Struggling to eat enough

mamiereilly
mamiereilly Posts: 2 Member
edited November 2024 in Food and Nutrition
I have been struggling to lose weight for a while so I decided to get back on track. I'm following whole30, tracking everything I eat, and walking/running/lifting. I have lost about 7 lbs so far which I feel like was mostly inflammation. So now that I'm tracking my meals in really struggling to hit the minimum acceptable calories much less my calorie goal. I'd love some suggestions.
I don't eat meat aside from some fish, I don't eat dairy at all. I do eat eggs.

An example meal that I ate today is a salad of spinach, tomatoes, cucumbers, diced egg, and some tuna. I only put about a 1/4 cup of tuna, this seems like a lot to me. I'm very full after eating, but it's super low calorie. That was two of my meals today. Thanks for any tips!

Replies

  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    I just read up on Whole30. Are you weighing and tracking as well as restricting?

    I suggest you stock up on easily consumable foods to help reach your minimum daily.

    Do you have fruit around for a quick snack?

    Have nuts and seeds handy.
  • kam26001
    kam26001 Posts: 2,794 Member
    Whole30 permits fruits. Are you eating any?
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    Starchy vegetables can be filling. Try spaghetti squash, and any type of potato.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,221 Member
    jgnatca wrote: »
    Starchy vegetables can be filling. Try spaghetti squash, and any type of potato.

    She's having trouble eating the minimum calories. She needs calories that aren't so filling, so she can eat enough.

    @mamiereilly, do you put any oil on your salad? That would boost the calories, and you need fat for your body to be able to use fat-soluble vitamins (not to mention for other processes going on in your body).
  • lucerorojo
    lucerorojo Posts: 789 Member
    Nuts, avocado, sunflower seeds or pistachios in your salad? Add more tuna. You can add a lot with nuts. Can you eat olives on this program? They also would add a lot of calories.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    In my experience feeling full on a very low calorie restricted diet is from lack of options and boredom (can’t.even.look.at.another.lettuce). So the “cure” is to broaden out the choices available.
  • mamiereilly
    mamiereilly Posts: 2 Member
    Thanks everyone, these are excellent suggestions! Adding in some nuts today, and going to try to adjust some other things as well!
  • pinuplove
    pinuplove Posts: 12,871 Member
    jgnatca wrote: »
    In my experience feeling full on a very low calorie restricted diet is from lack of options and boredom (can’t.even.look.at.another.lettuce). So the “cure” is to broaden out the choices available.

    Agreed. Sometimes I don't even want to look at another spinach leaf or tomato or carrot (as tasty as they all are) but I'm usually game for a slice of toast with some peanut butter!
  • Sunna_W
    Sunna_W Posts: 744 Member
    edited February 2018
    Avocado on salads is good. Coconut milk (from the can with no additives mixed with water) to drink and shredded coconut with no added sugar really helped to bring my calories up to where they needed to be; I just added the coconut as toppings to things. Sweet potatoes, butternut squash both help also. Invest in some spice mixes, (www.penzeys.com). I like their chili 3000, Greek, hot curry, etc. some of them have a negligible amount of sugar, and, they didn't seem to cause me a problem. The spices to me were key, it woke my taste buds up and I can eat the same thing over and over with different spices and it's not boring to me.
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