Breakfast: 24 ounces coffee (i know, crazy but i had an exam and was up all night cramming), 1 80 calorie yogurt

Snack: baby carrots with 1 tablespoon red pepper humus

Lunch: Apple, 1 80 calorie yogurt, 1/2 cup black beans with jalapeno

Snack: 1 snack size KC masterpiece potato chips

Work out: Bike 8 miles, ran 3. Estimated calories burnt 460.

Dinner: 1 large salad with 2 tablespoons low fat ginger vinegarette, 1/4 cup chicken and grape salad. 3 strawberries.

Snack: 1 cup diet V8 splash

I don't feel as though I'm getting enough calories, despite feeling fully satisfied. I'm training for a 50K bike in two months, so I work out at least this much 6 days a week.

Comments? Suggestions?

You definitely need more calories. And, you may want to up you breakfast (need that early morning energy after not eating for 8 hours). You may also want to consider a bigger snack before your workouts. You are pushing your body hard and definitely need more calories.

I agree that you need to up the calories - it looks like a lot of carbs and light on the protein...maybe add some lean proteins like cottage cheese or at least give yourself more chicken in the salad.
Congrats on the kick(!) workout routine! But you gotta make sure you are fueled up for it.

PS - Sleep is vital, too....hope you did well on your exam. Now go get a nap

Are you vegetarian? Is there any reason you're avoiding meat? My guess why you feel "fully satisfied" on so few calories is the possibility that the exercise is suppressing your appetite. I'd suggest at least adding a protein shake in there. You are working your body very hard and you don't want to lose muscle so add as much protein as you can without feeling like you are eating too much (or indeed going over your "range" ).

I calculated it, and I can't remember exactly, but it was less then 1000. I have a 20 dollar grocery budget per week, so it's kinda toss up between fruits and veggies and meat. I don't avoid meat, Ijust like fruits and veggies better. And I eat a lot of tofu, which i can get for 1.25 a pound, compared with the 4 or 5 dollar a pound cost of meat. Today was bad because my diabetes decided it was going to knock me on my ***, because I'm pretty sure my insulin (my new 3 month supply of course) got frozen when one of my roommates turned up the temp on the fridge *GGR* I am an egg white junkie. I hate yolk, always have, so I added some sourcream to my eggs this morning for actual calories and it was wonderful!

So I don't even know about today...However, I know if I have to pay for three more months of insulin, this time no insurance, the grocery budget will be going down again!

When I excercise, since I'm usually below my caloric maintaining, should I fully compensate for those calories? or like eat half of what I burned extra?

Definitely up your protein. Lean meats, egg whites, dairy. And you might also want to consider munching on some nuts and beans

What if you gave up on the convinence/packaged foods, like the snack sized KC masterpiece chips & the V8Splash? That would save some money you could put towards good quality proteins- and if you watch for sales, you can get meat a lot cheaper. I understand the budget issue- we have about $30-35 per week for two people. I watch for sales on meat- if you can afford to spend a little more and stock up when there's a good sale, it really helps the budget. Personally I like having control over what goes into my ground meat, so I use the meat grinder attachment on my Kitchenaid Mixer to do my own from larger cuts (have a turkey I'm thawing right now to grind). I know not everyone has the luxory of powered grinder, but you can pick up a hand crank one pretty cheap at garage sales or Good Will type place...I had a lot of experience from when I was kid & we grew or raised just about all of our food. I also know the deli department in one of my local grocery stores marks down all the meat they have sliced to either $1.99 or 99cents when they close at night...and believe me, I know what their hours are so I can stock up. They also mark the roastairre chickens 50% off- at $2.25 for a whole cooked chicken, you can't beat the price & convience; I'll even take all the meat off the bone and freeze it for use later in recipes & such. You could save money on your baby carrots- buyregular carrots and peal them...if you want short ones, just cut them in 2 1/2" long sections- that's what they do to make baby carrots (though they do put them in a mechanical pealer bath thingy that removes the skin & rounds the ends).

I'd find it hard to believe you're able to meet your basic nutirional needs on the small amount of food listed, especially not knowing your weight or anything, but just the amount of exercise you're doing is burning up most of the calories you're taking in & if your calorie deficit is too big, your body starts to panic and wants to keep its fat stores because it thinks you're not going to be able to get enough food. Also, are there any healthy fats in your diet?...the potato chips don't count