Having a hard time eating all my calories
 

I wish I could woosh myself and 14 pounds right into Onederland right now!!!

This has been going really well so far- a week and a half into counting calories and I'm feeling really good about it. I am eating more than I *think* I should be (1750-1850 range) but it's because I'm nursing and I need the extra calories and I really don't want to mess with that; feeding the baby is my priority.

The problem is that I am choosing such healthy meals and snacks during the day that I get to dinner time and often have 800+ calories left for the day, when I've planned a dinner that is only maybe 400 calories and chock full of good nutrition. So I end up forcing myself to eat snacks each evening just to make up the rest of my goal. I've also been choosing super high protein foods, so I just don't feel hungry all day long, I'm very satisfied. All this is without even exercising (as I haven't been most days... working up to that one more and more!) Then when I do exercise, it's very hard for me to eat those calories in addition to all the other extras.

I know I could probably add something like toast and peanut butter along with breakfast, or other dense-calorie foods, but I'm so worried that I'll go over my limit and not be able to eat dinner, that I just nibble all day on very filling, low-cal foods.

I might even take my range down another 50 calories this week. Baby seems to be getting plenty of milk, so I don't see anything wrong with 1700 calories being my target. LoseIt has my range set at 1785 calories, and I've been under it every single day... and that's while I've been TRYING to meet it!

I am the same! And honestly I can't imagine it's very good filling up on snacks at the end of the day to meet the calorie count.
Sometimes I'll have a glass of milk instead, because my diet is lacking calcium. But again it's a shame to have a fatty drink at the end of the day. I just worry that I'll go into starvation mode and that would be a shame.

Are you measuring everything or just eye-balling? Because I am just eye-balling at the moment, before I get weighing scales, and I have heard that it's incredibly difficult to accurately guess how much everything weighs. So you never know, you could be reaching your target...

I am measuring every single thing, so it's pretty accurate.

When I started calorie counting in the beginning of March, I would make a rough plan of my eating for the day so that I wouldn't a) run out of calories before dinner and b) end up with 800 left at 8pm! Maybe that would work for you? I plan for breakfast, snack, lunch, snack and dinner each day.

I also add a piece of wheat toast with peanut or almond butter, or a glass of low fat milk when I need to up my calories. :)

Thank you, I like that idea. I'm also trying just stopping when I'm full. Like today I got up to my "goal" but then exercised and so it dropped me back under by 150 cals or so. I am just going to try it this way for a week and see how it works out. I don't like eating when I am not hungry.

I even tried to have a good "chunky" breakfast today (oatmeal with cocoa powder, splenda, 1 tbsp chocolate chips, and peanut butter alongside my protein shake!) Still under 400 cals but heavier than my usual protein shake and yogurt.