Not eating enough... But not hungry...??
 

Hey All!
I've decided (since my last post) to just start tracking on TDP to see what my levels for calories, fat, and protein are. I was doing ok without tracking-- about 1700-1800/day when I should be shooting for 1600, and that's fine with me to not eat 200 calories!

Now, what usually happens on "dance days" is that I'm not very hungry, and I'm dancing so much that I don't think about eating, so I end up burning mondo calories without eating much (like around 1100)-- And the calories I consume aren't what you'd call "worth it". I try to compensate by getting a Jamba Juice (or something similar), but... *sigh* I know i need to work harder to do better.

Today I was doing fantastic-- until 4:00pm when I tracked everything and realized I only ate 600 calories! I didn't really know where to get 1,000 calories to "fill out" the rest of my day, so I went to Panda Express and got chow mein and eggrolls (again, healthy, I know.. *sigh*) But I'm still JUST hitting 1,000 calories, because that food was so greasy I couldn't eat much. :(

I don't know what to do, because I'm not really a "grazer"-- I prefer eating 3 big meals and maybe a snack... But when I don't have a chance to eat a "big" meal even once, I end up with an extra 4-500 calories left for my day!!!

Does anyone have any suggestions/meals/etc? I think I'm going to start planning out a couple of days worth of lunches (at least) ahead of time so that I can bulk up my calories in the middle of the day... I feel lost.. and like I'm rambling. :(

What's TDP?

Also, what about eatting almonds while you're busy? They're my new best friend since I've upped my calories :).

Yeah I eat lots of almonds...

How about making your own smoothies and drinking them? You can add fruit, protein powder, etc to them.

TDP is The Daily Plate, a website to track your daily calorie intake.

I'm with Nelie... throw some nuts in a baggie. When I need the extra calories I make what I call "nut bags" (the bf makes fun of me for it). Raisins, almonds, peanuts, soy nuts, sunflower seeds (without shells), or whatever I have. Healthy trail mix with lots of good fats and calories.
I also do a shake, like nelie mentioned. Lots of fruit and protein powder (about 300 calories). Put it in a nalgene and toss it in the refigerator at work. Saves $$ and it's much healthier than anything I could buy.
Then, of course, the convenient healthy snacks that aren't necessiarly high in calories but probably better than the "not worth it" foods your eating now (yogurt, fruit cups, cottage cheese, fruit...).

What about breakfast? Can you eat more calories at breakfast and maybe set yourself up that way to have a healthy day?

I like to space my calories out over the day myself, or I get snacky and hungry, but if I were going to, I could easily to a 500 cal breakfast that was really healthy to start off with.

A bowl of oats with fresh fruit and peanut butter, sprinkled with flax seeds would be about 450 to 475.

A cup of 2% Fage yogurt with honey and flax seeds, and some sliced fruit would be around 400 calories.

1/2 a peanut butter sandwich on whole grain bread with pumpkin or apple butter and an orange or other piece of fruit would be around 400 (maybe a little less).

All of these are things you can fix the night before and then grab on the go in the morning.

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Cool :) I will definitely try that.
Yeah-- my favorite breakfast (and has been since I was a kid!) Is about 350 calories. It's 3 cinnamon toast waffles with applesauce on them, but I'm sure I could put peanut butter onto one of them to get some protein, too!

lol :P And as funny a name as they have, I think I will definitely start making "nut bags" ;) It's a great idea, and I can definitely just snack throughout the day :)

Thanks for the FAST replies, all!! :)