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Kerri
Kerri Sendmail

Increasing calorie intake?

posted 8 months ago | Report

Hey all,
I've been back at nutrition logging again for a couple months because I feel it positively impacts what I'm eating. I'm using MyFitnessPal and have a baseline of 1400ish calories per day and then added for exercise energy compensation. I know that whole theory is argued by some, but that's not why I'm posting :] [I use my judgement with it as well, of course!]

Anyway, a lot of days I have issues hitting the calorie target. I know 1400 is fairly low, and I feel like I'm eating enough, but I find when I incorporate exercise in and bump my number up even by 250-500 calories it's HARD!!

Any tips for sneaking some extra calories in somehow? [Additionally, I'm a vegetarian, but still consume dairy products, albeit sometimes too much!]

Thanks all!

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13 posts

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  • Stephanie W J.
    Stephanie W J. Sendmail

    Well, I'm not a vegetarian, but I do watch what I eat and have a meatless dinner once a week. I'm also not a dietician. It is a little hard without knowing exactly what you eat. I eat oatmeal for breakfast. It is cooked in half water and half milk. I put half a cup of frozen blueberries on it with one tablespoon of honey, one tablespoon of ground flaxseed, half a scoop of whey, and cinnamon. That is 414 calories. You could do soy instead of the whey.

    I try to eat every two to three hours, although it tends to be a little bit longer between my afternoon snack and dinner.

    That is all that I think of right now.

    I hope that this helps.

    posted 7 months ago

  • Kerri
    Kerri Sendmail
    in reply to what Stephanie W J. said:Well, I'm not a vegetarian, but I do watch what I eat and have a meatless dinner once a week. I'm also not a dietician. It is a little hard without knowing exactly what you eat. I eat oatmeal for breakfast. It is cooked in half water and half milk... read more

    Thanks Stephanie! :] I guess increasing the frequency at which I'm eating on workout days could help for sure -- why didn't I think of that? ;)

    posted 7 months ago

  • Laura H.
    Laura H. Sendmail

    I have similar issues, it seems like it's hard to eat enough on work out days so I have set my target calories higher and then don't eat much more on my long run days. I set myfitnesspal to 1800 and try to eat that daily. So if I am a bit low, it's still ok and then I don't attempt to each more on work out days. Not sure if that helps. I also drink more juice than I used to, Naked brand juices are a easy way to consume healthy calories. Good luck!

    posted 7 months ago

  • Kathleen F.
    Kathleen F. Sendmail

    The easiest way to add more calories is to eat healthy fats such as nuts, avocados or flaxseed. A 1/4 cup or handful of nuts is easily 200 calories or more. I like to roast raw cashews, walnuts, sunflower seeds and flaxseeds to put on my salads. You could also make your own oil based salad dressings.

    posted 7 months ago

  • Kerri
    Kerri Sendmail

    /deleted :]

    posted 7 months ago | edited 7 months ago

  • Kerri
    Kerri Sendmail

    Juice is a great idea -- thanks Laura!
    Yeah, I do question the methods of MFP too, and have adjusted it a lot!

    Great ideas Kathleen -- thanks! :]

    posted 7 months ago

  • Paul
    Paul Sendmail

    Nuts do indeed make a nice little snack, as long as you can actually stop yourself from eating too many of them... i have to physically seperate myself from the packet ie leave it at home and take a snack container to work or ill eat the whole packet.

    I also use honey as a calorie rich source... on oatmeal, on yoghurt, on cream cheese...

    My bowl of Muslie in the mornings is also very calorie dense.

    Fruit as a between meal snack is also nice.

    posted 7 months ago

  • Jeff J.PRO
    Jeff J. Sendmail

    Another way to increase caloric intake is to pass on the fat-free/lowfat dairy products and go for whole milk products - if you have the extra calories to spare a little extra milk fat never hurt anyone.

    I would also echo previous posts in suggesting nuts like cashews/peanuts to make up some of the calorie deficit. If you have trouble with portion control/munching the whole bag, get out the measuring cup and let it enforce things... ;-)

    posted 7 months ago

  • Molly F.
    Molly F. Sendmail

    Adding a handful of raw almonds is a great boost...good nutrition profile. Healthy feul calories.

    posted 7 months ago

  • Amy H.
    Amy H. Sendmail

    I eat every 2-3 hours and I like to eat Greek Yogurt!! It's high in protein and about 120 calories per little cup!! Avocados too!!

    posted 7 months ago

  • Laurie S.
    Laurie S. Sendmail

    Eating often is definitely key. I have a few favorite between meal snacks. I love eating nonfat greek yogurt with slivered almonds, pomegranate seeds and honey. It's a great snack with a lot of protein! I also love hummus with whole wheat pita chips or a rice cake with peanut butter and banana.

    posted 4 months ago

  • Morgan J.
    Morgan J. Sendmail

    I agree with several of the responses here! Fats are the most calorically dense foods and it is easy to get a lot of calories from them without eating a large amount of the food. Some good fats you can include are nut butters, avocado & plant oils

    posted 3 months ago

  • Andrew W.
    Andrew W. Sendmail

    I am glad someone resurrected this thread! I have been looking for ideas on how to increase my caloric intake without eating a ton of junk food. I work a very labor intensive job and I am training for a marathon, so I actually have a caloric intake goal of about 3700 calories a day (I am trying to gain a bit of weight), or more if I run longer. These are great ideas! Thanks

    posted 3 months ago

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