hi everyone,
today I started my 1500 calorie diet. I used eatthismuch and picked some recipes I liked. Today I made them and they were delicious! However after inputting everything into my calorie tracking app, it seems after everything was made (lunch and dinner) I actually had 370 calories remaining. I used a scale and measured to the tenth of a gram. For dinner specifically, the recipe had me eat so much I physically could not finish it. I ended up eating around 60% of the dinner recipes and saved them to eat later in the day but honestly was not hungry enough to finish them.
I am worried that 1) I undercounted my calories and 2) by not finishing my dinner I am at an unhealthy deficit. If I am full and satisfied, should I be going out of my way to make sure I am eating everything? Or is it ok to stop when full and just eat less calories?
Bonus question: since I plan on eating the same diet for a while, as long as I follow the recipes exactly then do I need to actually count calories every day? Or just the first time I eat that meal and then copy paste?
Thanks!
by Thorinandco
4 Comments
how are your energy levels throughout the day? it might help to start with some breakfast or including some snacks throughout your day to maintain your energy. measure your weight loss to ensure it’s around 1-2 pounds per week for a healthy deficit.
variation is good for your diet (and your gut health) but to ease the mental load of prepping food, you should be able to repeat meals if you’re meeting your nutritional needs (micros matter too!).
Eating food isn’t just about feeling full, you also need to be careful and make sure you’re getting enough protein/fiber/nutrients. Missing some of these every now and then isn’t a big deal but week after week can cause deficiencies.
I’m not sure if I’m understanding your post right, but if your aiming for 1500 and at the end of the day you had 370 calories left, BUT you only ate 60% of your dinner (so 580 instead of 970), that would put you at 740 calories total for the day which is not okay in any way shape or form.
Again, I might be misunderstanding your post. But it seems like you’re not able to eat so much in one sitting and splitting up your calories throughout the day with other more nutrient dense foods would be a better option.
Some days I’m just not as hungry as other days. This can especially true if you’re a woman and you’re in certain parts of your cycle. Undereating every day is *not* healthy nor sustainable, so I would not make a habit of it. But if one day I come in below my calories but I’m perfectly satisfied, I just chalk that up to a day my body didn’t need as much and keep in mind that there will be other days I’m much hungrier and go *over* my calories. Both are perfectly okay now and then.
If you find that recipes that specify a certain calorie range are consistently coming in much lower when you make them, I’d double check how you’re weighing/measuring. For example 8oz of raw chicken thigh is *wildly* different than 8oz of raw chicken thigh, and consistently using the wrong entry can vastly affect the outcome. Just as an example.
It’s fine to go more under if you’re not hungry. It’s not going to have any adverse affects except our you in a larger deficit and you’ll lose weight quicker