How do I...?
TriLaura
Posts: 34 Member
... How do I increase my calories from 2200 to say 2600 without eating a huge volume of food?
Right now, my macros are 40/30/30, and I really don't want to bust out on the fat (say by eating nuts).
Honestly, I'm happy with the volume of food I'm eating but I do need to increase my calorie intake (my fitbit tells me I burn 2800 on average).
So can anyone make some suggestions about what to eat that won't make me feel too full or increase my fat intake too much?
Right now, my macros are 40/30/30, and I really don't want to bust out on the fat (say by eating nuts).
Honestly, I'm happy with the volume of food I'm eating but I do need to increase my calorie intake (my fitbit tells me I burn 2800 on average).
So can anyone make some suggestions about what to eat that won't make me feel too full or increase my fat intake too much?
0
Replies
-
At some point the 40/30/30 really isn't useful when the calorie burn is big due to cardio - which I'm betting it is with your username.
It's just a lot of extra expensive protein that your body is going to convert to carbs anyway.
True, that process is inefficient compared to carbs so it burns a tad more, but it's not that great.
Plus that volume of protein sets off insulin response anyway, so not like you are missing that effect.
Just eating protein and fat with more carbs can work just as well to slow that process down.
40/30/30 is great when eating level is lower due to like the lower calorie burn of lifting, and then it's decent at getting in the recommended protein intake, which is really better based on grams per lb of LBM, not just %. But it scales badly.
Do you do an after workout drink or snack? Sometimes that will help you feel correctly hungry after a bit of time, perhaps making it easier to increase eating level at next meal.
What is the calorie burn so high from?0 -
A lot of my calorie burn is from my job - I'm a PE teacher, so I move around a lot. I spend most of my day on my feet, then when work is done I do some exercise - which right now, is not overly excessive. I'm averaging around 5-6hrs a week of dedicated exercise. Fitbit tells me that if I just do my job and don't do formal exercise, I burn around 2200-2300 a day. It also tells me that on my complete rest day (Saturday = no work, no exercise), I still burn around 2000 cals.
My exercise is not all cardio. In fact, I've dropped off a lot of cardio lately. 3 days a week I do cardio - 30-45mins which is either running or cycling. 3 days a week I hit the gym and lift. I'm doing the 5x5 SL program. Granted, I do warm up on the elliptical for 10mins before.
When I compare fitbit burn to food intake, my average deficit is around 24%, which is why I think I need to up the calorie intake a bit. It's not really a hunger issue (although I do wake up starving some days), just a question of balancing volume of food with caloric density of food.
At the moment, my day looks like this:
Breakfast - 2 eggs (scrambled), 1 slice of toast, coffee
Snack - 130g yoghurt, 1 small protein bar
Lunch - roast chicken breast (85g) and garden salad with avocado
Snack - protein shake
Dinner - varies, but it usually falls under the grilled meat (100-120g) and steamed or grilled veg
Snack - coffee with small piece of a paleo-style choc-nut slice
I've noticed my moods and energy levels are far more stable at the moment.
How can I improve my foods to better match my energy expenditure?
0 -
More carbs. Sounds like getting more than enough protein in. Eat a banana with that protein shake snack, the carbs will increase insulin helping the protein go where it's needed. That's 100 cal right there.
What more can you add to meals, only need about 50 extra each meal.
For those Fitbit estimates - you correcting for biking and lifting, since of course the steps it sees has no relationship to the amount of calories you are burning doing those things.
If not - your TDEE is even higher yet.0 -
I probably haven't been correcting for biking and lifting as I should have. Been a bit lax with that side of it.
I don't know why, but it really hadn't occurred to me to just add an extra 50 or so cal to some meals. Why is that? LOL It is a plan I like a lot though. Will give it a shot this week.
Thanks Heybales.0
