I'm currently trying to slightly increase my calorie intake from 1300 to 1400. The problem is, I just can't seem to get myself to eat anything else! Today, I think I might be close to 1400 as I had a Boca burger for a morning snack. Unfortunately, this extra food is making me feel quite full and semi bloated.

Any advice is appreciated! My FitDay profile can be seen here.

http://www.fitday.com/WebFit/PublicJournals.html?Owner=goldenegg

One thing to note, I don't cut back on carbs in the evening as I go to the gym around 9pm.

Post your stats and goals please goldenegg. This will give people a better idea of what to recommend.

:tu:

5'6", 130lbs, 25 years old.

According to the 'military method', I have 12% body fat.

and ur goals?? Depending on if ur looking to gain muscle/ or lose fat, ur cal range changes considerably.

Right now I'm looking to lose fat. I'll start building muscle once I reach approx 10% bf.

k. looks like you're pushing for the correct amount of calories for your stats and goals. Here are some options.

From your fitday chart it seems youre eating around three to four times per day. I'd recommend trying to plan your meals the day before then eating six times daily. Eating more often increases your metabolism - your body will use a proportion of the energy and colories just to digest the food. Given time, i'd be willing to bet this'll create the little bit of extra hunger you need.

It also seems that because you're doing most of your workouts in the evenings you're not experiencing that post workout hunger or "kick-start" that morning sessions provide your metabolism. Changing your cardio sessions to the mornings perhaps twice a week may also make a difference.

If you're unable to do this, I'd start to think about some foods that are a little higher in calories but full of good fats and that won't be too filling. Nuts (almonds are my favs) are a good thing to snack on as are avocado's (139 cals per half avocado and 13g fat). These fats benefit your body by lowering heart-damaging cholesterol (LDL) while keeping up the healthy type of cholesterol (HDL). Good fats fight heart and cardiovascular disease and they can even help metabolize high-glycemic carbohydrates more effectively.

It's a difficult choice knowing whether to sacrifice your 40,40,20 ratios for the sake of some extra calories but many people would argue that a lack of calories (esp. when you're exercising for long hard sessions often) will harm the progression of your fat loss.

Hope this helps and good luck! :tu:

hi,
let me ask you why you decided to raise your cals to 1400 if you were trying to lose weight. if i were to guess, were you stuck and not losing weight? if so, it's because eating so little calories for your weight and bf% has put you in starvation mode. 12% is fairly lean.

for 130 lbs and 12% bf, i recommend eating about 1600, but raise the calories slowly, like 100 each week until you are losing up to two lbs a week. any slower weight loss than 1lb per week, u might have to tweak the numbers i assume you are weight lifting and doing cardio with this too. as example, i am 110 lbs and i eat 1600 to maintain.
if you have trouble getting calories in, shakes are pretty convenient and you can also add calorie dense foods to your diet, like peanut butter to your shakes. nuts, olive olive on salad are other ideas.

if you aren't eating enough to sustain your body's basic functions, it's going to hang on to all the fat it can and also eat at your muscle for energy.

Thanks for the advice guys.

While I didn't quite get 'stuck', I haven't been losing as much bf and have been feeling a little sluggish and bloated. I may have found the cause. I've never been a big fan of milk, but started drinking it a lot for shakes and such. I went back in my workout notes and found that's when I started having trouble. Specifically, I think the shake I was making before my evening workout was giving me too many carbs at night.

Yesterday I cut out the milk entirely and took a calcium supplement instead. I felt great all day. I'll continue like this for a week or so to see if the fat loss goes back to 1 or 2lbs/week. If not, then I'll grab almonds (my fav as well) and perhaps some other nuts (suggestions?) to have as snacks throughout the day. I'm pretty sure I can incorporate them in my diet without affecting my calorie ratio.