Having a hard time eating my calories

hi There!

I am no expert, but I also know eating 800 calories a day is way under the required calories, and I am afraid it will not bring anything good for you.

As mentioned above, have you tried to spread your meals between breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks? I think it might be easier to get the daily needed calories if you do this.

Are you eating enough proteins? And you can choose a healthier proteins too. A grilled / sauteed chicken thigh would probably around 150 to 200 calories (of course this will depend on the exact size of the chicken and how you cook it). Lets say if you have 2 of those for lunch and 1 for dinner, you will acquire around 450 to 600 calories. Not to mention, you will probably eat it with some carbs and veggies.

Or maybe you can try talking to a nutritionist to help you develop a healthy meal plan that is manageable for you, and use this app to do the tracking.

I am currently tracking my macros and calorie intakes, and it is working quite well for me (posted this in the same category).

Wishing you the best, and I am sure you can do this.
Have a great one!

I'm confused about why so many people are trying to convince OP that undereating is bad. Clearly OP is trying to eat more and is asking for help achieving that - please let's lay off the lectures and outright shaming, and lean into answering this request for help.

When you look up "clean eating" you'll see mostly very low calorie foods (most people prioritizing clean eating are trying to reduce their calories), but it is entirely possible to maintain a whole foods, plant based diet AND eat enough calories to reach any reasonable fitness goals healthfully. However you're doing all the things that people do when they're trying to consume FEWER calories!

Forget about low carb, and focus on sources of high fiber complex carbohydrates - whole wheat, quinoa, wild rice, sweet potatoes, fruit. Add some healthy fats - avocado, olive oil, butter (yes I consider butter a clean healthy fat), peanut butter, eggs, nuts, meat (lean cuts don't coincide with your goal right now - you can choose higher fat cuts). If you can't reach your goal with whole foods, you may need to add some Ensure or similar supplement shakes with (not instead of) meals. Carrots are good, but eat the more calorie-dense foods first, before you fill up on veggies. When you're trying to increase calories, you get a pass on not-so-clean foods too, so enjoy that hot dog, pizza, ice cream, or whatever - and have fun with it! As long as you're not eating ONLY junk food and you are mostly fueling your body with high-calorie nutritious foods, you get to let loose a bit AND work toward your goal at the same time!

That said, it's worth doing an honest self assessment to make sure that your food choices are really the issue. Low appetite can be a symptom of depression or other medical conditions. If you find that you have an aversion to calorie-dense foods BECAUSE they're calorie dense, you may need to ask your doctor about an eating disorder. In either of these cases, get off of MFP (and any other calorie counting apps) right away and get in touch with a dietitian instead.

Remember your goals, remember your reasons for achieving them, and ignore the shaming and blaming and fear mongering. Be honest and patient with yourself, and don't be afraid to change anything that isn't supporting your health.

I'm glad you're seeing support and help, and I hope that's what OP sees too. We all use defense mechanisms and interpret other people's words through our own lenses; it's important to be mindful of how our words are likely to be received by others. If I were seeking practical help to eat more calories, I wouldn't want to read a bunch of reminders of the [appearance-focused] health problems that can result from malnutrition, multiple paragraphs explaining why an undereating mom is not good for child development, nor the exclamation "what are you DOING?". Well-intentioned shaming, accompanied by a statement like "said with much love and concern," is still shaming. I hope this discussion will continue with a focus on collaboratively identifying practical things OP can do to improve their diet and reach their goals.

maybe you've fallen prey to the do or die philosophy of dieting. Either eat whatever you want and gain weight.. or do an about face and eat so restrictive that it turns into an opposit problem. However.. hotdogs and buns are not clean eating.. btw.