I don't eat very much. I don't know why. I THINK I eat a lot, but I really don't.

I'm trying to gain weight and gaining requires getting more calories, so I made a meal schedule that includes three "big" meals and two snacks. An ordinary day on this schedule might have included something like this:

Breakfast: eggwhites equivalent to two or three eggs. (I don't measure, so I really don't know.)
10am Snack: protein bar
Lunch: a turkey wrap and cottage cheese.
3pm Snack: protein bar
Dinner: chicken breast and veggies

I liked this schedule because I wasn't hungry at all throughout the day, but I also wasn't stuffed to the gills.

Well, that isn't enough food. I started losing weight. When I talked to my trainer he said I need to eat more. He said that I should probably try to get some 2500 calories a day.

Given that the USDA recommended allotment is 2,000 calories in a day and I felt like I was eating a lot, I swore to him that I HAD to be eating at least that much in a day.

Guess what. It's not.

All that food and, if I've figured it out properly, I was probably only getting somewhere between 1,500 and 2,000 calories. WHILE doing cardio five days a week and weights three days a week. No surprises there that my clothes were getting baggy.

Fortunately, I don't think I've lost more than five pounds.

So, I tried to eat more yesterday. For my 10 am snack, I had a protein shake instead, which is worth about 600 calories. And for my 3pm snack I had TWO protein bars (180 calories each). Even with my three soysage patties (60 calories each) and the crazy chicken and red sauce with pasta that my roommate made last night, I think I only BARELY got over 2,000 calories in yesterday.

This is very hard for me.

Today, I repeated the protein shake and brought two turkey wraps for lunch. I haven't been able to eat the second one, though, because I feel like I'm about to essplode.

I grew up in a family of grazers. We wander around the house and we eat a little bit here and there. A few baby carrots here, a dollop of ceiling spackle there. We'd have only one large meal in the day, supper, -- IF we had an actual meal -- and that's it. My parents also weren't very big on the "clean your plate" philosophy. We ate as much as we wanted and that's it.

In general, I think we ate pretty well, granted I've always been skinny.

I find that as an adult now, I rarely eat very much in one sitting. I eat a little and rest. Eat a little and rest. Eat a little and rest. And when I'm done eating, that's it. I don't eat more.

So, now I'm trying to force myself to eat and I do not like it. How will I ever eat some 2,500 calories?!?!

And another irritating aspect of eating so much more is that I have to poop so much more. Personally, I do not like to defecate. I don't care if it is an unavoidable fact of human existence. I don't like it.

And eating so much is just putting more stuff inside my body so that it can come out the other end. It just makes this whole process even more bothersome.

Posted by: Flibbertigibbet at 08:14 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
Category: Fitness with Flibby
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1 Faced the same problem when I started weight training--had to poop more often. I went from brunch and dinner with MAYBE a snack, to THREE full meals and FOUR snacks a day, and I'm not even yet consistent with that so sometimes I eat at or slightly below 2000 cal, when I should be getting 2500 to 3000 cal a day. That's bad of course since you could actually lOSE weight and even muscle mass despite working out! Your body needs all that extra energy to repair and build up your muscles, apart from all the extra energy you need to perform your workouts.

I sometimes cheat by making up all those extra calories with candy bars and other sweets. (We're supposed to use more wholesome foodstuff.)

You'll find it easier if you ease up on the protein and spread your meals to seven small meals a days, instead of two or three big meals and a few snacks. Your body will absorb the nutrients more efficiently in any case. Get more of your calories from carbs and less from protein. This won't reduce your defecation rate, but you'll eat more easily.

The more frequent defecations at least indicate your eat more than you used to! Just another thing you'll have to tolerate if you want to look like King Leonidas.

Posted by: Tom Rexton at June 21, 2007 09:08 PM (pbgQ5)

2 True.

The problem I have with more meals is that I literally do not have time for it.

As it is, I feel like I am constantly shoving food into my mouth and during the times that I'm not doing that the last thing on my mind is eating more.

I dunno. I'll have to work something out. Right now, I've just added a shake to my day. We'll see if they does the trick.

Posted by: Flibbert at June 22, 2007 03:22 AM (ErOeR)

3 I recommend more carbs...healthy ones, and more fat, for example, put some cheese on your chicken, add butter and/or mayo to your wraps. You wouldn't have to eat more, just make sure that what you eat is loaded with the things you need.

I also recommend this book: "The Schwarzbein Principle". Dr. Diana Schwarzbein is an endocrinologist who looks at nutrition from the perspective of balancing your hormones with diet and achieving your ideal physique as a side effect of healthy habits instead of making it the goal at the expense of your total health. She recommends having a balance of all the food groups (lower portions of whole grain carbs, healthy fats like real butter, cheese and olive oil, protein and vegetables) with each meal or snack. She says if you avoid carbs and don't balance each meal, you cause your body to produce spikes of the hormones that break down muscle and fat, and the more you do this the more you stress yourself and prematurely age yourself.

Posted by: lucylovebiscuit at June 22, 2007 12:37 PM (WWjB7)

4 Yes, more carbs and more fat. One word: Cheese! What's your favorite food, Flib? Me, I like cheeseburgers. Also, eating a lot of little meals will make you feel full all the time. Try eating a proper meal or two.

Posted by: Inspector at June 23, 2007 03:49 PM (E+MoO)

5 Hi, this site can help.

www.calorie-count.com

It provides tools for keeping track of calories. I use it quite a bit and it has helped me to loose weight. There is also a forum, if you are looking for more advice.

Its free.

Posted by: Marnee at June 26, 2007 09:11 AM (/lqv4)

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