I'm having trouble meeting my daily calorie intake!

Catnipp_
Catnipp_ Posts: 27 Member
edited December 2 in Food and Nutrition
So for breakfast I usually have an Atkins bar and a large glass of green tea w/ lemon, and by the time I start feeling hungry again it's around 2pm I'll usually have lean protiene like eggs or chicken and leafy greens/vegetables, or sandwich meat and cheese on romaine lettuce with another glass of fresh steeped tea and then some veggies on the side. By the time dinner rolls around I cook, generally something low carb with you guessed it... More tea ( what can I say? I just love tea! Always sugar free of course). I always wind up eating JUST under 1000 calories a day. But I don't feel starved, I'm always satisfied once I am done eating. Should I be worried if I don't eat 1200 a day? Or just roll with it and trust my body?

Replies

  • SueSueDio
    SueSueDio Posts: 4,796 Member
    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10142490/a-list-of-calorie-dense-foods/p1

    :)
  • myfitnesspalismypal
    myfitnesspalismypal Posts: 1 Member
    It really depends on the person. I used have this problem and I would always end up over eating during the weekends. If you don't cheat/overeat, then more power to you.
  • SueInAz
    SueInAz Posts: 6,592 Member
    edited July 2016
    Unless you are very small consistently eating under 1000 calories per day isn't a good idea. If you don't want more food look at the calorie dense foods list that @SueSueDio posted. It's as easy as adding some mayo or a creamy salad dressing to your lettuce wrap.

    Eating too far under your calorie needs will result in excess muscle loss along with the fat you want to lose. Unused lean muscle mass is an easier target when your body thinks you are in a starvation situation. This means you'll lose weight but your metabolism will drop more than it should because you've lost muscle mass. You'll then have a harder time keeping off the weight you lose, may eventually regain the weight (most do) and it'll be even more difficult to lose it the next time around.
  • AliceDark
    AliceDark Posts: 3,886 Member
    How are you tracking your calories? Are you using a food scale for all solids and a measuring cup/spoons for all liquids? Are you logging all cooking oils, and logging 100% of everything, every day?
  • Catnipp_
    Catnipp_ Posts: 27 Member
    AliceDark wrote: »
    How are you tracking your calories? Are you using a food scale for all solids and a measuring cup/spoons for all liquids? Are you logging all cooking oils, and logging 100% of everything, every day?

    I would say my calorie intake is 85 percent accurate. I do use a food scales/measuring cups/spoons. And I write down all measurements etc when I use ingredients for my own recipes . but i generally hit 1100 to just over 900 a day. My doctor has me on a low carb diet, and ever since I got on it it's been difficult to get to 1200 a day
  • Catnipp_
    Catnipp_ Posts: 27 Member
    edited July 2016
    SueInAz wrote: »
    Unless you are very small consistently eating under 1000 calories per day isn't a good idea. If you don't want more food look at the calorie dense foods list that @SueSueDio posted. It's as easy as adding some mayo or a creamy salad dressing to your lettuce wrap.

    Eating too far under your calorie needs will result in excess muscle loss along with the fat you want to lose. Unused lean muscle mass is an easier target when your body thinks you are in a starvation situation. This means you'll lose weight but your metabolism will drop more than it should because you've lost muscle mass. You'll then have a harder time keeping off the weight you lose, may eventually regain the weight (most do) and it'll be even more difficult to lose it the next time around.

    Thanks for the suggestions and information! I'm no stranger to mayo and fatty/calorie heavy foods. I'm thinking it could also be my medicine, because a side effect of metformin is loss of appetite. So I really gotta eat more of the calorie dense foods.
  • pbandalyssa
    pbandalyssa Posts: 86 Member
    edited July 2016
    Eat more fats. Just two tbsp of peanut butter is 200 calories.
  • shinycrazy
    shinycrazy Posts: 1,081 Member
    Catnipp_ wrote: »

    Thanks for the suggestions and information! I'm no stranger to mayo and fatty/calorie heavy foods. I'm thinking it could also be my medicine, because a side effect of metformin is loss of appetite. So I really gotta eat more of the calorie dense foods.

    I was wondering when you said your doc put you on low carb. Metformin had that effect on me too. How long have you been on it? I found that that "side effect" disappeared after a couple months. My suggestion for upping calories is CHEESE! I buy a big block and use a chef's knife to cut into cubes/rectangles either 1oz or .5oz. Depending on the cheese it's around 80 to 100 calories an ounce. This is my favorite way to cap off my calories for the day. Hope you find something that works for you!
  • Catnipp_
    Catnipp_ Posts: 27 Member
    shinycrazy wrote: »
    Catnipp_ wrote: »

    Thanks for the suggestions and information! I'm no stranger to mayo and fatty/calorie heavy foods. I'm thinking it could also be my medicine, because a side effect of metformin is loss of appetite. So I really gotta eat more of the calorie dense foods.

    I was wondering when you said your doc put you on low carb. Metformin had that effect on me too. How long have you been on it? I found that that "side effect" disappeared after a couple months. My suggestion for upping calories is CHEESE! I buy a big block and use a chef's knife to cut into cubes/rectangles either 1oz or .5oz. Depending on the cheese it's around 80 to 100 calories an ounce. This is my favorite way to cap off my calories for the day. Hope you find something that works for you!

    I've been on it for about a week now, and ever since I just haven't been as hungry. My boyfriend is on the Keto diet, so we have a lot of atkins bars and fatty/protein heavy foods. But even still a lot of times my meals wind up being on the lower calorie end because of the lack of carbs. we have blocks of cheese, lunch meats, peperoni, TONS of eggs and no shortage of red meats or chicken in the fridge along with lower sugar veggies like celary, cucumber and dark leafy greens. I snack on a lot of celery/cucumbers throughout the day, maybe instead of mustard I should eat it with blue cheese or ranch . I could start adding a small amount of honey to my evening tea if I'm really low on both carbs and calories that day.
  • shinycrazy
    shinycrazy Posts: 1,081 Member
    Catnipp_ wrote: »
    I've been on it for about a week now, and ever since I just haven't been as hungry. My boyfriend is on the Keto diet, so we have a lot of atkins bars and fatty/protein heavy foods. But even still a lot of times my meals wind up being on the lower calorie end because of the lack of carbs. we have blocks of cheese, lunch meats, peperoni, TONS of eggs and no shortage of red meats or chicken in the fridge along with lower sugar veggies like celary, cucumber and dark leafy greens. I snack on a lot of celery/cucumbers throughout the day, maybe instead of mustard I should eat it with blue cheese or ranch . I could start adding a small amount of honey to my evening tea if I'm really low on both carbs and calories that day.

    Those all sound like excellent ideas. Dill mixed with full fat greek yogurt or sour cream would be awesome with cucumbers!
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