Can't get enough cals healthily

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slay0r
slay0r Posts: 669 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hi Everyone,

I've really shrunk my stomach over the last year. I've lost 9 stone in a year and I'm doing quite a lot of exercise. As a result I'm burning a lot of calories today (1010 cals) I do that most days as I ride 20-25 miles a day to work at 12-14 miles an hour and to get around.

Today I've eaten:

Breakfast:

Egg on Wholemeal Toast - 322 calories

Mid morning snack:

Banana - 90 Calories

Lunch:

Subway Turkey Salad - 145 cals
Ranch sauce - 88 cals

Dinner:

Blue Dragon - Oyster & Spring Onion Stir-Fry Sauce, 60 g 60 cals
Tesco - Beansprouts, 100 g 31 cals
Sainsbury's - Pak Choi, 200 g 26 Cals
Sainsburys - Chicken Mini Breast Fillets, 100 g 138 cals
Marks and Spencer - Rice Vermicelli Noodles, 150 g 555 cals


Equals 1455 calories

My 1300 a day calorie allowance and my 1010 calories burned equal 2310 calories meaning I've got a deficit of 855 cals.

Can anyone suggest things for me to eat that would be good to get my calories up but healthily and with ways to help me recover faster from the cycling.

Thanks!

Johnny

Replies

  • sarah307
    sarah307 Posts: 1,363 Member
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    sounds like you are doing awesome and congrats so far! But I know what you mean by not getting enough healthy calories. I feel like that when I work out, I tend to want to eat unhealthy foods just to get enough calories in to replace my workout!! Which I don't want to do! Sorry I can't answer, But definitely can relate.
  • spngebobmyhero
    spngebobmyhero Posts: 823 Member
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    What about adding some cheese or turkey bacon to your breakfast?

    Then, what about nuts? High, healthy cal and filling!

    Cheese sticks, cottage cheese, coconut milk will had healthy fats and calories to your diet.

    Also, I try to load up on veggies even though they aren't high calorie
  • pattitricia85
    pattitricia85 Posts: 376
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    Just a few suggestions for your meals from today... maybe add a couple of tablespoons of peanut butter to your banana? For lunch instead of a turkey salad make it a wrap or the actual sandwich, and add avocado. I would try to incorporate another snack like greek yogurt and sprinkle in almonds or walnuts. Hope this helps :)
  • FaithHopeTrust
    FaithHopeTrust Posts: 105 Member
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    You need to generally EAT more...
    you should start having bigger meals like... a sandwich and then a dessert for lunch and then a meal with dessert for dinner...
    you can have healthy desserts though. it doesnt have to be unhealthy.
    try eating more carbs and protiens too
  • ltaylore
    ltaylore Posts: 54 Member
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    2 tbsp of peanut butter is about 200 calories. Also add more fruits and vegetables to your diet. Corn has more calories than most vegetables.
  • Jdine
    Jdine Posts: 36 Member
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    eat another egg with your breakfast.. Eat 1/2 cup of oatmeal too, complex carbs in the morning will give you energy thru the day

    Try adding some lean sources of protein like fish to your diet talipia or salmon

    add some healthy fats from extra virgin olive oil or natural peanut butter or almonds

    add some whole grains and complex carbs to your diet like extra long grain brown rice or sweet potatoes or wheat pasta

    you should eat at least 400 calories per meal and more if your doing all that bike riding You might want to consider adding a protein shake with at least 20grams of protein to make sure you dont burn up your muscle doing all that cardio.
  • auryted
    auryted Posts: 9
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    Nuts and peanut butter have so many calories. Try wholemeal pasta, rice with your main meals. Avocados are healthy and rich in good fat which makes them high in cals. You can drink juices and smoothies, although they are high in sugar, but they are natural plus all these vitamins. Pop some unsweetened and unsalted pop corn at home and snack while you are watching tv or surfing the net - you won't even notice how you finish them. God, I wish I had a problem like yours!!!!
  • SoCalSwimmerDude
    SoCalSwimmerDude Posts: 480 Member
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    "Can't get enough cals healthily"

    Yes you can. Peanut Butter, Nuts, Avacado, Yogurt (preferably greek), dairy of various varieties, up grain filled carbs ON OCCASION, granola, olive oil, etc etc. All of these are higher in cals (and good fats in alot of situations), but contain very good nutrients.

    There comes a point (I went through this about 1-2 wks ago), when you need to realize that you are monitoring your cals, not specifically trying to eat 'low cal' anymore. Focus on eating very healthy, not eating very low-cal and you'll be fine. Its scary at first, but easily done.
  • slay0r
    slay0r Posts: 669 Member
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    There's one problem with the suggestions, should have said I can't eat nuts, I don't eat peanut butter either, just not a fan at all it makes my skin crawl for some reason.

    I've doubled the egg in the morning to two, some mornings I'll scramble them, others I'll poach.

    I'll try getting the full sandwich from Subway then, or double meating everything I eat, I go to tesco and get sushi or red salmon sandwiches anyway sometimes so I'll double up on those too if I'm not hitting my calorie targets.

    Avacado I can do though, and yoghurt and granola good ideas! I need the yoghurt the most I think, I don't think I'm getting much calcium from my diet, never been a fan of milk so I don't think I get enough naturally!
  • Schwiggity
    Schwiggity Posts: 1,449 Member
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    What do you cook the stir-fry in? Adding different oils (especially olive) to your cooking is an easy way to up the calories. You could also do with a bit more protein I think, so perhaps add more lean cuts of meat to your dinners and if you ever make your own lunches, do the same then.
  • slay0r
    slay0r Posts: 669 Member
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    Yeah I think I will do that. I'm adding in Olive oil but I'm not logging it because I'm also walking around quite a lot and running up and down 4 flights of stairs at work so I'm pretty sure they all balance out across the day.

    I'll definitely add more protein then, if I think I'm not hitting my protein and I'm eating a lot should I drink a shake? I've got some really good shakes with no carbs in them and low sugars.

    In my stirfrys I just put like a single chicken breast or even less, some pak choi, some veggies, some beansprouts and some sauce with vermecilli noodles. It seems to add up to like 800 cals on my tracker because I have a lot of noodles. It's a massive plate so I can't think how to up that. Might have to create a 4th meal to the day or something!
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    By the look of it, your evening meal is ok, but you could always add a healthy pudding afterwards? it seem to be your breakfast and lunch that you need to work on most. Maybe a glass of milk with breakfast, and 2 eggs is not loads, so you could make it 3? With lunch i would say that you need some carbs, and not just have salad, so like you say, a sandwich or something with rice?

    As for snacks, i LOVE prawns with a sweet chilli dip at the moment, loads of protien & v tasty.

    Plus you can always have the odd treat to help your cals, the odd bit of chocolate wont hurt if u fancy it!
  • Jdine
    Jdine Posts: 36 Member
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    Yes start drinking a protein shake! If your doing all that cardio your body will start to cannibalize your muscles if your not getting a sufficient amount of protein to support and maintain. adding a shake in between your meals is a great idea.. And try adding more complex carbs.. Wheat pasta, Brown rice, oatmeal, sweet potato's Complex carbs break down slower and release energy through the day.. I eat two dinners each about 400 calories. Fish and rice and then some fish and pasta..
  • Chainsaw_Flowerchild
    Chainsaw_Flowerchild Posts: 65
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    I'd suggest a protein shake too.
  • slay0r
    slay0r Posts: 669 Member
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    Sweet, thanks for that guys, I'll try adding some carbs to it and some protein shakes and see what happens. I'm looking to start building my upper body a little so I'll need the shakes anyway I think.

    I'll start adding some carbs in. Some brown rice is easy to put with some chicken I've just not had a lot of time to prepare meals. I'll try making lots for dinner and eating it at lunch the next day, maybe even make enough for 2 sets of meals for lunch, one with pasta one with rice like you do.

    Thank you very much! Any other ideas please keep posting!
  • melaniecheeks
    melaniecheeks Posts: 6,349 Member
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    90 calories in a banana? I thought they were much higher than that.
  • melaniecheeks
    melaniecheeks Posts: 6,349 Member
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    Alternatives to nuts could be roast soy beans or wasabi peas.

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