I'm not eating enough calories, don't know what to add

You are obsessing too much. With protein, the base number mfp gives you is pretty low. The general recommendation is .6-.8g of protein per lb of body weight and .4g of fat per lb of body weight.

How old are you and what are you goals, current weight, and height? I'd argue that 1200 is too low

I have the same problem. I can't add carbs so I use protein to get the cal. up. I puts me a little over on the protein, but I consider it a good trade. Even with that I'm still usually 100-200 short. I need ideas too.

Monounsaturated fat is good for you. Fat is not bad for you... In fact... You need fat to efficiently absorb some nutrients. Don't sweat fat if you are getting it from quality sources like avacados, fish, olive oil.

http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/GettingHealthy/NutritionCenter/HealthyEating/Monounsaturated-Fats_UCM_301460_Article.jsp#mainContent

Rice, Quinoa, beans, oats.... These are more calorie dense carbs. Why stick to fruit and vegies if you're struggling?

You are way over thinking this. And, most likely, eating more than you THINK you are. no one got to be overweight by not eating enough and being full

and are you 19 or 21 or something different because I see two different ages which makes me question more....

just an observation.

simonnatyu wrote: »

I try to eat at least 1200 calories but I haven't been able to get to there. I feel full at around 1000, and when I add more food, MFP tells me I'm eating too many carbs or too much protein, fiber, etc.

My carbs are from vegetables, fruit and sweet potato so I don't really see what I could substitute any of that with (since I always go a bit over my protein too and I don't want to add more protein).

I need 150/200 more calories but I don't know what to add. I would add avocado but that adds a lot to my fiber and monounsaturated fats, bringing me over the maximum goal. Am I obsessing too much over the nutrition?

It's not telling you you are eating too much of whatever. It's telling you you are over a particular target or goal, which is often a good thing or simply not important. Sometimes (as with sat fat) the target is supposed to be a maximum, but often it's a minimum (like fiber), or simply a goal to aim for to ensure balance (like the macros -- fat, protein, carbs). With the macros, they are general guidelines and can be set according to your preference, and protein in particular is basically a minimum.

Monounsaturated fats don't have any set limit at all. They should say N/A, but may show up as 0 -- that just means there is no RDA or limit to worry about, NOT that eating more than 0 is a problem, of course.

So yeah, it sounds like you are misreading what MFP's numbers are showing, and definitely overthinking this stuff. Focus on getting in the 1200 first.

I am making this statement not to be mean, but to get you think about what you're saying: if you are 15-20 lbs overweight, you didn't get there by eating less than 1200 calories a day. You are likely eating more than you think you are.

If you don't have a food scale, get one. Weigh ALL of your food--even pre-packaged foods. I had a roll the other day. On the package it said, "Serving size: 1 roll (64g)". When I weighed the roll, it was 70g. Probably not a huge caloric difference if it were just the one roll, but think about how that would add up over time.

Have you been weighing all of your food?

The stickied posts are a wealth of good information. Check them out at the top of each forum section. This one in particular might be useful for some: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10142490/a-list-of-calorie-dense-foods

simonnatyu wrote: »

callsitlikeiseeit wrote: »

You are way over thinking this. And, most likely, eating more than you THINK you are. no one got to be overweight by not eating enough and being full

and are you 19 or 21 or something different because I see two different ages which makes me question more....

just an observation.

I don't think I'm eating more than I think I am because I weigh all of my food and I'm 19, I put a random year when I signed up for MFP.

If you're confident that you're choosing correct database entries and properly weighing your food, then things like nuts, nut butter, oils, and avocado are great ways to add more calories to meals. Since the calories in fat tend to add up fast, it doesn't take much to help you fill in extra calories for a day. Fiber and fat goals are minimums. You don't have to worry if you go over them as long as you stay within your calorie goals.

Do you exercise? If so, what do you do? If you exercise, more protein than the calculator suggests is fine...as it tends to be lower than what I've read for "per pound". Do you snack at all? If not, finding something that doesn't add sugar, to snack on, might do it.

Eat calorie dense foods (whole grains, nut butter, etc.)

Peanut butter is good. Even some mixed nuts unsalted or w sea salt.

Umm...add pretty much anything you want. You are WAY overthinking all the things you track. For an easy bump, eat a couple tbsp. of peanut butter.