Not getting enough calories

I eat when I'm hungry and eat until I'm full. But mfp shows that some days I'm only getting half of my daily calories needed. And almost never eat half of my workout calories back. I'm also always low on protein carbs and fats. The only days I was able to get to where I need to be was when I ate out at subway and dq :| and that's not very healthy.
I have also been at a standstill with my weight for about 2 weeks. Actually gained 3 pounds of water weight since the weekend from going over on sodium ( from the fast food)
How can I eat my recommend calories and start losing weight??? Please help. Ps I'm new to this.
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Replies

  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    Peanut butter
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    Oh and pre log so you hit your calorie/macro goal
  • sanfromny
    sanfromny Posts: 770 Member
    More calorie rich foods like nuts..peanuts, almonds, cashews, trail mix.
  • tomteboda
    tomteboda Posts: 2,171 Member
    Your hunger cues are off. Also, are you weighing your food on a scale? Finally, you can eat in a healthy manner at both Subway and Dairy Queen.
  • CasperNaegle
    CasperNaegle Posts: 936 Member
    Yes, prelog your food, find some more calorie dense foods like beef, chicken, whey protein, etc.
  • BreefitnessBreef88
    BreefitnessBreef88 Posts: 40 Member
    tomteboda wrote: »
    Your hunger cues are off. Also, are you weighing your food on a scale? Finally, you can eat in a healthy manner at both Subway and Dairy Queen.
    I don't have a food scale. I eat as healthy as I can when I do go out to eat. One meal will last me the whole day. Is a food scale that important?
  • BreefitnessBreef88
    BreefitnessBreef88 Posts: 40 Member
    Yes, prelog your food, find some more calorie dense foods like beef, chicken, whey protein, etc.

    I will definitely be getting whey when I can. It's hard for me to eat meat except for seafood. as I was a raw foodist for a few years. I ate 2 bananas today and am full. But I will try to eat some meat for supper.
  • BreefitnessBreef88
    BreefitnessBreef88 Posts: 40 Member
    tomteboda wrote: »
    Your hunger cues are off. Also, are you weighing your food on a scale? Finally, you can eat in a healthy manner at both Subway and Dairy Queen.

    Also what do you mean by my hunger cues are off?
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,626 Member
    without being able to see your diary, I will say you most likely are eating more than you realize. If you are not weighing EVERYTHING on a SCALE if it is a solid or a measuring cup if liquid, you can not be sure of how much you are eating.
  • BreefitnessBreef88
    BreefitnessBreef88 Posts: 40 Member
    without being able to see your diary, I will say you most likely are eating more than you realize. If you are not weighing EVERYTHING on a SCALE if it is a solid or a measuring cup if liquid, you can not be sure of how much you are eating.
    It won't show my diary, it says because I'm not reaching my Calories needed. Most days are like today. I ate 2 bananas and will have a salad with hopefully some meat for supper.

  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    without being able to see your diary, I will say you most likely are eating more than you realize. If you are not weighing EVERYTHING on a SCALE if it is a solid or a measuring cup if liquid, you can not be sure of how much you are eating.
    It won't show my diary, it says because I'm not reaching my Calories needed. Most days are like today. I ate 2 bananas and will have a salad with hopefully some meat for supper.

    Peanut butter.

  • mitch16
    mitch16 Posts: 2,113 Member
    tomteboda wrote: »
    Your hunger cues are off. Also, are you weighing your food on a scale? Finally, you can eat in a healthy manner at both Subway and Dairy Queen.
    I don't have a food scale. I eat as healthy as I can when I do go out to eat. One meal will last me the whole day. Is a food scale that important?

    It may be... You don't say for how long you have been 'undereating' but without accurately weighing and logging your food, there is no way to tell if you are truly undereating or if you are underestimating your calories.
  • BreefitnessBreef88
    BreefitnessBreef88 Posts: 40 Member
    without being able to see your diary, I will say you most likely are eating more than you realize. If you are not weighing EVERYTHING on a SCALE if it is a solid or a measuring cup if liquid, you can not be sure of how much you are eating.
    It won't show my diary, it says because I'm not reaching my Calories needed. Most days are like today. I ate 2 bananas and will have a salad with hopefully some meat for supper.

    Peanut butter.

    Lol okay I will definitely have a snack with lots of peanut butter :)
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    Yes, prelog your food, find some more calorie dense foods like beef, chicken, whey protein, etc.

    I will definitely be getting whey when I can. It's hard for me to eat meat except for seafood. as I was a raw foodist for a few years. I ate 2 bananas today and am full. But I will try to eat some meat for supper.

    If you are truly full for the day after two bananas, you might want to see a doctor to make sure there is nothing physically wrong, and then a dietitian to determine your dietary needs. Eating too little will not stall weight loss, but it will cause many other health problems. A basic calorie and macro level is required for your body to function properly.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    Have some calorie dense foods around all the time for the end of the day if you aren't hitting your target. This may include:

    cheese, nuts, peanut butter, edamame seed pods, an avocado, hiker's mix, beef jerky
  • BreefitnessBreef88
    BreefitnessBreef88 Posts: 40 Member
    kimny72 wrote: »
    Yes, prelog your food, find some more calorie dense foods like beef, chicken, whey protein, etc.

    I will definitely be getting whey when I can. It's hard for me to eat meat except for seafood. as I was a raw foodist for a few years. I ate 2 bananas today and am full. But I will try to eat some meat for supper.

    If you are truly full for the day after two bananas, you might want to see a doctor to make sure there is nothing physically wrong, and then a dietitian to determine your dietary needs. Eating too little will not stall weight loss, but it will cause many other health problems. A basic calorie and macro level is required for your body to function properly.

    Can it be over a week or does it have to be daily? Most days of the week are like today but usually once or twice a week I eat what I need to.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    without being able to see your diary, I will say you most likely are eating more than you realize. If you are not weighing EVERYTHING on a SCALE if it is a solid or a measuring cup if liquid, you can not be sure of how much you are eating.
    It won't show my diary, it says because I'm not reaching my Calories needed. Most days are like today. I ate 2 bananas and will have a salad with hopefully some meat for supper.

    Peanut butter.

    Lol okay I will definitely have a snack with lots of peanut butter :)

    2 bananas and you are full?

    Yeah - your hunger cues are definitely off. Spread some peanut butter on those bananas.

    Add nuts to a salad - use full fat dressing. Avocado, cheese. These will help you meet fat goals.

    If you don't eat meat ......beans & rice are a complete protein. Lentils have decent protein too.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    kimny72 wrote: »
    Yes, prelog your food, find some more calorie dense foods like beef, chicken, whey protein, etc.

    I will definitely be getting whey when I can. It's hard for me to eat meat except for seafood. as I was a raw foodist for a few years. I ate 2 bananas today and am full. But I will try to eat some meat for supper.

    If you are truly full for the day after two bananas, you might want to see a doctor to make sure there is nothing physically wrong, and then a dietitian to determine your dietary needs. Eating too little will not stall weight loss, but it will cause many other health problems. A basic calorie and macro level is required for your body to function properly.

    Can it be over a week or does it have to be daily? Most days of the week are like today but usually once or twice a week I eat what I need to.

    You can spread your calories over the week, but then you would need to be eating ALOT on those one or two days. Unless you are very short, light, and very sedentary, you should be eating at least 1,200 cals per day to fuel your body properly (or averaging that amount per day over the week). And you want to meet your goals for protein and fat as often as possible, as your body is doing all the things it needs to do every day. Food is fuel!
  • BreefitnessBreef88
    BreefitnessBreef88 Posts: 40 Member
    kimny72 wrote: »
    Yes, prelog your food, find some more calorie dense foods like beef, chicken, whey protein, etc.

    I will definitely be getting whey when I can. It's hard for me to eat meat except for seafood. as I was a raw foodist for a few years. I ate 2 bananas today and am full. But I will try to eat some meat for supper.

    If you are truly full for the day after two bananas, you might want to see a doctor to make sure there is nothing physically wrong, and then a dietitian to determine your dietary needs. Eating too little will not stall weight loss, but it will cause many other health problems. A basic calorie and macro level is required for your body to function properly.
    I should mention I am taking diet pills. 2 to 4 pills of Hydroxy cut in the mornings. And 2 pills of carcinia cambogia before each time I eat.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    kimny72 wrote: »
    Yes, prelog your food, find some more calorie dense foods like beef, chicken, whey protein, etc.

    I will definitely be getting whey when I can. It's hard for me to eat meat except for seafood. as I was a raw foodist for a few years. I ate 2 bananas today and am full. But I will try to eat some meat for supper.

    If you are truly full for the day after two bananas, you might want to see a doctor to make sure there is nothing physically wrong, and then a dietitian to determine your dietary needs. Eating too little will not stall weight loss, but it will cause many other health problems. A basic calorie and macro level is required for your body to function properly.
    I should mention I am taking diet pills. 2 to 4 pills of Hydroxy cut in the mornings. And 2 pills of carcinia cambogia before each time I eat.

    Stop taking the pills.

  • BreefitnessBreef88
    BreefitnessBreef88 Posts: 40 Member
    without being able to see your diary, I will say you most likely are eating more than you realize. If you are not weighing EVERYTHING on a SCALE if it is a solid or a measuring cup if liquid, you can not be sure of how much you are eating.
    It won't show my diary, it says because I'm not reaching my Calories needed. Most days are like today. I ate 2 bananas and will have a salad with hopefully some meat for supper.
    It won't enter your diary for the day with a little entry like "briannabell88 completed her diary for the day" nor will it give you a "if you ate like this for five weeks" prediction, but the diary still is saved and exists. The reason we can't see it is because you don't have a public option enabled.

    Oh I'm sorry I'm not sure how to enable that. I'm still quite new to this site and am not very tech friendly lol
  • BreefitnessBreef88
    BreefitnessBreef88 Posts: 40 Member
    Thanks everyone for your tips and advice I really appreciate it :)
  • BreefitnessBreef88
    BreefitnessBreef88 Posts: 40 Member
    without being able to see your diary, I will say you most likely are eating more than you realize. If you are not weighing EVERYTHING on a SCALE if it is a solid or a measuring cup if liquid, you can not be sure of how much you are eating.
    It won't show my diary, it says because I'm not reaching my Calories needed. Most days are like today. I ate 2 bananas and will have a salad with hopefully some meat for supper.
    It won't enter your diary for the day with a little entry like "briannabell88 completed her diary for the day" nor will it give you a "if you ate like this for five weeks" prediction, but the diary still is saved and exists. The reason we can't see it is because you don't have a public option enabled.

    Oh I'm sorry I'm not sure how to enable that. I'm still quite new to this site and am not very tech friendly lol
    I figured it out . It's open to the public now :)
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    kimny72 wrote: »
    Yes, prelog your food, find some more calorie dense foods like beef, chicken, whey protein, etc.

    I will definitely be getting whey when I can. It's hard for me to eat meat except for seafood. as I was a raw foodist for a few years. I ate 2 bananas today and am full. But I will try to eat some meat for supper.

    If you are truly full for the day after two bananas, you might want to see a doctor to make sure there is nothing physically wrong, and then a dietitian to determine your dietary needs. Eating too little will not stall weight loss, but it will cause many other health problems. A basic calorie and macro level is required for your body to function properly.
    I should mention I am taking diet pills. 2 to 4 pills of Hydroxy cut in the mornings. And 2 pills of carcinia cambogia before each time I eat.

    Taking that stuff while drastically under-eating is dangerous. It's pretty useless, but often contains a lot of caffeine.

    I'm going to ask this question and you don't even have to answer it here, just think about it: Is it possible you have developed a disordered view of food? I don't mean to offend or over-step, but I think it's worth bringing it up.

    My suggestion would be: Stop taking the supplements. Start logging everything you eat and try to get as close to 1,200 calories as possible. And consider making a doctor's appointment to make sure there aren't physical reasons why you can't eat more food.

    Please take care of yourself, and best of luck.
  • BreefitnessBreef88
    BreefitnessBreef88 Posts: 40 Member
    kimny72 wrote: »
    kimny72 wrote: »
    Yes, prelog your food, find some more calorie dense foods like beef, chicken, whey protein, etc.

    I will definitely be getting whey when I can. It's hard for me to eat meat except for seafood. as I was a raw foodist for a few years. I ate 2 bananas today and am full. But I will try to eat some meat for supper.

    If you are truly full for the day after two bananas, you might want to see a doctor to make sure there is nothing physically wrong, and then a dietitian to determine your dietary needs. Eating too little will not stall weight loss, but it will cause many other health problems. A basic calorie and macro level is required for your body to function properly.
    I should mention I am taking diet pills. 2 to 4 pills of Hydroxy cut in the mornings. And 2 pills of carcinia cambogia before each time I eat.

    Taking that stuff while drastically under-eating is dangerous. It's pretty useless, but often contains a lot of caffeine.

    I'm going to ask this question and you don't even have to answer it here, just think about it: Is it possible you have developed a disordered view of food? I don't mean to offend or over-step, but I think it's worth bringing it up.

    My suggestion would be: Stop taking the supplements. Start logging everything you eat and try to get as close to 1,200 calories as possible. And consider making a doctor's appointment to make sure there aren't physical reasons why you can't eat more food.

    Please take care of yourself, and best of luck.
    I take the pills because it gives me the energy I need to workout 1 to 3 hrs a day 5 to 7 days a week.
    I don't mind talking about a possible warped view on food. That's why I joined here to learn how to eat healthy and be healthy. I had a past with bulimia and anorexia. I gained 70 pounds the past 2 years when trying to eat normally, but since I didn't know what was normal I packed on the Pounds. Which is another reason why I'm here, to lose that 70 pounds, 10 I've already lost.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    edited March 2016
    kimny72 wrote: »
    kimny72 wrote: »
    Yes, prelog your food, find some more calorie dense foods like beef, chicken, whey protein, etc.

    I will definitely be getting whey when I can. It's hard for me to eat meat except for seafood. as I was a raw foodist for a few years. I ate 2 bananas today and am full. But I will try to eat some meat for supper.

    If you are truly full for the day after two bananas, you might want to see a doctor to make sure there is nothing physically wrong, and then a dietitian to determine your dietary needs. Eating too little will not stall weight loss, but it will cause many other health problems. A basic calorie and macro level is required for your body to function properly.
    I should mention I am taking diet pills. 2 to 4 pills of Hydroxy cut in the mornings. And 2 pills of carcinia cambogia before each time I eat.

    Taking that stuff while drastically under-eating is dangerous. It's pretty useless, but often contains a lot of caffeine.

    I'm going to ask this question and you don't even have to answer it here, just think about it: Is it possible you have developed a disordered view of food? I don't mean to offend or over-step, but I think it's worth bringing it up.

    My suggestion would be: Stop taking the supplements. Start logging everything you eat and try to get as close to 1,200 calories as possible. And consider making a doctor's appointment to make sure there aren't physical reasons why you can't eat more food.

    Please take care of yourself, and best of luck.
    I take the pills because it gives me the energy I need to workout 1 to 3 hrs a day 5 to 7 days a week.
    I don't mind talking about a possible warped view on food. That's why I joined here to learn how to eat healthy and be healthy. I had a past with bulimia and anorexia. I gained 70 pounds the past 2 years when trying to eat normally, but since I didn't know what was normal I packed on the Pounds. Which is another reason why I'm here, to lose that 70 pounds, 10 I've already lost.

    Okay, some people can take the question as an insult even though it's not meant that way, so I wanted to tip-toe :)
  • Psychgrrl
    Psychgrrl Posts: 3,177 Member
    If you eat very little and are full, how did you get in the position to need to lose weight? You had to be eating more to gain weight. What/how were you eating before you came to MFP?

    How tall are you and how much do you weigh?
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    Fuel your exercise with food, not boosters. Otherwise you are heading down that disordered path again. If need be, see your cheese and crackers as energy pills before you exercise.
  • BreefitnessBreef88
    BreefitnessBreef88 Posts: 40 Member
    Psychgrrl wrote: »
    If you eat very little and are full, how did you get in the position to need to lose weight? You had to be eating more to gain weight. What/how were you eating before you came to MFP?

    How tall are you and how much do you weigh?

    Well the last 2 years I ate whatever I wanted and never worked out. That's how I gained. But the past 3 or 4 weeks I decided to get my stuff together. I started working out. Started a change in my diet. Started diet pills to curb my hunger and also give me energy. I lost 10 pounds 3 or 4 weeks ago before joining mfp. Now I'm at a standstill. I do alot of strength training so I'm hoping it's just muscle I'm gaining because I do look slimmer and more toned.
    I am 5'7" and I weigh 217. Altho the scale has been going up the past 2 days due to all the sodium I had on the weekend.
  • richardgavel
    richardgavel Posts: 1,001 Member
    Is it possible you're overdoing the workouts? I do triathlon training and I workout only 30 to 90 min a day. It feels to me like you might be a bit to agressive with the loss, which could be tough to sustain over the long term.