Full and satisfied but under calories?

Some days when I do really well and eat healthy I'm under the calories I'm supposed to be at. Like today, I feel like I ate a ton of food, but I'm under 1000. Should I eat more just because or will it balance out over the week? My goal is to be healthy, I'm not really trying to lose more than 5 lbs. 

For example, this is today...

Breakfast - 278 cals

two poached eggs, tomato and dannon light n' fit yogurt

Lunch - 202 cals

salad with tomato, kraft fat free dressing

can of tuna (no mayo, but mustard) and celery and another tomato

Dinner - 200

2 tomatoes, 2 zucchinis and 4 oz of chicken

Snack - 100 cals

Instant oatmeal, no sugar added

Just don't make it a regular thing and you'll be fine. Maybe in the future add a glass or two of skim milk, a couple pieces of fruit, and maybe some servings of whole grains. That would round out your nutrition nicely and probably push you over into a safer calorie amount. 

Try eating more calorie-dense foods. Have a banana with your breakfast, maybe some milk or soy milk with your lunch, some berries and nuts in your oatmeal and some avocado in that salad!

i fully agree there is no cause for alarm ~ it all balances out at the end of a week. could be your activity level was lower so your body didn't really require all that energy. if you were active, you will likely be a little more peckish tomorrow.

 

that's great that you feel full now, you should at the end of the day~but if you have period where you feel hungry during the day then you should rethink what you're doing over the whole day.

Every once in a while I'll have a super crazy day where I'm under 1000 cals because I just don't have time to eat.  It hasn't had a negative impact on me so far and I try really hard not to let it happen on a regular basis.  I think it's a good idea to eat when you're hungry.  Your food seems healthy, although you could add in some complex carbs at breakfast (like whole grain toast) and burn them off by the end of the day (especially since you're only trying to lose 5 lbs).  That would be an easy way to add more calories.

thanks for all the good advice. i'm going to try and add whole grain toast in the morning and a glass of milk with lunch...maybe some fruit as dessert after dinner would add another 200-300 good calories to my day!

Looking at your diet, I would suggest maybe adding a little bit more protein and a serving or two of a healthy carbohydrate rich in fiber (like fruit or a maybe a small bowl of kashi cereal as a snack or with breakfast). Eatting too few calories can slow down your metabolism, so I would try to eat at least 1200 calories if you want to lose weight, and maybe bump it up to 1400-1500 for maintenance. Hope this helps!

I wouldn't worry so much - it doesn't look like your calorie count is accurate based on the descriptions of what your eating and the calories youre listing. 

For instance, dinner you have 200 cals but 4 oz chicken is 120 -150 cals, 2 zucchinis are about 70 -100 cals, and 2 tomatos 45 cals