Struggling to get the calories in

Hello All,

I am having a little trouble. I have successfully lost 38 pounds since April, but I seem to have hit the wall.

One thing that confuses me is calories in calories out.  I am a female, 6'1", SW 252, CW 215, GW 185. One thing that I struggle with is getting the cals in. My maintenance calories are at 2786, so I know I need to create a 500 calorie deficit to lose one pound per week, is that correct? Well, thats where the problem comes in.

Since I have started a new way of eating and living, I pretty much only eat oetmeal, fruits, vegetables, and fish. I eat an occassional plate of whole wheat pasta, butthats rare. MY treat meal each week is usually a slice of pizza, which I make myself with whole wheat crust, skim cheese, organic sauce and lots of veggies. No matter how hard I try, I cant get more than 1300 calories in each day. I walk very very briskly 30 minutes a day and weight train twice per week.

I feel like I am doing everything right, but the wrong way, and I have stalled. I know, or I feel that it has something to do with the amount of calories. If I need to eat more, what do I do? The carb thing is freaking me out, so I try not to eat more than 150g of carbs each day (not easy on my present diet, but I have scared myself away from even brown rice and whole wheat bread)

I am freaking out--help please!!!

You're gonna have to eat more, plain and simple. You should be eating more like 2000 calories.

Thanks for such a quick reply!

See, thats what I thought, but it scares me so much because it took me so long to get control over my overeating. What about the carbs? I have Polycystic Ovaries, which means I deal with carbs much like a diabetic does. I am scaring myself. And with my current lifestyle, 30 minutes of exercise is all I can get in, which only affords me about what 200 calories burned? And I break those up half the time to two 15-20 minute sessions a day!

you're not trying very hard if you've sworn off carbs. 150g is only 600 calories of your diet from carbs...that's less than half of your intake and only about 2/3 of what you should be taking in if you were eating the appropriate 1800 calories to lose 1 pound per week. You should aim for about 270g carbs...almost 1100 calories which is 60% of your daily intake. This will make it easier to get the rest of your cals in since you'll be increasing by 500...the veggies can stay the same along with everything else. So to get the extra 500 cals just have 1 serving pasta, 1 cup rice, and a piece of toast added to your regular meals. or have a couple granola bars. or a baked potato. you're simply not eating enough and this will most likely backfire if not corrected soon. 

Are you eating any fat? Fat is essential for your hair, skin, brain, and it will actually help your weight loss. It's also an easy way to get those extra calories in. Think nuts, seeds, peanut butter, avocado, olives, olive oil - it would be fine to have regular cheese if you wanted, as well.

I eat peanut butter on whole grain crackers sometimes. I use olive oil daily and add raw almods to my oatmeal. I would absolutely LOOOVEEE to introduce brown rice and a piece of toast back into my diet. I think I have been on information overload.

Now, at the risk of being a pain, if I am eating 1700-1800 cals a day, 270g of carbs and doing 30 minute brisk walk and weight training twice per week, maybe I can break through this wall? Just want to make sure I have it straight.

I had the same problem when I first started. I felt content but I hadn't used all of my calories.

You could try having a glass of semi-skimmed/skimmed milk.

You could try honey drizzled over fruit and low fat natural yogurt. Yummy :)

Dark chocolate is lovely, and good for you in small amounts.

Good luck

212g- 255g is 50-60% cals from carbs for a 1700 calorie diet which is reasonable

for an 1800 calorie diet you'd have 225g-270g for 50-60% 

So i'd say that 250g is a pretty solid goal to shoot for daily since it falls within that range for both 1700 and 1800 calories. when you don't eat enough whole grains you're missing out on a lot of nutrients, fiber, and it makes it more difficult to reach your calorie goals.

Original Post by wordseed:

Thanks for such a quick reply!

See, thats what I thought, but it scares me so much because it took me so long to get control over my overeating. What about the carbs? I have Polycystic Ovaries, which means I deal with carbs much like a diabetic does. I am scaring myself. And with my current lifestyle, 30 minutes of exercise is all I can get in, which only affords me about what 200 calories burned? And I break those up half the time to two 15-20 minute sessions a day!

It is my understanding (though I could be wrong), that with insulin sensitivity you don't need to necessarily cut all carbs out of your diet - just those with a high glycemic index. Definitely look into "low GI" eating. It should help with your PCOS issues.