Nutritionists? Trainers? Trying to increase calories...

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bricate14
bricate14 Posts: 3 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I'm relatively new to working out. I started working with a trainer back in August, doing 4x/week strength training. Also just began running for the first time ever about a month ago. My husband and I are beginning to train for a half marathon in May.
I can't figure out how to eat. I used nutrition only to maintain weight (5'7, 123lbs, 36 yrs) for years, and just finally got the motivation to move. My problem is I'm only taking in roughly 800-1000 calories a day.
My trainer wants me at 100g protein, 50 g carbs, 50 g fat. I cannot get there. I'm literally not hungry enough to eat more than 1,000 calories a day. My diet is super healthy, lots of veggies, low carb, low dairy (I don't cut anything out completely). Good fiber intake, love lean meats (as well as fatty ones lol, I love steak). But I feel full, tired and bloated when I try to increase.
I'm worried that I'm not fueling my body appropriately. I want to build muscle and have it show, and I want to keep increasing my endurance to run (at 4 miles now, want to increase 1 mile a week or so).
Could I just be conditioned to have a low intake? I don't want to hurt myself either way.
Thanks in advance!

Replies

  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    Keep eating so little and you will do some serious damage, especially running long distances.

    Add in high fat food, cheese, peanut butter, avocado, the odd doughnut.
  • SoDamnHungry
    SoDamnHungry Posts: 6,998 Member
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    Eat foods that are higher in calories. If you've maintained at 123 lbs for years then you have to have been eating more than 1000 calories a day.
  • eeejer
    eeejer Posts: 339 Member
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    umm those macros only add up to 1050kcal. You need to rethink your diet big time, you won't be fueling anything with those numbers. You should be slowly increasing them, add 100 calories every 2 weeks. If you can't get all your calories in simply eat a tablespoon of peanut butter - that is 100kcal right there.
  • eeejer
    eeejer Posts: 339 Member
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    if you really have eaten that little for a long time you have already done metabolic damage and are going to have a hard time making any gains. You might want to see an actual nutritionist.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,013 Member
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    OP, you say you have been eating this way for a while. Are you using a food scale? Would you be willing to open your diary? I'm going to be honest and say that whenever I hear a fit woman say she can't eat enough to get to 1200 calories, it turns out she has been estimating wrong and is actually eating a perfectly fine amount. Not saying that's the case here, but it's the most likely conclusion. :drinker:
  • deputy_randolph
    deputy_randolph Posts: 940 Member
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    I'll just address how to increase the calories question. My suggestion is to reduce the volume of veggies...since veggies were mentioned in the original post first, I suspect that OP eats a lot of fiber. I've found that when my fiber intake gets to the 50gram region, the volume of veggies starts to interfere with my normal hunger signals and have other "issues." 30-40grams of fiber a day are sufficient for me.

    I eat relatively "low" carb and focus primarily on fat and protein. Adding nuts, nut butters, and seeds is a simple way to increase protein, fat, and calories.
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
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    First cut out the low fat, overly high fiber and lean stuff if you can' t reach your goal. As other posters mentioned, if you aren't weighing you may be eating more than you think but even 1200 would not be enough to fuel you to be honest.

    Check out this thread for help on which foods to eat and methods to get the cals up:
    community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10326769/are-you-a-hard-gainer-please-read/p1
  • bricate14
    bricate14 Posts: 3 Member
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    I think I just restrict out of habit. I can fast for 48 hours, just water and espresso. So for so many years it's become normal, and I hate feeling full.
    I don't want to eat a donut, or some other crap food, just to increase calories.
    Ugh I don't know the answer. Fear of gaining vs fueling for gains.
    I'll take it to a shrink :)
  • pebble4321
    pebble4321 Posts: 1,132 Member
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    You don't have to eat "crap food" to increase calories. Not that I think there's anything wrong with a donut now and again.

    It's really not hard to add extra cals to each meal - things like higher fat yoghurt or other dairy, nuts, dressing made with oil, avocado, cheese, nut butters, egg yolks etc can be added to your existing meals without adding a lot of volume and you will be getting better nutrition to give you energy to fuel that working out.

    If you really need help with a meal plan though, you should be seeing an actual professional - not your trainer or a nutritionist (who can have minimal qualifications but still use those titles) but a registered dietician.

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