Having trouble eating all of my calories

I don't think the 200-300 will be an issue if your eating 1760 cals a day. Many people have the same issue at first due to dietary changes the addition of fiber and added protein your body probably wasn't used to. You seem to be well over 1200 even with the 200-300 deduction I would say your fine and normal for now. Try handfuls of nuts maybe yogurt and additional snack items. One thought as well do you know I you have sodium issues? Your numbers are pretty high there could be a bloated thing water retention. Try 1500-2000mg of sodium intake max daily and see how that goes.

If you are used to overeating, it might take a while to get used to eating healthier portions and allowing yourself to eat a minimum of 1,500 cals. a day. Nuts and cheese are great ways to get the proper amount of calories in without breaking your calorie budget. For example, I took a wheel of President Brie and sliced it into 8 portions. Each portion was 100 cals. What a treat! It lasted me for over a week, so I didn't feel bad about spending a little $$ on it. Ha-ha!

Staying away from sugary stuff and adding in good proteins and fat has really helped me to feel satisfied without getting hungry all the time. I'm hungry in the morning before I eat, and I'm hungry at night when I go to bed, which is solved by sleeping. In between, I eat at least my recommended calories (or more if I exercise), and I don't feel hungry because I've learned how to space out my eating in a way that keeps my body happy.

You are developing eating habits, which will take some practice and experimentation to find foods that make you feel satisfied. To me, staying satisfied during the day keeps me from viewing this as a d**t and instead allows me to understand this is a lifestyle change.

Ooh, also, a good tip from another MFP'er. Try sticking with an eating plan for a couple weeks to see if it's working for you. Then, make slow changes to tweak the plan moving forward.

Good luck!

kitsteroo wrote: »

I'm currently 330 pounds, following the MFP recommendation of eating 1760 calories a day for a loss of 2 pounds a week. I know for a fact that I have routinely eaten at least double this on a near-daily basis for years. I've only been doing this for a week, but day by day I'm still under by 200-300 calories when I go to bed. I don't know what the deal is. I don't know if I don't like what I'm eating or if I have some kind of mental block or what. I feel hungry pretty much constantly but making myself eat is like trying to swallow medicine. I don't think that problem is that I'm eating too many calories. I mean, I'd have to have a pretty high deficit to be set to lose 2 pounds a week, right? Lowering my calorie goals would probably be unhealthy. Does anyone have any experience with this, or any advice that could help me eat a bit more? Does this go away?

Good morning,
Are you sure you are measuring your calories correctly? Do you use the food labels, a scale, measuring spoons and cups to determine if you are eating the correct amount? If not, you are not putting in the correct information into MFP. I noticed that you were using a smartphone in your pic. Try scanning the food packages into MFP using the barcode icon as you add in your food. That takes a lot of the guessing out of entering your foods correctly. You have to log ALL of your food in order for the app to help you. I also noticed that you said you are hungry a lot. Try increasing the protein your are eating with foods like: greek yogurt, grilled chicken breast, eggs, beef, etc. Those foods combined with some good complex carbohydrates will allow you to feel full longer. Lastly, try planning your meals better and limiting yourself to 4 to 5 meals a day that add up to your 1760 calorie allotment. You shouldn't let yourself get too hungry. It will take some getting used to, but you can do it for YOU. You're worth it!

If you want to get yourself a few more calories in you could put 100 calories of nuts in your pocket (should be around 10-15 nuts) and eat one at a time throughout the day. Same can be done with an ounce of cheese for around the same calories.

(Or fit them all in your mouth at once I am pretty sure I could do this LOL!!)

I too started at morbidly obese and I initially set my calories at .5 per week loss as I started to ease into tracking and things. Sounds like that is not something that would help you currently, but I did want to mention playing around with target goals as you progress through the process of figuring out what works for you.

I too used to routinely eat in the 4-6k range, not paying attention to anything calorie wise, so I know it is so oddly overwhelming at first. I wasn't really hungry I ate a lot of yummy things I enjoyed and the eating part wasn't so hard, but the MENTAL part of starting I found to be a bit of a mindf***. It wasn't hard it was just.. uncomfortable?

Another thing I have found to be my routine is that I regularly have lower and higher calorie days. My days in the course of a week go anywhere from 1200 or a little under to right up to a little over 3000. My averages work out to a deficit so I consistently lose, it's just easier for me with my schedule to cycle calories.

Other than that I would encourage you to explore your mental state about why eating seems like medicine, and find foods you do enjoy eating. Like I said I can totally understand having a weird mental block or odd thoughts/feelings at the start of this but I think working through them to a more positive relationship with eating will help ensure your long term success. Basically I think we have to work through the discomfort but at least you know you are far from alone!

I had this problem specifically at breakfast. I would have oatmeal and berries which was fine, but very low cal at the portion size I was having - around 120 or so. So I started adding a scoop of protein powder, which added 100 calories without drastically increasing the volume of the food. Once I was used to that, I then added a spoon of nut butter. Again, barely any volume but a good chunk of calories due to the fats. My breakfast is now around the 300 calorie mark, and much better balanced macro wise.

Nuts
Seeds
Nut butters
Avocados
Cheese
EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)