how do i eat all my calories??

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annacataldo
annacataldo Posts: 872 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Granted, some days I have trouble staying under my calories, (but somehow i almost always manage). But alot of days too i have trouble eating so many calories. Like yesterday.

it was a bit of a different day than normal, where i woke up late, ate breakfast at noon (had a english muffin with cheese, lettuce and turkey meat), and was at work longer than expected so i didnt get a lunch, just a couple snacks (a 90cal quaker snack pack, a fruit cup and a serving of carrots), and ate dinner at 6pm (which in my diary is called lunch cuz i thought i might stay up late and have the 3rd meal late). I ate a shrimp salad with feta cheese, 2cups spinach, almonds, and dressing, plus having spaghetti noodles with tomato sauce, etc. I got a little hungry later on at around 9pm so i ate a baked potatoe with cottage cheese. I went to bed around midnight.

By the end of the day I had 921calories left. I had excercised for 5 minutes burning 91calories, so in the end i had 1012 calories left. even if i had eaten a lunch, i'd still have over a few hundred calories extra.

This happens to me often, even after eating 3full meals, and 2-3snacks.
If I had these 3 meals in one day, plus my typical snacks, id be at 900calories (meaning for me, 900calories left):::
breakfast--2cups romaine or spinach with around 2cups misc veggies (carrots, celery, mushrooms, brocolli), with feta cheese and almonds, italian dressing, and chicken breast (4oz--1 whole serving), under 300calories. so filling i couldnt possibly eat another bite.
lunch: salmon fillet with stir-fried veggies on a bed of rice. under 300calories, also very filling.
dinner: mozarella chicken breast baked with onions, garlic, and lemon. roasted parmesan potatoes cooked with onion and garlic. and garlic roasted asparagus.. under 300calories.
Throw in a couple small snacks since the meals were so large (maybe a serving of carrots for one snack, and a fruit cup for the other), id be at right around 900calories.

I dont want my body to go into starvation mode, can it? even though im eating so much?

PS Im hardly excercising so im hardly burning away anything (i think my highest burn calorie day in the past 2weeks was 300calories).

As i said, not all days are like this, but seems like at least 3 or 4 days a week are like this and i tend to use the extra calories to go out for drinks or eat something i shouldnt, which is fine by me, but then theres days like yesterday where i had 1000left and didnt go out and stayed in, is it really healthy to be eating healthy? LOL

Replies

  • Pandorian
    Pandorian Posts: 2,055 MFP Moderator
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    Its definitely healthy to be eating healthy, but if you're always coming in under your calorie goals like that, ... IF you're using calorie reduced ie low fat yogurt switch to full fat versions, if you're using skim milk switch to whole that'll bump calories in healthy ways, also get a bunch of nutrient dense items like almonds, nut butters and more. No reason to "eat crap" just to fill your calories.
  • lutzsher
    lutzsher Posts: 1,153 Member
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    You need to plan better so you don't get stuck busy at work without adequate food. I do a weekly meal plan including all meals and snacks in Excel and post it right on the fridge.
    This makes grabbing breakfast and lunches on weekdays really easy, and remembering to take out the meat for dinner. I also build my grocery list from this plan so we always have the ingredients and we never waste anything any longer.

    To add a few calorific items in a day they are needed opt for some natural peanut butter on whole wheat bread or crackers, avacado in your salad at lunch, and a handful of nuts as a snack.
  • diegelman
    diegelman Posts: 55 Member
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    Try addind a couple high calorie high nutrient foods like peanut butter or roasted nuts.
  • SassyStef
    SassyStef Posts: 413
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    You need to plan better so you don't get stuck busy at work without adequate food. I do a weekly meal plan including all meals and snacks in Excel and post it right on the fridge.
    This makes grabbing breakfast and lunches on weekdays really easy, and remembering to take out the meat for dinner. I also build my grocery list from this plan so we always have the ingredients and we never waste anything any longer.

    To add a few calorific items in a day they are needed opt for some natural peanut butter on whole wheat bread or crackers, avacado in your salad at lunch, and a handful of nuts as a snack.

    This is a great idea and should help you get the calorie you need. Also try eating every 2-3 hours...I feel like I am constantly shoving food in my face but I know I am giving my body the fuel it needs :)

    Best luck to you!
  • globe_trekker
    globe_trekker Posts: 20 Member
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    Hi, I know that this is small, but the exercise calories burned from the database seem really unrealistic for me. I have two other friends (one is studying to be a nurse, so she looks at the calories from a medical point of view) and we all use a fraction of the database calculated calories burned. For instance, when I run or do the elliptical machine, I basically cut what the calculated amount is by about 50-65%, I use 10 calories per minute as a guide. And true, I weigh significantly more than these two friends, so possibly I burn more, but the two elliptical machines that I use at two different gyms give completely different (by like a factor of 4) readings.

    In both machines, I enter my weight, so it should be fairly accurate, but a factor of 4 is huge, so I would reconsider the calories burned, ie 5 minutes, something high intensity might be more around 50 calories, but that is my estimate from two different machines and other messages on this board. Using the calories burned from this database would give me lots more calories to spend in the day, but i don't feel it is an accurate reflection of calories expended.
  • KimbersNewLife
    KimbersNewLife Posts: 645 Member
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    You need to plan better so you don't get stuck busy at work without adequate food. I do a weekly meal plan including all meals and snacks in Excel and post it right on the fridge.
    This makes grabbing breakfast and lunches on weekdays really easy, and remembering to take out the meat for dinner. I also build my grocery list from this plan so we always have the ingredients and we never waste anything any longer.

    To add a few calorific items in a day they are needed opt for some natural peanut butter on whole wheat bread or crackers, avacado in your salad at lunch, and a handful of nuts as a snack.
    Great Idea thanks ! ;) I plan too but had not thought of printing excel and using for grocery list.
  • reallivefitness
    reallivefitness Posts: 99
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    So, you're eating around 1000 cals a day I'm guessing then, to still have so many left... Wow. I guess I would second the suggestion to switch to higher cal versions of stuff you already use. I wish I could have that problem. I pretty much never have a day where I'm not over. I just get too freaking hungry, and by the end of the night I usually have no cals left and have to decide between eating something that will put me over, or going to bed crazy hungry and waking up with a headache and so tired that I can't work out.
  • KeyMasterOfGozer
    KeyMasterOfGozer Posts: 229 Member
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    I have this difficulty as well. If you try to take it easy on the Carbs and Fat (I'm talking just trying to keep it under the recommended limit), it's really hard to get the calories. I combat this by cooking up a bunch of boneless, skinless chicken breasts grilled with some spices. I keep them in the fridge and heat them up during the evening when I find I am holding too many unused calories. The chicken is mostly protein, so it doesn't add too much to my fat and carbs for the day. A pound of those things will get you 500 cals to top off for the day. I agree with these other guys, though, nuts and nut-butters would be a good way also, and even though it has a lot of fat, it is mostly good fat.

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