NOT meeting calorie goal

I have been really strict with my diet.  Due to my food allergies, I have to watch what I am able to eat.  I saw a dietitian earlier in the week and she recommend that I have an average of 1500 calories a day.  I have yet to meet that.  I have been as high as 1385 and as low as 785.  I am drinking an average of 6 glasses of water a day.  I also have been eating a lot of veggies.  I do not eat if I am not hungry and I am not over eating.  I do have three meals a day plus a snack.

So, I guess my question is.. Is this healthy?  How can I increase my calorie intake?

Thanks!!

Hi, hotmamma.  I think you might have a better chance at responses if you put this under the WEIGHT LOSS forum.  I believe this forum is basically for folks who are having issues with the website itself. 

And, by the way, I imagine you're going to get comments regarding not meeting your calorie requirements.  785 is definitely too low.  Personally, I try to stick to about 1200 calories a day.  I recently hit a plateau, so was advised to increase my calories by a couple of hundred, which I did.  As a result, the pounds have really started melting away, again.  I'd follow your dietitian's recommendations.

Anyway, try the other forum, and I think you'll have some good responses.  Good luck to you.

Eat more calorie dense food.  A spoonful of peanut butter is 200 calories, and doesn't fill you up.  Sauteing veggies in a tbsp of olive oil is 120-140 calories, and doesn't fill you up.  A handful of almonds, cashews, 2% milk, etc, etc, etc.

Veggies are high bulk, low calorie -- although it's great, you still have to find the room to put in other healthy calories.  And it is not difficult to do. 

If your dietitian recommended a 1500 calorie diet, perhaps she can help you reach that goal, as well. 785 is 500 calories short of the minimum CC recommends.

Under-eating is a short way to stop losing weight.

Calorie Count's mission is to promote healthy and sustainable weight management.

Promotion of starvation diets or habits that exhibit signs of an eating disorder ("pro-ana", "pro-mia", etc.) is prohibited.

coach_k
volunteer moderator

I'm having this problem, too! I was just coming to start a new post about this. haha I guess somewhere along the length of my lifespan I killed my metabolism. Turns out I've been consuming less than HALF of the calories I need according to my BMR. That's just...

So here I've been for years thinking I've been eating way too much and turns out I was eating way too little. And I can't for the life of me bring my calorie count up. I weigh a lot at this point so it's saying I need 2500 calories per day to maintain at a sedentary lifestyle. So that's 2000 calories I need to lose weight at a healthy pace, without even counting the amount I need to add due to everyday activities like dishes and playground time. I have a hard time making 1300!

I've started to sauté my veggies in olive oil with omega-3 added instead of steam one meal a day and added more whole grains in. I feel like I'm eating and eating and eating all the time. I'm fairly sure broccoli's going to sprout out of my ears soon! 

I think I'll try the nuts thing. My local grocery store has a wall of raw nuts in dispensers. Oh, the possibilities!

Not to be rude but unless you're eating 800 cals of vegetables you're definitely just really out of touch with your hunger.

A bowl of oatmeal, a serving of pasta, and a serving of rice is 500 cals. That's not a lot of food. Add healthy fats...like 2 tbsp peanut butter and 1 tbsp olive oil and 1 oz nuts for balance and that's another 425 calories. Your protein should be about 6-8 oz at least and that's 250-400 cals depending on what you choose.

Add 2 fruits and that's 150 or so. 5 servings of veggies and that's another 150-200.

Balance is key, not eating a ton,

Thank you for your help.  I will try to make a better effort to make sure I am getting all the calories I can at one meal sitting.  Right now, I am really enjoying baked chicken breast and steamed broccoli.  I have 2/3 cup of the broccoli and 1 cup of the chicken.  I guess I can increase those amounts since they are not really unhealthy for me.  I am also trying to include "snacks" in between my meals.  I have food some good choices from enjoylife foods :)  The past couple of days I have come a little below 1200.  So, I think I am getting closer to my goal.  I am trying really, really hard to stay under 150 carbs a day per my dietician.... I guess I really just need to balance my meals out.

Hello All -- I've only been on here about two weeks and am probably the odd man out (first, because I'm a man  ...and second, b/c I'm not here to lose a lot of weight).     Never counted calories before and have to now because I just started a new training regimen - P90X.    It's a huge calorie burn, about 600 a day, plus my normal required calorie requirements for living, going ot work, etc.  

That said, I'm in sort of the same boat as hotmomma30.  I should be targeting about 2,400 to 2,700 calories a day, and am having trouble getting there some days.  One thing that has helped is are nutritional supplements, like protein bars, and 100% Whey Protein powder that I add to water, or even milk to boost the calorie count some more.   You can find bulk bags of it (and the bars) at placed like BJ's (or you can go to GNC, it you feel like paying more...LOL).

 A double scoop of the powder is 240 calories, and with 10 oz. of skim milk, that adds another 105 for a total of almost 350.   Now, I'm trying ot rebuild and refuel muscle, not just just hit a target, but these are still good fillers, nonetheless...without extra carbs or fat.     Good luck!

 

I am assuming that you are new to counting calories, if not the following advice may not apply, but I think it important to make sure you are counting completely accurately before doing anything rash like adding reallly high calorie foods to your diet. Check the way you are measuring and remember it is the small quantities of high calorie foods that will make the difference. For example, you can eat a plateful of lettuce and it won't really matter if you don't measure it accurately, but olive oil is about 120 calories per tablespoon. If I get lazy and use my serving spoon to measure out the oil instead of a proper measuring spoon, I am actually adding twice as much oil. Don't assume that you are measuring accurately - really check that you are. Another example - I was amazed at how empty my wine glass looks when filled with an accurately measured glass of wine. Do you have an accurate measuring cup and spoons, and scales that measure small quantities accurately? I found that at least at the beginning it is essential to use the right equipment for measuring your calories. Later on you will get an instinctive feel for this. Another problem I run into is the high calorie sauce I make for the rest of the family but leave off my own food, but then forget to count the spoonful I ate while testing it for flavour, or the couple of nuts I eat before tossing the rest into whatever it is I am cooking. Again, it doesn't matter if it's a carrot, but it matters a lot if it's a spoonful of cookie dough.

If you are struggling to get to 1500 calories, try adding more food early in the day.  Add something calorie dense to breakfast, add a mid-morning snack, add something to lunch.  When I do this, I always hit my calorie target.  If I have a really light breakfast, lunch, and no snacks, it is hard to make it up in the evening at dinner without adding less healthy choices.

i completely second what keziaspring has written. so many people actually are completely underestimating their calories significantly through failure to measure properly and record everything preferring to blame their problems on "starvation mode" and "slow metobolisms". measuring and recording everything is the key. If you are still having issues shifting your macros would significantly help.

Yes, I am keeping track of EVERYTHING!!  I even count the gum I chewed in church!!  It is just hard to add alot of extras to my meals becuase of my allergies.  I am trying and yes, this is a learning process.  I think finding variety in things can help.  I am trying to eat snacks in between meals  but I agree if it is a busy day... you end up making bad choices later on.  So, I am making myself eat more often.