Summer eating situation :-\

Hey everyone,

So I'm a summer day camp counselor, 8am-4pm M-F and do lifeguarding on the weekends.

According to this site, set on sedentary activity level, I need to consume ~1750 calories/day.  Now that summer work days are here, though, I find it extremely difficult to actually consume that many calories.

Typical menu:

Breakfast - Fruit smoothie using 1/4 cup fresh fruit (varies on the day) with 1/4 cup 2% milk and 2tbsp peanut butter  - ~300 calories

Morning snack - 1/2 cup raw broccoli, 1 slice whole grain bread - ~110 calories

Lunch - 1 grilled boneless/skinless chicken breast, 1/2 cup steamed spinach, 1/2 cup brown rice - ~330 calories

Afternoon snack - 1 medium banana, 1 cup 2% milk - ~220 calories

Dinner -  Veggie stir fry (1 cup mixed vegetables,  2 tbsp  soy sauce, 1/2 cup tofu), 1oz cheddar cheese, 1 slice whole grain bread - ~430 calories

Dessert - 1/2 cup fruit salad, 1tbsp regular Coolwhip - ~110 calories

Total: 1500 calories

Now, since I am nowhere NEAR sedentary, I'm sure that *should* probably be eating more than the recommended 1750/day.. I'm active during the day with the kids (running around playing field games), and exercise at a moderate intensity 5-6x/week. I don't want to change my activity level, though, since I recently changed it to sedentary and have been seeing pound losses.

Gets me to my question(s).. My proportion of carbs/fat/protein is pretty good, I don't feel exhausted, and I rarely find myself hungry. My burn meter estimates that I burn about 2300 calories (on sedentary).. I'm guessing closer to 2800 or so, given workout activities/actually NOT being sedentary. 

That being said.. that's a 1300 calorie deficit, which is a LOT and is unhealthy as I understand. I am significantly overweight (I need to lose.. ugh.. 100+), but that much of a deficit can't be good. Given that my proportions are quite good within what I eat, am I putting myself in danger of becoming unhealthy? 

Does anyone have any suggestions on what I could modify to increase calories? I've thought about 'drinking back' some calories, but juices often upset my stomach and I'm not really the biggest fan of milk. I really don't feel hungry or deprived at all, but I don't want to continuously "over'-under-eat..

My suggestion would be eating a serving of peanut butter, which is 2 tablespoons, and will run you 200 calories. So that's all you need and it's super convient and easy to do, just eat a big spoonful of peanut butter AND it's healthy fats!

You're still fairly close to a healthy deficit, so I wouldn't worry about it too much.  Like nefertiti said, just try another serving of peanut butter.  Maybe in your smoothie, or on a piece of wheat bread.  Or, treat yourself to a serving of low fat yogurt at night.  Take advantage of it a little!  You'll still be losing weight at a healthy rate with a 1,000 calorie deficit.

Thanks for your suggestions, everyone! Every now and then I'll throw a little extra PB into the day, but really only if I need a a little extra protein.. somehow the smell of it tends to make me nauseated when it's in 'regular form' - i'll  toss some more into my smoothie though..  I don't eat beef at all, or any other meat or fish for that matter, aside from chicken. I've lately been cutting up a little avocado into every meal, which has added a bit more calories healthily, I just find myself not being the least bit hungry.

Running and exercising usually makes me quite hungry, but add sitting in the sun to that mix and it almost entirely eliminates my appetite. 

This site tells be I should eat 1900 cal a day. That is only about a 300 cal deficit. I'm in the light activity catagory. I burn  a little more than 2200 cal a day. I have done the research on this and you can have a deficit of anywhere from 500-1000 cal to lose weight in a healthy fashion. So more than making sure you are eating what this site says, make sure your deficit is in that range and you will be fine. I have to say, if I were eating 1900 cal a day I would feel stuffed all day long. I usually stick to about 1400 cal. I feel satisfied and when I have done the math the deficit would give me a 1.5 pound loss weekly.

try to fit in things with healthy fats. Bring a bag of almonds to snack on through out the day, avocados, peanut butter, etc etc

I am surprised that with this menu you are not feeling hungry. I would be!

I think there are many ways to get your calories. There has to be a food you really like. Adding avocado is a great idea. If you like soy, you could add edamame (either baked or boiled) to your diet every now and then.

During the semester, I try to follow a similar diet to this, but often end up making a poor choice at some point, be it one of those fancy iced coffee things, a pastry, etc.. but it's something about being outside in the sun all day that ruins my appetite entirely.

I LOVE soybeans, unfortunatly they're extremely difficult to find around here (I live in suburbia NY). I've only found them in one place.. in a Co-op near my university (6 hours away), and a 2-serving tray of them was close to $10.. Ouch.

There are LOTS of higher calorie things that I really enjoy, but the higher calorie content (at least in the things I like: cookies, chips, etc) brings along an unhealthy factor. I could drink milkshakes all day and be content, but all that sugar from syrup additives, etc, is probably not worth it.

I REALLY like avocado and think I'm going to be adding even MORE of it to the things I eat.. Yogurt is also a really good idea.. I don't know why I wasn't really coming up with these common-sense things, I guess it's just because I never really ate yogurt or nuts or things like that.

Thanks for your suggestions, everyone!!

When I read posts like this I get a little confused.  How did you get to be 100+ lbs overweight if you are satisfied eating that few calories?  I don't mean that rudely at all, but I am wondering:

1. How long have you been sticking to this plan?

2. Do you feel that maybe you are just excited about initial weight-loss and havne't felt the hunger yet?

I often have trouble sticking to such a limited calorie diet.  Especially with exercise it just sounds like to will burn you out (unless I am incorrect and its been working for you awhile disregard what I'm saying!)  I think a handful of nuts here or there with your snacks would be good (and I saw something on the news today about how the good cholesteral in them can help prevent memory loss!)  Also, maybe you could add some more calories to dinner, either have some olive oil to dip the bread in (won't make you feel more stuffed) or as someone else suggested a glass of milk with dinner.

Good luck with everything and keep us posted on your progress!

-Danielle

I don't take that as rudely, but would like to say that, just because you're fat, doesn't automatically mean that you eat poorly (and the converse: just because you're thin, doesn't mean you eat healthily). Some people have medical conditions and various reasons as to why weight loss is extremely difficult for them. Some people gain weight eating 1600 calories. Some people lose. It's not a set amount for everyone.

I've been on this diet plan, or something very close to it, since October 2007. I significantly increased my exercise routine come January 2008 (New Year's Resolution that I stuck to this year!!)

When I was younger, I was extremely active and quite fit. When I was about 9, I had a bad knee injury (came from a nasty karate injury combined with Osgood-Schlatters disease) and was bedbound/not able to get up and move for almost a year. I packed on a TON of weight at that time. Then, as I hit puberty, I packed on quite a bit more. This left me somewhere around 200lbs at 14. After my knee was healed and was stable, I got back into active things, but was never quite as active as before. 7 yeas later, at 21, I'm now at 240. To add things into the stupid weight-gain mix, I was diagnosed with an under active thyroid at 19. My entire immediate family is quite large, with my dad/sister and brother all being larger than I am.

Of course I don't know exactly, I suspect that I have a substantial amount of muscle hiding underneath all my fat. People often guess me to be easily 50-60lbs lighter than I really am, I've got killer endurance (I can comfortably run a 6.5-7 minute mile without being winded at all, and often do 45 minute runs averaging 6-7mph and still come out fine), am fiercely strong, in terms of weight lifting numbers, etc. Not to mention, despite all my girth,  I  comfortably  wear a size 16  pant  and a L shirt (in Gap/ AE sizes, anyway). You can't "pinch an inch" anywhere off of my legs except for that stupid inner thigh area.. my belly and upper arms are where you can pinch "a foot".

I'll start throwing some nuts in in the evenings.. since nut allergies can be extremely severe, we've been asked to not have any nut products at camp - no peanut butter, etc. I'm not a fan of milk, but make sure I drink atleast a cup a day for calcium purposes, and make my smoothies with it as well.

I'm not saying that I NEVER indulge myself in unhealthy things (ie the high calorie stuff I like.. chips, cookies, etc) but it is a rarity: every 2 weeks, I MIGHT have A cookie, or A small bag of chips. I'm determined to lose all of this excess weight.

The olive oil with bread is a good idea. I'll have to go get a loaf of Italian bread for it - somehow, dipping slices of wonder bread in oil doesn't sound appetizing LOL

Weezer,

I am glad that I didn't offend you, it truly was not my intention.  You have had some severe obstacles thrown at you, and you have great determination.  I know I would never be able to stick to something that well.

That being said, maybe you would see better results from mixing up your workouts more.  The only exercise I really get is running (im a lot slower than you, but I am training for a marathon!)  My freshman year of college I gained about 20 lbs by winter break.  Spring semester I dropped all 20 lbs, I did a LOT of different workouts; i would do spinning classes, body pump, strength training with a trainer, eliptical, and I was also training for my first marathon.  I haven't seen results like that since then, but I also haven'tused that varied workout approach as much since then.  A side note, I also was consuming more calories than I do now, and still was lighter. 

Its almost like your body gets confused when you change things up, whether it is calories, exercise, whatever.  Some members here say they loose weight by adding more calories!! 

Keep up the great work!

-Danielle

It's pretty difficult to offend me, don't worry.

My workout routines are fine and are producing results. I'm not the least bit concerned about them. I rarely do the same thing day to day and do plenty of strength training to produce results. I'm DEFINITELY not training for a marathon.. I'm just pretty comfortable running, oddly enough.

Thanks for the encouragement!