Not hungry, do I need to eat to get my carbs/calories for the day?
DameMcMame
Posts: 18 Member
I'm in the middle of week 6 of low carbing. I'm usually not hungry but eat my prepared foods. Tonight, I'm a little sick to my stomach when I think of eating. Like I OVERATE. I had my lunch over 7 hours ago and it was salmon with mashed cauliflower. Anyway, do I need to force myself to eat before bed?
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I wouldn't force myself to eat, if I wasn't hungry. I'd simply take the cue that my body was satisfied with the day's intake.-1
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OK. I was worried about that warning the calorie counter gives you because it was only 800 calories today. I appreciate your feedback!0
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How much weight do you have to lose?
Don't forget that your stored energy will feed you in the absence of food. There's no reason to weepy about it if you're not hungry, don't eat.
There's never a reason to meet the carb goal especially. That's more of a maximum allowed idea..., well, I guess all of them are. Lol
Max fat, max protein, max calories. It's ok if you're body is saying "I'm full" to listen to it.
It has stored energy it would like to use up, that might be too much for it to carry around any more and now that it can access that storage, it's putting the breaks on consumption.
Hunger will increase when storage gets lower. It will probably increase before you want it to. Enjoy the suppressed hunger for as long as you can. It won't last.5 -
Ah yes, good point. I have over 100 lbs to lose, so yeah, I've got plenty of energy for my body to hack into. Too bad the protein and fiber doesn't suppress hunger for, you know, ever.1
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Roll with the unhungry feelings, for now. Hungry will return. Then you will wonder what is causing it. This will likely be hormone related, but you can also look at your diary to see if there are any trigger foods that could be causing it (like artificial sweeteners, or some other food you haven't been eating for a while). Keep on keeping on with the food diary (this helped me so much in the beginning) and you will continue to learn from the food you consume. This will lead to looking at food as fuel (you've always heard of this, and will experience it for yourself over time with continued commitment to this woe), and be able to guide food choices based on what your body needs, instead of choosing food just because it's there.
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As long as you don't have diabetes or other health issues that would be affected, just go with it. There are definitely days when I'm less hungry, and days where I'm hungrier.
If you're noticing many days with that low of a calorie intake, check in with your doctor. Very-low calorie diets can lead to electrolyte issues, so they might want to check levels. Similar issues with sodium and potassium levels that we see with LCHF anyways, but to a greater degree.0 -
This. This right here is exactly why I wanted to join this group. I have these same questions...but when I ask, I get preached to. I'm over the "flu", I've gained some muscle and lost some fat percentages. Yay, right? But when I complete my MFP for the day, they come back with the canned "We think you might be over Karen Carpenter doing it" thing and I get worried. I forced myself to choke down enough dinner to get almost nearly to my calorie goals last night just so MFP wouldn't be a condescending kitty. And I wondered if I was doing it wrong. I'm meeting my macros, I'm not hungry, I feel great... Enough already. You guys are great. I'll just wait until I get good and hungry again...and continue to feel great.
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I do not intend to force feed or choke down food when I have no appetite. What I do instead is have a cup of Boullion cube broth or decaf tea with cream and Kerry butter and I go to bed.
When this happens, the next morning, I'm usually a bit lighter on the scale.
Trusting my body and our LCHF advice has been very helpful.4 -
That's what I did one night when it was too late to eat and I really wanted to just go to bed. Make some tasty butter boullion and called it a night.3
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As an older woman, if I eat up to the prescribed amount of calories, I gain weight. Period.
So I close my diary and do my own thing. That way no one bugs me-including the fitness pal oracles, my blood and lab work is great, I feel good and I've lost 110-130 pounds and kept it off for over a year.
I am struggling to figure out maintenence due to my lifelong eating issues, hence the 20 pound weight swing.
I know I'll get stablized faster when I rely on my own data minus judgement of others.
I've learned so much reading these threads and being a faithful honest logger.
Good luck!6 -
I've noticed I get fuller a lot faster when I'm eating. Also, that natural pause that you get when you stop eating for a little while truly marks the end of my eating, now. I've lost the desire to pick up my fork and finish my food. I just wrap it up for leftovers. I also find myself not eating breakfast til 10:30/11 and I'll eat dinner a bit later, sometimes with a snack of vegetables in between, but I'm even finding a lack of desire to eat my snack, now. I think when your body is finally getting the nutrients it needs, it's more satisfied so it's not sending you the signal to find something else in hopes of getting those necessary elements.2
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I'm a huge advocate of listening to your body. I'm 10 years binge free after struggling with a binge eating disorder for 17 years and I refuse to eat when my body says it's not hungry. Google leptin and hunger, there's a lot of good info that supports listening to hunger and satiety cues.3
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My husband gets a little worried if I don't have "enough food" for the day. Years ago, I had an eating disorder, and had slowly restricted myself to eating one Lean Cuisine a day...and then the next day I may not eat at all. If I overate...well, I would make myself get sick.
I have never had a healthy relationship with food. I either over eat, or under eat.
With that said, this has been the healthiest way I have been able to lose weight. I need to see the scales move, and feel my clothes getting bigger to not panic.
Anyway, time and time again, he will say "you're starving yourself". I keep explaining...No, I'm honestly not hungry. I show him my dairy to prove that I'm eating, and he focuses on the calorie count. Most days it stays around 1200, and even up to 1500...but he always seems to notice the 800 calorie days.
I don't feel like I did back then about my body. I WANT to be healthy...
I totally get where you're coming from though. I almost feel like I have to eat enough calories for everyone else to be happy.
I'm learning to listen to my body instead, and I'm much happier and feel like an eating issue isn't in the horizon.
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I'm with you there @Cryren8972! My husband is so stuck on getting in three meals a day! Even though he is eating lc with me he doesn't understand IF. He can sleep until noon and still has to have three meals a day. He gets a bit worried when I tell him I'm not hungry. I've tried to explain the concept but he doesn't get it as being a healthy thing to do, and thinks that I must be starving (like he says he usually is!) to death!
Anyway, I understand all of the hubby struggles!0 -
I'm with you there @Cryren8972! My husband is so stuck on getting in three meals a day! Even though he is eating lc with me he doesn't understand IF. He can sleep until noon and still has to have three meals a day. He gets a bit worried when I tell him I'm not hungry. I've tried to explain the concept but he doesn't get it as being a healthy thing to do, and thinks that I must be starving (like he says he usually is!) to death!
Anyway, I understand all of the hubby struggles!
OMG! I have an ongoing debate with my husband because he INSISTS he has to eat three meals even if he slept in and technically missed breakfast... I find that mentality so strange... He's skinny and has a fast metabolism though, so in his mind if he eats less than normal he might starve to death... LOL! My son is like me and hates eating breakfast... My hubs would nag him to eat before school every single day but he just wasn't hungry, I'm the same and so is my dad... It's a genetic thing I guess... I finally forbid him to make him eat after reading some research that refuted the whole need to eat breakfast belief... He wakes up STARVING every morning so he can't wrap his head around why anyone would willingly skip the meal...
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My hubby is 5'11'' ish (he's shrinking lately) , and was 199 pounds when he began eating "his way of my way". Dropped bread, potatoes, pasta, and rice. Still has fruit, some veggies, and his beer, and has lost 23 pounds (now weighs 176 pounds!). Is now worried that he has lost too much! I keep reminding him that his body will land at the "normal" weight for him, and that it won't keep losing. He is skeptical, and gets on the scale more than I do, lol!
But, yes, he thinks he's going to just pass out if he doesn't get something to eat! He may have had some hypoglycemia at times. Now, I believe it's just habit, and his mother telling him he needs a "balanced diet"! She is always asking him, and our son, what we've had to eat (she should have been more concerned with it when we were eating frozen lasagna, and cereal!)!1 -
anewlifeat40 wrote: »I'm with you there @Cryren8972! My husband is so stuck on getting in three meals a day! Even though he is eating lc with me he doesn't understand IF. He can sleep until noon and still has to have three meals a day. He gets a bit worried when I tell him I'm not hungry. I've tried to explain the concept but he doesn't get it as being a healthy thing to do, and thinks that I must be starving (like he says he usually is!) to death!
Anyway, I understand all of the hubby struggles!
OMG! I have an ongoing debate with my husband because he INSISTS he has to eat three meals even if he slept in and technically missed breakfast... I find that mentality so strange... He's skinny and has a fast metabolism though, so in his mind if he eats less than normal he might starve to death... LOL! My son is like me and hates eating breakfast... My hubs would nag him to eat before school every single day but he just wasn't hungry, I'm the same and so is my dad... It's a genetic thing I guess... I finally forbid him to make him eat after reading some research that refuted the whole need to eat breakfast belief... He wakes up STARVING every morning so he can't wrap his head around why anyone would willingly skip the meal...
This is exactly my situation. My husband doesn't feel the need to still eat 3 meals if sleeping in, but he is 100% sure that you HAVE TO eat right after waking up. My poor son has been force fed breakfast his entire life. When I tried to explain to hubby that a glass of milk would be plenty and that my son is just like me and my daughters too for that matter, I got a subtle comment suggesting It was just bad parenting that I never forced my daughters to eat breakfast and sent them to school starving and his son wasn't going to be like that.
So in my husbands view, pop tarts and a glass of orange juice is better than not eating even if you're not hungry or just having a glass of milk or a breakfast shake. I tried suggesting liquid "meals" over the years, but "that's not food".
Anyway, my son and I worked out that since dad gets up later than us, he just needs to eat a couple bites of something and dad doesn't have to know how much. lol
It didn't help that my son was always underweight until about 10. Then he got into the low end of normal weight. He's still very very thin, but he has an athletic build and visible muscle on his skinny 14 year old frame. So, I think he's doing fine.
Except he's a junk food junkie! Not sweets though. Boy loves Doritos!0 -
I wouldn't eat when not hungry either. That's part of what got us here in the first place, right?
My calories were set at 1420 but I rarely ate that. Some days were 1200, 0r 800, or 2000, or 1700. It averaged out to 1500. I lost 2-3 lbs per week doing that. To be honest, I think the caloric variation helped me lose. I never hit a plateau so maybe that constant up and down helped with that too.I'm with you there @Cryren8972! My husband is so stuck on getting in three meals a day! Even though he is eating lc with me he doesn't understand IF. He can sleep until noon and still has to have three meals a day. He gets a bit worried when I tell him I'm not hungry. I've tried to explain the concept but he doesn't get it as being a healthy thing to do, and thinks that I must be starving (like he says he usually is!) to death!
Anyway, I understand all of the hubby struggles!
Me too. They don't notice breafast being skipped as much because the kids are homeschooled so on most days they have the flexibility to eat later too, but I like BPC (usually 1 teaspoon coconut oil and some protein powder) for breakfast and lunch so they don't see that as eating. I am eating! Well, drinking my food. I may not have solid food until 2pm but I have still had a few hundred calories of fat and protein. I'd rather save my calories for a big dinner. 2 -
flavia1432 wrote: »This. This right here is exactly why I wanted to join this group. I have these same questions...but when I ask, I get preached to. I'm over the "flu", I've gained some muscle and lost some fat percentages. Yay, right? But when I complete my MFP for the day, they come back with the canned "We think you might be over Karen Carpenter doing it" thing and I get worried. I forced myself to choke down enough dinner to get almost nearly to my calorie goals last night just so MFP wouldn't be a condescending kitty. And I wondered if I was doing it wrong. I'm meeting my macros, I'm not hungry, I feel great... Enough already. You guys are great. I'll just wait until I get good and hungry again...and continue to feel great.
To get past the MFP warnings use the quick calories & put in fake calories.
or 
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@Sunny_Bunny_ my son is built like yours... He's very slim and fit... Played soccer 3x a week till 7th grade and now does karate and guitar instead, said soccer got too competitive and took away the fun... He's turning 13 soon and we struggled to get him to eat much of anything until about 6 months ago. Now he's eating everything and eating us out of house and home, is still small for his age, but LOVES his veggies and his chips, so I'm not overly worried... It'll work itself out... I wish my parents had taught me to listen to my hunger and satiety cues!2
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anewlifeat40 wrote: »@Sunny_Bunny_ my son is built like yours... He's very slim and fit... Played soccer 3x a week till 7th grade and now does karate and guitar instead, said soccer got too competitive and took away the fun... He's turning 13 soon and we struggled to get him to eat much of anything until about 6 months ago. Now he's eating everything and eating us out of house and home, is still small for his age, but LOVES his veggies and his chips, so I'm not overly worried... It'll work itself out... I wish my parents had taught me to listen to my hunger and satiety cues!
Sounds like he's been doing very well, but I'd still be mindful of it. Puberty era hormone freakouts are prone to causing hunger to go unnecessarily off the charts, and that's where a lot of "fat kids" get their start.0 -
Gallowmere1984 wrote: »anewlifeat40 wrote: »@Sunny_Bunny_ my son is built like yours... He's very slim and fit... Played soccer 3x a week till 7th grade and now does karate and guitar instead, said soccer got too competitive and took away the fun... He's turning 13 soon and we struggled to get him to eat much of anything until about 6 months ago. Now he's eating everything and eating us out of house and home, is still small for his age, but LOVES his veggies and his chips, so I'm not overly worried... It'll work itself out... I wish my parents had taught me to listen to my hunger and satiety cues!
Sounds like he's been doing very well, but I'd still be mindful of it. Puberty era hormone freakouts are prone to causing hunger to go unnecessarily off the charts, and that's where a lot of "fat kids" get their start.
Yeah, that's a good point... he's going to be homeschooling starting this fall (8th grade), so we're being very intentional about making sure he stays active. I gave him my withings activite pop watch to track his activity and he's way over 10,000 steps almost every day. He goes kayaking with dad during the summer, we kick a soccer ball around on the beach, he jumps on his trampoline, rides his bike, walks back and forth from the village (about 40 min walk one way), karate once a week, and I've hired him to do yard work to earn extra money... I think we're good... We also eat primarily organic whole foods, lots of salads and stir frys, hormone free meats, for him he also adds brown rice, roast veg, fresh fruit, everything is cooked at home, we live in a rural area so rarely eat out, nothing out of a box... But then we also allow some slushies, tortilla chips and oreo cookies in moderation too as i don't want him to be bingeing on sweets and junk just because we never allow it... I wish I'd had his diet at his age... I starved myself at home (my mom nagged me about my weight even when I was slim and fit) and then binged on junk food away from home... Terrible!1
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