Do I need to force myself to eat?

yummysesame

Hi everyone, I've been wondering this for a while.

So I found that some days I have no appetite at all, and on those days do I need to force myself to eat so that I don't have a severe calorie deficit? For instance, I try to keep to 1500 cal but when I don't have an appetite plus workout for an hour or so I'll be somewhere like 900cal which is way below the 1200 limit!

I'm worried that this will wreak havoc on my health/metabolism

Ninkyou

You could always up your calories with a spoonful of peanut butter or have a bowl of ice cream. Eat something higher in calories to fill up the gaps. Certainly don't force yourself but there's definitely foods out there that are not terribly filling that can bring up your calories.

tiptoethruthetulips

How often is some days? If its not very frequent it probably isn't an issue, but if some days is mostly all the days they you need to look at upping your calories with calorie dense foods..nut butters, eggs, avocado, good oils (for cooking and salad dressings), nuts and seeds etc.

zoeysasha37

Ninkyou wrote: »

You could always up your calories with a spoonful of peanut butter or have a bowl of ice cream. Eat something higher in calories to fill up the gaps. Certainly don't force yourself but there's definitely foods out there that are not terribly filling that can bring up your calories.

This is what I do on those days !!

I am able to add on about 500 calories just by taking 5 spoonfuls of peanut butter on those days. You don't have to eat all 5 spoonfuls at once though. Just take a spoonful every few hours or whatever . its a good way to add on extra calories when your not feeling hungry.

I get worried that I will lose muscle mass so always have a jar of peanut butter available for the days that I just have no appetite or am not feeling well . 500 extra calories along side of whatever meals you have eaten will add up ! So get yourself a jar of peanut butter:)

ModernRock

I definitely don't have this problem. If I did, then I would focus on the weekly average and eat over the calorie limit on other days to balance it out.

callsitlikeiseeit

are you trying to lose weight or gain? what are your stats?

a random day here and there being low isn't a big deal and unless you have a long term severe eating disorder, youre not going to mess up your metabolism.

If you are trying to lose weight, you did not get in that situation by eating too little. oftentimes (almost always) people are eating more than they think are because they are not accurately weighing their food.

ecdce

Nope, I wouldn't. Part of developing a healthier relationship with food is learning when you're genuinely hungry and when you aren't. There's nothing at all magical about 1200 calories per 24 hours. Nothing. Try looking at your week averages instead. Some days you are more active and need more food. Some days you need less. One low day won't destroy your body any more than one high day will.

siluridae

No.
And certainly don't fill up missing calories with useless junk food if you don't want any.

yummysesame

Oh wow it makes so much more sense now, thanks everyone!
It's only a few days per month and now I see I do eat high on some days so I think it'll all balance out.
And thanks for the peanut butter suggestion!

misskarne

Some nights I get home from the ice rink and I'm not hungry at all. I know how you feel.

Those are the best nights, though, because out comes the neapolitan ice cream and the instant-hardening choc-mint topping...

blankiefinder

ChristinaLim1 wrote: »

Hi everyone, I've been wondering this for a while.

So I found that some days I have no appetite at all, and on those days do I need to force myself to eat so that I don't have a severe calorie deficit? For instance, I try to keep to 1500 cal but when I don't have an appetite plus workout for an hour or so I'll be somewhere like 900cal which is way below the 1200 limit!

I'm worried that this will wreak havoc on my health/metabolism

Christina, just out of curiosity, are you using a food scale to weigh your food? And are you eating back any of your exercise calories, or is your daily calorie count on these days 900-exercise?

brb_2013

ecdce wrote: »

Nope, I wouldn't. Part of developing a healthier relationship with food is learning when you're genuinely hungry and when you aren't. There's nothing at all magical about 1200 calories per 24 hours. Nothing. Try looking at your week averages instead. Some days you are more active and need more food. Some days you need less. One low day won't destroy your body any more than one high day will.

I agree. I did used to force myself to eat when I wasn't hungry just to meet my Cal needs. It was so rare but I really put myself through a lot of grief. I'm talking about being in tears because I didn't want to eat, forcing bites. It was dumb and extreme. If I'm not hungry I don't over think it.