I have trouble meeting my calorie goal

piecheeriolady
piecheeriolady Posts: 7 Member
edited November 2024 in Food and Nutrition
I have a lot of trouble getting to the 1200 cal mark. I've been trying to stay away from unhealthy foods, I eat enough to where I'm full. What are some good healthy foods that will get me to my calorie goal and not fill me up too much ?
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Replies

  • Daddy78230
    Daddy78230 Posts: 125 Member
    Try some nuts, seeds, cheese.
  • PrincessMel72
    PrincessMel72 Posts: 1,094 Member
    Are you weighing and measuring foods? I'm at 1200 and I know a lot of people struggle with STAYING at 1200, not necessarily getting to 1200. If you're not weighing things, you may very well be going over! It's really eye opening to see how many calories you don't count if you're just going off eyeballing portions or the packaging.
  • laurenebargar
    laurenebargar Posts: 3,081 Member
    I was at 1,200 and had a hard time staying at 1,200 especially if you ever have a big lunch, I found there was barely enough room for dinner! However, if your measuring and weighing, I would try adding other things in like another poster suggested, nuts, cheese, have another snack throughout the day. How close do you normally get to your cal goal?
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    Daddy78230 wrote: »
    Try some nuts, seeds, cheese.

    These, or avocado. Also, if you eat egg whites, change to whole eggs, if you are doing salad dressings that are super low cal (or avoiding them), make one with olive oil or some other fat), if you cook vegetables, add some oil or butter as part of the cooking process. Remember that boneless, skinless chicken breast is not the only meat possibility, stuff like that.

    Also, are you really having trouble, OP, or just feeling conflicted about eating more if you don't feel like you have to or perhaps not being excited about any of the options.
  • danigirl1011
    danigirl1011 Posts: 314 Member
    I wish i had this problem :) I agree with other posters. Nuts, nut butters, cheeses, avocado, whole wheat pasta, add olive oil to dishes you are making where applicable, full fat coconut milk in the can, hummus can add you calories
  • Luna3386
    Luna3386 Posts: 888 Member
    Use a food scale. I can't imagine how you can't get to 1200.
  • planetcadillac
    planetcadillac Posts: 137 Member
    I consume between 1,200 - 1,400 calories per day depending on my exercise patterns. I am diabetic and avoid sugar and heavy carb items so some days I do struggle to get to that point. I am averaging about 38% carb per day 30% fat, and 32% protein. The protein I eat, especially the whey shakes, tends to fill me up for that meal despite only having 200 calories per serving. Adding good fats (mono/poly) and protein is an easy way to rack up good calories.
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
    You might find some ideas here: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10142490/a-list-of-calorie-dense-foods/p1
  • piecheeriolady
    piecheeriolady Posts: 7 Member
    Thank you all for your input. Yes, I have been weighing and measuring things correctly. I have been eating avocados, still under my cal goal from 200-300 calories. I have been filling up by eating a ton of low cal things like broccoli and strawberries.
  • tiptoethruthetulips
    tiptoethruthetulips Posts: 3,372 Member
    Open up your food diary if you like and we can offer some tweaks to your menu
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
    piecheeriolady wrote: »
    I have a lot of trouble getting to the 1200 cal mark. I've been trying to stay away from unhealthy foods, I eat enough to where I'm full. What are some good healthy foods that will get me to my calorie goal and not fill me up too much ?

    Foods that help get you to your goal can be foods with fat:
    peanut butter, bacon, chia seeds, full fat yogurt, small steak, avocados, nuts, mayonnaise :)

  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited May 2017
    tiptoethruthetulips wrote: »
    Open up your food diary if you like and we can offer some tweaks to your menu

    This. I think it would lead to more informed answers.

    Also, are you getting to your fat and protein goals or are you quite short on them?

    I love broccoli and can eat a good bit of it when I have it, but I can't imagine filling up on it, as I'd want to eat other things too. I think this goes back to my question about whether you really cannot figure out how to eat more or are conflicted as to whether you should. If you are full off of enormous amounts of broccoli and strawberries, why not eat less of that and have more other things? Or prepare broccoli cooked in olive oil and add some almonds (more common with green beans, but why not?).
  • nickhinds88
    nickhinds88 Posts: 44 Member
    Two healthy calorie dense foods that I love to snack on are roasted and salted peanuts and dried apricots both are tasty packed full vitamins and minerals.
  • cerise_noir
    cerise_noir Posts: 5,468 Member
    Great suggestions above.

    Stop seeing foods as "healthy" and "unhealthy". It's just food. Calories are king for weight loss/maintaining/gaining.

    If you're doing well with nutrition, a little treat is great and won't hurt your weight goals if you include them in your daily calories.
  • piecheeriolady
    piecheeriolady Posts: 7 Member
    edited May 2017
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  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    That's a quarter an avocado? Eat half. Double up on the mayonnaise.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    A teaspoon of cream cheese? Does it even cover your toast? Double that.
  • 1AutumnDay
    1AutumnDay Posts: 17 Member
    Always peanut butter and bacon for me ;)
  • piecheeriolady
    piecheeriolady Posts: 7 Member
    Could you suggest something to replace the items instead of doubling the amount? I was full after eating that and still am.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    .2 medium avocado?

    Eat the whole avocado, or half. And "medium avocado" isn't an entry I'd trust.

    You really can't eat more with that menu? It doesn't strike me as super filling.

    What are your protein numbers?
  • raquele3394
    raquele3394 Posts: 180 Member
    I wish I had this kind of problem!!!
  • piecheeriolady
    piecheeriolady Posts: 7 Member
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  • raquele3394
    raquele3394 Posts: 180 Member
    I think you are doing great!!! Just have something extra...like peanut butter and banana. Frozen cup of fruit. Don't go too wild!
  • piecheeriolady
    piecheeriolady Posts: 7 Member
    Also as for cooking things , I'm a bit limited in time. Lunch is for at school, so it needs to be something I can easily pack. Breakfast is always fast. And for dinner I'm usually stuck at McDonald's all night. So I need something I can get there or cook at home really fast .
  • Dnarules
    Dnarules Posts: 2,081 Member
    piecheeriolady wrote: »
    Thank you all for your input. Yes, I have been weighing and measuring things correctly. I have been eating avocados, still under my cal goal from 200-300 calories. I have been filling up by eating a ton of low cal things like broccoli and strawberries.

    Decrease broccoli and strawberries and add more calorie dense foods. It looks like you need more protein.
  • piecheeriolady
    piecheeriolady Posts: 7 Member
    And as for feeling full after this, I used to eat less (but in high calorie items) and that's what lead to my weight gain.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited May 2017
    Those protein numbers are horribly low. That's where to start if you really want to increase calories and eat a healthier diet.

    (You probably have more protein, though -- dinner looks off, as that McD's thing can't have no protein if it has chicken.)
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    Those screen shots aren't wildly helpful and for macros like protein what is important is total grams, not percentages, since your calories are low. Opening the diary would be more helpful, but if you don't want to, I understand.

    That's NOT a lot of food, and it makes me wonder if your idea of what a healthy diet is is messed up or you are scared of eating. I'd say that if you really think you can't eat more go to a doctor, show that, and explain that you feel like you can't manage more. Maybe try planning out a day in advance that hits your goals and see how it goes?
  • mph323
    mph323 Posts: 3,563 Member
    edited May 2017
    piecheeriolady wrote: »
    And as for feeling full after this, I used to eat less (but in high calorie items) and that's what lead to my weight gain.

    This may be a good starting place for you. Why not try going back to the way you were eating when you put the weight on, and cut portion size to fit into your calorie goal? Tweak it gradually as you go along (and I would absolutely start with protein if your previous way of eating was as deficient in it as this one) until you have shifted to a more nutrient-dense diet and potentially you should be able to continue losing without starving yourself or trying to force yourself to eat when you're not hungry.

    eta: Sometimes when we start out we try to make all the changes at once - fewer calories, more nutrient-dense food, being more aware of our hunger and satiety signals. This can certainly lead to over-analyzing everything we put in our mouths and cause us to be concerned we are violating one of our internal rules - don't eat it if it's not "healthy" or if we don't actually feel hungry or if it may cause us to reach our calorie goal right now, with no room left for later in case we might feel hungry. Trial and error will let you experiment and find a way of eating that works for you :)
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