Eating more

for those of you who regularily eat 2000+ calories:

how do you do it?

like i mean how do you really do it, WITHOUT having like 60% of the calories coming from fat, sugar, or drinks loaded with: fat and sugar??

....

I'm been reading Oxygen Magazine and The Eat Clean Diet, and I've been trying to eat the way they recommend (5-6 meals a day, about 300-400cal per meal, clean foods, nothing processed, no sugar, lean protein...etc) BUT IT'S SOO HARD

I think I've had ~1500cal today and 6 meals, and that last 350cal meal was so tough, I had to basically choke it down... the good thing is that any "bad" cravings, or binging has virtually disappeared... the bad thing is that I ran on the treadmill for 50mins today and did some strength training.

the tools say that I need about 1600-2200 calories a day depending on activity level, but If I can only stomach so much, even while working out, how am I ever going to eat "enough" naturally, without having to resort to supplements??

FYI, I'm 5'2/5'3 and want to get my weight back to about 108-110lbs thin but toned (perhaps lower eventually, but this is a good healthy "ideal" weight for someone my size, so ill see how it is) and I dont know how much I weigh right now since I havent weighed myself in 5 months or so... my guess is anywhere from 110-115lbs 

Well, what are you eating? You could get a good amount of calories if you ate egg yolks, for example. Y'know, instead of throwing out the yolks, throw out the whites. :P Egg yolks are VERY nutritious. Have you tried avacado?
What about spreads on dense toast? Like peanutbutter, for example. Remember fats that aren't saturated with hydrogen are GOOD for you. Cheese is another good snack.

Another way to up your calorie intake is to buy a healthy type of cereal, and every time you go into the kitchen just grab a handful. It won't fill you up, and may even help to stimulate your hunger.

Good luck hun. =)

my question asked for advice on how to eat a healthy, normal amount without forcing yourself to eat, or feeling like your on a weight gain diet

I know all about calorie dense foods and healthy fats thank you... but it seems that to reach such high amounts of calories your diet would need to be high in fat (good or bad, it just adds up without the bulk), or carbs, or liquids

the Eat Clean Diet, avoids bad fats found in animal meats, egg yolks, and butter... and specifically says to LIMIT egg yolks to only 1-2 PER WEEK... Peanut butter has to be all natural, no additives because the generic stuff is not very good for you, and any health advice i've heard about cheese is to limit it as much as you can, too many saturated fats.. (and i rarely eat dairy, i feel that it is unessessary and unatural)

BUT i do like the idea of dense toast, and incorporating more carbs is something i need to work on... I want to eat more natural "clean" foods, but eating a "normal person amount" on a daily basis is something I am really struggling with, without planning out meals constantly

I'd say I get 2000 cals a day most days.  I don't eat junk food, never touch sugar, get less than 1500mg sodium a day.... all my medical signs are pretty good too. 

I think what you're struggling with is that you think fat, carbs, dairy products and liquids are unhealthy when they're not.  (Did you know that low-fat dairy products limit fat absorption into the body?)  You think animal fat is a bad thing... which it isn't in moderation.  Generic peanut butter isn't going to kill you.  If your diet is 25-30% fats (animal and vegetable),  50-65% carbohydrate and 15-25% protein, it's pretty well balanced.  If you choose a wide range of natural wholefoods rather than processed food it's a 'clean diet'.  However, if you're hamstrung by all these mistaken ideas (phobias?) that a big part of the good, natural foods available to you are 'bad' in some way then you'll end up eating next to nothing.... QED

hey carmen!

im not sure if this is what your looking for but ill give it a shot sorry if its not what you need

this is how i would get in 1800 ish cals when i was 5 ft 3 and 108lbs! (ive since grown an inch so im trying to gain a bit so im eting more than tis now!)

its simple: every 'mini meal' is balanced - this is just an example of one day

breakfast: oatmeal made with milk and a banana (a bit of each food group)

snack1: yogurt with mixed seeds/nuts/granola and a piece of fruit (like apple/mixed berries)

lunch: sandwich made with 2 slices of wholewheat seeded bread (dense and v.tasty) filled with a veg (grated carrot/sliced tomato/spinach laeves etc.) and protein (hoummous/cheese/soft cheese) im veggie but you could do something with meat?

snack2: a little homemade salad (could also be used for lunch) - a grain( couscous/brown rice/wholewheat pasta) a protein (any bean/chickpea/lentils/you could do some grilled chicken?) come diced veg (peppers/sweetcorn/celery) and a homemade dressing (i like a touch of basalmic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil)

dinner: a simple stir fry - tofu/choice of meat with veg and noodles/brown rice add some chilli, garlic and ginger and it tastes amazing :)

each of these would be around 350 cal but if i wanted/needed a bit extra i would have something sweet for dessert or a hot chocolate/smoothie before bed

i hope this was some help

xxx

Carmen, since you are still in recovery (and are at a healthy, even thin, weight already) I think it's a very bad idea (unhealthy mentally and physically) to be actively trying to lose weight again, much less by a restrictive type diet such as Eat Clean. But you know this already!

nycgirl Eat Clean is NOT restrictive at all, it allows basically everything in moderation, but with an emphasis on wholesome natural, unprossed food... it is the way people SHOULD eat, the way people had been eating for thousands of years.. it was only within the last century that our food became processed and packaged and made "convieniant", and in turn the obesity ratings went up and UP... if anything the Eat Clean diet is the most healthy and smart "diet" out there, AND it supplys you with the amount of calories that most should be eating, NOT restricting.

I'm not trying to lose weight quickly, I am trying to establish a correct way of eat that doesnt revolve around numbers... the eat clean diet avoids counting calories, but gives rough quidelines to how many calories should be taken in per meal, so that you have a general idea of how big these six mini meals should be.

and thnks charlie1990, helps a ton.. and nice to see that you could maintain on such amounts, very reassuring.

basically my biggest concern is how to maintain a balanced lifestyle and eating pattern without feeling force fed... i suppose your body will get used to eating certain amounts at certain intervals during the day and stabalize hunger signals, right?

gi-jane i understand what you are saying, i guess i need to increase my carb intake since their not as filling as lean proteins and vegetables.. still trying to get past that fear, that "giasbash" girl puts a lot of contradicting thoughts in my head!!  lol

if it allows everything in moderation, then why is it restricting you in sugar and animal meats?

and how do these alleged diet guru's know how people SHOULD eat? my guess is if you saw it in a magazine its a load of crap. if you saw a dietician you would get the food pyramid... which is balanced and healthy.

also why dont you leave your body alone... i saw in your profile you want 15% body fat?? if you go for this you are heading STRAIGHT back to chaotic disordered eating land. and you're still aiming for a BMI of 18.5ish? why do you keep doin this? why dont you just aim for good health and happiness? you know 15% will leave you periodless and miserable. why cant you stop driving your body beserk?

ditto what FIDGIT said, except, i dont think your over disordered eating so there is no "going back to it"since youre still there.  your goals are not healthy.

what you need is to become happy w who you are, not a number.  intil then, youll keep going after an illusive weight and mental image you have of yourself.

also, as i wrote to someone else, you have been posting the same thing for a long long time now.  you know you need to eat more so just do it, otherwise another yr will pass and youll be in the same spot, still, again and again.  that is not life.

Well, Im in recovery from anorexia and should probably gain like 30 lbs just to get to the lower end of healthy.  I have come to the conclusion that I cannot eat 100% healthy all the time and still get enough calories.  I dont have time to always cook homecooked meals and I cant afford to buy all organic foods.  I dont think theres any way a person "should" eat because people have different lifestyles and have to fit their diet into their lives.  It does scare me that people always say that processed foods make you fat, but logically I know that the only reason processed food has such a bad reputation, is that people eat way too much of it and build their diets around this type of food.  I figure as long as I eat 80-90% healthy, I should be ok.  One of my biggest problems has always been the fact that I am so scared of certain foods.  Im trying to learn that food is not something I should be afraid of.

What has helped me eat more is things like peanut butter, and like others have said, denser types of bread.  I like pumpernickel and also grainy types of bread. I also drink a lot of milk, and eat dried fruit/trail mix type stuff.  I eat a lot of peanut butter, and buy the natural kind, and love dried fruit and stuff like that, which is all healthy.  I also love dark chocolate for snacks sometimes.  I do eat things like crackers/granola bar type things just because they're easier. I try to buy healthier brands like kashi.  Probably what has helped me the most is peanut butter/nuts and switching from skim milk to higher calorie milk.   

Sorry if this isnt much help, I used to feel just like you and became obsessed with eating healthy food 100% of the time and never eating "treat food," like cookies or ice cream. But thats not always realistic so Im trying really hard to become more open minded about food.

*sigh*

fidget, why must you hate me so much?

1) it DOES NOT restrict sugar or animal meats... it restricts man made PROCESSED unatural sugars (tablesugar, white bread, etc) fruit and whole grains are perfectly fine! ..Animal meats are fine too, but emphasis on eat lean cuts of meat, fish, poultry, and eggs...

2) you obviously have never heard of or seen Tosca Reno, have you? Okay well do some research, she is the author of the "EAT CLEAN DIET" and shes lost 70 some pounds changing her food choices, is about 5'6 and weighs around 130lbs, A HEATHY weight, eats a healthy diet, and is very very fit... her husband is the founder of Oxygen Magazine, a fitness magazine for women... this is not a quick fix diet, it is just an ongoing lifestyle, you eat properly, follow the food guide, keep your meals frequent and make healthy choices, and have regular excersize... tell me where do you see whats wrong with that? if anything it just re-establishes a healthy lifestyle.

3) sorry i thought 15% body fat was okay for women, if not ill consider more realistic goals.. sheeeesh, why do you think im killing myself?.. IM NOT, what is wrong with eating enough and being fit? last time I checked, 108-110lbs was a very good weight for a woman 5'2... even a couple pounds lower is still okay.

theres just no pleasing you is there?

youve written that youre eating 1000 cals about, the healthiest move you can make is to eat MORE.

if you want to excercise, then youll need to eat much more.

focus on just being happy w yourself, the food will then automatically take a back seat.

ugh, I was eating around 1000cal when I was SICK for 3 days!

most days I am well around 1400, but even that is probably too low which is why I am asking this question..

why must everything i say on here be manipulated to make me sound like this terrible insane person?

I WANT to be healthy and fit, and still thin and toned... I know that to decrease body fat you need to increase calories to burn fat, restricting just slows down metabolism and eats away muscle...

nothing that i am saying has anything to do with losing weight, you people just make me sound bad... Yes I want to get to my ideal weight EVENTUALLY but I want to eat the recommended amount of calories, without having to resort to drinking 3 Boost daily or eating peanut butter on everything, because that does not sound like a normal diet... understand?

I'm sorry that I am trying to get my appetite more regular, and my meals wholesome and balanced... shoot me.

Carmen, if I can give you my input? While your choice of diet may not be literally restrictive of food groups, ingredients, and what have you, it is still a diet with limits and rules you needn't inflict on yourself. Given your history with eating and frayed relationship with it, you really ought to be working on loving yourself, appreciating yourself, and not resorting to looking for a written take/opinion on what a healthy lifestyle is. If you want a healthy lifestyle, that means a normal relationship with food and with how you look in the mirror.

That includes losing your "last few pounds" mindset. You needn't lose anything. And even if you want to tone up 15% BF is very low for a woman. While you CAN manage that you have to have a good knowledge of balanced nutrition to maintain it without the correlating problems - like a loss of period or loss of bone density. But again, with your history, I strongly disencourage you doing that, because you do seem to be very much all or nothing.

You can eat well without needing a "guru" on how to do it. Enjoy a bit of everything not limited to you by an allergy or intolerance, moderate your portions of things - just eat sensibly. And remember that healthy doesn't correlate to low calorie and doesn't just mean "peanut butter". Oily fish, avocado. Nuts. Seeds. Nut butter (of all kinds). Healthy oils. Dried fruit and dense fruit - bananas, for example. As for carbohydrate, they ARE filling. Eat the right sorts - ones rich in fibre, ideally - and you'll be pleasantly surprised. There's a recent thread in Foods about good, filling sources of carbohydrate: Suggestions for a complex carb

But PLEASE, Carmen. Enough with the gurus, the books, the magazines, the diets. Even if your weight is healthy I'm worried your mind is still not. Listen to what people are telling you.

carmen i dont hate you. i really dont. in fact i thought we'd sorted stuff. if im totally honest i hadnt seen you around here in ages and had hoped for you that life was good and that the struggle was easing.

but tonight when i saw this, i actually felt genuine pain for you. not coz i hate you but just coz whatever plagued your head is clearly still plaguing (spelling!?) you. i just recognise that pain. im not here to harass you. and im sorry if it seemed like that. i see you fighting the same thing and hiding behind different ploys and deceptions. constantly chasing the same unrealistic and dangerous goals.

i dunno if you see a therapist but if you dont i think you should. no happiness will be attained from 15% bodyfat or perfect eating. because you will spend your every waking moment measuring or weighing and consumed with every gram and ounce and centimetre. like some one said the yrs will go by. the yrs are goin by and you are still suffering.

i dont hate you, i actually dont harbour any negative feelings toward you. i just feel sad after reading you tonight.

Found this in my journal:

I'm a clean-eater, works out 5 times a week, daily calories averaging 1900-2200 cals:

Breakfast: One of the following (carb choices):

• 1/3 cup oat bran or steel cut oats (with cinnamon and 1 tbsp ground flax & wheat germ) with a little REAL maple syrup and berries, fruit, applesauce or canned pumpkin
• 1.5 cups of flaked cereal (like Nature's Path multibran flax) with 1/2 cup soy milk
• whole wheat English muffin with peanut butter and real fruit jam
• homemade whole wheat pancakes with fruit and a little real maple syrup.

Paired with one of the following (protein choices):

• 1 egg or 1/3 cup egg whites (+/- veggies if I have time)
• 1/2 cup plain yogurt with small amount of granola/nuts
• 1/2 cup cottage cheese with apple butter & sunflower seeds
• 1 cup soy milk (Silk Light or Unsweetened)

and sometimes I'll add 1/2 cup of OJ or soy milk 

Lunch: most of the time, i'll bring a whole wheat wrap with leftover meat from the previous night's supper or canned tuna or chicken. I'll add various veggies to it and i'll have a good lunch for ~350 cals. I'll usually pair it with fruit/veggies or yogurt/cottage cheese. Other times, I'll cook extra meat the night before and put it on a salad, or I'll make a big pot of something (like veggie chili or soup) and divide it for lunches during the week.

Dinner: some combo of meat + veg + whole grain. Ex: baked or pan-seared salmon + side salad + brown rice; chicken breast + steamed broccoli + yam fries; tofu stirfry with quinoa, omelette with tons of veggies & toast. 

If I feel like have dessert, I'll add a piece of fruit, puffed cereal (Kashi honey puffed) with soy milk & strawberries, 1 cookie, 1 piece of good quality chocolate, 1 real fruit popsicle, etc)


In between breakfast, lunch and before & after workouts 

Snacks: 1/2 cup plain yogurt or cottage cheese (with fruit, All Bran Buds or a small amount of granola), 1 oz almonds/cashews/walnuts, Kashi dark chocolate cherry granola bar, various fruits [apple, banana, pear, cherries, grapes, mango, etc], baby carrots, individual servings of cheese (like Kraft Live Active), 1/2 whole grain bagel with peanut butter, 1 cup chocolate soy milk, soy coffee misto from Starbucks.

On a regular weekday, my schedule looks like this:

6:00 am: Breakfast = ~400-450 cals

10:15: Snack #1 = ~150-200 cals

12:30 pm: Lunch part 1= ~300 cals (eat larger lunch item... ie: sandwich, wrap, salad, etc)

1:30: Lunch part 2 = ~100 cals (eat smaller item in lunch... ie: banana, yogurt, cottage cheese, etc)

[I find spacing out my lunch really keeps me from snacking in the afternoon and it's easy to do because I have a desk job.]

3:15: Pre-workout snack = ~200 cals

5:45: Post-workout snack = ~150 cals (usually just 1 cup chocolate soy milk)

7:30: Dinner = ~400 cals +/- ~150 cal dessert at ~8:30 (ie: fruit, puffed cereal with soy milk, 1 cookie, small piece of chocolate, homemade vegan muffin, etc)

= ~1650 -  2000 cals total (My RMR is 1788).

k i don't need a 'guru' or whatever you call it, I just need a little reassurance... i enjoy reading oxygen for the tips on how to workout properly to get the best results for your time, and its nice to see healthy fit women who eat properly and maintain a balanced lifestyle

I don't come on here very often because THIS is exactly what I get, critism and negativity for anything I say.. I could ask a simple question like "what is the best kind of soymilk?" and even this question would be manipulated by someone to be "omg why dont you stop this? arnt you recovering from an eating disorder!! Dont drink soymilk, you should be drinking half and half with peanut butter mixed in... and blaha lahalha"

I'm sorry that choosing chicken over a cheese burger makes me feel better, I'm sorry that I don't really care for icecream cause it hurts my teeth, I'm sorry that apples taste best first thing in the morning... just because I'm a "teenager" everyone jumps to the conclusions or something that I should want to be eating more junky crap like 'most' teenagers, so that i establish a healthy relationship with food...?

that doesn't make sense.. eat frequently and when you're hungry, make smart choices, keep portions in check, everything in moderation... that doesnt seem too out there.

I was trying to listen to my body and eat when I needed to.. but still I wouldn't eat enough, and being sick worsened my appetite and made me sleep through most of the day...

but okay for the record the last five days or so I have hit around 1500-1600cal and find my appetite increasing... I had about 1300cal by 5pm today and figured, meh oh well ill do better tomorrow... but BAM a couple hours later I am starving and had to eat more!! so again at about 1600+ cal for the day

I am starting to see that my body is going to get used to eating more, and start asking for food... so there I basically figured out my own reason for posting this question.

thanks for accusing me of going back to old ways, very helpful...

Carmen, I don't think you are being criticized at all.  The people here in Health & Support have lots of good advice and people here like to help others using that knowledge that they have aquired during their own journeys with food and weight.

AND, when you have willingly shared in the past that you have had a problem with disordered eating, the people who really care are going to take that into consideration when they are giving you advice.

And I think fidget had some very good advice for you...I don't see it as hatin' at all.  There was nothing hateful at all in any of her posts on this thread.

I think Fidget was being well-mannered, too. I couldn't see anything hateful in her posting or intent.


There is nothing wrong with wanting to read up on health tips but don't take it as law. And no one has said, "I think you should be going for junk food". What we are all stressing, Carmen, is that you need to sort out your mindset as well as your weight, on your self-image as much your eating patterns. No, that does NOT mean we expect you to have to eat cheeseburgers, fries and ice cream - or junk or empty foods, ALL the time, and nothing remotely healthy or clean. Just make sure you enjoy them some of the time. Enjoy them in moderation as much you might everything else.

Your diet desires, to me, imply you're out to cut those out altogether and this is why I bring up your history with an ED: because restricting the small things is often what can lead to restricting the bigger things. I am sorry if I am reading this wrong and I am not accusing you of wanting to go back to that, but it's a valid concern. 

For example, you've already said you struggle with carbohydrates. Again, not accusing you of wanting to go low or no carb. I provided a link to help you with that and if you're really stumped I am happy to give you some meal ideas. Hell, I would be GLAD to give you some ideas if it means you will be eating healthily and well. If you let me know some foods/proteins/fats you like I can give you some recipes or suggestions and I am sure others would too. As for the high calorie low density stuff, I brought that up because you mentioned struggling to make your calories some days and they're a good means of doing that. Not because I want you to shovel down PB.

I also want to add that your "source" poster on carbohyrdates is hardly the most reliable eater herself and I wouldn't listen to any anxieties she might cause you. :\



The world is not out to get you, Carmen. We're trying to help.