Not Hungry??

motivatekait

If I'm genuinely not hungry, should I be forcing myself to eat food to meet my macros if I'm trying to lose weight or just eat intuitively?

errollmaclean

Depends how under you are. Protein and fat are minimums and should be met each day.

livingleanlivingclean

I think the odd day of low calories is fine, but if it's a regular thing I'd be doing something about it. Your body needs a certain amount of nutrients and energy just to function, which you'll unlikely get if your calories are consistently low. Your body also adapts to what you give it, so over time your metabolism can slow to a point where you won't lose on low calories

Try eating small frequent meals, and eat more calorie dense foods if you struggle with volume.

middlehaitch

Going under your calories by 100-200 every now and then is fine. If you find you are constantly doing it have a small high cal snack or drink just to pull your calories up. ( if I can't eat any more I will make a protein drink with water and drink it over a few hours with some chopped fruit nibble)

Hit your calorie goal first, your macros second.

You may want to look at your calories as a weekly goal instead of daily. That way one or two low or high days can be evened out during the week. I used to do this as I knew I ate less on a Tuesday and Wednesday than I did on a Thursday and Sunday. It worked well for me.

Cheers, h.

ncboiler89

motivatekait wrote: »

If I'm genuinely not hungry, should I be forcing myself to eat food to meet my macros if I'm trying to lose weight or just eat intuitively?

Don't sweat the macros. Worry about the calories first and if you eat a well balanced diet your macros should fall into place. If you are hitting your calorie goal but not hitting one or more of your macro targets then change your diet as needed. For example, I have a hard time hitting my protein target, so I have a protein powder that I use to help me get closer to it.

Don't force feed yourself just to hit a macro goal.

azulvioleta6

Track and watch your own reaction over time. This is one of those things where everybody is going to be a little different.

I often have days when I am not hungry. I find that if I go too low on calories, I tend to want to eat too much the next day -or- I get a migraine the next day. My goal is 1400/day, but I find that I can stay healthy if I have occasional 1000-1200 days. Anything lower and I tend to have problems.

Eating a minimum number of calories, even if you are not very hungry, can be helpful.