Healthy eating and caloric intake ...

[Addiecakes]

So, I've been coming across a difficult situation ... I figured I would see if I could find some answers here.

I'm 5'9" and I'm at 331lbs. To lose weight means that I should be consuming somewhere around 2800 calories by my count, however, when I try to eat healthy I don't even come close to that. I drink a lot of water and usually eat until I feel satiated but not overfull. When I'm at work I snack regularly but I actually find that harder to do when I'm at home.

When I try to eat properly within a day, I usually come in somewhere between 1900-2200 calories. I usually feel fine on this many calories but then this ravenous hunger will blindside me sometimes ... not even everyday--maybe twice a week.

I try to be very aware of my carbohydrate intake, because I know if I'm not, I will ONLY eat carbs in a day because I love them so much. Trying to make sure I'm getting in my servings of vegetables and fruits helps me reduce my carb intake to an appropriate level, but I still can't seem to get the calories right. Maybe I should be drinking more juices or milk? I mainly drink water, water, and more water and may have one glass of milk a day.

I think that part of the problem is that I'm not getting enough fat when I'm trying to eat healthily. Could that be the problem? Any advice?

I'm gonna go read through the nutrition stickies again, maybe I zoned out and missed something that could help me ...

 

[KaraCooks]

I don't think you're doing anything wrong necessarily. It is actually harder to eat a lot of calories when you're eating healthily, and even harder if you're not getting enough fat.

Healthy fat should make up a minimum of 20% of your overall calories, so if you're not getting that, then increasing your healthy fat intake will really help add those extra calories.

Other than that, if you're having problems, there's no reason that - at your calorie level - you can't incorporate some higher calorie treats into your day to help you meet your calorie needs. Things like low-fat frozen yogurt, a few slices of cheese on a sandwich, some avocado, some peanut butter, a handful of almonds ... all are healthy treats/snacks that are fairly high in calories.

Keep in mind that as you lose weight, these are things that you'll likely have to cut back on ... as you get smaller, your calorie needs will also get smaller. So don't get to comfortable with the idea that you have to pad your calories now ... because pretty soon you won't!