Getting harder to eat all the calories

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Babieseverywhere
Babieseverywhere Posts: 311 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
The healthier the food I am eating the harder it is to meet my daily calories, especially if I exercise as well. Of course on days where I eat rubbish I still struggle to stay under my calories IYSWIM.

For example today after breakfast, lunch (including cauliflower pizza) and two morning snacks I have still got 1000 calories left to eat and after I do my run I will properly have another 300 calories to eat. i.e. 1300 calories to eat between now 3pm and bedtime 9pm

Now I don't mind being 500 calories under daily, as I only have the weight loss target of a pound a week but I should not have more left over should I ?

Of course I'll will be having tea and a post workout snack so I should be down to 800 calories left this evening. My question is as I am very over weight and I'm not hungry do I force myself to finish off those 300/800 calories or not..

Guess I could have a beer or chocolate but that seems so unhealthy.
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Replies

  • asyouseefit
    asyouseefit Posts: 1,265 Member
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    Try calorie-dense food like nuts or avocado. Or buy full fat dairy instead of low fat. You can also treat yourself! Having a 90% healthy - 10% unhealthy diet won't harm your health. If you have a lot of calories left, why not make a real pizza crust (not unhealthy in my book) instead of cauliflower crust?
  • kenzysmom
    kenzysmom Posts: 50
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    I recently asked a similar question and I'm still really struggling. Yesterday I took 2 classes at the gym and according to MFP burned almost 2000 calories. My daily calorie goal without exercise is 2140. There's no way I can eat 4000 calories and eat healthy foods. I went to bed with a 2,000 calorie deficit. This is a major struggle for me as well. I do know that adding in healthy fats is a good way to up your calories, try using less fat free or low fat stuff and opt for the full fat versions. That's what I'm trying to do as well!
  • Christine1110
    Christine1110 Posts: 1,786 Member
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    Eat nuts...they are high in calories, and good fats.
  • sarahstro
    sarahstro Posts: 8
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    I would love to have this problem haha...what are you eating that is keeping you full and staying under youre calories?? im jealous! haha
  • chan1993
    chan1993 Posts: 6
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    Try adding Fish Oils as well as B-Complex Vitamins. Coconut Oil is an excellent oil if you are trying to lose weight, add them to your protein shakes. You should never starve or be hungry. Always make clean protein your main focus, 5 mini meals a day each with protein. This can be toast with egg whites, lunch can be grilled chicken with a huge salad, snacks cottage cheese and berries, If you aren't hungry then listen to your bodies' signals. These are the keys to lasting weight loss. I am a holistic nutritionist, if you have anymore questions please don't hesitate to ask. I am on here to track my calories for a different reason. I am looking to build muscle and maintain my current weight. We all have our own goals. Good luck! :)
  • Babieseverywhere
    Babieseverywhere Posts: 311 Member
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    I love snacking on nuts I have trail mix of plain peanuts with raisins OR chilli coated peanuts and I usually have nuts/seeds on my cereal (not this morning).

    I prefer cauliflower crust to flour pizza crust, it is nice and moist and I love it. I could add more cheese to the pizza I only use 30g of low fat cheese on the pizza.

    Like the idea of adding avocado to my lunch salad, I'll put that on the shopping list. Also adding coconut oil to protein shake that would be good idea to try too.

    I am just struggling to find the proper balance I either have loads of calories left or none !

    I wonder if it is partly due to me breastfeeding and that gives me an extra 200 calories a day, maybe I should ignore that setting ? That said I only chose 'minimal feeding of older baby' when I am actually tandem feeding an older baby and a toddler, minimum of 3 times a day for toddler and 5 times for the baby. I was concerned if I didn't add something in for breastfeeding I would suffer.

    What do you guys think ?
  • theginnyray
    theginnyray Posts: 208 Member
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    First, I personally do not always eat back my workout calories. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. I just follow how my body feels. If I'm still super hungry and have drank plenty of water, I'll eat more. If I feel like I'm eating too much, I'll back off.
    On days when I do a super mega workout - I make sure to eat back some of my calories. But if I burn 2000 calories and don't feel like eating back all 2000, I don't. Maybe I'll only eat 1000 back. I don't starve myself, and I don't force myself to eat. I just bank those extra calories for the next day, maybe I'll be hungrier then.
  • halhix
    halhix Posts: 48 Member
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    I have the same struggle for getting my calories up as well. I usually add nuts or a high protein/high fiber shake right at the end of my workout. You have to be careful of not getting enough calories in or your body will go into starvation mode.

    For those who are using MFP to track calories burned, I noticed that some of the entries that I made in MFP were much higher than I tracked on my Polar heart rate monitor by about 200-300 calories for every 1/2 hr or so. One of the key things that I do when exercising is try to keep my heart rate in fat burning range versus cardio/fitness range. This might be why my numbers are lower for calorie burn. I would be curious to see how they calculate their calorie burn.

    Unfortunately this is my second time trying to get my weight down. I originally dropped from 335 to 214 lbs. Now I am trying to go from 271 to 200 lbs. Stress is such a pain. I hope this helps!
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,007 Member
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    Eat more calorie dense foods......
  • withchaco
    withchaco Posts: 1,026 Member
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    Yes to calorie dense foods. Put EV olive oil on everything, eat nuts, and switch to whole milk/ whole milk products if you're using lowfat/ nonfat.
  • Babieseverywhere
    Babieseverywhere Posts: 311 Member
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    Eat more calorie dense foods......
    Guess you are right, sounds a bit mad that I can swap my very unhealthy food for much healthier food and now it is too low in calories, argghh the irony :)

    Off to eat a banana
  • liberry
    liberry Posts: 1
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    You should try to hit your calorie goal every day. Consistency is key to losing weight. If you have 800 calories for dinner eat them all. Have a piece of cheesecake! If not send them to me I will eat them! LOL
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
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    Low calorie does not equal healthy, and healthy does not equal low calorie.

    I've noticed many people on this board seem to be convinced that only low calorie food is healthy, and that's absolutely not true.

    Nut butters, nuts, lean meats, olive oil, all extremely healthy, calorie dense foods.
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,007 Member
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    Eat more calorie dense foods......
    Guess you are right, sounds a bit mad that I can swap my very unhealthy food for much healthier food and now it is too low in calories, argghh the irony :)

    Off to eat a banana
    Actually that means you get to eat more, how bad is that.
  • Babieseverywhere
    Babieseverywhere Posts: 311 Member
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    Actually that means you get to eat more, how bad is that.

    Not bad at all :)
  • asyouseefit
    asyouseefit Posts: 1,265 Member
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    You could also make healthy-ish muffins, pancakes, banana bread if you are into baking.
  • asyouseefit
    asyouseefit Posts: 1,265 Member
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    You could also make healthy-ish muffins, pancakes, banana bread if you are into baking.
  • midwifekelley2350
    midwifekelley2350 Posts: 337 Member
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    i make sure i hit my target for cal before exercise....i guess i don't understand the whole trying to eat back the calories that i burned off with exercise. i thought the whole idea was to create a deficit. plus...the calculation of the cal burned with exercise is not always accurate.
  • midwifekelley2350
    midwifekelley2350 Posts: 337 Member
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    ps...i was thinking...as you lose, your basal metabolic rate will change so your calories will too...right?
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
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    i make sure i hit my target for cal before exercise....i guess i don't understand the whole trying to eat back the calories that i burned off with exercise. i thought the whole idea was to create a deficit. plus...the calculation of the cal burned with exercise is not always accurate.
    THis site already calculates a deficit for you, without exercise. Increasing the deficit beyond that limit is unhealthy. When you exercise, your body burns off whatever you've eaten. If you eat a 300 calorie breakfast, and then burn off 300 calories in exercise, as far as your body is concerned, you haven't eaten anything, as it utilized that food for energy for your workout, and you didn't get the nutrition from it.

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