Fizzy drinks

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Anyone else found that once they've cut out fizzy drinks and sugary (unfilling) foods they find that they actually eat (and are full on) very little food?
Despite previously being classed as 'obese' I'm finding it hard to now consume many calories due to the majority of my calories being from drinks before. Anyone have any advice if they've been in this situation ?

Replies

  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    edena001 wrote: »

    That's my advice. Eat more calorie-dense items.
  • edena001
    edena001 Posts: 137 Member
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    edena001 wrote: »

    What are you after then if not suggestions on how to get your calories? Let us know so we can be more helpful then. Your original post says you're having trouble eating enough calories.
    malibu927 wrote: »
    edena001 wrote: »

    That's my advice. Eat more calorie-dense items.

    After someone who's been in the situation to give me advice on how they adapted to eating those calorie dense foods - or more food in general. I'm extremely full but I only reach 900 calories on a normal day. This is with me trying really hard to 'stuff' myself as so many of my calories were from drinks before, I have never eaten much
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,014 Member
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    Drink some higher calorie drinks then - doesnt have to be sugary fizzy drinks, since I assume you want them to stay cut out and also you need nutrition - could be juice or smoothies or milk or protein shakes
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    We don't have adequate information.

    Do you eat regular meals? What do you eat at those meals? Can you switch out some things you are eating for higher cal foods (as on the list).

    Example: when I started I had not been logging and just did what to me seemed normal, cutting starchy sides (which don't tend to matter for satiety) and added fat, focusing on lean meats, not snacking. When I logged I saw this was coming in at around 1000, although I felt okay (although not like I could not possibly eat more -- if you really feel like eating over 900 would be stuffing yourself that sounds like a psychological thing or a medical problem).

    Anyway, since I realized that eating 1000 was not a good idea if I wanted a sustainable way of eating while losing (planned to take some time), I allowed myself to add some more "indulgent" foods back into my regular meals -- cooked veg in added fat (olive oil, mostly), added cheese and nuts to salads, added cheese back into my omelet breakfast, added a little cottage cheese or smoked salmon to breakfast to increase protein, ate avocados more, switched out boneless, skinless chicken breast for whole roasted chicken (I didn't eat all of it) with the skin on. I started eating pasta and potatoes and sweet potatoes again, and just had reasonable servings of them, so on. When exercising so my calories went up and I wanted to eat more again, I added a snack for a while with yogurt and berries and/or nuts. Dried cherries plus nuts is an easy tasty snack that can add up to lots of calories with very little work. If you do smoothies, they can be high or low cal.

    It's really going to depend on how you are currently eating and what your patterns are.

    If I really wanted to get my calories up I'd eat more frequently, since I know that makes me consume more calories (but eating too little is not my current problem).
  • edena001
    edena001 Posts: 137 Member
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    bpetrosky wrote: »
    edena001 wrote: »
    edena001 wrote: »

    What are you after then if not suggestions on how to get your calories? Let us know so we can be more helpful then. Your original post says you're having trouble eating enough calories.
    malibu927 wrote: »
    edena001 wrote: »

    That's my advice. Eat more calorie-dense items.

    After someone who's been in the situation to give me advice on how they adapted to eating those calorie dense foods - or more food in general. I'm extremely full but I only reach 900 calories on a normal day. This is with me trying really hard to 'stuff' myself as so many of my calories were from drinks before, I have never eaten much

    Getting to at least the minimum recommended level of calories for your stats is hardly stuffing yourself. If you are truly only getting 900 calories on a good day, you are potentially harming yourself. Hopefully your logging is not accurate and you're actually getting more than that on a normal day.

    The advice @malibu927 gave is sound, include more calorie dense foods in your routine (nuts, cheese, bacon, whatever fits your macros). 28 grams of cashews is 150 calories, that's hardly "stuffing" yourself. Sprinkle them on your salad, or include them in a chicken dish.


    If you're still struggling on ideas, open your diary and some of the folks here can give you some suggestions.

    ETA: If you are working out, you need to be eating a good deal more than you are claiming. 1200 is the bare minimum for a sedentary female. Plug your stats into MFP, eat to that minimum, and eat back at least a significant portion of your exercise calories.


    I weigh all my food - probably obsessively, and on the occasion that I'm unsure I pick the higher calorie food just in case.
    I used the word stuffing myself because I'm completely full, I'm eating the same amount as I was when I was much heavier. So it's hard to go from eating that to trying to eat even more. (I've never eaten much it was the drinks and processed crap that got me)
    I'll try find some high cal low filling foods, but I can't have nuts so I'll have to opt for something else, thanks
  • Mycophilia
    Mycophilia Posts: 1,225 Member
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    If you're getting adequate micronutrients, fiber, protein etc. Drinking some "crap" just for the calories is fine.
  • edena001
    edena001 Posts: 137 Member
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    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    We don't have adequate information.

    Do you eat regular meals? What do you eat at those meals? Can you switch out some things you are eating for higher cal foods (as on the list).

    Example: when I started I had not been logging and just did what to me seemed normal, cutting starchy sides (which don't tend to matter for satiety) and added fat, focusing on lean meats, not snacking. When I logged I saw this was coming in at around 1000, although I felt okay (although not like I could not possibly eat more -- if you really feel like eating over 900 would be stuffing yourself that sounds like a psychological thing or a medical problem).

    Anyway, since I realized that eating 1000 was not a good idea if I wanted a sustainable way of eating while losing (planned to take some time), I allowed myself to add some more "indulgent" foods back into my regular meals -- cooked veg in added fat (olive oil, mostly), added cheese and nuts to salads, added cheese back into my omelet breakfast, added a little cottage cheese or smoked salmon to breakfast to increase protein, ate avocados more, switched out boneless, skinless chicken breast for whole roasted chicken (I didn't eat all of it) with the skin on. I started eating pasta and potatoes and sweet potatoes again, and just had reasonable servings of them, so on. When exercising so my calories went up and I wanted to eat more again, I added a snack for a while with yogurt and berries and/or nuts. Dried cherries plus nuts is an easy tasty snack that can add up to lots of calories with very little work. If you do smoothies, they can be high or low cal.

    It's really going to depend on how you are currently eating and what your patterns are.

    If I really wanted to get my calories up I'd eat more frequently, since I know that makes me consume more calories (but eating too little is not my current problem).

    Firstly, thank you for answering, on here you get a lot of hate for saying you're undereating, people aren't willing to understand how - so I'm glad I'm not the only one who has had this problem of too little.

    On a typical day I don't have breakfast (night shifts and hard to fit that in) then I have a simple sandwich / noodles / omelette for lunch and then noodles or a chicken dish for dinner.
    I like your idea of adding yogurts in, find they're not that filling so would be a good alternative to nuts that I can't have. Smoothies also, thank you.

    Adding in 'pointless' foods seems to be the trick - foods that don't really add to filling me up, but just add to calories. Even things as simple as salad dressing I suppose!
  • edena001
    edena001 Posts: 137 Member
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    Mycophilia wrote: »
    If you're getting adequate micronutrients, fiber, protein etc. Drinking some "crap" just for the calories is fine.

    I'd like to note I don't have much will power - it's all or nothing with me drinking fizzy drinks. I can't manage to just have one I'll end up having many servings. I find it easier to stay away from them altogether (apart from special occasions) instead of have them in proportion. Silly I know but hey
  • bbell1985
    bbell1985 Posts: 4,572 Member
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    edena001 wrote: »
    Mycophilia wrote: »
    If you're getting adequate micronutrients, fiber, protein etc. Drinking some "crap" just for the calories is fine.

    I'd like to note I don't have much will power - it's all or nothing with me drinking fizzy drinks. I can't manage to just have one I'll end up having many servings. I find it easier to stay away from them altogether (apart from special occasions) instead of have them in proportion. Silly I know but hey

    Why do you have a refrigerator full of cans/bottles of "fizzy drinks" ? Buy one bottle while you're out and drink that one.
  • FireTurtle75
    FireTurtle75 Posts: 2,014 Member
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    I switched from drinking regular sodas to diet sodas back around November. It helped a little with losing weight or rather not gaining anymore. But when I quit drinking diet sodas altogether a little over a month ago & replaced them with just drinking water all day, I notice that I am definitely not as hungry all the time like I was before. I don't have an incessant need to munch & graze on things all day.
  • edena001
    edena001 Posts: 137 Member
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    bbell1985 wrote: »
    edena001 wrote: »
    Mycophilia wrote: »
    If you're getting adequate micronutrients, fiber, protein etc. Drinking some "crap" just for the calories is fine.

    I'd like to note I don't have much will power - it's all or nothing with me drinking fizzy drinks. I can't manage to just have one I'll end up having many servings. I find it easier to stay away from them altogether (apart from special occasions) instead of have them in proportion. Silly I know but hey

    Why do you have a refrigerator full of cans/bottles of "fizzy drinks" ? Buy one bottle while you're out and drink that one.

    Did I say I had a fridge full of fizzy drinks? No. But I live about 2 minutes from a shop, so when I do buy just one it's just as easy to go get another.
    Plus the fact I don't have too much money, so when I do buy one I'm not going to want to buy 500ml for £1.39 when the 2L bottle is on sale for £1. So it's all or nothing.

  • edena001
    edena001 Posts: 137 Member
    Options
    I switched from drinking regular sodas to diet sodas back around November. It helped a little with losing weight or rather not gaining anymore. But when I quit drinking diet sodas altogether a little over a month ago & replaced them with just drinking water all day, I notice that I am definitely not as hungry all the time like I was before. I don't have an incessant need to munch & graze on things all day.

    Do you find you eat less than you should ?
  • SusanMFindlay
    SusanMFindlay Posts: 1,804 Member
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    edena001 wrote: »
    Mycophilia wrote: »
    If you're getting adequate micronutrients, fiber, protein etc. Drinking some "crap" just for the calories is fine.

    I'd like to note I don't have much will power - it's all or nothing with me drinking fizzy drinks. I can't manage to just have one I'll end up having many servings. I find it easier to stay away from them altogether (apart from special occasions) instead of have them in proportion. Silly I know but hey

    Not silly at all. Most people have a weakness or two. Knowing yours and avoiding it is a good start.

    But there are other ways to drink calories. How do you feel about milk? Personally, I really enjoy a steamed milk with sugar-free flavouring. Or, if I'm feeling indulgent, a chai latte. Those are my choices because I don't like coffee. If you like coffee, cream in your coffee is a really easy way to build up calories fast (which is why many people cut it when trying to lose weight). Or make a shake/smoothie with frozen berries, milk and (if you like) protein powder.

    Obviously, those suggestions only work if you can limit them to once or twice a day - but they're different enough from fizzy drinks that they might work.

    Otherwise, things like cooking in a bit more oil/butter, putting butter on toast, dicing avocado into a salad, etc. are nice tricks to boost calories and fat levels.
  • lilolilo920
    lilolilo920 Posts: 184 Member
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    Do you like peanut butter? Really easy way to squeeze in some extra calories, and since it's low volume it shouldn't make you feel stuffed or sick! Bananas are another snack/thing you could add to the yogurt to bump up your calories some!
    All the best :)