Let's say you're not hungry...

tuathanari

... and it's the end of the day, and you haven't eaten all the calories you're "supposed" to. Do you force something down to meet your goal, or just chalk it up to a light day and go to sleep?

Does your answer change depending on how many calories we're talking?

CherylP67

I don't eat the calories if I'm not hungry.

Eating when I'm not hungry is part of the reason I'm overweight.

SteelySunshine

... and it's the end of the day, and you haven't eaten all the calories you're "supposed" to. Do you force something down to meet your goal, or just chalk it up to a light day and go to sleep?

Does your answer change depending on how many calories we're talking?

Yes, of course the answer depends on how many calories we are talking. If you are very small then you need to sometimes force yourself to eat if this is something that has become a habit. Otherwise you're weight will drop too low eventually. If this is a one off thing and you are only a couple hundred away from goal, then I don't think you need to force yourself to eat. If you have a ton of weight too lose, I think that it doesn't matter how far you are off, you can safely call it a light day and go to sleep. I have had a few days when I am very very far away from goal, I don't think I will hit "starvation mode" any time soon.

Fit_Natasha

Never! It usually happens when I over ate day before, so my body kind of balances it. I don't have any problem to go low calories the next day, or even two.

danapenguin

i only eat if i am hungry. i dont worry about being under calories

just4nessa

Regardless of the number, I don't force myself to eat if I'm not hungry any more than I force myself to starve if I'm truly hungry. It's all about balance in the long-term. One day over or under isn't going to break me. I would chalk it up to a light day and not let myself feel guilty about my next "heavy" day.

VillainIsLemony

I've been curious about this myself. My daily calorie intake is usually less than what MFP tells me it should be. Today has been the most extreme, with only 941 consumed, but I'm just not hungry.

I think for me it is a bit of guilt/worry, that if I don't have time to exercise before work, then I should reduce my deficit even lower. Is this normal/okay?

j6o4

I would force it down to reach my goal.

Mitzigan94

Sometimes I force myself to eat instead of skipping a meal. But most of the time I feel like jus sleeping unstead. Of eating. Ugh. I hate it. I heard that sleeping causes weight gain. Lol.

heybales

I've been curious about this myself. My daily calorie intake is usually less than what MFP tells me it should be. Today has been the most extreme, with only 941 consumed, but I'm just not hungry.

I think for me it is a bit of guilt/worry, that if I don't have time to exercise before work, then I should reduce my deficit even lower. Is this normal/okay?

No, 2 lbs is good recommend amount that hopefully won't cause you to lose muscle mass, which you'll regret later.

And your hormones get messed up if you don't eat enough, and indeed you won't feel hungry, it's a bad direction to go.

It's listening to your body that got most people in trouble. They knew mentally what was good and bad idea, but followed the body's lead.

Know, mentally, what's needed, and do it right, not what feels right. Because restrict too much, and binging will feel right at some point.

Hit your goals, with logging exercise and without on rest days, and fuel that workout to get actual improvements from it.

jenilla1

If I'm close I don't worry about it. If I need a lot, a couple of servings of nuts is an easy way to get a lot of calories and healthy fats in.

farway

i only eat if i am hungry. i dont worry about being under calories

Same here, I can't see the sense in forcing food down, unless of course the person has an eating disorder

pinkraynedropjacki

I don't eat unless hungry. That's how I got fat in the 1st place. I don't care if I'm -300 NET I wont eat more than my body is telling me to do so.

jenilla1

...It's listening to your body that got most people in trouble. They knew mentally what was good and bad idea, but followed the body's lead.

Know, mentally, what's needed, and do it right, not what feels right. Because restrict too much, and binging will feel right at some point.

Hit your goals, with logging exercise and without on rest days, and fuel that workout to get actual improvements from it.

Exactly. :drinker: Try to stick to that goal as much as possible.

89nunu

As long as I'm over bmr by at least 100-200 I don't worry about it. But usually I would get hungry the second I think about ice cream... So I just eat ice cream. Also on workout days were I did loads I stick to goal!

brower47

I don't eat if I'm not hungry and have days where I'll be 100 - 400 cals under my goal. However, I do that knowing that there will be other days where I'll eat more than my goal by 100 - 400 over. It usually balances out over the course of a week.

Francl27

I don't eat if I'm not hungry.

HappyElizabeth

I don't eat when I'm not hungry, but allow myself to go over if I am. I have found that it evens out.

neanderthin

Lots of people hiding Eating Disorders behind posts like this looking for approval for not eating. With that out of the way, it happens periodically, and there's no reason to eat if your not hungry.

Gwen_B

I NEVER eat when I am not hungry!!

MB_Positif

I am always hungry so I rarely have this happen to me! That said, if it's not happening very often I wouldn't worry about it, but I wouldn't let it be an every day thing to leave lots of calories behind!

nilbogger

What type of alternate universe is this?

Wish I could relate to this problem.

MsPudding

Bodies are not nice, consistent machines that operate the same way day after day. Eating the exact same number of calories every single day is probably as far from 'normal' behaviour for our species as I can possibly imagine. It's what your calorific intake averages out as over a week or two that counts.

Your body, quite naturally, will crave more food on some days that others - which could be related to a whole bunch of things from activity level to hormones to lack of sleep etc etc. It doesn't matter if you're under one day and it doesn't matter if you're over another - it's what you average that matters.

Of course you will probably get all sorts of bosom hoiking hysterical 'OMGZ eating disorder!!!" nonsense if you dare to suggest that one some days you didn't hit your calorie goals.

thesupremeforce

If it happens once in a while, it's not a big deal. I wouldn't worry about it either. If it's happening EVERY DAY, there's a problem. At that point, I'd suggest reevaluating the meal plan to find a way to give calories a bump.

257_Lag

In my four months of healthy eating I have lost a lot of my sense of hunger. That said, if we are talking about a few hundred then no. If we are talking about over a 500 deficit I definitely make myself eat. You need enough fuel to function properly!

jennifer_417

If it only happens occasionally, it's fine. But, if you find that it's happening more than once or twice a week, then you should be concerned.

25nholding

Just a thought....I agree with everything people are saying about not forcing yourself to eat and for that I agree. However is it not good to eat your light meals to regulate your metabolism? Perhaps that is a myth....can someone clarify this for me

User819

... and it's the end of the day, and you haven't eaten all the calories you're "supposed" to. Do you force something down to meet your goal, or just chalk it up to a light day and go to sleep?

Does your answer change depending on how many calories we're talking?

If you have weight to lose don't do it. Listen to YOUR body

Vansy

And that's one of the problems you face with actually counting your calories. If you didn't count your calories and you weren't hungry in the evening, would you eat? Probably not. Just because you haven't "eaten all your calories" doesn't mean you have to. If you have a day where you eat 800 calories and you're full, so be it. I'm sure there are also days when you eat 1800 calories and still aren't full. There's no set amount that will be perfect everyday.

hellokathy

Yes, it depends on how many calories with me, too. If I'm missing 100 or something, I don't bother. If it's 500, I'll have something, usually something small but high calorie.

goodtimezzzz

do not eat kermit