Surprising discoveries

[City of Mills]

I just thought this was interesting - I've started using the tools on Livestrong.com to keep track of both my dietary intake and fitness, rather than just guessing and estimating. As it turns out, I'm actually consuming a lot more calories than I expected on any given day, but still nowhere near where I should be - how the heck am I supposed to tack on at least 400 or so calories without increasing my sugar, fat, cholesterol and protein intake? I already eat more protein than I need (not by much though), my other levels are relatively low but I'd like to keep them there.

Also, I'm at my highest weight ever, which would probably be horrifying to a lot of people but where I'm a hard gainer trying to put on a few pounds, it's encouraging - I'm very active so it's hard for me to slow down sometimes. I'm hoping to gain weight, while at the same time drop maybe 5 pounds off my midsection...I'm finding this isn't an easy task! At this point, my strategy is to push the weightlifting/cardio for the next 4-6 weeks, even at the expense of weight/muscle gain, and then I can focus more on weightlifting to keep my metabolism up and waistline trim. Does that sound right?

Also, as a funny aside, my calculated BMI for my height/weight is 24.19, on the high end of normal, just south of overweight. That just proves to me beyond a doubt that BMI is a hopeless, useless measurement as there isn't a soul on earth who would look at me and think I was anywhere near overweight. Anyways, just thought I'd share some of my surprising discoveries - besides, this forum is too quiet lately!

[eShirl]

1. hmm...

"how the heck am I supposed to tack on at least 400 or so calories without increasing my sugar, fat, cholesterol and protein intake?"

The three macronutrients are carbohydrates, fat and protein.

You say you don't want to increase your fat, protein, or sugar (which is a simple carbohydrate).

It seems to me the only thing left would be in the nature of complex carbohydrates.

* Legumes
* Starchy vegetables
* Whole-grain breads and cereals
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002469.htm

[City of Mills]

2. Thanks for the suggestion!

I'm integrating more carbs back into my diet, at least on days that I plan to work out and exercise...I'm some whole grain bread, and I found a great rice medley recipe on http://www.vegancoach.com/ - In two weeks I lost 5.5lbs so I definitely have to up my caloric intake so I don't drop any healthy weight.