I can't reach 1000cals help?

Iona_EllenRose wrote: »

Thanks - I think I can manage with peanut butter ! My diary today was
Breakfast - Porridge & berries
Lunch - spinach & chickpea rice pilaf
Dinner - Jacket potato, roasted veg, beans & salad
Snacks - Apple, satsuma x2

If you are trying to eat more then why are you selecting the lowest calorie highest fiber foods you can lay your hands on? Are you actually trying to eat more calories? If so substitute the porridge for granola and you are done.

Also from this diet I have to ask, how much protein are you getting? Because I don't see any. You should be getting at least 0.6g of protein per pound lean mass which means (assuming you are fairly average) should be getting at least 60g of protein a day or 240 calories worth of proteins. I don't think there are even 6 grams of protein in that diet let alone 60. That is going to end up hurting you if you sustain that.

OP, what is your goal and what are your stats? When did you start having trouble eating a reasonable number of calories.

As for getting more (1000 isn't really enough for someone 24 years old), how about just eating more of the foods you do eat? For example:

Breakfast -- eat a full serving size (at least) of the oats. Try a banana instead of berries. Add in a healthy source of fat like nuts or hemp hearts and/or some fullfat milk. I agree with Aaron that your day is far too low on protein, so you might want to add in another source of protein too, maybe a protein powder or greek yogurt.

Lunch -- the pilaf has to be tiny to be that low in calories, maybe eat more? Add other vegetables and maybe some olives or nuts to the salad? A dressing with vinegar and olive oil? Also, making the pilaf larger would add protein, but also consider adding lentils or tofu?

Dinner -- same comments about the salad. Potato, what does "medium" really mean? Any olive oil to cook the potato or butter on it? I love roasted potatoes with a bit of olive oil. Greek yogurt is also tasty on potato (rather like sour cream) and has protein. .25 can of beans is tiny -- again, having a larger serving of beans would help with protein. Maybe have some seitan or some other source of additional protein with the beans if you don't like the other suggestions.

Avocado would be tasty with all of these, and nuts are a delicious, healthy, and caloric snack.

Just little changes like these would solve the issue, and help with nutrition.

janejellyroll wrote: »

WinoGelato wrote: »

Aaron_K123 wrote: »

Iona_EllenRose wrote: »

Hi,
Today I have had 3 meals & snacks yet I still can't get to 1000cals (so far I'm at 880cals). Does this happen to you? What do you eat/snack on to reach 1000?

Thanks

I'm not sure I understand you. What do you mean that you cannot get to 1000 calories? Are you saying that you feel so stuffed at 880 calories you couldn't possibly eat more? If that is the case perhaps switch out some of your low calorie fiberous food choices with some calorie rich choices. Have some icecream or a slice of pizza and you will get to 1000 calories fairly easily.

I am assuming you are trying to lose weight and thus have weight to lose. Therefore, at somepoint, you managed to eat more than 1000 calories per day...so just revert back to some of those eating habits (with moderation) and you should be able to eat that much easily. 1000 calories is a very low amount, not a high amount.

Pretty much all of this, and the link that Dianne provided above...

When in doubt, the answer is always pizza and ice cream.

Or chocolate or peanut butter or guacamole.

Or bacon.

Iona_EllenRose wrote: »

Thanks - I think I can manage with peanut butter ! My diary today was
Breakfast - Porridge & berries
Lunch - spinach & chickpea rice pilaf
Dinner - Jacket potato, roasted veg, beans & salad
Snacks - Apple, satsuma x2

Are you vegan? You need to get some good fats in there or you'll end up with skin like a lizard and that's just on the surface.

shadowfax_c11 wrote: »

You had days last week where you ate 2-3000 calories and you are here to lose weight. So you know how to eat more calories. You also have days when you didn't log at all or only partially logged.

How seriously are you taking this?

This seems harsh but I have to echo this. Before you can fix things you have to first be able to admit to yourself what is wrong here and what is wrong is not that you struggle to eat 1000 calories. Need to be honest with your self first, then be able to be honest with the community, then you can seek help here. If that isn't a place that you feel like you can get to on your own you might want to seek out therapy from a professional rather than an internet community.

I've never had a day where it was hard to reach 1000 calories and I intermittent fast only eating in the evenings. Most of us in this forum ended up here because we struggle by eating too much, not the reverse. When I see these posts I always have to question the accuracy of the logging.

8oz low sodium tomato juice with a tablespoon of olive oil stirred in = 170 calories.
a 28 g serving of almonds = 160 calories
100 g serving of turnip greens with a 1/2 TBS butter = 70 calories
2 TBS peanut butter= 200 calories
3 slices ultra thin cheese rolled up with with 56 g of lunch meat and mayo = 215 calories
100 g carrots = 41 calories
1 container whole milk yogurt (blueberry) = 140 calories
85 g cauliflower with 1/2 tbs butter = 75 calories
1/2 cup cottage cheese= 90 calories
There. That's worth a little over 1,100 calories. Not necessarily listed in order of consumption.

Is this a problem just on one specific day or an ongoing issue? If I've eaten a lot on one day, I do often find I am less hungry the next, and I believe that's fine - I'm happy to splurge on a special occasion and know that I can balance it out on a day when there's nothing special going on. And some days I might not feel well and just not want to eat - I don't worry about it in the short term and eat more when I feel better.

But if this is ongoing, can you tell us more about your overall progress. If you are only getting around 800 or so Cals a day as a general rule, what is happening with your weight and energy levels? If you're not dropping weight rather quickly (definitely way faster than recommended) then it may be a measuring issue - not all the entries here are reliable, and it's easy to forget to log some things if you're not really vigilant (I find it easy to skip cooking oil and spices in recipes - spices are probably not going to make a huge impact, but oil might!).
If you're regularly eating that low, I'd also expect you to be feeling pretty awful.

I hate to ask this in this thread, but are you on any medications that might be affecting your appetite? Looking at your food journal entries that people posted, I know that medication changed my eating habits. Just a suggestion that if you are on medications, you might want to check with a doctor about how they might be affecting your eating habits too.