Can’t seem to eat enough calories

(Syeda) #1

Hey guys
I have a small problem not sure if anyone else went through it.
I can’t seem to eat more than 1000 calories a day, I’m doing IF so I eat lunch between 2-3 that’s like a protein fat and veg tea with mct oil that’s around 600 calories and then I eat eggs with cucumber and coconut oil that’s only 400 calories. By that time it’s 8 pm and I’m full. Any suggestions please

(karen) #2

I’m hugely fond of macadamia nuts - a quarter cup will add about 220 calories of mostly fat without being bulky.

(Karen) #3

You could have some of my calories… Seriously I was having trouble getting enough fat and now I eat too much. Example 2 cups of coffee a 4 T HWC. 2 eggs,2 bacon, 1 Tbutter. Cheese. Lots of fats there too. Have brie and crackers (either rinds or parm. Crisps) bet you’re low on fat and so calories.

K

(Crow T. Robot) #4

Are you feeling low on energy? Hungry? If not, then maybe you don’t need to worry about it.

If so, then I would just increase the size of you meal until you stop feeling hungry in your fasting window. Add another egg, for example.

(Syeda) #5

Thank you I’ll try that but I saw a post on this forum saying don’t dont eat macadamian nuts until 6 weeks into keto so I wasn’t sure

(Syeda) #6

Thank you see that’s what I thought that it’s grand to not eat as many calories but I’ve seen so many posts that I won’t lose weight if I keep my calories low

(LeeAnn Brooks) #7

Not sure who would say not to eat them until week 6. Most of us say eat with caution because it’s really easy to eat way too many of them.

It’s a great suggestion for upping calories.
And you do need to up calories. You will lower your BMR if you don’t, making it harder to lose more weight.

If you can get to EF, it doesn’t harm your metabolism the way restricted calories does. But I’m not sure you’re to that point yet.

One thing I suggest for people who struggle to eat enough is to do away with the veggies, at least until you can consume more. Yes, they can be Keto friendly, but they are also low fat, and therefore low calorie. Replace with more fat dense foods to up calories without adding bulk. Like tuna or avacado. Top tuna with avacado oil mayo. 2 tablespoons adds 200 delicious fat calories. Then when you get used to adding more calories you can start to add the veggies back in.

(Syeda) #8

Thanks , yeah today I bulked up my eggs with spinach and green onion but that only added 55 calories for a cup of Veges. I’ll try the tuna mayo recipe just saw the recipe someone threw up it looks easy to make.
Thanks for the idea much appreciated

(Lonnie Hedley) #9

Fat, fat, and more fat. It’s calorie DENSE, so you get your calories in with smaller portions. Maybe your stomach is getting filled with something low calorie you’re not mentioning. I eat over 2000 calories and although I’m full because I eat lots of fat, I feel the portion sizes are relatively small.

(Ron) #10

Dip every bite in butter butter butter!:tongue::grin:

(karen) #11

Lol, I went out to eat the other day and the caesar salad with chicken came with a soybean-oil loaded dressing, so I took all the butter containers out of the bread basket and swiped my chicken pieces in them instead of loading up on industrial gloop. Moral of the story: even unmelted it’s good.

(Ron) #12

fixed it. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

(Dana M Bill) #13

My question is …how do you know if you are eating enough calories? I currently keep mine around 1100-1200? How do I know if that is two low

(Ron) #14

Do you track in a macro calculator? This is the standard way and gives a good baseline. If so make sure you have it on maintain setting and not lose weight setting until you are sure you are fat adapted. Main thing though is to keep carb 20g or below, protein at .07 to 1.5g per kg of LBM , and the rest in fats until satiety.

#15

Parmesan cheese on everything, except on the whipped cream and berries with which you will complete you daily eating.

(Dana M Bill) #16

Thank you and I am using Carb Manager for tracking…I think my mistake is that I have been checking the loose weight option . I will go in and make changes and see how it looks and I have carbs below 20g (net) :grin:

#17

Are you losing weight? (in an unhealthy way)

Edit; just to add to this I’ve lost 28lb, on the last 10lb I aimed to loose. I’m eating say 1200 approximately for lunch most ‘normal’ days. I seem to loose .5 or 1lb when I stick to one meal a day

However I have had dinner when I needed more food; when I have dinner my weight just sticks and is stable as a rock.

I don’t foresee that when I reach my ideal weight that so long as I was having good nutrient and fatty meals that I will need to worry about calories so long as my weight remained stable and overall I felt good (i.e. stable energy in ketosis) and felt really healthy.

At least that is my prediction, without any plan to micro manage calories or macros at this stage. Not saying I won’t ever want to or need to, but 2 months in I’m going by how my body feels and my gut feeling (pun intended) and don’t worry about counting calories precisely at this stage (just to add; I do check labels and broadly know what calories I may get from the most fatty foods; but I only briefly check).

(LeeAnn Brooks) #18

How tall are you? Unless you’re very short, that’s too low.

(Dana M Bill) #19

@Anniegirl9,

I am 5’7" and to reach my goal weight I am about 15 pounds away and have been at a stall for a while and have been wondering if I wasn’t eating enough. thoughts? thank you!

(LeeAnn Brooks) #20

Yes, that’s way too low. Here’s the thing about calorie reduction. It works short term, but as soon as you restrict calories, you body begins to compensate by reducing energy output. Your body will even lower its body temp to conserve energy. It will always try to mai rain stasis. So decreasing 30% calories will mean an decrease in almost the same value of calorie burn.
And then you plateau.

And in the process you have lowered your BMR.
It’s really bad for your metabolism.