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scaryann1
Posts: 250Member Member
Posts: 250Member Member
Am I the only one that finds it difficult to eat more?
scaryann1
Posts: 250Member Member
Posts: 250Member Member
I have been trying to increase how much I eat. I feel like I am eating all day long, constantly. However, when I total everything up at the end of the day, I am still only at 1500 average. I have been at this for almost a year now. I'm not a fan of food, but I know I need to eat, but nothing sounds good.
I'm starting to feel depressed again. In 2012, when I started keeping track of my food intake, I was averaging 500-800 calories a day. I had been eating like this for 20 years. I weighed 265 pounds. I forced myself to start eating 1000 calories a day but it seemed to be all in one or two meals. I managed to get myself up to 305 pounds.
Since increasing to 1500 in May last year, I am now down to 279-284, but can not get the scale to move anymore. It's discouraging.
It doesn't help that I have hEDS (Ehlers Danlos Syndrome hypermobility type), I can and have dislocated my knees and ankles by walking. I have dislocated my right shoulder three times this year by simply sleeping. My right wrist dislocates 10+ times a day, even with a brace on. I can't cup vegetables, and I despise fruit. Tomatoes make my throat swell shut. All I have to do is smell a cucumber to get heartburn so bad I can't concentrate for an entire day.
Anyway, I'm just discouraged and need some new ideas. If no one has any ideas that's okay, I'm used to being left out.
I'm starting to feel depressed again. In 2012, when I started keeping track of my food intake, I was averaging 500-800 calories a day. I had been eating like this for 20 years. I weighed 265 pounds. I forced myself to start eating 1000 calories a day but it seemed to be all in one or two meals. I managed to get myself up to 305 pounds.
Since increasing to 1500 in May last year, I am now down to 279-284, but can not get the scale to move anymore. It's discouraging.
It doesn't help that I have hEDS (Ehlers Danlos Syndrome hypermobility type), I can and have dislocated my knees and ankles by walking. I have dislocated my right shoulder three times this year by simply sleeping. My right wrist dislocates 10+ times a day, even with a brace on. I can't cup vegetables, and I despise fruit. Tomatoes make my throat swell shut. All I have to do is smell a cucumber to get heartburn so bad I can't concentrate for an entire day.
Anyway, I'm just discouraged and need some new ideas. If no one has any ideas that's okay, I'm used to being left out.
Replies
I remember the first 3-4 weeks felt like I was constantly stuffing myself full of food, eating all the time, even when I had 0 hunger cues and like you said, nothing sounded good. This is where meal planning came in really handy. I knew exactly how much I needed to eat per day and would eat it whether I was hungry or not (after 7+ years of diets likely averaging around 1500-1700 calories a day, I honestly had lost all hunger cues - I've not been "hungry" with the stomach growling, etc. in years). I split my meals into 6 per day - 500 calories for breakfast, 300 for mid-morning snack, 500 for lunch, 300 mid-afternoon snack, and 500 for dinner, with a 200 calorie snack for dessert.
Around week 4-5, I noticed my body was finally reacting to all this food - by 11am I was ready for my 300-calorie snack, 1pm, I needed lunch. It feels good to have my hunger cues back again and my body is reacting positively - my sleep has improved, my hair is growing like crazy, and while I have gained about 10-11 lbs the past 10 weeks, I've also been bodyweight training, so hopeful some is muscle.
In your case, I would recommend finding your TDEE (as I'm sure you have) and making a focused effort to plan each of your meals and eat them at designated times, whether hungry or not, in order to meet your intake goals. Consistency is key and even if you are unable to work out strenuously due to medical issues, your intake, if calculated correctly, should still allow you to lose the weight.
Don't feel alone. I've gone through bouts of depression too and know how tough it can be. This community is here for you!
I'd eat foods with a higher calorie content. Eat nut butters, full fat dairy, etc.
If your body can't tolerate certain or all fruits and veggies, don't try to eat them. Find other foods to meet your goals. For example, i eat homemade popcorn eery night to meet my fiber goals. If I need extra calories I add butter, if i'm at my limit I just leave it off.
Feel free to add as a friend. Everyone here is a great support.
Thanks for the encouragement, I really needed it today.
A couple of things I've found have helped me:
1) energy-dense foods - like nuts, avocado, bananas, seeds... anything with a high calorie count for a small amount of food. Helps you get more in without feeling so stuffed. Word of warning though, when you're desperately cramming in calories, it does get very easy to get sucked into eating junk foods. I've made this mistake myself more than once - I need more calories today, hey look there's a tub of icecream. Try and keep it as wholesome as you can!
2) Dropping snacks. Counterintuitive, I know. I was eating 3 meals a day with 3 snacks in between. It led to me feeling pretty gross all of the time and led to a pretty destructive mentality. I recently decided not to bother with the snacks any more and just have 3 main meals. The result: I now have large, satisfying meals that I enjoy with friends and family and I actually feel hungry when I sit down to them! Not to mention I think I actually get a lot more work done because I'm not spending half my day eating or preparing food.
Good luck!
For a lot of members, ripping the bandaid and jumping high in cals worked. For a large majority, we had to go at it slowly. I was a slow increaser. I started around 1400 cals and slowly increased to 2400.. then to 2800, and now Im currently consistent at 3000. Its taken me a very, very long time to allow my mindset to shift and accept that this is in fact the only way to get myself out of the diet cycle. I like to think of it as my hill to climb, before I get to the top. I think about what my life will look like in a few years, when my metabolism is burning higher than ever, and I am eating extremely well, and NOT having to think about whether eating a piece of cake will send me into a tailspin and have me running for a treadmill.
This process is NOT easy. Ive been at it four years, and Im still working my way to TDEE. I refused to believe for a few years that my burn was as high as the calculators and my fitbit were telling me. Had I listened and trusted the process earlier, I might be two years closer to my end result. But looking back, I needed the extra time for my mind and my heart to fully understand the process, to fully believe that the diet industry is completely wrong
Resetting means having to let go and allow your body to regain what it has lost from years of restrictive dieting. It needs to build back the muscles it lost, the tissues, the fibres that it was depleted. It needs to heal and trust you completely again, trust that you arent going to starve it all over again, and for a lot of bodies, that trust takes a long time.
I know it feels like you are stuffed, like you cant possibly eat anything more at 1700 cals, but I assure you, you can. Once your body starts to understand you are feeding it more, it will eventually kick the metabolism up and start to burn more of your energy, which in turn, signals to your brain, it needs more food, and starts the hunger signals. The hurdle is getting over the "full" feeling:) I used to set a timer for 1.5 hours and regardless of what my signals were telling me, I ate something. If it was a snack time, then I ate something around 150-200 cals.. if it were a meal, then I worked at easting at least 300-500 cals. As someone already said, energy dense foods make a big difference in helping you increase your cals up.
Some things that can help..
- Get rid of all DIET products. No low fat/no fat products in the house. Full fat cheeses, milk, dairy products if they arent an issue for you.
- Nuts/Seeds are your friends. They carry a lot of calories, and GOOD fats for your body. Your body needs fat!!
- Oil. If you cook, swap cooking sprays for oils. add a bit of oil to your pan for extra calorie boosts. Again, you need fat!
- Protein. If you enjoy protein shakes or bars, use them. Your body needs protein to help you build muscle. If you are used to eating only an ounce or two of meat, increase your meals by another ounce or two. Build up slowly.
- Spreads/Dips/Creams If you like dips with your veggies, cream in your coffee.. all of the things we were programmed to omit from our diets to help us lose weight.. bring those back in again.
- Be kind to yourself. Know that this is a long process. This is for life. This is to help you get to a point you never have to worry about calorie counting, never have to sweat eating dessert, never have to feel like you cant eat something. This is all about giving you a healthy outlook on eating and life again, and its not easy.
we are all here. We are all going through it. Know that you are not alone.
Feel free to add me as a friend and if you need to chat, im here.
I am starting to feel hunger again, not yesterday though. I told my nutritionist last month that I felt hungry one day and she all but celebrated. She actually is learning about my syndrome (hEDS), so she understands that I am not able to move as much as I want to move. Not long ago, Rick and I were hiking for miles while geocaching. Now, I feel lucky to get from the Jeep to the other side of a small ditch without dislocating something.
My kidneys are in stage 3b renal failure, so I have to keep my protein intake very low right now to give them a chance to heal. Meat has always been the one food I refused to give up, and now having to restrict that has been the biggest blow. And reducing the peanut butter is a nightmare!
Even when I had a heart attack in 2006 the heart doctor insisted I had to be eating too much. It didn’t matter that I couldn’t finish a tray of food myself the entire week I was in the hospital. I must have been secretly eating other stuff when the nurses weren’t looking.
Thank you everyone. I’m sure I’m not done complaining about this yet, but you have been awesome. I am a work in progress.
This has been a wonderful thread to read Ann, you certainly have a lot of support, and it's encouraging that all these ladies (maybe some guys here too, I don't know) are willing to help us. I'm just starting, and to answer your original question, yes, it's hard to eat enough calories, and get my macros I need for all I'm starting to do now.
Just really want to congratulate you, and mostly on sticking with us here. We are so lucky to have folks online, because I don't meet many around me that are striving for a healthier lifestyle. This way we get to meet all kinds of people working toward the same goals, better health;) denise
I'm now on day three of 1700 calories and I just hit my goal again! I even went like 28 over! I am stuffed again, but I got a lot done today for me too! I haven't had the energy to do much more than sit on the love seat and hold my joints in place for over a year. I've even had my arm in a sling off and on for the last week because my shoulder went out on me again. Yesterday it finally popped back in!
Then today I was able to gather the garbage, vacuum the hallway and bedroom, clean the bathtub drain, cook lunch and supper, and wash dishes. That is an amazing amount for me to do in one day. And I didn't dislocate anything other than my wrist! I just hope I don't pay for it tomorrow. LOL
And if my story will help someone else I am happy to share it.
Mary Ann aka ScaryAnn1
Here's a breakdown of my first three weeks of actively keeping track...
March 7, 2016
Starting weight: 284 pounds
BMR = 1970
TDEE = 2365
Average calories = 1499
March 15, 2016
Starting weight: 281.2
Down = 2.8 pounds
BMR = 1958
TDEE = 2350
Average calories = 1703
March 21, 2016
Starting weight = 279.8
Down = 1.4 pounds
BMR = 1952
TDEE = 2343
Average calories = 1723
I'm hoping this helps me stay on track to eat more. I think not putting myself down for not making it to goal and not putting myself down if I go over goal is even harder than actually eating.
Also, yes, it is hard to eat more, because I am programmed to be careful not to eat too much, and eating low calorie etc. But even a handful of walnuts can give me enough calories. I'm finding macros are sooo important as well. I was getting the calories I needed, but a "too" low % of proteins. Someone rescued me out of that mistake thank goodness!!
Also because of poor kidney function, I have to stay very low on protein for now. Hopefully my kidneys will decided to kick back in and do their jobs if I can get my eating where it's supposed to be. But thanks for the words of wisdom, I WILL get there.
Celebrate the small things.. cause its those that make up the big changes
Well you're too kind honey, I sure messed up by not reading more of the thread. I knew I recognized the name, so wish I would have. You are doing amazing. Keep us posted here so we can encourage you, hugs, denise
Question about the protein and liver issues.
So the liver is really stressed with excess protein - do you have some means of testing if you are making use of all protein taken in so there is no excess you are excreting?
Just concerned that with good activity levels but low protein levels.
It's a bummer that resistance training seems to show a blunting of the damage of protein on the liver.
Are you able to do heavy for you resistance training?