Never thought I'd say "I didn't eat enough today"..

Well, I've recently decided on adding a higher calorie day (2500) to see if I can't get back on track with weight loss, and I never imagined it would be as hard as it was!

Considering I probably used to eat 3000+ calories most days before I kept track of weight, I'm just amazed at how much I ate and still failed to meet my goal. The difference between 2500 calories on a healthy, high-protein and moderate-carb diet and an eat-anything-that-tastes-good diet are amazing.

It totaled to 2400 cals and 1850 grams (Over 4 pounds!) of food, and my food log barely fits on my screen..

How do some people eat 4 or 5,000 calories per day? Just more carbs, or bigger servings? I was pretty full throughout the day and eating every 2 hours, but I guess of course appetite adjusts as well as metabolism. Anyone out there have any tips on getting all those calories while staying with healthy foods? My total ratio for the day ended up at 25/36/39 fat/protein/carbs (I haven't been able to lose weight in a long time without restricting carbs to around 40%..)

The people who eat 4-5000 calories a day are usually fitness nuts or athletes. You might be amazed at how hungry you feel after doing an hour of intense cardio. Thats even after you a 1000 calorie meal.  You need those extra calories when your burning them as fast as you eat them.

Are you exercising along with your diet? I have noticed that adding a high calorie day (mostly carbs) gives me more energy during my workouts for the week. That way I workout harder and burn those extra calories two or three times over.

It's not a question of appetite really. I say full as in "satisfied", I certainly could have eaten more if I needed to.

The problem was more the volume. With healthy foods, it just seems hard to make a balanced meal that's not huge and still more than 4-500 calories. Even just at 2500 calories and 6 meals, they need to average over 400 calories.. I have trouble doing that while still getting high protein. If I were just loading up on carbs, I guess it wouldn't really be a big problem, but I want to maintain an ideal macronutrient ratio on these days too.. for most people, do high calorie days just consist of unusually high carbs?

I do work out, although not in the form of long cardio.. I do 10-15 minutes of HIIT working at 90-100% of maximum HR, and also lift 3 days a week.

Yep - clean, healthy eating goes a lot farther than calorie-dense junk food.

If I have chicken noodle soup for dinner, Im full after a 400 calorie meal. When Im under cals for the day I try to eat nonfat yogurt or light stringcheese. Or lunchmeat...this might sound weird but its pretty good plain out of the package and I like what it does for my daily protein ratio. Get a healthy unprocessed brand without too much salt though.

High calorie days are usually carb loading days.  Basically it is a way to restore sugar levels in your muscles so they have something to use when your working out. After eating a low carb/high protein diet your muscles wont have the sugars they need to keep going. This makes you feel tired and sluggish even in the gym. Here is a link that tells you what carb loading is and does.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/carb-loading /HQ00385

You can google it to find out more.

The calorie counter does a good job of finding your base metabolic rate so you can plan a diet to lose weight. If the CC says you should try to eat 1800 calories for a realistic deficit every day then try to plan your six meals around 300 calories each. On carb loading days, say saturday night, you can enjoy one of your favorite meals at a restaurant to bring your calories to 2500 or a little higher. Just make sure you keep doing your cardio and weight training during the following week. As far as balanced meals go, just incorporate a lean protein source, i.e. chicken breast, and some green vegitables. It doesn't have to be big and eating just protein and veggies keeps the calorie count down. Taking a multi-vitamin everyday is essential as well.

As far as small healthy meals that are around 300 calories. I really reccomend a protein shake with milk or water and that is usually around 300 calories, maybe a bit more. This gives you high protein surce with low carbs and some fat.  Another option is 2-3 tbsp of natural peanut butter and an apple. That is between 200-300 calories. 1 serving of peanuts is close to 300 as well. Look at the glycemic index to find foods with low ratings to give you some more suggestions of good foods to eat.

www.mendosa.com/gi.htm

It is ideal to try and get 6 days of cardio in per week, 20-30 minutes a day. Easier said than done of course, but worth it in the end. As far as duration of cardio, one suggestion is to use 3 different machines in the gym bike, treadmill, and elliptical for 10 minutes each. This breaks of the tediousness while giving you a break every 10 minutes. HIIT is a good way to excercise as well. Try to work up to 30 minutes of HIIT at least 3-5 days a week if you can.

Well for me it's a pure fact that I wont be going over 1400 calories without having something unhealthy or high-cal. Im a petite girl and a handful of cereal can keep me full for 2-3 hours xD

I usually get my calories up on weekends with pasta, candy or pancakes. Candy of course is probably the worst possible choice, but nah, it's okay 1-4 times a month.

The foods that are most calorie-dense are fats and carbohydrates.  So to eat less volume and more calories you need to eat more of those and there are plenty of good choices.  Olive oil... 140 cals a tablespoon.  A medium avocado... 300.   1oz nuts.... 150.   To name but a few.    And since an extra ounce of dry pasta, rice or bread is about 100 cals it helps a lot to increase portion-sizes there. 

But be careful what you dismiss as 'unhealthy' foods.   "There are no bad foods, just bad diets".    As part of an overall healthy diet there are some foods that you can include just for fun and/or energy.....  not everything has to be 100% seriously nutritious.  People eating 4000-5000 cals a day will also include things like chocolates, pastries and full-fat dairy products.  So can you.