Can't get the calories suggested

I cannot say I can't get the calories, I can only say I don't know how. I need help really. I am new to this and I am having a really tough time with it. I was diagnosed with High Blood Pressure and started taking meds a few months ago for it. I started looking into diets. I have never done any diet before.
I found the Military Diet, and of course, like I say, I don't know anything about diets, but after the 3 days were over, I just thought I should be able to eat good and get results just the same. So I downloaded the fitness app and started trying to just simply follow what it was showing me about calorie intake... stay below 1500, but therein lies the problem.
I eat breakfast lunch and dinner, but I cannot seem to get the 1500 calories it says I need.
I am getting much less. For the last 3 days my calorie count has been Saturday- 1,500 - 802 = 698,
yesterday 1,500 - 495 = 1005, Today 1,500 - 977 = 523

The app says it will not even post my results I guess because it's not healthy due to the low calorie count.
I struggled to get to 977 calories today.
The problem is that I must also keep my sodium intake as low as possible. I'm really at a loss as to how I can reach my calorie goal without going over my Sodium limit of 1500mg

If anyone has any suggestions on how I can handle this it would be so helpful. Any foods with some normal calorie count with a lower sodium count. I really want to lose this weight for my health. I believe if I can get my weight down I could probably come off of the High Blood Pressure Meds. I am only 5' 7', and I want to go down from 174 to 150. I am now down to 169, so I still have a ways to go.
I hope someone will be able to share ideas with me on how to do this.
Thank you all very much.
-Michael

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The military diet is full of high sodium foods such as hot dogs and canned tuna. It's not even a real military diet. Ditch it and never look back.

My husband had high blood pressure, and I found that I just made what we usually eat with an extra eye on low-sodium substitutions. Dry beans for canned, no-salt-added tomatoes instead of pasta sauce, Goat cheese over bleu cheese, corn tortillas over flour. Stuff like that. He lowered it with diet alone and now we still watch sodium, but at a level of 2300 instead, and if we cook our own food, we rarely even get close to that. I even have to add salt to my own food because I have the opposite problem.

As for not eating enough calories, I'll bet you're low on fats. Fat is not the enemy and there's plenty of healthy ways to incorporate it into your diet without adding salt, such as using oil to cook veggies, a handful of no-salt nuts for a snack, or a nice piece of salmon.

If you need suggestions and a framework, try looking up the DASH diet, which is doctor-approved for managing blood pressure. I'm also happy to make some suggestions based on what you already eat if you open up your diary.

Yes Michael I know this feeling. Happened to me too. I added two protein shakes a day. That brought my calorie count up to the1200 mark. You could try more pasta as well, if you cook and reheat it is lower GI so really good for you. Hope that helps.

Pasta isn't good for you when you diet!

KristenMarie1181 wrote: »

Pasta isn't good for you when you diet!

Pasta's fine. Weigh out a proper portion and fit it in your calories. There's no need to demonize food-especially in the OP's case when he needs to be able to find choices that are low sodium, such as pasta.

KristenMarie1181 wrote: »

Pasta isn't good for you when you diet!

With all due respect, says who? O.o It is a good carb and fiber and nowadays it can even be a good protein source if it's enriched. Properly portioned, it's wonderful. There's no such thing as a bad food unless it's rancid, really.

Low sodium foods rich in calories: rice, pasta, nuts, avocados, no salt butter, sour cream, dried fruit, fruit juice, bananas, potatoes, chicken dark meat, ground beef.

KristenMarie1181 wrote: »

Pasta isn't good for you when you diet!

Kristen, pasta isn't good for you because of your health issues. People who don't have diabetes or pre-diabetes can eat pasta and other carbs without worry.

Add some calorie dense food to your daily menu Like avocado, peanut butter, full milk instead of skimmed ( when you use that), nuts etc

When you use skinny products start using full instead, like the milk, or salad dressing or what ever you used skinny products

and pre-plan your days better
Sit down for only 5 minutes after dinner and plan the next day. Plan for the desired/expected goal and tweak the next day the real numbers.

btw i add no salt to my foods too, because of high blood pressure. And i eat everything except indeed added salt, and added sugar

You need to get in more calories, the easiest way to do this is to eat more fat. Add butter, olive oil, avocados, nuts, coconut oil.

A nice sweet treat that i used to eat is 2tbs of cocoa powder(unsweetened), 2tbs of coconut oil, 1tbs of stevia(artificial sweetener). Mix it really well till it has a consistency of chocolate. This is roughly 250 calories and you get around 4tbs worth.

I'd try to stay away from processed foods, they usually contain a lot of sodium.

Are you over weight? Trying to lose? Then you must have been eating more than 1500 a day before.

What are you eating I can't see your diary.

If your drinking light milk, drink full fat.

Or more than likely your underestimating your food.

Do you feel full on 600 calls?

Avoiding processed foods is going to be a big one for you to help with keeping the sodium low - I have the opposite problem, I've been sodium deficient for years.

One of my biggest tips is to find salt-free or no salt added seasoning for foods which are typically bland but low sodium - aka, veggies. I love steamed broccoli, so long as it's got some additional seasoning.

You need to up your calories ASAP however. To give you an idea, we're the same height and similar weight (with very similar end goals too), except I'm female and I'm eating around 1700 calories a day to lose a little less than an lb a week.

Up you lean proteins, add additional fats (avacado, unsalted nuts/trail mix, peanut or other nut butters etc), and make sure you hit the base recommendation for men during weight loss. Which is actually a minimum of 1500 calories, not under it.

Also, don't search for fad diets. High blood pressure is something that you need to address for your overall health, just dropping the weight doesn't guarantee it will go down. You need a lifestyle change, not a fad to follow for a few months.

I have a few ways that I can easily add calories to my day:

1) Olive oil is pretty high in calories and has no sodium in it. I like to pour some over a large bowl of fresh spinach and squeeze some lemon on it and add a dash of pepper. Sometimes I cut up some unseasoned baked chicken breast and toss it in.

2) Eggs fried in olive oil with a side of spinach sauteed w/ garlic in olive oil.

3) Raw unsalted almonds have a good number of calories and are great to snack on.

4) My Smucker's organic natural peanut butter has only 50mg of sodium and 210 calories in 2 TBSP (32g). I like to eat sliced frozen bananas with peanut butter (I'm weird, I know). Or I even just eat a spoonful out of the jar on occassion.

5) I used to make my own guacamole (avocados, tomatoes, onions, cilantro, lime) and dip baby carrots in it instead of chips. I bet if you smeared that baby on some toast it would help bring up your calories.

If consuming more sugar is not an issue for you...

6) I sometimes sprinkle some sugar on my avocado and eat it just like that as a snack. That'll give you some calories too.

7) Avocado smoothie. Avocado, condensed milk, dash of water and some ice (blend all together and enjoy all of those calories. Yum!)

8) Strawberries dipped in chocolate. One of my fave desserts. Lots of calories.

9) There's also ice cream. SO. MANY. CALORIES. IN. ICE. CREAM. More in some than others, but I tend to like the flavors with chocolate or peanut butter or both and those have a lot of calories.

10) If a else fails, whipped cream. I know it's not healthy, but it does have a lot of calories.

11) I forgot, a baked potato with all the toppings is a calorie-loaded heap of awesomeness. Of course, stay away from adding cheese and bacon because of the high sodium content. But unsalted butter, sour cream and chives would still work.

12) Have a good amount of steak with that baked potato and your calories would be super high for that meal.

These are just a few ideas off the top of my head on how to incorporate more calories into your day.

I used to know a woman who just couldn't eat enough calories in a day and her doctor suggested she drink more calories. She started having daily milkshakes and drinking other high calorie drinks and it worked well for her. Maybe you should check with your doctor about your diet and see if he/she has any suggestions for you.

Oh, I also like vegan chocolate tofu pudding. Gives me protein, sugar, calories and satisfies my sweet tooth. I'm still in awe that people can make tofu taste like legit chocolate pudding. Call me crazy, but I actually like it more than the real stuff. Maybe you can incorporate more low sodium desserts like that into your day too.

Ok, sorry for typing out so many words and good luck!

michael11_73 wrote: »

I cannot say I can't get the calories, I can only say I don't know how. I need help really. I am new to this and I am having a really tough time with it. I was diagnosed with High Blood Pressure and started taking meds a few months ago for it. I started looking into diets. I have never done any diet before.
I found the Military Diet, and of course, like I say, I don't know anything about diets, but after the 3 days were over, I just thought I should be able to eat good and get results just the same. So I downloaded the fitness app and started trying to just simply follow what it was showing me about calorie intake... stay below 1500, but therein lies the problem.
I eat breakfast lunch and dinner, but I cannot seem to get the 1500 calories it says I need.
I am getting much less. For the last 3 days my calorie count has been Saturday- 1,500 - 802 = 698,
yesterday 1,500 - 495 = 1005, Today 1,500 - 977 = 523

The app says it will not even post my results I guess because it's not healthy due to the low calorie count.
I struggled to get to 977 calories today.
The problem is that I must also keep my sodium intake as low as possible. I'm really at a loss as to how I can reach my calorie goal without going over my Sodium limit of 1500mg

If anyone has any suggestions on how I can handle this it would be so helpful. Any foods with some normal calorie count with a lower sodium count. I really want to lose this weight for my health. I believe if I can get my weight down I could probably come off of the High Blood Pressure Meds. I am only 5' 7', and I want to go down from 174 to 150. I am now down to 169, so I still have a ways to go.
I hope someone will be able to share ideas with me on how to do this.
Thank you all very much.
-Michael

Open your diary. Are you sure your calorie counting is not off?

3 brazil nuts: 100 cals...(I hate that they have so many cals, as I LOVE them)

OP check into the DASH diet, it is specifically for reducing high blood pressure and gives a lot of food options and will help you with your calorie goals. As others have mentioned less canned and more fresh and frozen plain veggies are one way to reduce the sodium. Learn to use other spices to flavor your foods.

KristenMarie1181 wrote: »

Pasta isn't good for you when you diet!

Nope. I eat pasta and I'm losing weight. Just make sure you weigh it out and account for the calories.

Nothing wrong with some delicious pasta. I eat it several times a week, usually with pesto and chicken and a healthy dose of broccoli or asparagus added in. I did this all through my loss phase and it's working fine in maintenance too.

I was put on a lower sodium diet but, mine is 2000 as of right now. I typically just move foods around til it is under that. Pre logging is the best way to do that.

Pasta is a great idea, as is the suggestion to add more fat to your diet (love that list @SkinnyWannabeGal provided). Grains in general are a good idea -- I suspect you're coming in so low because you upped your vegetables and lean protein immensely while also cutting out grains and starches. Try adding a side of quinoa to dinner, have a cold pasta salad for lunch, enjoy some toast at breakfast... basically, ease up a little. You're struggling to meet your calorie goal because you overshot the mark when you tried to change your diet.

I have, sometimes, a similar issue. Resolved by eating smaller, but more often (like 200-is cals every 2-3 hours or so).

Typical day looks like this:
0500-0700: Mozzarella cheese sticks, apple, carrots (210 cals)
0700-0900 - 5.3 oz Greek Yogurt and a cup of blackberries and green tea with a dollop of honey (200 cals)
0900-1100 - Protein bar (Simple Truth ones are decent) (210 cals)
1100-1300 - 2oz dark chocolate (70% or better) and handful of pecans (320 cals)
1300-1500 - Chai latte, some random snack bar (200 cals)
1500-1700 - PowerBar Wafer, Gatorade G2 Low Cal (225 cals)
1700-1900 - Nothing as I'm either riding or running at this point, see previous)
1900-2100 - 1c skim milk, Chicken tenderloins (~114g), steamed vegetables (250g california mix, or similar) (300 cals)

That's 1665. A little low for me, but it does leave leeway for the occasional cookie or slice of pie. . . or the other half of that dark chocolate bar. . .

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