Difficulty getting enough calories
Girlikecupcake
Posts: 19 Member
Heya!
So I have an odd problem, that I'm sure once I (re)learn how to listen to my body will resolve itself anyway. Without eating out or having junk food in the house, I seem to not get enough calories. I find myself keeping filler food (Girl Scout shortbread cookies, anyone?) in the house to make sure I hit a safe minimum number, even if I'm not actually hungry. There was a day last week where I felt like I ate plenty, but I didn't even hit 1k calories.
I am doing the basics like utilizing a food scale and estimating up when using cooking spray, double checking the MFP entries before actually logging, and I'm not yet re-eating my FitBit "exercise" calories until I get a handle on this first little hurdle.
Tips on squeezing in some additional calories to basic food prep? I have cleared my overall diet changes and goals with my doctor already
So I have an odd problem, that I'm sure once I (re)learn how to listen to my body will resolve itself anyway. Without eating out or having junk food in the house, I seem to not get enough calories. I find myself keeping filler food (Girl Scout shortbread cookies, anyone?) in the house to make sure I hit a safe minimum number, even if I'm not actually hungry. There was a day last week where I felt like I ate plenty, but I didn't even hit 1k calories.
I am doing the basics like utilizing a food scale and estimating up when using cooking spray, double checking the MFP entries before actually logging, and I'm not yet re-eating my FitBit "exercise" calories until I get a handle on this first little hurdle.
Tips on squeezing in some additional calories to basic food prep? I have cleared my overall diet changes and goals with my doctor already
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Replies
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Add more fats in. Fat is calorie dense, so it doesn't take up a lot of volume on the plate or in your stomach. Cook your meat and veggies in olive oil. Put butter and nut butter on toast. Eat a handful of nuts as a snack. Use full fat dairy products. Also, eating meats that are higher in fat can help - sausage, meatballs, meat loaf, red meat, dark meat chicken.
You can also add liquid calories - juice, milk, Naked drinks, gatorade, sweetened coffee beverages etc.6 -
TeacupsAndToning wrote: »Can you explain to me how you're full on less than 1000 calories? I don't mean to be doubtful but it seems like you must be logging incorrectly.
I'm not hungry often, and the foods that I have aren't very high in calories. If I don't eat three meals, I'm not going to hit the 1200 that I should be. If I do, I can typically hit right around there.
I had previous issues with EDNOS which my doctor believes may have contributed to not feeling appropriate hunger cues. So I'm trying to eat better things when I actually am hungry, still getting at least 2 meals per day. I can easily go two days without actually feeling hungry- I did food logging a few years ago because I'd forget when I last ate, and it helped me develop (some) better habits.
(I have paczkis in the kitchen that I could easily go eat at roughly 400-450 each, but those are the habits I'm trying to break and eating things like that are how I gained forty pounds)0 -
Add more fats in. Fat is calorie dense, so it doesn't take up a lot of volume on the plate or in your stomach. Cook your meat and veggies in olive oil. Put butter and nut butter on toast. Eat a handful of nuts as a snack. Use full fat dairy products. Also, eating meats that are higher in fat can help - sausage, meatballs, meat loaf, red meat, dark meat chicken.
You can also add liquid calories - juice, milk, Naked drinks, gatorade, sweetened coffee beverages etc.
Thank you for the tips! Adding things to drinks seems to be the easiest, but I definitely need more protein- looks like I'll be getting more mammal meat instead of fish next round of groceries.0 -
Peanut butter is a very calorie dense food. It's about 100 calories per tablespoon depending on the brand. Butter is similar. Oil clocks in at about 120 calories per tablespoon, by comparison.
Nuts themselves are also very dense in calories, as is dried fruit.
There are some protein bars that have 400 or more calories per bar, which might be a good option to carry with you so you'll remember to eat.2 -
Peanut butter is a very calorie dense food. It's about 100 calories per tablespoon depending on the brand. Butter is similar. Oil clocks in at about 120 calories per tablespoon, by comparison.
Nuts themselves are also very dense in calories, as is dried fruit.
There are some protein bars that have 400 or more calories per bar, which might be a good option to carry with you so you'll remember to eat.
Lord, yes. Between peanut butter (at ~100 calories per tablespoon), macadamia nuts (at ~200 calories per ounce) and dried mangoes (at over 100 calories per ounce), I could easily hit 1000 calories without even making a dent in my appetite for the day.
2 slices of toast (at ~110 calories per slice) with 3 tablespoons of peanut butter is over 500 calories and that barely even qualifies as a "snack" in my book. Put a tablespoon of butter on each slice of toast along with the peanut butter and you've got over 700 calories looking enticingly back up at you from two slices of toast.5 -
I have to be careful about protein bars, most that I've seen use soy protein (soy intolerance), but I'll look for some that use whey or another alternative, I didn't even think about carrying those around.0
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Girlikecupcake wrote: »I have to be careful about protein bars, most that I've seen use soy protein (soy intolerance), but I'll look for some that use whey or another alternative, I didn't even think about carrying those around.
Larabars and Kind bars are not high protein, but they are very easy to find and I believe they have no soy. There are also various recipes for making your own protein bars. In addition to whey, you can use pea or hemp protein. I use Orgain protein powder, which is a blend of pea, rice, hemp, and chia protein.1 -
Peanut butter is a very calorie dense food. It's about 100 calories per tablespoon depending on the brand. Butter is similar. Oil clocks in at about 120 calories per tablespoon, by comparison.
Nuts themselves are also very dense in calories, as is dried fruit.
There are some protein bars that have 400 or more calories per bar, which might be a good option to carry with you so you'll remember to eat.
Lord, yes. Between peanut butter (at ~100 calories per tablespoon), macadamia nuts (at ~200 calories per ounce) and dried mangoes (at over 100 calories per ounce), I could easily hit 1000 calories without even making a dent in my appetite for the day.
2 slices of toast (at ~110 calories per slice) with 3 tablespoons of peanut butter is over 500 calories and that barely even qualifies as a "snack" in my book. Put a tablespoon of butter on each slice of toast along with the peanut butter and you've got over 700 calories looking enticingly back up at you from two slices of toast.
Then you can put a banana and some honey on that toast and call it a 900 calorie meal.4 -
Peanut butter is (almost) always the answer!
And now I want pb toast. But unlike OP I have no problems meeting my daily calorie goal without it.2 -
I've had this problem before. I went too extreme when first cutting out junk food. I didn't know what or how to eat. To make sure that I reached my calories for the day I added a serving of nuts with my lunch, a cheese stick as an evening snack. Increased my portion sizes of protein. It takes a little trial and error but you'll figure out what you like and how to incorporate it. You can also add in treats here and there! If I have had my sensible meals and have calories left for the day I use them for a treat like cookies, wine ect...4
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Thank you for all the tips! They're definitely helpful and will help me plan my groceries for next week significantly better than this week went.1
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What do your typical meals look like if your not even coming close to hitting goal and are full? are you loading up on drinks/soda etc. and forgetting to count those calories. I have always just have had a hard time believing 1000 calories fills anyone up. I mean heck a good breakfast of two eggs, one piece of toast with butter, coffee with a splash of cream is close to 500 calories0
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I've just read all the questions and responses and feel that they have helped me! My husband and I have started the ketogenic diet and I was having trouble reaching my 1200 calories each day. I am not hungry, but am eating my 3 meals a day and exercising 3x/wk. I am going to increase my fats using coconut oil and peanut butter. Lost 10 lbs the first week and my energy is great.0
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Sorry guys to jump on this post, but I started last week on 1200 Calories and lost 7lb, this week I put half a pound on
, the only thing I can think of that I'm not drinking enough, because I know I'm terrible for that!! (only wee'd once all day @ work!) or...is my calorie intake not enough!! desperate for advice as getting married in October. Need all the advice I can get, Thank you 0 -
Hunger cues aren't necessary when you have myfitnesspal! Prelog your day and hit your calorie and macro goals, and then just eat what you planned. You don't have to make it more difficult. And of course make sure you're logging correctly. If you're losing at expected rate and feel happy and energetic, you're eating like you should, but both eating too little and too much takes some time to register, and you don't want to crash.1
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Peanut butter is a very calorie dense food. It's about 100 calories per tablespoon depending on the brand. Butter is similar. Oil clocks in at about 120 calories per tablespoon, by comparison.
Nuts themselves are also very dense in calories, as is dried fruit.
There are some protein bars that have 400 or more calories per bar, which might be a good option to carry with you so you'll remember to eat.
Lord, yes. Between peanut butter (at ~100 calories per tablespoon), macadamia nuts (at ~200 calories per ounce) and dried mangoes (at over 100 calories per ounce), I could easily hit 1000 calories without even making a dent in my appetite for the day.
2 slices of toast (at ~110 calories per slice) with 3 tablespoons of peanut butter is over 500 calories and that barely even qualifies as a "snack" in my book. Put a tablespoon of butter on each slice of toast along with the peanut butter and you've got over 700 calories looking enticingly back up at you from two slices of toast.
LOL. Indeed. I got a bag of the dried "tropical fruit salad" from Nuts.com and my first "serving: was like 900 calories when I weighed it. It's still a great snack, but moderation is a lot smaller than I had anticipated.0 -
Girlikecupcake wrote: »Tips on squeezing in some additional calories to basic food prep? I have cleared my overall diet changes and goals with my doctor already
Plan meals in advance, add in extra calories if they are coming in too low. Fat is often a good way to do it. When I first started logging on MFP I realized I'd been going overboard on cutting out extras from meals (starches and fat) and so added some more indulgent feeling foods back in: I allowed myself 2 whole eggs, not an egg and the whites, and put a bit of feta into my morning omelet. If I had a salad I mixed vinegar with a little olive oil to make a dressing, and might add some nuts. I ate larger servings of meat and my starchy side at dinner, as well as the vegetables, and I was more open to using a little olive oil in cooking, things like that.
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Put a tablespoon of coconut oil in your morning coffee or tea. Nice subtle flavor, healthy fat, and a good amount of calories.0
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