I recently started counting calories and I have a really big problem filling it out. I want my calorie range to be 1400 to 1800, but I have the darndest time finding extras to make it within my range (things that go well with what I'm eating). Maybe bigger portions would help, I don't know. Any suggestions?


Breakfast (241 calories):
Hot oat bran (1/3 cup bran to 1 cup water)
Topped with 1 cup strawberries and 1/2 cup blackberries
1 hard boiled egg

Snack:
Yoplait Light Boston Cream Pie yogurt (110 calories)

Lunch:
Stouffer's Vegetable Lasagna (390 calories)

Snack:
large apple (125 calories)

Dinner (approx 288 calories):
2 cups romaine lettuce w/
3 oz deli turkey, 2 slices tomato, 1 Tbsp Parmesan cheese and 2 Tbsp ranch dressing

Snack:
Chips Ahoy Thin Crisps (100 calories)

Total calories: approx. 1254

Here's my 2 cents for what it's worth...

1.I would add more eggwhites and make an omellette with one egg and 2-4 whites. I also like large flake oatmeal for breakfast

2.I would add 1/2c of cottage cheese... may sound funny but it really is good. You could also add 1/2c strawberries to the mix...

3.I personally find these dinners not filling at all... for 390 calories I take some left over chicken breast to work and 1/2c brown rice with a large salad with some oil and vinegar dressing.

4.Add a tablespoon of peanut butter, but be careful, some of us (ME ) could eat a laddle of PB... or have some cottage cheese


5.I find deli turkey not filling, but this is just me, again I prefer chicken, lean steak, even eggwhites...You could also add a small potato or sweet potato or 1/2c brown rice...

6.I have cottage cheese and strawberries OR make a milk shake with whey protein powder and frozen strawberries. Those thin crisps would send me on a binge because they would not fill me up...!!

As you can see I much prefer to have real whole foods and I usually have a protein and a low glycemic carb at each meal... I average about 1400-1600/day

Hope this helps...

Ilene,

Your suggestions are great! I think you are right .. I should concentrate on more whole foods and cut out the processed crap. Very hard to do as I've been doing it my whole life! I'm going to print this out to give me some ideas on how to expand my meals. Thank you so much!

I would guess that you could use more fruit and veggies, too. Another piece or two of fruit later in the day should be easy to work in. With that omelette in the morning, you could mix in some corn, broccoli bits, diced carrots - anything small. (And if you didn't know, beaten eggs microwave very well! Just mix it all up and microwave for about 45 seconds - it may take a little bit longer, depending the power of your microwave).

Baby carrots make good things to munch on, and I like broccoli as a side for dinner (just heat up a cup of the frozen florets - cheap and easy).

One meal I like, which you could use either for lunch or dinner, has some good nutrients (vitamin A, fiber, iron, calcium) and is very filling:

1.5 cups of bean soup (black bean, lentil) - about 200 calories
.33 cup of nonfat or lowfat plain yogurt, stirred into the soup - about 30-50 calories
1 whole tomato, diced and stirred in - about 35 calories
1 slice multigrain bread (toasted is nice) - about 90 calories

You're welcome sweetie... Incorporating whole and unprocessed foods isn't as difficult as it seems, just shop the perimeter of your supermarket and you can't go wrong. It really isn't more expensive...

only one word add Veggies