I've got a problem
 

Since I've been doing fitday I know how many calories, etc. I've taken in during the day. I must say that I have a hard time taking in enough calories. Today I've had 964 calories and 16 effective carbs. And I am stuffed to the gills. I don't know if I can eat anythig else. Last night I had had 879 calories and forced myself to have some cream cheese to bring them up. If I'm right I need at least 10-12% of my weight in calories. So can someone tell me something?
Bette

I have the very same problem... around day 4 or so of induction I realized that after my appetite & cravings disappeared, my calories dropped to between 700-900, and if I went by the 10x rule, they should be up at the 2500 range.*eek*

I worked to gradually up them by including high fat treats (ie.. making jell-o cheesecake with cream & cream cheese ahead of time that I could snack on) and by using butter & oil liberally. I still struggle with my calorie levels - my *goal* is to eat at between 1500-1700 cals/day - and I find if I stay too low I definitely don't lose weight. It is simply impossible for me to eat more than that on a dialy basis...I sometimes eat around 1900-2000 if I've had something really rich, but those days are usually rare.

It absolutely is worth finding ways to up your carb counts.Keep looking at recipes... find some foods that you like that are high fat/low carb and do recipe searches to find new recipes that include them...

I also find if I don't use fitday to track, my calories begin to creep down again.... so I'd definitely keep using it!

If anyone else has some tips, I'd love to hear them too!

Wynter

Yes that is very common, try adding foods like Avocado for some extra calories and maybe some more tomato on your salads for more carbs, use butter on your hot veggies. I think most of us have gone thru a time when we should of had more calories, but more inportant is to keep your carb levels up as close as you can to 20, cause doing less, may not get you the results you'll want, nor the energy level.

Cheers Kathy

I've found an ounce of macadamia nuts is a quick way to up the fat and cals without busting your gut.

Thanks a lot for the tips.
BTW I love macadamia nuts!I just need to recipe on how to chocolate cover them. Got one?
And believe it or not that 964 calories had 1/2 of an avocado in it.
Thanks lots
-Bette

Add cheese on top or inside of things and the taste is improved and the calories go up: a cheese omlette, grated cheese in salads, cheese in or on burgers and meatloafs, cheese or cheese sauce on chicken and fish.
We have just the opposite problem. When I did my daughters meals on fitday we were way over the 10x rule. I cant cut much out either. Breakfast: eggs with something. Lunch: salad with dressing and sliced chicken(usually with shredded cheese too), with a side of celery or cucumber Snack: nuts, or celery and cream cheese, or cold meat, or almond pancakes Dinner: chicken/fish/ ground turkey, salad, cooked veggie. Most days just that is 1600-2000 calories!

Going over somewhat is fine if you're still losing. It's just that being too far under is not good. Your body will sence it's starving and you'll stall. Too many calories is only bad if you're stalled because of it. Remember a calorie is calorie is not true. If it's too many calories because of protein veggie carbs and fat it's used differently than bad carbs. If you're stalled with too many calories, try cutting back on the fat a bit and make sure you're not eatting more protein than you need. 1600-2000 calories if you're moderately active is not too many at all!!

Try supplimenting with oils. It upps your fat, calories, and can have many health benifits. Good ones are flax seed oil or coconut oil. There is tons of information on both oils in the suppliment section of this forum, and in other threads on here.

Try using mayonnaise instead of dressing on your salads. It will give you a boost in both calories and fat grams in one tasty swoop.