I'm calorie cycling with an average of 1700 a day. That means in my 7 day cycle I've got anywhere from 1400-2000 calories. Problem... eating 1900-2000 calories these days actually makes me a bit sick to my tummy. It's just SO MUCH FOOD. I'm not visually or physically used to it anymore. And of course it's all good healthy food in large quantaties (I follow some of the whole volumetrics theories) so it's just so much! And because I try to keep fat at 30% or under per day... everything that has a high calorie value (peanut butter, nuts, olive oil) will push my fat up to way over that.

Help? Is there help for this? It seems like an odd problem to have

How about larger portions of lean meats on your high calorie days? Or if you have 3 meals now how about breaking your high days into 4 meals?

I forgot to add my fav option...add a protein shake

I don't know what to tell you, because I struggle with the same thing! When you don't eat grains it's hard to get enough calories. Hoping you get some good suggestions here.

Can you give a sample menu for one of your higher-cal days?

I sometimes suffer from the same problem and end up going too low. Sometimes my supper plate looks so gigantic! And I still end up too low.

Things like potatoes, rice and pasta in general tend to be high calorie for relatively low fat (if you skip the butter/sour cream etc.) . Cereals like Raisin Bran are pretty much the same way if you use skim milk. Dried fruit like apples are higher in calories than the non-dried varieties; I think bananas are kind of high calorie too. You might want to check out thing like Ensure, although those kinds of drinks tend to be expensive.

Let us know what you decide to try and how it works, HotMama!

I would add dried fruit. It's about the highest calorie low fat food around.

These days, if I'm eating a meal that turns out to be too much, I stop.

I think this is closer to what "normal" weight people do!

It's sometimes easier for me to make snacks larger than it is to eat a lot of food at one sitting. But, I don't like feeling overly full and never have.

Maybe as someone else suggested, eat foods that are not so big on volume but are more calorie dense.

Jay

I agree, a sample menu might help us guide you better. Also eating nuts, PB etc are good fat for you. Here are some of the stuff you can add:

- avocado
- endamame
- (No salt) roasted almonds, walnuts etc
- yogurt
- fruit smoothie
- any kind of beans/lentils
- Tofu
- lean meats

HTH

But cant you still go overboard on "good fats" also? I get that we need it, but after like 30% of your calories, arent you going over what needs tobe eaten for weight loss???

Help us to help you. Give us an insight into what you're eating.

And now that you've lost over 100 lbs, OMG you've lost over 100 lbs, you don't require as many calories as you used to. Something to consider. But definitely give us a typical day.

Oh but so very high in sugar. *For me*, it's candy and I avoid it like the plague. And boy do those calories add up fast.

Thanks ladies!

Today is a 2000 calorie day

Menu
Breakfast- 1.5 cups Kashi honey almond flax cereal, 1 cup skim milk, medium banana
Lunch- 2 tuna steaks, 2 cups brocolli, 1 yogurt cup
Snack- 1 slice orrowheat bread, 2 Laughing cow wedges, applesauce cup
Dinner- 1 foot long roasted chicken sub on whole wheat with mustard (no cheese) and tons of veggies
Snack- large orange

I ended up not eating half of my tuna steaks, 1/3 of my brocolli and my yogurt.
I have 1/3 of my sub in the fridge.

Clearly NOT going to get in 2000 calories.

Hmmm... I think I may have to increase my SNACKS on these days to make them more like mini meals. That would help.

I'm losing nicely on 1700 calories average so I don't really want to drop that until I have to you know?

And yah. I can't do dried fruit... raisins and craisins even send me looking for more and more sugar!

I hear ya. But I wouldn't force myself to eat either. Eating while not hungry, well, I tried that experiment for more then 20 years - didn't work out so well, if you know what I mean. . If there's a day or two where you just not as hungry and can't get in all of your calories, that most likely wouldn't *mess* anything up.

But I see you have no snack between breakfast and lunch. Looks like a perfect place to add in some healthy calories. How would that work for you?

Okay, I scrolled back to your post. You're already on it.

One more thing I just thought of. If you're shooting for 1700 average, how is your LOWER day looking? Are you satisfied on those days? Maybe you can add in a calorie or two there????

Black beans are my saving grace some days. I keep cans of them in the cupboard so on days I don't have enough calories I heat up a can of black beans with a tbsp of cumin, sometimes chili powder, a little salt. Not my favorite meal/snack ever, but they aren't bad, have 114 in half a cup, lots of protein, fiber, nutrients but only 1 gram of fat. A whole can comes in around 350 calories.

I do have a huge problem with this most days. I don't eat fruit or grains (or dairy for that matter) so it's often that after dinner I still have 500-600 calories left...mostly because I get tired of cooking stuff.