I'm full but I have all these calories left!!

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divinebird
divinebird Posts: 81 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I could really use some opinions here. I started MFP just under a month ago and I've lost at least 10lbs. (I had lost 12 but then gained back 2 when I was stabilizing.) I have been getting more active, resulting in more calories burned. Most of them come from working in my garden and walking, as well as Wii Fit and Wii Sports.

Lately I find that I will end the day utterly stuffed, full of delicious fruit and veg, and yet I'll still have 400 or more calories left over. I can barely eat another strawberry, let alone 400 calories' worth! And then there are the times when I've got a calorie deficit, AND I'm full, and I feel like playing Wii Fit or going on a walk...and as a result, I don't end up doing those things. As I mentioned in my latest blog post, I am not active enough to TURN MYSELF DOWN when I feel like getting up off the couch. I don't know what to do.

When it's summer, I tend to only eat meat once a day in favor of all the wonderful plants that are in season. This is great for lots of reasons but I need to figure out what to do with all those extra calories. Some of my MFP friends eat them all back; some don't. Some have half of them. This week I'm going to try eating some of them but I don't want to push myself to indigestion just to accommodate them.

What do you do? Do you think it's still healthy to ignore the extra calories so long as I've met my original 1240? If I'm feeling truly, happily full, should I still be trying to stuff myself further in order to close the gap? Help a girl out here!

Replies

  • beccala18
    beccala18 Posts: 293 Member
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    Some ways to get in more calories without too much more food is to add in healthy fats like nuts, avocados, nut butters, olive or coconut oil. Those can be added to the food you are already eating. Walnuts pack a delicious calorie punch at 200 cal for 1/4c.
  • divinebird
    divinebird Posts: 81 Member
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    That's a good idea--I could add them to my salads. I worry about going over on my fat grams for the day, but maybe it won't be too bad if I'm going over with good fats, and just keeping an eye on them.

    I'm still interested to know people's opinions on what to do about those extra calories--do they NEED to be eaten?
  • ktdid1133
    ktdid1133 Posts: 5 Member
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    Every body is different so there isn't one specific answer I can give you. Don't not exercise though because you don't want to have extra calories left...instead...have a glass of milk, or like the poster mentioned above..some nuts. You could even allow yourself to have a treat like a piece of dark chocolate with all those calories left. I wish I had that problem as I tend of eat all of my calories and sometimes I am still hungry. Good luck!
  • misskerouac
    misskerouac Posts: 2,242 Member
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    Some ways to get in more calories without too much more food is to add in healthy fats like nuts, avocados, nut butters, olive or coconut oil. Those can be added to the food you are already eating. Walnuts pack a delicious calorie punch at 200 cal for 1/4c.

    ^^ This.

    Don't ignore good healthy foods just because they are higher in calories, it can seem kind of scary but you have the extra calories to fit them in. I eat 2Tbsp of Peanut Butter everyday with an apple for my mid morning snack and the PB alone is 160 calories.
  • aniamakesitcount
    aniamakesitcount Posts: 7
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    well, I have to admit that I have the same problem. I'm not stuffed as if I've just eaten a really big meal, but full and satified. I had the same problem last year and I was working out a lot. Maybe it's not something bad, maybe it's just because we're all different? You have to choose what's the best for you :)
  • dougii
    dougii Posts: 679 Member
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    I burn 800 - 1000 calories every day exercising and I leave calories on the table almost every day... Neither my doctor nor I have a problem with this and I have been losing weight month over month since January. This may not work for everyone but it has worked wonders for me, more energy, wearing clothes I haven't seen out of my closet in over a decade, and I am not hungry. Let your body (and your doctor) be the judge of what you choose to do......
  • summer8it
    summer8it Posts: 433 Member
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    If your body is giving you a healthy message, like "let's go for a walk" or "I'm full, you don't need to eat any more," then I think it's wise to listen to your body. (When your body starts asking for Oreos, though, it's ok to tell it to shut up.)
  • divinebird
    divinebird Posts: 81 Member
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    If your body is giving you a healthy message, like "let's go for a walk" or "I'm full, you don't need to eat any more," then I think it's wise to listen to your body. (When your body starts asking for Oreos, though, it's ok to tell it to shut up.)

    Hahah! I think this is where my philosophy lies.

    Also, is that you hooping in your pic?? I have a lovely, shiny, bright green hoop and am looking forward to using it. :)
  • MinnieInMaine
    MinnieInMaine Posts: 6,400 Member
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    Unless you're using a good heart rate monitor to calculate your calorie burns, it's very possible that they're overestimated. 1200 is the minimum goal but considering how active you're being, I would try to eat back at least half of your exercise calories.

    I'm also a fan of adding nuts and nut butters. Just be careful on the sodium content of both and don't worry about the healthy fats. Avocados, beans/legumes and eggs are also good calorie boosters and the beans and eggs will help make sure you're getting plenty of protein too. You may also consider adding a protein shake into your day at some point. And maybe think about having mutliple small meals during the day instead of 3 small ones. You won't get as full from a snack sized meal but it should give you enough fuel to keep you going in your new active lifestyle.
  • divinebird
    divinebird Posts: 81 Member
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    Thanks guys!! My Dr. seems happy with my progress and I think I'm going to keep listening to my body as one poster put it. I REALLY appreciate the ideas about nuts and healthy fats, too--I think I'm going to make some peanut butter this weekend. Yummmmm!
  • senyosmom
    senyosmom Posts: 613 Member
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    eat more healthy stuff with higher calories like nuts and avocados.
  • michellematteson
    michellematteson Posts: 134
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    Couldn't see your diary, but if you have some low fat or no fat foods you can go full fat instead. 1% or 2% milk instead of skim for example. Also, like someone has already said, some nice treats for working so hard would be good too.
  • ArroganceInStep
    ArroganceInStep Posts: 6,239 Member
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    How confident are you in the accuracy of your calorie burn estimations? In the accuracy of your calorie intake estimations?

    Based on the way MFP calculates calorie targets for you, you should eat back your exercise calories. That's assuming perfect accuracy in logging though (which we don't achieve) and even then is only aligning with an estimated goal. Your diary is blocked so I can't speak to it directly, but what is your average daily calorie intake?
  • andreabrightside
    andreabrightside Posts: 46
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    Eat when you're hungry, stop when you're full.

    Make sure you're getting enough micronutrients (all of your vitamins and minerals) and your macros too. Foods with protein are usually more calorically-dense, so if you want to eat more, eat those. If you're trying to build muscle, you need to eat more protein to let the muscles grow.

    But if you're feeling fine and your doctor hasn't said anything, then it's fine to eat below your intake. Since you're filling yourself with good food (mostly plants), I don't see a reason to worry.
  • divinebird
    divinebird Posts: 81 Member
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    How confident are you in the accuracy of your calorie burn estimations? In the accuracy of your calorie intake estimations?

    Based on the way MFP calculates calorie targets for you, you should eat back your exercise calories. That's assuming perfect accuracy in logging though (which we don't achieve) and even then is only aligning with an estimated goal. Your diary is blocked so I can't speak to it directly, but what is your average daily calorie intake?

    Sorry, I thought my diary was open! It is now. :)
    Generally I eat about 1300-1500 calories, based on an MFP goal of 1240 plus exercise calories. I'm pretty confident that my calorie burn estimations are fairly correct, because I am coming from years of being out of shape and mostly sedentary, so even a walk around the block was HARD work! It's getting better because I'm walking nearly every day, but at first I know I burned a lot more calories with a lot less exercise. If that makes sense.
  • ArroganceInStep
    ArroganceInStep Posts: 6,239 Member
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    Sorry, I thought my diary was open! It is now. :)
    Generally I eat about 1300-1500 calories, based on an MFP goal of 1240 plus exercise calories. I'm pretty confident that my calorie burn estimations are fairly correct, because I am coming from years of being out of shape and mostly sedentary, so even a walk around the block was HARD work! It's getting better because I'm walking nearly every day, but at first I know I burned a lot more calories with a lot less exercise. If that makes sense.

    I don't mean to imply that you aren't working hard. One major recurring problem for many people is inaccuracies in measurements while trying to lose weight. You got a daily intake target based off a formula that's designed to try to fit closely as many folks as possible...it's an estimate. People in general, even scientists doing studies on this stuff, are notoriously bad at accurately assessing calorie intake (most often they underestimate the figure). With exercise/calorie expenditure, it's even harder (and unfortunately in this case it's often an overestimate of the figure). You'll see some people saying they only eat back 50% of their exercise calories, or 25% of their exercise calories or some such. There may be a lot of reasons for this, but I think the one that's best is essentially saying 'to account for inaccuracies that are probably in my estimations, I'm only going to eat back a limited amount of these exercise calories'. Please note that this is not saying not to eat back your exercise cals because the theory of doing that is wrong.

    Suggestions:
    1) Reconfirm the accuracy of your estimations. Are you using a food scale/measuring cups/etc? Logging cooking oils and things in your food? Are you double checking the MFP entries since many of them are incorrect? Do you use a heart rate monitor for exercise? Have you considered a fit bit to get a more accurate TDEE than MFP gives?

    2) Consider if you have 'cheat days'. All a cheat day is is a day with a spike in calories. They don't magically disappear. If you have a cheat day where you're 1200 calories over your estimate, on all of your other days you need to be 200 calories under your calorie estimate to continue losing weight at the same pace. Take that into account when looking at your daily averages.

    3) Guess and check. Lets say you routinely have a 400 calorie difference over MFP's suggestion. Instead of jumping to 400 right away. Try adding 100 calories for 2 weeks and see what happens. Then add another 100 for the next 2 weeks, and so on and so forth. Stop if you see it negatively affecting your weight loss rate.

    4) Find what works for you, and sanity check yourself. If you're eating 1500 calories and working out hard for 8 hours a day, chances are you're doing something wrong. Likewise if you feel so stuffed you can't move and pass out from a food coma might not be such a good idea either.

    For me personally, I have found that only logging my cardio workouts (so I don't log weight lifting or my martial arts classes or anything else) has been about the right sweet spot and, at least beer math-ing it, about makes up for estimation errors I may unknowingly introduce.


    My $0.02, good luck!

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