[MeltingAway]

i stayed on hcg from feb-may 2011 500 cals ... i have sense decided to give it a go the right way because i cant eat 500 cals a day the rest of my life. . even though i did drop alot of weight... I'm still losing 3-4 pouds a week...but i have a problem getting enough calories i try to eat 1500 a day...but i feel horrible when i do like i feel over stuffed and misserable. any tips on how to increase to at least 1500 cals without feeling misserable and overstuffed?

[mamamorgan]

Hmm...honestly I wish I had a solution for you. Hopefully someone can give you an answer. But I wanted to let you know that, I eat 1200, sometimes 1300 calories a day and I walk away many days feeling overly stuffed especially after dinner.

[KatieC87]

Maybe you're feeling overly stuffed because you went straight from eating 500 calories a day - and having a stomach ready for 500 calories a day - to 1500? You could try increasing gradually - like 300 calories a day for a week, to see if that helps.

I hope someone with experience in this area can offer you some advice! (p.s. Congrats on deciding to do it "the right way." I've never seen the point in diets that make you lose the weight in the short-term if you can't sustain the effort for the long-term. Good luck!)

[fatburner77]

I wish I had your problem!
Increase the amounts of nutrient-dense foods in your diet. How about 1/4 cup of almonds eaten along with a string cheese? What about peanut butter as a spread on your multi-grain bagel? Scrambled eggs with lean sausage and mozzarella?
If you're eating a high quantity of lower-cal foods - vegetables, for example - they're probably doing a good job of filling you up from a volume perspective. I hope this helps. It's also possible, like the poster above suggested, that you should add in the calories slowly to get back up to a reasonable number.
Good luck!

[mkroyer]

i agree.. calorie dense food... get used to EATING again lol
peanut butter
any kind of nuts
adding olive oil instead of using PAM spray.... allow yourself a treat, like a cookie? bananas are pretty calorically dense, for fruit thast is.. full fat cottage cheese and yogurt. up your protein and fats, NOT your fibrous carbs, KWIM? eat the WHOLE darn egg, instead of just the eggwhites... use regular salad dressing, instead of low cal or fat free.. etc etc...

[BeachBreeze2010]

I am having the same problem. I had different reasons for eating so little, but now that I am trying to increase it I feel so sick. I am trying to eat a similar amount but do it more often. The problem is that even just a container of greek yogurt fills me up for several hours. I could switch back to regular yogurt, but I don't want to eat foods that aren't as good for me just to eat more. I had a day last week where I ate 1400 calories after several days at 800 and it was a disaster. The next day I had trouble getting 600 calories in.

So, I think the advice above is good - just try to incorporate the extra calories gradually. I have had some greek yogurt and a packet of oatmeal today for my breakfast and snack and even though it's close to lunchtime I still feel nauseated from eating that much.

What scared me a little was that the day that I ate more, I felt so "ugh" and fat and bloated. I had a terrible workout and I was up a pound on the scale the next day. I know it's the increased food weight, but I am on a horrible plateau right now (I am sure from not eating enough) and seeing the scale go the other way is hard. Mostly, though, what scared me was my reaction to the increased calories. I felt "out of control" and like my eating was scarily similar to the eating that got me overweight in the first place. I know that's irrational and disorded thinking and that's why it freaked me out.

Again, I really think introducing those extra calories slowly is the way to go. One day at a time - just add something in each day and then the next week try to add something else.