No appetite/long story.

Congrats on the 31 pound loss so far!

I'm glad you realize you are seriously under-fueling your body and need to eat more. That's one extreme. The other extreme got you to 242 pounds. Your answer lies somewhere in between.

With your high activity level, you don't have to exist on "diet food" in order to lose weight. Perhaps eat more of your previous favorite foods, just in smaller portions or less off the "favorite foods" menu per day. For example, if you used to have fast food multiple times per day or week, still have it, but less often. Or get small French fries instead of large or skip them altogether.

If I wanted to be more interested in eating lunch and add calories to it, I'd fry the egg and add bacon and cheese.

I'd add nuts to the banana.

Etc.

Please note that I added foods higher in fat - at 9 calories per gram vs carb and protein's 4 calories per gram, it's easier to get calories from high fat foods.

Not sure where you're getting the idea that 1,600 calories is a high intake for your size? I maintain on about that (net) at less than 145 lbs. As @kshama2001 pointed out, you're under-fuelling.

Kosterc4383 wrote: »

Yeah I am very aware I am under fueling. I gained 88 pounds over 17 years.

You are awesome! If you would like some advice from me, here you go.

This website has a lot of very inspired, intelligent, motivated members. We are all fortunate.

You have many things happening all at the same time. Please take time for each of them. Focus on one concern, and good answers will come from MFP. Having all the issues, all crammed into one big question, might not be too helpful.

Start a thread with each topic. How about this.

"I want to have a larger healthy breakfast but it is not easy for me. How can I change my habits and routines to get more good calories first thing in a day?"

That's a good one. I struggle with that too.

Then make one thread for each topics. Like "How can I be more accurate measuring calories burned when I go for a walk?" etc.

Congratulations again on getting some of your weight off.

Your story is sorta like mine. Cfs and fibro. Not enough energy to eat. Just like the exercise, some relief comes with time, some I still struggle with. I didn't do near as well as you have so far. But I am feeling so much better and enjoy life so much more that I don't work on it as hard as I should.
Congratulations on doing so well, losing so much, and still trying!
I know if you've found a way to get this far, you'll find a way to make it work.

Congratulations on the progress you are making and the exercise you are getting in. How carefully are you tracking your food intake? Your summary suggests that you might be weighing some stuff but not everything- I suspect you might be underestimating calories you are taking in if you are just guessing at amounts and roughly calculating calories. Those small variations can add up to a lot over a day. Even more calories creep in if you forget to add all cooking oils you use, sauces, dressings, butter on bread, milk and sugar in coffee. Etc.
To show how one person’s estimates vary from another’s just look at the variety of incorrect listings in the MFP database. My own estimates of what you describe eating would come up with somewhat higher calories daily. (That isn’t necessarily accurate - it just shows that guessing tends to be all over the place.).

My estimate would be that a large boiled egg is 80 calories on its own. A slice of bread with no butter is easily 120-130 calories depending on the brand, unless you are getting the skinny sliced, reduced calorie breads which are more in the 80-100 calorie range. What I think of as “Buns” would generally be 4 or 5 times as big as a slice of standard bread. So I would calculate egg on half a bun without any butter at 320 calories. If you add butter add another 120 calories.

Similarly coffee, unless you are measuring you may be drinking many more calories than you think - especially if you like a lot of milk and sugar in your coffee and if you are drinking from a mug rather than a small 7.5 oz cup. If you are buying your latte at a coffee shop I would estimate the calories at higher than 128. For instance, starbucks advertises nutrition info for its medium (grande) latte made with 2% milk at 190 calories. If you add sugar, add 30 calories per packet added.
All of this can be avoided by weighing on a digital scale and recording the right amount according to nutrition labels.
I also noticed that your summary doesn’t mention any vegetables or fruits with fiber. You may be feeling sluggish and therefore not able to eat what you think you should be eating to keep your energy up if you aren’t getting enough roughage and your digestive system is moving slowly. If you are going from being obese and overeating, to restricting calories and exercising your digestive system will slow down naturally anyway because there is not as much food in your digestive tract to process. Bananas are not helpful in this regard - they are high in sugar and give a good energy boost, but relatively low in fiber and can actually slow your digestive system’s /bowel activity. They are often recommended when people have stomach upset from flu for instance.
Rather than just adding fat or sugar calories to your day which won’t keep you going long term and may make you feel even more tired once you crash from your sugar boost, I’d try to add calories from more nutritious, fiber rich, less calorically dense foods like fruit and vegetables, leaner meats, and some lean dairy like greek yogurt. Would you enjoy greek yogurt with some berries for an early breakfast before going to the gym, then maybe switch the bun out for some sliced tomatoes and avocado for more vitamins nutrition/healthy fats/fewer carbs with your egg. Maybe have an apple and some edamame later in the day and have your meat sliced over a green salad.
Despite what I say above, when we start paying attention to food and exercise we (or at least I) can get a bit obsessive about doing things right and in reality it isn’t super important to do that. Making broad general changes that are overall helpful are what you are going for at the outset. But trying to make those changes with a realistic mindset is important. Sometimes people can worry that they always need the right snack or drink at the ready etc. to fuel their workouts, when the reality is you are not going to starve.
The best thing I did was to learn to listen to what my body was really saying and give it what it actually needed. Mostly it didn’t need power bars or protein shakes or a caffeine and sugar fix to power me through the day and (it actually never needs these things, though sometimes I have them because I am tired or for other reasons). So when your body is tired = sleep. When it is thirsty = drink water, When it is hungry (not bored, tired, thirsty, sad, used to eating out of habit, but actually hungry) = feed it. Otherwise, don’t just let life happen to you or around you. Go out and live it - even if it is kind of crappy at times. Its the living - both good and bad - that makes us human and makes us whole.

Heated pools.

This New Englander laughs at the idea of swimming in that kind of warmth.

At the beach, at least you go numb from the cold pretty quickly.

Not all of the US is Southern California.

herringboxes wrote: »

Heated pools.

This New Englander laughs at the idea of swimming in that kind of warmth.

I applaud cold water bravato. I've spent much time in the ocean on both the east and west coasts.

herringboxes wrote: »

Not all of the US is Southern California.

Careful. The So. Cal Pacific ocean is not any kind of warm water paradise.

You Mainers all fly down south to Daytona or Myrtle for your swims. San Diego is as far south as we have.

Today SD ocean temp is 55°F and Portland ME is 57°F (according to NOAA)