Eating Issues

[beach_plums]

I've always been an under eater, but have tried to make a point of getting closer to the calories recommended in the nutrition section of NROL4W. I'm aiming for at least 1800 on non-workout days and over 2000 on workout days. And, I struggle to get to those. On Saturday, I completely missed the mark (I was somewhere under 1500). So, Sunday, I woke up thinking "Ok, I messed up yesterday, but can get back on track today." And, since I was lifting that day, I needed to get above 2000.

I thought I was doing pretty good, my macros were on (41% protein, 30% carbs, and 29% fat). But at the end of the day, I still only had just above 1600 calories. Clearly, not enough.

I log my food in fitday, with the exception of most weekends, because I can't get to a computer throughout the day and can't seem to remember at the end of the day. I eat when I'm hungry, usually 5 to 6 times each day. I sneak extra protein into my meals here and there.

I've looked through a lot of the training logs where people also track food, and it doesn't seem like I'm eating too differently than the rest of you, but am still struggling with getting enough calories.

As far as my body goes, since starting NROL4W--I'm starting stage 2 this week, I've lost about an inch off my hips, gained 1/4 inch on each of my biceps, gained about 1/2 pound, and lost about .4% bodyfat.

Any suggestions on what else I can do to get my calories up, or, should I keep trucking along, because I am seeing changes in the right direction?

[rixatrix]

In Precision Nutrition, John Berardi has a whole seciton on how to sneak calories in or out of your diet. For instance, if you're eating 1/2c. 1% cottage cheese, switch to 4%. It's easy to do with dairy. It also looks like you could add in some more carbohydrates - a whole wheat roll would add in 140 or so calories, easy. Or you could do a piece of toast with breakfast, or an extra banana here and there. Add in some almonds, walnuts, or flaxseed meal.

30% carbs is pretty low carb in the grand scheme of things. You should feel free to play around with your macros to find what works best for you.

When you eat more, you may find you get hungry for the additional food. Your metabolism adjusts upward with food intake if you've been undereating. Eat more, and your body will respond to that additional energy, especially if you're using it.

If you'd like really specific advice, why don't you post what you ate yesterday or today? There may be easy ways to sneak in some additional calories without adding to the volume of your meals.

[UConnJulie]

Nuts are calorie dense yet really healthy ways to increase overall calories.
Try sneaking a bit larger amounts of items ... for example instead of 3 oz of chicken, have 3.5 or 4. Instead of 1/2 cup cottage cheese, try 2/3.
If the thought of food is making your stomach turn, try a smoothie. You can make these really calorie dense with cottage cheese, protein powder, fruits, nuts, flax, etc.
If you routinely steam your veggies and eat them plain, try roasting them instead with olive oil (especially good with asparagus, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, carrots). Or saute in a bit of olive oil. Or steam, and top with a healthy oil based dressing.
Add some avocado ... it goes good with nearly everything.

[beach_plums]

My food information links off of my signature. So, that should be easy enough to see. As for today, so far:
first thing: 1 cup light chocolate soy milk
breakfast: .5 cup of 5 grain cereal (it's similar to oatmeal) with .5 cup blueberries. Usually I'll add some whey to it, but forgot to bring it to work with me, so instead, I added .25 cup mixed nuts--almonds and pecans.
Snack: large apple with 2 tablespoons peanut butter
Lunch: peanut chicken with veggies and whole wheat pasta (From the frozen food section...)
Snack: large orange and beef jerky.

I haven't had dinner yet, and am not quite sure what that will be. We'll figure that out when my bf gets home from work. And then there will probably be a little something after dinner; usually either blended frozen fruit with whey or edamame. Everything so far has me at 1093 calories with 44% carbs, 24% protein, and 32% fat. So dinner will probably be something high in protein and low in fat.

I can very rarely do dairy foods; they really upset my stomach and I break out in a rash, so cheeses and things of that sort are generally out. Every now and then, and only because I really like pizza, I'll have some. But it's really not that often and I pay for it later. Toast in there somewhere might be an idea. And I'm sure I could always use more veggies. Although those don't really add much calorie-wise.

[rixatrix]

Originally Posted by beach_plums

My food information links off of my signature. So, that should be easy enough to see. As for today, so far:
first thing: 1 cup light chocolate soy milk
breakfast: .5 cup of 5 grain cereal (it's similar to oatmeal) with .5 cup blueberries. Usually I'll add some whey to it, but forgot to bring it to work with me, so instead, I added .25 cup mixed nuts--almonds and pecans.
Snack: large apple with 2 tablespoons peanut butter
Lunch: peanut chicken with veggies and whole wheat pasta (From the frozen food section...)
Snack: large orange and beef jerky.

I haven't had dinner yet, and am not quite sure what that will be. We'll figure that out when my bf gets home from work. And then there will probably be a little something after dinner; usually either blended frozen fruit with whey or edamame. Everything so far has me at 1093 calories with 44% carbs, 24% protein, and 32% fat. So dinner will probably be something high in protein and low in fat.

I can very rarely do dairy foods; they really upset my stomach and I break out in a rash, so cheeses and things of that sort are generally out. Every now and then, and only because I really like pizza, I'll have some. But it's really not that often and I pay for it later. Toast in there somewhere might be an idea. And I'm sure I could always use more veggies. Although those don't really add much calorie-wise.

Ok, since dairy is out, here are my official ideas on how to add some more calories while taking into account that you're just not that hungry :

* A teaspoon to a tablespoon of flaxseed oil in your cereal or lean cuisine. Replace nuts with dried fruit like cranberries.
* Hardboiled eggs or egg whites with the apple and peanut butter.
* Carrots with the lean cuisine.
* Another snack after dinner - strawberries and almonds go great together. Or a whey protein/fruit smoothie.

Really, we're talking about a difference of just a few hundred calories here. 300 calories is another apple, handful of nuts and a whole egg. And the difference between your non-lifting days and your lifting days should come in the form of a post-workout protein shake - make it with soy milk or whatever type of milk you use, not water - and eat a piece of fruit with it. Not so hard!

[mel]

I can totally identify. I was so used to cutting that it was hard to push myself to eat more. NOw, I'm in love with it. But, if I don't record everything, I won't hit the numbers. One thing that I've been thinking about recently is the difference between tracking and planning. I've gotten to where I plan in the morning or the night before. It takes about 10 minutes, and I have the luxury of playing with the calories and macro numbers until it balances out. Then, I just eat my plan. It took a little adjusting at first, but now it's easy and helps me eat enough.

mel

[DirtyMartini]

I noticed you're eating frozen lunches. A LOT of those are intentionally low-calorie (smart ones, lean cuisine, even kashi). You might consider making your own lunches to up your calories, or at least think of the frozen meal as "half" of your lunch and bring something like an apple with PB, dried fruit (very calorie dense!), and some nuts.

[beach_plums]

I actually usually have leftovers for lunch from the previous night's dinner. That didn't happen yesterday, so I resorted to the frozen meal. But, you're right, I should have added more to it.
Thanks for the advice everyone. I'm going to see what happens today...

[kfisherx]

I am with Mel. Plan it out the night before. I actually pack a big cooler the day of and make it my goal to eat all the contents of the cooler. I ate 2900 kcals yesterday doing that. You can do it if you really want to do it. It just takes effort. It takes as much effort as cutting.

[LaraT]

Originally Posted by mel

I can totally identify. I was so used to cutting that it was hard to push myself to eat more. NOw, I'm in love with it. But, if I don't record everything, I won't hit the numbers. One thing that I've been thinking about recently is the difference between tracking and planning. I've gotten to where I plan in the morning or the night before. It takes about 10 minutes, and I have the luxury of playing with the calories and macro numbers until it balances out. Then, I just eat my plan. It took a little adjusting at first, but now it's easy and helps me eat enough.

mel

this is exactly what I do and usually do it the night before since if I don't prep my food for the day the night before it won't get done. I start off entering foods into fitday.com (what I use to track cals/macros) and then play around with foods/portion sizes to get the macros/calories right.

[Susan4]

I just did a totally off the cuff look up and add of what you listed and got 1463 cals on Fitday. I likely made some wrong selections but it should have been closer than that I would have thought. Might be worth a double check on cal counting software? Dunno.

[beach_plums]

I'm also using fitday to track everything. I use the free online version. Is that what you're using too?

[Susan4]

Yes, I just used the free version of Fitday.

[kfisherx]

Originally Posted by LaraT

this is exactly what I do and usually do it the night before since if I don't prep my food for the day the night before it won't get done. I start off entering foods into fitday.com (what I use to track cals/macros) and then play around with foods/portion sizes to get the macros/calories right.

Well if that is what you are doing then what is the problem? Are you just forgetting to eat it the next day?

[beach_plums]

Originally Posted by kfisherx

Well if that is what you are doing then what is the problem? Are you just forgetting to eat it the next day?

I think that LaraT was seconding the advice of Mel here. Planning is something that I could probably do a little more of.

I have spent the better half of the morning reflecting on an article I recently read and a conversation I had with my bf last night.

The article, which I cannot find right now, discussed eating disorders becoming more common with middle-aged women, sighting the reason that as those of us who had eating disorders as teens become adults, the pressures to look a certain way are once again prevalent (and when into something about Desperate Housewives). As a dancer and gymnast, I was introduced to the idea of dieting at a very young age, and was put on "diets" to maintain a certain look by my coaches.

The conversation with my bf last night centered around eating a certain number of calories since starting this program and tracking my food. It made me realize that, while the motivation is not be the same as when I was younger, I am once again obsessed about the food I eat and am becoming stressed about it. A very dangerous place for me.

So, I've concluded that I am no longer going to track my food, with the hopes that I can stop obsessing. What I am going to do is continue to eat healthy (I'm generally about 85% clean) and eat when I am hungry. I'm going to continue to follow the workouts in NROL4W because I really enjoy them, and have seen positive results with my body. I am going to continue to eat a little something extra before I work out; this is usually in the form of a shake or power bar of some sorts. And, I am going to continue to have a post workout shake after each workout.

I am also going to take the advice in this thread, and add things like avocado to more meals (great idea! I love avocados, but never think to use them), and blending fruit with whey or other protein as a snack (also another great idea!). I'm also going to work on planning meals better by not running out of food in my house and having to resort to frozen dinners from time to time. I will continue to update my training log and share my progress with my workouts, as well as continue to consult this forum for whatever else I come up with.

I feel really lucky to have someone who is there to support me and isn't afraid to sit me down when he starts to recognize some of my patterns.

And, finally, thank you to everyone who offered up suggestions. Like I said before, there are some great and delicious looking ideas in here.

[beach_plums]

Went out to find the article again, here it...
The Desperate Housewives Effect: First Scientific Study Reveals Growing Population Suffer From Eating Disorders in Midlife Genetics Plays Large Role

[milkmonkey]

Originally Posted by beach_plums

So, I've concluded that I am no longer going to track my food, with the hopes that I can stop obsessing. What I am going to do is continue to eat healthy (I'm generally about 85% clean) and eat when I am hungry.

hey--good for you! what a concept! eating clean! eating when we are hungry! I think that is a really terrific attitude. I agree with you that it is easy to get obsessed with the food trackers.

keep us posted!