How the heck do you eat 1600 calories a day??

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grimmc603
grimmc603 Posts: 16 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I'm not an eater, but surprisingly I'm overweight. I struggle eating more than 1200 calories, and the days I workout I eat less than that. Didn't notice this trend until I started to track my calories. The only thing that I have time to cook is a quick dinner. Any suggestions on grab and go food that will pack a larger calorie count without all the sugar and carbs (gluten-free as well) ?
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  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    livingleanlivingclean wrote: »
    At some point you must have consumed excessive calories consistently to become overweight, it doesn't just happen by accident.

    Have you completely changed your eating habits and food/drinks consumed since you started to try and lose weight?

    This. If you have changed the habits, what are you doing differently?
  • grimmc603
    grimmc603 Posts: 16 Member
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    Luna3386 wrote: »
    Are you weighing food?

    No but buying a scale today. Any suggestions on a good one?
  • Barbs2222
    Barbs2222 Posts: 433 Member
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    grimmc603 wrote: »
    I'm not an eater, but surprisingly I'm overweight. I struggle eating more than 1200 calories, and the days I workout I eat less than that. Didn't notice this trend until I started to track my calories. The only thing that I have time to cook is a quick dinner. Any suggestions on grab and go food that will pack a larger calorie count without all the sugar and carbs (gluten-free as well) ?

    Nuts.
  • grimmc603
    grimmc603 Posts: 16 Member
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    hesn92 wrote: »
    I honestly do not understand these dilemmas.

    Lol..Well, when you have never looked at calories before and have no idea how to eat healthy it can be confusing and overwhelming trying to change your life. Who knew that it takes this much healthy food to get to 1600 calories!
  • grimmc603
    grimmc603 Posts: 16 Member
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    Tried30UserNames wrote: »
    Some suggestions -

    Breakfast: egg salad made with 2 whole eggs and 1/4 cup mayo. Stir in some crumbled bacon if you want. Make it ahead and keep it in the fridge. If you're avoiding starches, eat it on lettuce leaves instead of a slice of bread or crackers. Coffee with cream or a full fat matcha latte.

    Lunch: Some combination of the following - A cup of full fat yogurt. A piece of fruit such as an apple or banana spread with 2 T almond or peanut butter. Pre portioned vegetable sticks and hummus made with plenty of olive oil. A large vegetable salad with grilled chicken and full fat dressing (you can either make this salad or purchase it at almost any grocery store). A can of lentil or black bean soup. Tuna salad.

    Dinner: 4-6 ounces of bake salmon with 2-3 vegetable portions (steamed, roasted, etc) drizzled with butter or olive oil. If you're still eating some starches, serve with rice or beans or pasta or quinoa. You can buy big bags of wild caught salmon and frozen vegetables at Trader Joe's or Walmart for reasonable prices. Just pull them out and cook. Same goes for the starch...premade rice or quinoa dishes.

    Fats such as butter, oil, mayo, peanut butter, etc have about 90-120 calories per tablespoon so they're a great way to get your calories up without adding much volume.

    Thank you so much for giving me these ideas. Some people just don't know how hard it is to try and change everything you've always done. I really appreciate it.
  • hesn92
    hesn92 Posts: 5,967 Member
    edited June 2017
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    grimmc603 wrote: »
    hesn92 wrote: »
    I honestly do not understand these dilemmas.

    Lol..Well, when you have never looked at calories before and have no idea how to eat healthy it can be confusing and overwhelming trying to change your life. Who knew that it takes this much healthy food to get to 1600 calories!
    There are healthy foods that have plenty of calories. My dinner last night was i think 700 or 800 calories and pretty healthy in my opinion. 6 oz grilled chicken, half a cup of homemade pasta salad with cherry tomatoes and cucumbers and more, baked potato with butter and sour cream, green beans, and a roll with butter. Lots of calories there.
  • grimmc603
    grimmc603 Posts: 16 Member
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    leanitup123 wrote: »
    I struggled with restrictive eating a few years back and averaged 1,400-1,600 calories a day. now I can't imagine eating less than 2,500 :o

    Who would of ever thought eating enough would become my biggest problem! Lol. Hoping to get there soon.
  • Savyna
    Savyna Posts: 789 Member
    edited June 2017
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    I used to find hitting 1200 calories hard, mainly because I had become scared of eating much of anything. It takes time to get over that feeling (some dont experience it). 1690ish is what I am currently eating now. You can add nuts, butter, oil to hit the weight. My diary is open if you need "inspiration".
    ETA: I just saw your gluten free and low carb requirement. I'm not sure what I eat will help you then lol. Good luck though, whatever you cook for dinner, maybe start cooking more of it? when you make a salad (if you do) make your own dressing and have some olive oil in it. A tbsp of olive oil is 120 calories or so.

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