Unable to meet calorie goals

you must be one amazing person lol if you can not meet your calorie goal. are you trying to lose or gain? what is your goal for the day? i tend to go over on sugar quickly because i eat a lot of fruits. avocados are high in calories and are unfortunately my favorite! you can cook with a low sodium butter or put some olive or flax seed oil on top of your food. you can also drink your calories with juices and milk which will provide you with added vitamins like calcium and vitamin c. don't get discouraged and i don't think you should force yourself to eat if you are not hungry, that might not be good either. hope this helps. this is what i would do at least

You can check out my food diary to get ideas...I'm on a 1400 calorie lifestyle...lol. Good luck and you can add me if you'd like.

That was my issue when I first started. I was always a water drinker, so what I did was purchase a really good quality protein powder and mix it with my water three times per day. It adds 23-25 grams of protein 3 times a day and anywhere between 120-150 calories per serving. Protien help keep you full so you are not craving. Eat a hearty breakfast, with at least 8 grams of protein, have a snack (protein shake) a few hours later, fix a healthy lunch, again with good protein (tuna, chicken, hard cooked eggs) another protein shake as a snack, a good evening meal and finally a third shake in the late evening. You will increase your calorie intake by about 400 and your protein grams by about 70.

I had heard that MFP over-states calories burned from exercise. Recently, I have returned to the gym and I am submitting the calories burned as displayed by the machine vs what MFP recommends. For example, today I walked for 60 min on the treadmill and the machine said 323 calories, however, MFP said 596.

OK According to my nutritionist, the first rule of thumb with this calorie counter thing is that when you exercise and it adds extra calories you can eat.....stick to the calories you are told to eat without the exercising.
Example: if you are allowed to eat 1400 calories a day and you exercise and it ADDS 450 calories to your 1400 (1400 + 450 = 1850), DON"T go over your 1400. You don't NEED the extra calories. Those added are for MAINTAINING you current weight. You are trying to lose, so stick to what your calorie goal is before the exercising.
Oh, 3 liters of water is too much for your body to process also, try tea or flavored water (the clear, no calorie or sugar ones). That will make you a little bit hungery so you can nurish your body with what it needs or wants. It is ok to have sweets sometimes, just in moderation. According to my nutritionist, you can eat junk food all day long as long as you don't go over you calorie goal. (I haven't put that to the test......)
Hope that helps. You can add me if you wish.

Good Luck

Raw almonds are packed with calories and low in sugar--however, they're pretty high in fat, but it's the good kind of fat. And I think they're pretty filling.

I had heard that MFP over-states calories burned from exercise. Recently, I have returned to the gym and I am submitting the calories burned as displayed by the machine vs what MFP recommends. For example, today I walked for 60 min on the treadmill and the machine said 323 calories, however, MFP said 596.

This^ even my p90x WAY overstates caories burned. I found a great site that tells me by my weight and such tho for p90x...makes a big difference by like 50%...

*Buy nuts, measure them out and put them in ziplock baggies. When you can't meet your limit, grab a bag.
*Add avocado to your morning breakfast routine. (I eat half of one).

I got the same issue.
Funny thing is I was trying to loose weight for ages so I been cutting on food.
I was getting frustrated as I wasn't loosing any, even though I had been told chances are slim because I have Addisons disease which kinda messes with my metabolism, and I'm on cortisone for life and also on epilepsy meds, but it doesn't keep me from trying. So anyway, someone suggested to try this app, and i did.
After 2 days filing in I had waaaay to few calories, around 900/1000 a day, and it kept saying I put myself in starvation mode.
I suppose I wasn't doing my body any good as it messes even more with the metabolism.

So I hooooope I can get to eat more to get more calories...Argh, so hard!

The idea of eating nuts sound great but I'm deadly allergic to it -_- bah

I looked at your diary for today. I would suggest getting rid of the diet coke and replace with some healthier alternatives, even a treat if you have wiggle room. The diet pop is not a very good option if you are trying to eat clean. You can pick from multiple fruits, nuts, cheese or all of the above. That should help you get to your calorie baseline goal. Choosing to eat your exercise calories is up to you. Some do and some don't but the overall opinion is at least eat some of them.

I think this is the hardest thing for people from what I keep reading. I don't want to offer advise just want to say good luck. I'm not sure if this will help or hinder I don't eat all of my calories and I've been losing weight. Before I knew about having to eat all my calories I was living in ignorant bliss. I lost 58 lbs before i had even heard of this website. I excercised and ate healthy and lost weight. Good luck, don't stress and be healthy. Do you yalls.(ghetto paula dean says)

OK According to my nutritionist, the first rule of thumb with this calorie counter thing is that when you exercise and it adds extra calories you can eat.....stick to the calories you are told to eat without the exercising.
Example: if you are allowed to eat 1400 calories a day and you exercise and it ADDS 450 calories to your 1400 (1400 + 450 = 1850), DON"T go over your 1400. You don't NEED the extra calories. Those added are for MAINTAINING you current weight. You are trying to lose, so stick to what your calorie goal is before the exercising.
Oh, 3 liters of water is too much for your body to process also, try tea or flavored water (the clear, no calorie or sugar ones). That will make you a little bit hungery so you can nurish your body with what it needs or wants. It is ok to have sweets sometimes, just in moderation. According to my nutritionist, you can eat junk food all day long as long as you don't go over you calorie goal. (I haven't put that to the test......)
Hope that helps. You can add me if you wish.

Good Luck

Wow... my nutritionist would have a field day with your nutritionist... eating and exercising like that is what stalled my metabolism and put my heart muscle at risk. To each their own, I guess. I also Love hearing a so-called medical professional telling people paying for their services that junk food is just as good for fueling your body as real food. Calories in/calories out is def all that matters for losing weight, but for someone w a nutrition degree (she does actually have one, right?) to ignore quality of food like that is pretty crazy.

Also, her/your advice is contrary to MFPs guidelines. As others have said, there is a deficit created already in the amount they give you. Regardless (since you must not gave explained that part to this 'nutritionist'), if you eat 1400 cals, then burn 500, you end up with 900. If you burn more than that, say 700, like I do most days a week, you would end up netting 700/day. That is like sitting at home, doing nothing, but only eating 700 cals. Some days, like my long run days, I was netting 300 or less. Even without the junk food thing (and the water thing...'process' water?? You can't be serious) any professional in the nutrition field advocating that should lose their license. This kind of drastic restriction works for a while for most people, while it slows their metabolism, strains their heart muscle, and makes it so they have to eat at this severe restriction level just to keep from gaining, nevermind being able to lose anymore. This is why yo-yo dieting happens.

OP, if you want to work on getting more cals in, go for nuts, nut butters, regular dairy (cheese, yogurt, etc, not fat free). There are lots of schools of thought here, you'll notice. My thinking is that, sure, you can probably lose quicker at a high deficit, but you may have to stay at that caloric intake forever to maintain, if you don't stall out first. Then you'd have to re-feed your body, a slow, arduous process, which can involve an initial gain, which will make you crazy.... or you could do this in a way that might mean slower losses but also means you can maintain your loss with more food. Given the choice between maintaining my goal weight at 2000, or maintaining my goal weight at 1200-1400... I know which one I'd choose!

Jenniebean is right in what she saying. I've been playing around with my food for around a month now if I eat anything less than 1200 I will gain or have water weight gain. If I exercise and do not eat more than my calorie level intake that I should have its even worse. You can find healthy foods out there that are a little higher in calories. Do not use artificial sweetners like nutria sweet. First of all nutria sweet breaks down into your body as formaldehyde and Ethel alcohol. So not only are you poisoning yourself with Ethel alcohol you are also embalming yourself it is also a nuerotoxin and has the same ingredients of rat poison. So don't believe research it. I am intolerant to it and it causes me to have seizures. Secondly it has been proven to hinder weight loss not help it. That I don't have all the facts but I've lost 25 lbs eating the same foods as my husband. Same calories as him everything. He drinks diet cokes I don't. He hasn't lost anything. Be safe. Finding the right food combination is important as we are all different. Keep watching what you input and then adjust accordingly.