member
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    I also have similar problems eating enough "clean Foods" because they are so filling. No problem getting to 1200 calories though, my TDEE is twice that, but I can only get to about 1800 most days. Beans, lentils add a good amount of calories and the added benefit of protein and fiber. Brown rice is higher calorie and more fiber also than the jasmine rice. Whole grain breads also are more calorie dense. Veggies sauteed in olive oil could add an extra 100 calories and beneficial fats to your diet. Nut butters, nuts, granola with some almond milk in the morning... there are lots of ways to get more calories in without eating processed foods.

    For myself, I feel it's important not to go too low calorie because I've got sooooo far to go to get to my goal. I want to still be able to lower my calories when I lose a lot of the weight and still be at a sustainable calorie level, like 1500. I hear the last 15 pounds is hard to lose, if I'm already at 1200 calories, how low would I have to go? Anyway, something to think about. The best advice here is to figure out your accurate TDEE and aim for 20% or so below that, for slow sustainable weight loss.
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 8,986 Member
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    Angel lamb, you don't have to lower your calories less than 1200 when you have less weight to lose - you can stay at 1200 and just lose the last pounds more slowly than the earlier pounds.

    OP I do not think you are lying at all.
    And I don't get the objection to you scanning bar codes either - that is exactly what the scanner thingie is meant to do.


    I just haven't commented as I am not a clean ester and don't have any suggestions for you.

    ( I would fix the problem with a bar of chocolate myself but I realise that isn't what you want to do)
  • debrag12
    debrag12 Posts: 1,071 Member
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    I have been more tired lately. I don't really know if I'm tired because I'm not eating enough or I'm not eating enough because I'm tired or if there's no correlation.

    Probably tired because you haven't eaten enough. I wouldn't be able to function on such low calories, I'd have the shakes all the time.
  • crystalblair2355
    crystalblair2355 Posts: 63 Member
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    I have been more tired lately. I don't really know if I'm tired because I'm not eating enough or I'm not eating enough because I'm tired or if there's no correlation.

    You need to eat to fuel the body.
    If you dont You will definitely feel more sluggish or tired possibly get headaches etc....
  • ohmygodtherearenomoreusernames
    ohmygodtherearenomoreusernames Posts: 32
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    I also have similar problems eating enough "clean Foods" because they are so filling. No problem getting to 1200 calories though, my TDEE is twice that, but I can only get to about 1800 most days. Beans, lentils add a good amount of calories and the added benefit of protein and fiber. Brown rice is higher calorie and more fiber also than the jasmine rice. Whole grain breads also are more calorie dense. Veggies sauteed in olive oil could add an extra 100 calories and beneficial fats to your diet. Nut butters, nuts, granola with some almond milk in the morning... there are lots of ways to get more calories in without eating processed foods.

    For myself, I feel it's important not to go too low calorie because I've got sooooo far to go to get to my goal. I want to still be able to lower my calories when I lose a lot of the weight and still be at a sustainable calorie level, like 1500. I hear the last 15 pounds is hard to lose, if I'm already at 1200 calories, how low would I have to go? Anyway, something to think about. The best advice here is to figure out your accurate TDEE and aim for 20% or so below that, for slow sustainable weight loss.

    Thank you! This is very helpful :)
  • ohmygodtherearenomoreusernames
    ohmygodtherearenomoreusernames Posts: 32
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    Your username... WHY ?

    While making my account I kept punching in different usernames and they were all taken. Even "Therearenomoreusernames" was taken. I was getting irritated lol
  • suziecue66
    suziecue66 Posts: 1,312 Member
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    Can you list the amounts and foods you ate that added up to 550 cals because it doesn't make sense.
  • Maitria
    Maitria Posts: 439 Member
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    Portion out three four hundred calorie meals and don't eat between meals. (Until your appetite normalizes, then eat at the point that you feel is right for you.) It's really easy to get to 400 calories.

    Do you have enough food in your rotation? How's the protein? Eating too few foods can make food start to be unappealing from the lack of variety. Just typing about oatmeal, rice, and bread makes me feel a little grained out, and i love those foods. My vote is to get some variety, try new things, and your appetite will wake back up.
  • gingerpeachy6
    gingerpeachy6 Posts: 74 Member
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    have you tried to add maybe a healthy protein shake?

    I haven't. Do you have any recommendations for dairy free protein shakes?

    I use a product called Shakeology, I mix in almond milk and add some almond butter to it. You could probably do this also with a whey based shake too.
  • baconslave
    baconslave Posts: 6,948 Member
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    Your username... WHY ?

    While making my account I kept punching in different usernames and they were all taken. Even "Therearenomoreusernames" was taken. I was getting irritated lol
    :laugh:

    I know the feeling. I once made my username when I was first trying to get a yahoo email account slimeylizardthing because everything else was taken. It's weird but it works.

    I would add that I too have a hard time eating enough cals most days. I eat a low-carb diet which is mostly meat, a little veggies, and fat. That stuff is very filling, my stomach has shrunk, and I have no cravings (unless my husband and kids eat sweets and such in my face. Carb addiction was ugly but I'm good now). Some days I can hit 1500, sometimes it's more like 1350. (They do make things like chips, and other processed foods to make you crave more, btw. They actually do. It's called formulating the food to hit the "bliss point.") So once you've weaned yourself off and don't crave it any more, food just becomes fuel to you. And some days I just don't feel hungry or feel like eating.

    Nuts, nut butters, meat, avocados...and add a glass of juice or two if they don't cause you to crave more sweets (it does that to some people), or maybe even try making a healthy smoothie. I think you said dairy was an issue, you can use coconut or almond milk instead of milk for smoothies. And try to eat a little more fat. Fat is not the enemy. The studies based on that turned out to be falsely reported.

    Kudos to you on managing to eat 'clean' in a processed world. Some people can lose weight and thrive while still eating the occasional junk food. Chips and sweets just make me crave and binge those foods and many other people have that problem as well. Eating clean can really help you get to back to what the majority of your diet should be. And as you've learned, those basic foods can satisfy you better than you would have thought.

    Could you post a typical day for us if you don't want to open your diary? That might help us make better tailored suggestions.
  • ohmygodtherearenomoreusernames
    ohmygodtherearenomoreusernames Posts: 32
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    Can you list the amounts and foods you ate that added up to 550 cals because it doesn't make sense.

    Sure, I ended up almost making it to 700 by midnight.

    I wasn't awake for breakfast.

    Lunch:
    Raspberries 60g = 31
    Avocado (small organic) = 227
    Hard-boiled egg white ( I usually eat the yolk, but wasn't feeling it yesterday) = 17

    Dinner:
    6-inch flour tortilla = 75
    Raspberries 100g = 52
    Pollack Fish 4oz = 90

    Snacks:
    Sourdough bread (turns out it did have nutrition facts even though it was made at the grocery store) 1oz = 130
    Pistachios 1oz = 56

    = 678
  • ohmygodtherearenomoreusernames
    ohmygodtherearenomoreusernames Posts: 32
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    Portion out three four hundred calorie meals and don't eat between meals. (Until your appetite normalizes, then eat at the point that you feel is right for you.) It's really easy to get to 400 calories.

    Do you have enough food in your rotation? How's the protein? Eating too few foods can make food start to be unappealing from the lack of variety. Just typing about oatmeal, rice, and bread makes me feel a little grained out, and i love those foods. My vote is to get some variety, try new things, and your appetite will wake back up.

    Not snacking might help, I didn't think about that. Thanks!
  • Nana_Booboo
    Nana_Booboo Posts: 501 Member
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    sweetheart, eat when you're hungry, don't when you're not. Don't listen to the na-Sayers. Try not to drive yourself crazy with it all. Think about this.....the more we track calories in and out, (let's face it, most people think they are burning way more calories than they really are) micro's ect, the harder it is for some of us to lose weight. Non-processed is, in my opinion the very best for my body. I've had years if yo-yoing experience and this works for me. -if man made it, don't eat it. A more Paleo (and I hate specific diet names but it's easier to explain) approach is working for me and it's easier than anything out there.

    ❤️Barbi

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