Getting Enough Calories

[trinity210]

I'm posting a lot today!!
So last night i decided to track my food to ensure that i wasn't going over in carbs and to see what my average caloric intake was. (i tend to eat the same food every day and not get bored)
I'm only eating about 1000 calories, and 20 carbs on the dot most days.
Here's a sample of my day:

AM: 2 eggs scrambled
Snack: celery, red peppers, broccoli (in a zip lock bag)
Lunch: chicken ceasar salad
Dinner: chicken stirfry with no sauce, about 4 oz of chicken and a cup of veggies
Snack: 2 oz of cheese.

my portions are super small though, as i get full so easily..
i'm drinking about 90-100 oz of water a day, and have not given up my coffee but have noticed it hasn't inhibited weight loss or caused any sugar cravings...

advice?

[studyinscarlet]

Re: Getting Enough Calories

It looks like you might not be getting enough fat, which is the mainstay of the program. During induction, you should be getting 65% of your calories from fat, 5% from carbs, and 30% from protein. Try adding some butter or EVOO to your meals - for example you can cook your chicken in it, or add it to your salad. Adding some extra fat also adds calories easily so you can get above starvation calorie level. I think a tablespoon of mayo has 100 calories in it - same goes for butter and EVOO. Maybe you could make some ranch dressing to dip your snack veggies in. Other than that your menu looks good to me. Good luck!

[carbless_in_seattle]

Re: Getting Enough Calories

yeah, like vanessa said, fat has 9 calories per gram, where as protein and carbs both have 4, so adding a few grams of fat can go a long way in the calorie department.

Add 1tbsp of EVOO to your chicken ceasar, I believe it has 14g fat= 126 calories. And what do you cook your chicken stir fry in? If you're not cooking it in some sort of a fat (oil or butter), you should be, it's an easy way to up your fat/calories, and makes stir fry so much better.

[trinity210]

Re: Getting Enough Calories

ahh butter.
good idea! i've been so conditioned on the low fat wagon that i forgot about that
thanks for the tip!!

[studyinscarlet]

Re: Getting Enough Calories

i've been so conditioned on the low fat wagon that i forgot about that

I know what you mean. It was hard to unlearn what I thought I knew about fat.

[Greeneggs&ham]

Re: Getting Enough Calories

wherever possible, you want to combine carbs with fat and/or protein to minimize their effects on your blood sugar. Consider adding cream cheese or sour cream to your veggie snack and maybe some peppers or mushrooms to your morning eggs. Between that and the suggestions made earlier, I think you are good to go!

[not2late]

Re: Getting Enough Calories

What foods are giving you the 20 net carbs? I see 2 carbs from the eggs, Maybe 5 net carbs from the celery, peppers and broccoli, and depending on the 1 cup of your dinner veggies, I see maybe another 4 net carbs. Ceasar salads typically contain lettuce as the only veg. So that's about 1 carb per cup of the lettuce. If you are eating a 2 cup salad, that's only abour 2 net carbs (if that at all)

[trinity210]

Re: Getting Enough Calories

my peppers alone were 7 carbs..
mmmm peppers