Worried about family getting enough calories

[Tatoumorse]

We've been very poor lately, paying back debts, I have researched all of our entitlements where we live (abroad).

I'm constantly cold now it's winter as per last year, and my teenage boy and younger one are always hungry. Today googling other things I think we may be undernourished, never crossed my mind before.
I thought we have a healthy diet, porridge/yoghurt breakfast, boiled egg/peanut butter toast for lunch, with a small cereal bar each, then pasta/rice-based veggie dish or chicken for tea, occasional burgers and occasional cake.
But today I added up the calories and we get approx 500 max per day if I calculated correctly. I'm really worried this is way off what we should be getting and may be a source of several health problems now that I'm joining the dots.
I am not a bad parent but I had a poor upbringing, not to blame that, but I never learnt about nutrition, I was actuallly more worried about overfeeding my kids (unhealthy snacks, etc.) Now I feel awful.

On a VERY limited income, how can I boost our calorie intake in a healthy way quickly? I wonder about protein shakes, or noodle snacks? Any advice please, but not on the debt issue as that is in hand, I had expert advice on it etc. and am just having to do my best and pay back over a 2 year period

I’m struggling to see how all the food you’ve mentioned added up comes to 500 calories. Is it the small portion size?

You’re right that 500 calories is nowhere near enough. What is the chicken dish? Chicken, potatoes, veg and gravy is a full meal for example. I would concentrate on proper meals rather than extra snacks.

Can you break down how many calories you calculated for each meal?

Lunch definitely doesn’t sound enough.

It’s definitely not 500 calories - two boiled eggs, two slices of toast with butter and a cereal bar will come to about that on its own. But it might be a bit lacking for a teenage boy, although enough for you. I wouldn’t bother with protein shakes, just make sure they have eg glasses of milk or hot chocolates, maybe make flapjacks or pancakes. Bananas are calorific, filling and cheap.

I would think opposite to dieting

So dieting - volume food. Like lettuce, you get loads for not many calories. Cucumber, peppers, lean meat etc

For calorie gain think concentrated. Full fat milk, butter, full fat yoghurt, more fatty meats, less of the volume food stuff

If that makes sense! So you're better off with porridge with some cream/full fat milk and a few nuts rather than cornflakes with skimmed milk

I'm sorry things are tough.

The calories you've estimated don't sound correct unless they are tiny - even a bowl of porridge made with water and with fruit / honey added, would come to 250 - 300 cal.

I am concerned you did the maths wrong, OP!

Let us see your calculations, we'll probably spot something like using the wrong units.

Lentils and beans are normally a quick cheap healthy boost to your diet - e.g. baked beans or home made hummus with that lunch, lentils or beans added to the pasta sauce.

And whatever the cheap fruit is where you live is good for snacking

I don’t think your lunch is enough but I also think your calorie calculations are wrong. Can you up your portion sizes particularly the porridge and evening meal?
cereal bars are expensive and not filling. Try jacket potato and beans for lunch

Calories wise it is probably fine but does seem to be lacking in nutrients. I would be looking at upping fruit and veg, buying whatever is in season supplemented with tinned tomatoes and pulses. You mention eggs and peanut butter but other reasonably cheap sources of protein could include canned tuna, greek yoghurt, seeds and nuts.

Wow, so overwhelmed to get all these replies so quickly - thanks so much!

I'm actually on breaks at work, so I'm going to post the calorie breakdown later when I'm done in case I did it wrong in my haste! I hope I am wrong...

I have a broken Nutri Ninja so think I could get a new cup for it and blitz bananas, full fat yoghurt/milk as suggested.

Malnourished means eating high quality foods. Where’s the vegetables and fruit? Cereal bars are processed rubbish for a start. Switch it for a banana.

Your calculations are definitely wrong, unless the portions are tiny.

Easy to increase the energy cheaply. Add a tin of beans for lunch, a banana for breakfast, lentils or chickpeas for tea or some fruit for pudding

Where can I find a good calorie counter site to check? (Am in France)

Cut out the cereal bars, replace with bananas.

Add - veg soup and bread
Crumble (apples/pears, oats on top)
Lentil soup/dhal , veggie or with lardons or ham pieces in.

I'm pretty certain your maths is wrong, it is very difficult to have 3 meals and snacks in 500 calories and you are getting 3 meals.

As above make sure you are using full fat versions of everything, price should be the same as the zero or low fat varieties but you'll get more calories.

Buy seasonal fruit and veg and freeze anything that's approaching its end so it doesn't go to waste. If you have frozen fruit available it can be blitzed into a smoothie or cooked as a pudding. You can often find it in the really reduced section because it's about to go bad so just chop it up and freeze for another day. Frozen veg can go into an omelette or soup/pie/traybake/stir fry.

MyFitnessPal is free and you can create recipes and get a breakdown of calories per portion

Thanks @CyberCritical will post again soon in next break!

You are certaintly not on 500cal a day...

Try fitness pal I think they scan international items too

Unless your portions are tiny that will be more than 500 calories.

cookingonabootstrap.com/ has good resources for low budget cookery

I think your maths are out as well.

I don't think maths is your forte op

Baked potatoes are filling and nutritious (make sure you eat the skin too). If you can afford to put tuna, cheese, egg or any other protein with them then that's a good, balanced filling meal.

Cereal bars are okay, but homemade flapjack is better.

There's a lack of fruit and veg in your diet. You don't say where you are, so it's hard to judge what might be available for a cheap price, but any kind of fruit and veg that you can add cheaply to your diet would be advantageous for health and nutrition. Remember nutrition isn't just calories, it's the quality of those calories. You can be overweight and still be malnourished if you're living on takeaways and drinking coke.

TBH, if you afford protein powder (which is quite expensive), then you should be able to afford a better diet. Protein shakes are fine, but they're not something that DC should be filling up on - it's much better to give them the protein as a meal than a snack. Noodles again - nutrionally poor - okay as part of a meal but I wouldn't be filling my kids up with noodles as a snack.

Don't fanny about with protein shakes, they're one of the most expensive diet fads going.

Your best bet is peanuts. They're cheap and you can add a handful to everything. Also hard cheese. Really high in protein.

More problematic, though, you need to make sure you're all also getting the full range of vitamins/minerals in decent amounts, e.g. from a varied diet including plenty of veg. Peanuts have a broad range of minerals and amino acids, but I'd try and add an extra portion of fruit or veg to your diet if possible to get those vitamins. Spinach or kale are usually cheap and nutrient-dense.

Vitamin and mineral deficiencies also cause health issues.

You'd be eating dollshouse sized portions on 500 calories per day with 3 meals. There are improvements you can make but it's not awful. I'm think something's gone wrong with the maths