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

2

Replies

  • Posts: 5,966 Member
    edited June 2017
    It's ok to eat most or all of your calories at one meal. Just try to make sure that meal is relatively balanced. Some ways to add calories: Include a roll with butter, or a glass of milk. If it's too hard to get 1600 in one meal then add another large snack or meal. A smoothie with milk and yogurt and fruit maybe some protein powder can easily be another 300 calories. Nuts are a good high calorie snack. Bananas have 100 calories each.
  • Posts: 8,934 Member
    AnvilHead wrote: »

    I can't go that low without wanting to eat the drywall right off the kitchen walls. My dinner alone is usually well over 1000 calories.

    Same here. One of the key reasons I do IF. I can hold off starting to eat and do a filling protein smoothie mid day but come dinner......
  • Posts: 336 Member
    grimmc603 wrote: »

    No but buying a scale today. Any suggestions on a good one?

    I bought one from $15 and it works really great
  • Posts: 651 Member
    grimmc603 wrote: »

    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!

    Fats are healthy :). Cook your veggies with olive oil or butter, add some avocado, eat more meat! Based on your descriptions that you tended to grab sugar loaded drinks in the past, and tended not to eat much food until dinner time, why not replace those sugary coffee drinks with a better version? Make a coffee protein powder smoothie for the morning to get a few hundred calories. It keeps your habits mostly intact for now, just in a "healthier" way. As time goes on, you may want to adjust, but that might be an easy place to start.
  • Posts: 2,235 Member
    I'm starving on 1600 calories
  • Posts: 77 Member
    grimmc603 wrote: »

    No but buying a scale today. Any suggestions on a good one?

    Ozeri Digital Scale is a really good one and less than 13 bucks.

    Here's a typical day for me when I was doing 1600

    Breakfast - Whole wheat english muffin (110 cal), Large Egg (70), cheese (50), 1/4 avocado (50) served with half an apple (350 total)

    Lunch - Flatbread wrap (100), 2 tbsps peanut butter (190), 2 tbsps dried cranberries (70) (360 total)

    Snack - 1 cup Nonfat greek yogurt (120 cal), 1 tbsp peanut butter (90), 2 tbsps walnuts (90), 100 grams strawberries (30) (330 total)

    Dinner - Pork Tenderloin 4 oz (120), kale (30), roasted potatoes with peppers & onions (110), roasted brussel sprouts (60), 1 tbsp olive oil (120) (440 total)

    Dessert - Sea Salt Caramel Halo Top (80)

    Total for the day - 1560

  • Posts: 561 Member
    grimmc603 wrote: »

    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.
    I actually wouldn't recommend changing everything you've always done, at least not right away. Try to make gradual changes or try to make the calorie allotment fit into the lifestyle and patterns you prefer. Change one or two things at a time.

    If Starbucks drinks have been a major source of your calories in the past and you enjoy them, you can still decide to have a Starbucks drink for breakfast or lunch. Most of them are just milk, coffee and sugar. Milk is a good balanced source of nutrients, containing fat, protein and carbs. You might want to gradually cut back on the number of pumps of sugar they put in your drink or you may choose not to. You can choose whole milk or 2% or skim or almond milk, depending on your preference. I like a whole milk grande latte, but someone else might choose a skim sugar free mocha. Just plan it into your day. They have their calories listed on their website.

    Or maybe you want to have the Starbucks for lunch, but add some protein or vegetables on the side, maybe a salad.
  • Posts: 12 Member
    I could never just eat 1600 calories. Specially on training days. Food is fuel and with not a lot of fuel your gunna run on empty. I always eat more on training days. Sugar is what makes you fat not fat we need fats in our body's to function properly. Ok I don't mean saturated fats but we need mono and poly fats. I say the more you train the more you can eat lol
  • Posts: 812 Member
    You've not been using scales so you don't actually know how much you are eating. That's how other people manage it, and that's how we got fat in the first place. QED.
  • Posts: 28,439 Member
    grimmc603 wrote: »

    I just got the scale and OMG was I wrong! In the last 30 days I only lost 4 pounds, and someone who went from 310 pounds , who was bearly active, and didn't think about calories to doing what I thought was 1600 calories and burning about 500 calories 5 days a week to only lose 4 pounds is crazy. But now that everything is measured and weighed, I definitely see now that I was under estimating the calories.

    I love it when people see the light! Way to go, @grimmc603. Now you'll really get truckin'!
  • Posts: 41,865 Member
    grimmc603 wrote: »

    I just got the scale and OMG was I wrong! In the last 30 days I only lost 4 pounds, and someone who went from 310 pounds , who was bearly active, and didn't think about calories to doing what I thought was 1600 calories and burning about 500 calories 5 days a week to only lose 4 pounds is crazy. But now that everything is measured and weighed, I definitely see now that I was under estimating the calories.

    Yeah, it's an eye opener...
  • Posts: 651 Member
    grimmc603 wrote: »

    I just got the scale and OMG was I wrong! In the last 30 days I only lost 4 pounds, and someone who went from 310 pounds , who was bearly active, and didn't think about calories to doing what I thought was 1600 calories and burning about 500 calories 5 days a week to only lose 4 pounds is crazy. But now that everything is measured and weighed, I definitely see now that I was under estimating the calories.

    Yay! It's going to make a huge difference for you :D.
  • Posts: 121 Member
    Good lord some of these responses are rude! If you can't respond without being a callous jerk how about keeping quiet?

    OP feel free to add me, my diary is open to friends. I'm on 1210 calories a day and some days its a struggle to hit that so I can totally relate. I'm really nervous about once I get to maintenance and have to up my calories, my little stomach is gonna pop!
  • Posts: 1,073 Member
    malibu927 wrote: »
    Funny, 1600 is about the minimum I can eat without feeling like I'm starving

    That part.
  • Posts: 5,600 Member
    OhMsDiva wrote: »

    That part.

    heck, I debate gnawing off my arm at 2200cal (female 5'3")....
  • Posts: 1,073 Member
    Savyna wrote: »
    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.

    I agree. Although when I first started watching what I eat I was on 1800 calories and I had a hard time eating that amount every day. It was just the fear that if I ate that much that I would not lose weight. Turns out I ate at least 1800 calories most days and lost 200 lbs. For me, the majority of weight loss was changing my way of thinking. I eat mostly " healthy foods", but I do not call any food bad foods. I now know that I can have a cookie or candy and it is ok. If I do go overboard on a weekend, I know that I will get right back to eating within my calorie goal the next day. Good luck to you!!
  • Posts: 1,198 Member
    I have no problem on 1560 per day. 5'10 m currently at 230 down 40 pounds so far.
  • Posts: 29,136 Member
    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) ?

    how did you gain weight in the first place?
  • Posts: 29,136 Member
    tooy1234 wrote: »
    I could never just eat 1600 calories. Specially on training days. Food is fuel and with not a lot of fuel your gunna run on empty. I always eat more on training days. Sugar Excess calories is what makes you fat not fat we need fats in our body's to function properly. Ok I don't mean saturated fats but we need mono and poly fats. I say the more you train the more you can eat lol

    corrected
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