eckzoo Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 Okay so I have been tracking my food intake on fooducate app. Looking at my calorie intake since starting I went from 1800/1900 to 800 or less. I am worried that this is too little calories. I don't want my leptin levels to get all messed up and head into starvation mode. I am not hungry at all and feel if I ate more it would just be for the sake of eating, not actually fueling my body. I have been tracking my food on my blog http://365zoo.blogspot.com/ and I am not seeing where I can add more except maybe veggies and those carry little calories. I don't want to be skinny and flabby, but fit! Thanks in advance for you help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amberino21 Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 what have you been eating? if you're following the template, you shouldn't be eating that few calories - and you're not supposed to be tracking them in the first place! Fat has more calories per gram than carbs or protein, and if you are needing to eat more, increasing fats is an easy way without increasing volume. but you should be getting enough if you're actually following the guide! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eckzoo Posted July 20, 2013 Author Share Posted July 20, 2013 I've been eating according to plan. I track it just out of habit not to really count but the app keeps track of GMO, fat to protein to carb ratio etc. its also a good app for use when shopping and looking for healthier alternatives to products. I'm not sure how to add more fats other than what I cook in or maybe avocado here and there. My goal is to change our eating habits for the better and get more out of my workouts without compromising my health- last thing I want is some leptin mess up and I hit starvation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amberino21 Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 technically you don't need to worry about measuring anything on the whole 30 - part of the benefit is to let go of the association with counting/measuring tracking. you're not eating anything unhealthy, so you don't need to be looking for healthier alternatives! you can add fat through cooking, oil on salads, olives, mayo, avocado, coconut milk in cooking or coffee, or on fruit, coconut meat (fresh or dried), nuts/butters although these aren't overly recommended. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GFChris Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 While V8 is not prohibited on a Whole30, I wonder if you would be better off eating more veggies instead of drinking them? Shoot for the upper end of the meal template: 2 palm sizes of protein per meal and 2 c of veggies per meal. Instead of tracking calories (again, discouraged on the W30) follow the meal template and focus on your feelings of fullness/satiety. Part of the Whole30 is learning to listen to your body's cues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
notacommittee Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 Yes, that is too little calories. And it's really good that you're looking to eat more. After a quick look at your meals on your blog, this is my advice: The most obvious thing is to just eat bigger portions. From your photos, they look pretty small. If you're eating 2 eggs, eat 3. If you're eating 3, eat 4. And cook them in lots of coconut oil. Eat more of your "cinna-hashies" (those look delicious, BTW). When you have a vegetable side, toss the veggies in olive oil or ghee for added calories (you can throw in some lemon juice to this for added delicious). Your smallest meal seems to be lunch. I saw that you said one day that you hate making yourself eat lunch - is it because you just don't feel hungry for it? Or because you're busy? Either way, there's a lot of room to add more calories without adding to workload/volume of food: -Instead of carrot sticks, have a sliced avocado: same "stomach space;" equally easy to chop (or just spoon straight out of the peel); more calories. For extra delicious, sprinkle with salt and balsamic vinegar. -Make your meat sauce chunkier and use fatty ground beef for it. -If you're strapped for time, try stocking up on canned sardines packed in olive oil (watch out for soy!) or salmon. Tuna is OK but not as fatty. Super easy to pull out for a meal, and if you make your own mayo it's delicious to add that to them for more fat. -Pour olive oil on your salads. -A handful of nuts is a good, easy snack or addition to a meal. Squeeze packets of nut buter can also get you 200 calories/tbsp. Relying on them as a staple is a bad idea but as a snack they're fine. You also mentioned on your blog about wanting to save money. You know what's really cheap and full of calories? Animal fat. Lard. Tallow. Some butchers will just give it away because they don't want it. If you've never had a sweet potato topped with lard, you are missing out big time; it's the most delicious way to eat them in the whole world. Cooking veggies in duck fat is like a whole new culinary experience - really adds variety and helps you not get bored. Hope that was helpful! (edit: formatting; eeek where did my bullet points go? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Physibeth Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 From browsing briefly through your blog you are not meeting the requirements of the food template. Just in case here is a link: http://whole9life.com/book/ISWF-Meal-Planning-Template.pdf Amber has given you some good advice about adding fats. I would say you need to add a lot more vegetables too. Edited to say: Wow...everyone jumped on this fast while I was posting my tiny post. ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJB Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 Yes your meals look downright tiny in some cases (a little bit of meat sauce with a handful of carrot sticks??). If you just aren't hungry, which is hard to imagine on such a small amount of food, you might need to add a 4th meal. Do you like olives? That's a great way to add fat to your meals, especially if you aren't a big avocado fan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amberino21 Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 I just realised your link was to your blog, and not a tracking program! most of the meals you have don't seem to fit the requirements - there's limited fat in most of them, and like others have mentioned, they're tiny. V8 really is a terrible option, and not just on a whole 30.....you wont be getting any nutrients from it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eckzoo Posted July 20, 2013 Author Share Posted July 20, 2013 Thanks all! I will try some of your suggestions- I cook all my proteins in coconut oil or ghee so maybe I I add those amts in it will change. I'm kinda glad I was tracking just so I could see how far of I was! Yikes! Lunch is just usually forgotten because I am prepping the kids lunch or ties up and just forget and am not getting the hunger cues. I'm glad I posted to I can make sure the next two weeks and beyond are way more in line withy he program! Thanks again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amberino21 Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 I don't think trying to count in your cooking fat is best way to go personally - most of the fat is left in the pan, not on the meat! try adding extra when the meal is cooked (a dollop of homemade mayo is awesome), add extra eggs to your breakfast etc. i'd also try and stay away from the egg/banana egg/blueberry breakfasts and try and go for something that better fits the template. in terms of lunch, perhaps try and make enough for leftovers at dinner or double the amounts when you're preparing breakfast. having HB eggs or pre-baked chicken is easy to keep in the fridge to throw together with a salad or precooked vegies for lunch if you're short on time. you also mention workouts, but don't mention pre/postWO meals? your body needs these to help fuel your workout, and recover afterwards - they'll add to your intake as well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Tom Denham Posted July 20, 2013 Moderators Share Posted July 20, 2013 The meal template is your guide to eating the proper amount of food in the Whole30 world, not calorie counting. You are not supposed to be counting calories. From looking at the pictures on your blog, it appears that your protein and veggie servings are too small and fat seems minimally present at best. If you are having trouble eating a full plate of food, you may be having digestion problems and need to supplement with a digestive enzyme for a while to help your body adjust. You might want to check out this recent blog post regarding digestive enzymes... http://whole9life.com/2012/09/digestive-enzymes-101/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bet Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 nota, your post made me very hungry. I could eat some lard right now. And OMG, I am so making those cinna-hashies tomorrow. Without the egg whites. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
notacommittee Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 "Lunch is just usually forgotten because I am prepping the kids lunch or ties up and just forget and am not getting the hunger cues." In this case, it might sound silly, but what about setting a timer or an alarm to remind you? If you have a slow cooker, you can make this even better. Throw some meat and veg in the slow cooker while you're prepping breakfast, and put a timer/buzzer physically near the slow cooker set to go off at lunchtime. Then lunchtime rolls around, and you hear this beeping noise, and it's like wow, this thing is beeping, let me go shut it off - oh hey, look at that, it's time to eat and there's a delicious meal hot and ready for me to enjoy right away! Awesome! If you don't have one already, slow cookers are super super cheap (I got mine at Goodwill for $8, still in an unopened box with the retail sticker on it...but even the retail sticker was only $20). Plus they don't heat up the house in the summer and make the cheapest cuts of meat taste gourmet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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