I have no appetite

Kipke9

Dear all,

I started MFP half an year ago (weight of 77 kilo). My goal was to lose weight and to do more sports. But three months ago my boyfriend went to China for 1 year and since he is gone I actually don't have any appetite at all. I don't feel bad or something, I just don't have any appetite for food. Instead of using MFP to lose wait, I use it now to be sure I don't eat to less. If I don't use MFP I will probably eat a max of 600-800 kcal a day. If I use MFP I obliged myself to eat at least around 1300 kcal. But I can tell you that I find it hard to do. I struggle every day to reach that goal.

I'm now 1.1 kilos from my goal and for now I am o.k. with losing weight (age 25; 1.73 m; goal 68 kilo). But after my goal I don't want to lose much more (minimum weight I will accept is 65). So I hope someone can give me some advice on how to deal with this problem on a healty way.

The problem is that I don't want to eat much meat or fish due to personal reasons. Last week I did eat more of that than normal to compensate for the shortage of protein, but I actually
don't want to do it that way. My meals are moslty vegetarien. In my diet there is also no butter (I don't like it) and a slight amount of milk products (but I am trying to increase that with difficulty). Also I don't eat much eggs too, due to I always forget to use them. For drinks I don't like them to be sweet and therefore I mostly only drink water or (fresh herb) tea.

So my question is if someone knows how to increase my appetite or at least tricks to increase my kcal intake to maintain my weight. Other tips are also welcome.

Thanks!

Kipke

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

Hey Kipke,

I am having issues with low appetite right now due to some health issues. I am finding that green smoothies made with greek yogurt are helpful for meeting fiber/protein goals. They work for me because I can just sit and sip them. Also focus on higher calorie foods-- avocado, nuts, olives, etc. I let myself have a serving of ice cream at night, which is usually 300 calories or so. I make soup to get my meat and some more veggies in. I find that fattier cuts of meat are better because they taste better to me and have more calories per gram. They have less protein though so it's a trade off.

Do you like cheese? Things like putting an extra slice on a sandwich can help bump up your calories. I know you said not much milk but sometimes I'll sip a glass of milk around bedtime to help me get to goal.

How do you feel about potatoes? They can be a great source of calories. Sweet potatoes too. Add olive oil to your food.

Partly it's going to be personal-- find yourself some foods that you enjoy, even if you don't think they're super "healthy"-- the most important thing is to eat an appropriate number of calories.

Finally, see your doctor if it keeps up. You may be suffering from depression or another health issue.

Good luck, I know how much it can suck. And I get really tired of people saying "must be nice." Nope, it isn't nice. Not at all.

se015

Hey so I'm sorry to hear that you're appetite is suffering, I would say that might have something to do with how you're feeling, I know you said it doesn't, but it might and you just don't realize it. Anyway, it's okay that you don't want to eat meat, you're not looking to gain lots of muscle mass so you don't need high levels protein in your body constantly.

Peanut butter? If you desire that at all, I'd say get yourself a large container of peanut butter and eat many spoonfuls a day or you can even make shakes with it.

No offense but you have a very narrow choice to meet your taste satisfactions! Veggies pretty much have no calories. BEANS??? Beans are high in carbs and protein?

Do you like cheese? And you really should look into eating eggs more often because they contain lots of fat.

Because you don't like sweet tasting drinks and don't like meat....I don't have many more suggestions to be honest.

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

Damn, how could I have forgotten peanut butter? For sure make yourself a peanut butter sandwich. Good call, Seth.

Kipke9

Thnx for the advice,

Smoothies sounds as a good idea, due to I need to eat more fruits too. This morning I tried to make one, but it ended up quite sweet. I think if I use normal greek yoghurt instead of sweetened one it would be fine. @ILiftHeavyAcrylics‌; what kind of smoothies do you make? I was thinking to buy Protein powder for shakes to increase my protein intake. What do you think about that?

I'm not a cheese person, but I do eat it more to replace the meat. I don't think an extra slice will work because everything will taste like cheese then, but maybe worth to try it thoug... you never know.

It sounds weird I guiss, but I esperience peanut butter as a sweat thing. Also without using normal butter with my peanut butter is very dry to eat. But I love Peanut sauce, which is mate out of peanut butter. I didn't think of that and I didn't made it for a very long time. Good thinking @Seth1825‌! Thanks for the input.

And you're right about beans, I have to use it more around my veggies. Also I'm more a stir frying person. Eat my veggies, other ingredents and bumbu seasoning with rice or noodles. So I usually don't eat much potato. But maybe I just have to add the potato in my stir frying meals. Thanks for the tip.

Finally I don't think I'm suffering from depression. I actually feeling very good apart form the loss of my appitite. I'm enjoying myself, have fun all the time and I am very outgoing with my friends. I think the loss of appitite is due to my boyfriend left to china, which is the part that made eating enjoyable. Also he was a dessert guy and liked a lot of sweets and chips... and I am not. But when he was around I did eat all of that with him. Also I was always overeating myself when he was around. Now he is gone, that quite unhealty eating pattern is gone... but it exceeded the point of appitite.

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

I usually do:

112g plain greek yogurt
6 oz milk
100g banana
100g pineapple
140g blueberries or mixed fruit
30g spinach
50g celery

I don't think it's super sweet but I like sweet stuff. If you don't then you might be better of trying out some cream soups that would be more savory.

Kipke9

I think i'll make one soon, let you know what my thoughts were Thnx for the info

nxd10

Think of anything they base a cuisine on - figs, rice, milk/dairy/butter, beans, bread, nuts. All have tons of calories. If you add 2 slices of buttered toast and a glass of orange juice or milk to your day, you will always hit your calorie goals.

Springfield1970

Eating low calorie will turn off your hunger hormones.

You must be pining too

Force yourself to eat some high calorie stuff and see your appetite return with a vengeance.

Kipke9

I wanted to say that I was really proud of me today due to I ate 1,402 kcal without forcing myself. But now I am stuffed

I ate potatoes with veggies, nuts, feta (on oil), sun dried tomatoes (on oil), little butter, and milk. Thnx for the advice.

Springfield1970

That's great news. You should feel more cheery too! Hope tomorrow is as successful and you start to feel some genuine hunger.

walterP33

To Americans you are 5'-8" and 150 pounds. Not too bad. If you are a stocky medium build and have more than average muscle then you are pretty good shape I think. OK, here is some weighty ways to put it on! Do you love chocolate? Eat it! Do you like a nice couple of beers in the evening with friends or while watching TV? Also, the beers will de-stress you to sleep well. Anyway, just some thought. Hey, don't overdo the alcohol.

Kipke9

Haha, yeah the only time I'll reached a normal kcal intake was due to drinking alcohol. But with a small kcal intake of food... you get drunk more easy... and last time i did pritty stupid things and desided not to drink for a while! I did love chocolate though... but it doesn't taste me anymore due to the loss of apitite (I guiss)

I'm not into american sizes/measurements so I'll beleve you on the spot about the numbers (I'm living in the Netherlands). I am indeed normal shaped now and very happy about it. The problem though is that I am afraid I'll still losing weight if i don't figure out a solution of my loss of apitite problem. I'll reach my goal before 26 of march so I've got a little time to do that.

Thnx for the advice though!

RoxieDawn

There is a group on MFP group called Happy Herbivores... Perhaps you might want to join this group or look around that the members of this group... You might can get food ideas from other members that may be or may have been in your shoes..

It is under Popular Groups...

Kipke9

Thnx, I will have a look

I also bought protein shakes to add to smoothies to increase my protein intake maybe that will work for me 2