Trying to figure out how to add more calories, since seems with my strat, it's a bit aggressive

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maryadavies4667
maryadavies4667 Posts: 58 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Okay. I've noticed I'm consistently way under the goal MFP has been setting for me. First month, I lost 21 pounds.

..Considering I started 100 pounds overweight, I didn't think that was too bad and my doctor didn't seem too concerned other than my liver enzymes spiked a little. This week I lost three pounds though.

I'm thinking I need to add some cheap/healthy snacks. Been checking around for unflavored protein powder, tho that seems to be shy. (I do NOT want to add a lot of sugar to my diet right now; sugary snacks/junk food is what got me into this mess) but considering I don't have much money, I would like to be careful on that. There's oranges available of course; and we do get apples too.

Any ideas, folks?
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Replies

  • LKArgh
    LKArgh Posts: 5,179 Member
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    Has your dr recommended eating more? What is your current calorie plan? And if more calories are recommended, why not just eat a bit bigger portions?
  • maryadavies4667
    maryadavies4667 Posts: 58 Member
    edited August 2018
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    I'll call her and tell her about it, she didn't check MFP.

    My current calorie plan is 1910 calories a day; I've been more like 1200 on average. I figure I should have it 1800 at the very worst. Part of it is my sister's food nazi (No, you can't have eggscan'thavemilketc), and I have also not been making protein macros at all.

    Also with bigger portions; have to be real careful there. I think Sis and her dishing up too much when she dishes up for us contributed to me keeping the weight in the first place. (Um, whole plate of pasta? No.)
  • corysmithsmail
    corysmithsmail Posts: 166 Member
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    I think it depends on your starting weight. The bigger you are, the more that is ok to lose at a faster pace. I started at about 100lbs overweight also. When I weighed 265, I lost 20lbs my first month. My doctor was monitoring it, and was comfortable with that. Of course every body is different, but in general the smaller you get, the slower you should lose weight.

    You could try eating more veggies. Frozen are cheaper and still better than sugary snacks. I like protein shakes, you can add in fruit or just mix in water/milk/juice. Fills me up for a decent amount of time.
  • Panini911
    Panini911 Posts: 2,325 Member
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    Almonds. find them on sale at bulk food stores for better price.

    why are you staying so far under your calorie goal? did you correctly enter your stats into MFP to get that goal of 1910? Staying too far under for long periods is not "better" for your health.
  • livingleanlivingclean
    livingleanlivingclean Posts: 11,751 Member
    edited August 2018
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    Protein shakes don't generally have sugar - look for a WPI, the nutrition info should show minimal carbs and fat (if any). They are usually sweetened with artificial sweetener, so no contribution to your sugar intake but an easy way to bump up protein.

    I like adding powder to natural yoghurt for flavour and sweetness - shakes are horrid imo!

    For other non-added sugar snacks, you could try cheese and crackers, nuts, apple with PB, eggs, a sandwich or toast (top with avo, or PB, or cheese... Or whatever!)
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,988 Member
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    It's real easy to add calories with peanut butter, which is about 100 calories per tablespoon, depending on the brand.
  • maryadavies4667
    maryadavies4667 Posts: 58 Member
    edited August 2018
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    Panini; part of it is sis's food nazi attitude and partly b/c I'm sticking to what we have/watching portions a little aggressively. (She is anti milk, surprising since we were raised as milk drinkers. I had to cut way down anyway b/c we can't afford a lot of milk; but I can see why when I cut out all snacks, I drop weight like nuts.) And Spirit; we have a limited amount of cheese and milk (not to mention eggs), so sis is very all food nazi about that. X_X. I'd eat more of that if I could.

    I'm just trying to rethink it and prolly add some protein powder to my oatmeal in the morning. Might start checking grocery stores for protein bars too, as long as those aren't all sugar. X_X. And seeing if I can get some almonds at Sam's might be helpful too.
  • jjpptt2
    jjpptt2 Posts: 5,650 Member
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    maryadavies4667 wrote: »
    Panini; part of it is sis's food nazi attitude and partly b/c I'm sticking to what we have/watching portions a little aggressively. (She is anti milk, surprising since we were raised as milk drinkers. I had to cut way down anyway b/c we can't afford a lot of milk; but I can see why when I cut out all snacks, I drop weight like nuts.)

    I'm just trying to rethink it and prolly add some protein powder to my oatmeal in the morning. Might start checking grocery stores for protein bars too, as long as those aren't all sugar. X_X. And seeing if I can get some almonds at Sam's might be helpful too.

    Can you only cut out *some* snacks?

    Cheese, eggs, tuna, peanut butter... all easy calorie options.
  • maryadavies4667
    maryadavies4667 Posts: 58 Member
    edited August 2018
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    Music; she does in a way b/c she tends to get most of the food (Church food bank, etc) and really, in that case; I don't like to hear her say, "YOU DON'T NEED MILK OR EGGS OR CHEESE! LEAVE THAT ALONE!"; as I said, she is a major food nazi and knows how to push all my buttons. Also we only get 4 gallons of milk every two weeks unless one of my brothers buys some (they usually do; my middle brother is all screw her and drinks lots of it, which annoys my other brother all to heck and gone)

    As for tuna, we have some, I might look into that. Been eating a pb&j sammwich for lunch with some raw carrots; she doesn't mind me getting into the carrots for some reason. And there's no limit on peanut butter, tho yeah, have to be careful there.

    Anyway she overlooks me drinking a cup of milk with breakfast; she hates me getting into the eggs and cheese, tho I've been trying to use a cheese cutter when I use that to control how much; she allows me to basically eat anything else, and of course anything I can scrounge up and buy. I noticed at the Dollar General down the street I can get canned chicken as well as tuna; might consider that too for a change. Finally found the unflavored protein powder at Wal-Mart for a decent price too.

    I'll look into adding some peanut butter to my breakfast in the meantime. Figure I need to deal with this before I get sick.
  • shaf238
    shaf238 Posts: 4,021 Member
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    I'm confused...why does your sister dictate what you eat?
  • pinuplove
    pinuplove Posts: 12,874 Member
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    I'm sorry your financial situation is limiting your options here. What were you eating before you started losing weight? Maybe just add some of that back in or bigger portions of what you currently eat.

    As is often said here, once your nutritional needs are met, you don't get extra credit for eating more broccoli.
  • belladamjc
    belladamjc Posts: 55 Member
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    I'm in a household where I don't dictate the meals either, so for extra protein I have a can of tuna, either alone or with a salad or in a sandwich depending on other macros. A small tub of yoghurt is a good additional filler or veggies/fruit as available. I stay away from protein shakes as I can eat meat/fish and other nutrients are beneficial.
  • jennifer_417
    jennifer_417 Posts: 12,344 Member
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    Peanut butter
  • kiela64
    kiela64 Posts: 1,447 Member
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    Cheap ways to get more protein would be beans & legumes. I don’t know if the food banks will have them (they should, shelf stable and all), but dry bulk stores when they have sales can be fairly cheap. Dry or canned work, just dry is a bit more prep. With rice it’s a complete protein.

    In the meantime, peanut butter or peanuts and an apple is one of my favourite snacks. Easy to push calories up with nuts. It’s good to know what foods your sister isn’t guarding - like carrots. Maybe you can note these things and try to search up snack/meal ideas and try to build some more items into your day while avoiding arguments.

    Good luck! That sounds like a challenging situation with your family ❤️

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