Many greetings... and a little stuck...

[Barfly]

Hey, sounds like lots of good advice so far. If I may add my own:  2 scoops chocolate protein, 6-8 oz chocolate milk, 12 oz coffee. Every morning and every evening (decaf) that I'm not doing paleo. Yum!

Try more high caloric density food. 3 cups of salad is a lot.  Didn't I just read somewhere that a stomach can only hold about 400 calories of veggies?

How about walnuts?  Walnuts = good fat, pretty high in calories (nuts in general, actually).

Olives also = good fat without feeling like eating fat.

And, yes, be strong like dad. I am my daughter's fitness role model and I couldn't be prouder of her!

[CrisciMalosh]

Thank you. I did manage to reach 1700 calories last night by forcing myself to eat when I wasn't all that hungry. Discovered a pretty durned good recipe for acorn squash btw.... I usually hate squash but I ate the whole one last night... lol. I think that I might have to add beans back into my diet.... those are another food that I can eat all day... 

[China Dan]

I'm doing IF with an 8 hour feeding window and working out (body weight exercises) fasted 3 times a week, 3 days a week cardio and one day off. I typically eat a can of tuna, muesli with whey protein and milk mixed in, two eggs and an apple for breakfast (I do IF without dinner) and then a lot of veggies for lunch. I seem to be improving definition by lowering body fat percentages and my strength levels have been improving (before I couldn't do pull-ups, now I can). Protein in skinless chicken breasts, fish, shrimp, alabone, pretty much any kind of seafood is great. Good luck with getting stronger.

[Barfly]

Hey China Dan,

 

How's that fasting/workout combo working for you?  I really hit the wall toward the end of my workout when I haven't eaten. Maybe it's something I have to get used to.

[Blaidd]

Welcome Crisci

 

Good to have you on board.  You've gotten some great advice already so i'm just going to say that you should watch out for water dense foods - 2 cups of salad will fill you up because (especially lettuce) is water dense.  I would recommend that you stop tracking calories because it's clearly making you stressed out and just eat what your body wants. I also freaked out when i started fasting 16/8 because somehow i had to fit almost 1000 cals in one meal and i was at a loss on how to do it without eating pasta/rice etc. I just didn't log cals only protein vs fat, put my mind at much better ease. The other thing is: how on earth are you meant to fit 1500+ cals into 5 hours?  Maybe expand your feeding window?

 

I can barely make myself choke down one serving of protein shake, lol... and I have to mix it into my coffee... I am slowly figuring it out... I am just a massive worrier... drives everyone around me a little crazy. 

 

I just have to work myself up to force feeding myself for awhile... I let my IF get waaaaay out of hand... thank you for your support. I will try to incorporate your ideas into my day more =D

 

what about smoothies? I hate powdery drinks too, but getting it in smoothies works amazingly for me (i especially like my homemade berry smoothies). You will also push your cals up because you're using fruit etc. I normally have a light hig cal high protein lunch, a smoothie about 4 hours later and then eat dinner just as my feeding window comes to a close.

 

I eat more cals (by increasing protein intake) on my lifting days.

 

Good luck xx

[CrisciMalosh]

Thank you... yeah I really should get a blender. (and get my autistic son used to the sound, lol) smoothies are pretty awesome.

 

Putting the protein into my morning coffee has worked out pretty decently... I think that today I am going to add some milk to the concoction, make it more like the fancy coffees I used to drink daily.

 

I still struggle getting up to the right amount of calories, put it certainly is paying off... by increasing my calories I lost several pounds this week, which is a lesser goal, but still on the list. =)

[Barfly]

Protein Mocha Latte!  yum

[CrisciMalosh]

It was actually very yummy! It really did taste like a mocha... I had no trouble drinking it this morning! Yummy

[CrisciMalosh]

The vanilla flavor is MUCH better. What was I thinking getting chocolate, I hate chocolate (*facepalm*)

 

Anyway, with my kiddos surgery, I completely gave up on counting calories, or even following paleo more closely... I reverted back to meals of rice and beans, lol... Now I need to work on getting back on track, see if counting calories without paleo works, or if I have to give up my favorite meal again. 

 

Wish me luck. 

[wideeyed]

If you're not low carbing it, Larabars are small, make a great snack to shove in your purse, my Aspie kid loves them too (he gets the peanut ones), and since they are made with dried fruits and nuts, they are high in carbs from the fruit sugars and fat from the nuts.  Small package for a big calorie.  I know how weird it is to have to eat MORE food to lose weight more efficiently, but it is true.  Go full fat everything.  I eat the majority of my vegetables cooked - less volume that way for the leafy green stuff, so I get less full.  I snack on nuts.  I need to eat around 1700 calories a day when I am doing low carb to keep losing efficiently.  I can gain on 1,200 a day when I am eating flour and sugar.  I can't fast.  I am still trying to relearn what my body is trying to tell me.  My food intake has been so messed up and I have yo-yo'd for so long, that I have to figure out WHEN I am hungry.  Ironically, I often feel nauseated when I am actually needing to eat.  You'll figure it out.  BTW, if you can afford a Nutribullet, I highly recommend it.  It will grind up EVERYTHING (you can even throw in flax or chia seeds which add some omegas and fat AND fiber) and it takes only about 15-20 seconds to blend.  We deal with ASD in this house too, so I totally get the blending noise issue

[CrisciMalosh]

I might look into those again.... the first time I did they had an ingredient that I am allergic to... I got a little blender, hasn't been bothering him... his desensitization has been going well.