No appetite/long story.

Kosterc4383

Struggle to make it comprehensive so 2 time frames. First January till may. 4 months. 16 weeks. Lost 22 pounds. 2nd May until now. 8 weeks. Lost 9 pounds.

I am on quite a high daily intake, 1600kcal a day, with a starting weight of 242lbs. Decided with my gp. When weightloss stops we check how far down we should go. I log all calories, and all excess are put into moving for the next week. Most days I am under 1600kcal, but this way I don't ever feel bad for eating more than is in the plan. I had weeks where it took me over 20 hours of fat burning walking, cycling and swimming to burn excess calories. Does it make me think twice when chomping away food? Honestly no I just eat what I need, log it, and see the what energy I need to burn next week. I got a weight goal, but my goal first is to get fit. Atm I can be physically active for 4 hours a day. This means heartrate of above 110 bpm. Up from less than an hour. I still manage to loose some weight, but I hope I am setting myself up for succes, more muscle burn more energy, making weightloss natural if I don't have birthdays or other celebrations.

So far how we done it since the beginning of the year. Lost 22lbs till May.
Now I am consistently moving for 4 hours a day. And the celebrations and overeating kinda stopped.
I run totally out of energy at the end of the day. I am whooped after dinner. Just feel poorly, headache, sore/burning skin/tissue. Can someone rethink with me food.
I struggle really hard to eat enough. I now grab to *kitten* options to get enough energy to just be able to game behind the pc in the evenings.
I just had dinner and gave up and lay down in bed to type this. Example of what I ate today, and what it needs to fual.
Up at 8. Get dressed. 1 Cafe latte. We checked and that is 128 kcal. Milk sugar coffee.
At 8.45 I walk to the pool. 3500 steps, 350kcal. Than I swim and relax and eat a banana(100kcal) at 10. Stay at the pool till 11.45 with some swimming. Totally fitbit registers 40 lengths, so 1000 meters of swimming and calculates that at 500kcal extra. I'll take their word for it. No heartrate measured in the water so no idea if I am in fatburn or not. At 11.45 I get dressed again and walk home. Yep another 3500 steps for roughly 350 kcal. 1 more coffee, 128kcal. 1 boiled egg on 1 bun for lunch, 170kcal. At this time I should be starving according to my gp.
But I will ignore all food placed in front of me, even if it is the intention I eat it. Fast-forward to 17.00/5 pm. Dinner is vegetables prepped in some oil 100kcal and 125 grams of pork beef wrapped in bacon. 350 kcal. And you guessed it, more coffee. 128kcal. It is now 6pm and I am absolutely done for the day. So how I understand calories, 1600 kcal is what my body needs to keep upright. Bmr. Add 1200 from moving. And I am at 2800. I ate 1100 kcal. I understand why I feel *kitten* but I got no appetite. Suggestions? I will eat some crap between now and sleep to stay out of starving but this can't be the way forward. Thank you for reading this question and I hope to get some suggestions.

csplatt

Are you saying you actively exercise for four hours a day? Or are you saying you walk to pool, swim for an hour, then walk home? I feel like you said both. I would consider cutting 2 out of your 3 cups of coffee. It will take a few days to adjust.

kshama2001

Congrats on the 31 pound loss so far!

I'm glad you realize you are seriously under-fueling your body and need to eat more. That's one extreme. The other extreme got you to 242 pounds. Your answer lies somewhere in between.

With your high activity level, you don't have to exist on "diet food" in order to lose weight. Perhaps eat more of your previous favorite foods, just in smaller portions or less off the "favorite foods" menu per day. For example, if you used to have fast food multiple times per day or week, still have it, but less often. Or get small French fries instead of large or skip them altogether.

If I wanted to be more interested in eating lunch and add calories to it, I'd fry the egg and add bacon and cheese.

I'd add nuts to the banana.

Etc.

Please note that I added foods higher in fat - at 9 calories per gram vs carb and protein's 4 calories per gram, it's easier to get calories from high fat foods.

Dawn410

It seems like the calories burn might be over-estimated. Are you really burning 350 calories with 3500 steps? That seems like a large number of calories to burn on that few steps. Are you actively, aerobically swimming for the entire hour? That's a pretty taxing workout, even for a very fit and experienced swimmer.

I always count my calorie burn at about half of what fitness apps tell me. That way I'm not over-estimating.

SuzanneC1l9zz

Not sure where you're getting the idea that 1,600 calories is a high intake for your size? I maintain on about that (net) at less than 145 lbs. As @kshama2001 pointed out, you're under-fuelling.

Kosterc4383

Yeah I am very aware I am under fueling. I gained 88 pounds over 17 years. The diagnose was somewhere like 15 years ago me/ cfs. About a 2 years ago it started to improve. It is high compared to my intake the last 15 years. I just barely eat. But also did not move at all. The moving improved, the eating not. I know the theory, just I fail at the execution. That egg on a bun should be breakfast. Lunch should be bread with cheese. I come from fasting from 10 pm till 5pm. Just didn't have the energy to prep eat and clean up after myself. That situation changed, so the problem is I got used to not eating. I dislike chocolate so I turn to meat and cheese. But I seemed to got bored as I ignore the food in front of me. Or... did I already got so low in energy that I don't wanna eat. The 1600 is my bare minimum I should eat. Even on a weightloss plan. The so-called 1200 for people witha healthy bmi. I am obese. Bmi of 37 orso when I started.

chris_in_cal

Kosterc4383 wrote: »

Yeah I am very aware I am under fueling. I gained 88 pounds over 17 years.

You are awesome! If you would like some advice from me, here you go.

This website has a lot of very inspired, intelligent, motivated members. We are all fortunate.

You have many things happening all at the same time. Please take time for each of them. Focus on one concern, and good answers will come from MFP. Having all the issues, all crammed into one big question, might not be too helpful.

Start a thread with each topic. How about this.

"I want to have a larger healthy breakfast but it is not easy for me. How can I change my habits and routines to get more good calories first thing in a day?"

That's a good one. I struggle with that too.

Then make one thread for each topics. Like "How can I be more accurate measuring calories burned when I go for a walk?" etc.

Congratulations again on getting some of your weight off.

chris_in_cal

Kosterc4383 wrote: »

I gained 88 pounds over 17 years.

BTW: I gained a little under 88 lbs just during covid.

Kosterc4383

Yeah it is the combination of issues that is now the issue. Lol. I geuss I do have to start with a better start of the day. I take a day off tomorrow of it all and visit a goatfarm. Who knows what they feed me! I better eat breakfast before traveling there. Also bringing a small bottle of regular coca cola to stay on top of things. I got double the time before leaving the house so breakfast it is. Thank you Chris for pointing at that breakfast!

Kosterc4383

chris_in_cal wrote: »

Kosterc4383 wrote: »

I gained 88 pounds over 17 years.

BTW: I gained a little under 88 lbs just during covid.

And did you manage to loose them again?

Corina1143

Your story is sorta like mine. Cfs and fibro. Not enough energy to eat. Just like the exercise, some relief comes with time, some I still struggle with. I didn't do near as well as you have so far. But I am feeling so much better and enjoy life so much more that I don't work on it as hard as I should.
Congratulations on doing so well, losing so much, and still trying!
I know if you've found a way to get this far, you'll find a way to make it work.

chris_in_cal

Kosterc4383 wrote: »

And did you manage to loose them again?

I came back to MFP this year and restarted.

I have lost about 4 lbs.

Sinisterbarbie1

Congratulations on the progress you are making and the exercise you are getting in. How carefully are you tracking your food intake? Your summary suggests that you might be weighing some stuff but not everything- I suspect you might be underestimating calories you are taking in if you are just guessing at amounts and roughly calculating calories. Those small variations can add up to a lot over a day. Even more calories creep in if you forget to add all cooking oils you use, sauces, dressings, butter on bread, milk and sugar in coffee. Etc.
To show how one person’s estimates vary from another’s just look at the variety of incorrect listings in the MFP database. My own estimates of what you describe eating would come up with somewhat higher calories daily. (That isn’t necessarily accurate - it just shows that guessing tends to be all over the place.).

My estimate would be that a large boiled egg is 80 calories on its own. A slice of bread with no butter is easily 120-130 calories depending on the brand, unless you are getting the skinny sliced, reduced calorie breads which are more in the 80-100 calorie range. What I think of as “Buns” would generally be 4 or 5 times as big as a slice of standard bread. So I would calculate egg on half a bun without any butter at 320 calories. If you add butter add another 120 calories.

Similarly coffee, unless you are measuring you may be drinking many more calories than you think - especially if you like a lot of milk and sugar in your coffee and if you are drinking from a mug rather than a small 7.5 oz cup. If you are buying your latte at a coffee shop I would estimate the calories at higher than 128. For instance, starbucks advertises nutrition info for its medium (grande) latte made with 2% milk at 190 calories. If you add sugar, add 30 calories per packet added.
All of this can be avoided by weighing on a digital scale and recording the right amount according to nutrition labels.
I also noticed that your summary doesn’t mention any vegetables or fruits with fiber. You may be feeling sluggish and therefore not able to eat what you think you should be eating to keep your energy up if you aren’t getting enough roughage and your digestive system is moving slowly. If you are going from being obese and overeating, to restricting calories and exercising your digestive system will slow down naturally anyway because there is not as much food in your digestive tract to process. Bananas are not helpful in this regard - they are high in sugar and give a good energy boost, but relatively low in fiber and can actually slow your digestive system’s /bowel activity. They are often recommended when people have stomach upset from flu for instance.
Rather than just adding fat or sugar calories to your day which won’t keep you going long term and may make you feel even more tired once you crash from your sugar boost, I’d try to add calories from more nutritious, fiber rich, less calorically dense foods like fruit and vegetables, leaner meats, and some lean dairy like greek yogurt. Would you enjoy greek yogurt with some berries for an early breakfast before going to the gym, then maybe switch the bun out for some sliced tomatoes and avocado for more vitamins nutrition/healthy fats/fewer carbs with your egg. Maybe have an apple and some edamame later in the day and have your meat sliced over a green salad.
Despite what I say above, when we start paying attention to food and exercise we (or at least I) can get a bit obsessive about doing things right and in reality it isn’t super important to do that. Making broad general changes that are overall helpful are what you are going for at the outset. But trying to make those changes with a realistic mindset is important. Sometimes people can worry that they always need the right snack or drink at the ready etc. to fuel their workouts, when the reality is you are not going to starve.
The best thing I did was to learn to listen to what my body was really saying and give it what it actually needed. Mostly it didn’t need power bars or protein shakes or a caffeine and sugar fix to power me through the day and (it actually never needs these things, though sometimes I have them because I am tired or for other reasons). So when your body is tired = sleep. When it is thirsty = drink water, When it is hungry (not bored, tired, thirsty, sad, used to eating out of habit, but actually hungry) = feed it. Otherwise, don’t just let life happen to you or around you. Go out and live it - even if it is kind of crappy at times. Its the living - both good and bad - that makes us human and makes us whole.

Kosterc4383

I woke up at 5am... like why? I can sleep 3 more hours!
But I am sure about the coffee. The mug is 12 Oz or 330ml.
I use 10 grams of sugar in it. The coffee is from a senseo so that is exact 120 ml. 10grams of sugar = 2 cubes of 5g is 40kcal. Milk is 46kcal per 100 ml. 190ml I use to get nice tasting coffee.
I reduced the coffee from 7 or 8 servings to now 3 or 4. It was most days the only thing I ate/drank apart from dinner. So I double checked how much impact the coffee had. I replaced it with plain tea. 0 calories there. And water.

So the food that stood on my desk for 4 solid hours and did not got finished was "studenten haver". Studentenfutter (student fodder). Not to be seen as trailmix as that is way more processed with more sweets added. Any way that bowl would have been an additional 500 kcal, the plan was there, I just failed the execution.

Kosterc4383

I noticed I used burned calories as if that was from exercise, but I do combine time + exercise all the time. My fitbit keeps track, and even if it is really off, the 45 minute walk, that took me an hour yesterday said 442 calories burned. Moving really cost allot of energy still. I use a fitbit so that my icm (implanted cardiac monitor)doesn't make my phone squeak all the time. Fitbit vibrates if I go from fatburn into cardio, at like 136 bpm. The icm warns at 142 bpm. I than just stop walking. Check on my phone for a Pokémon, catch it and move on. This walk is only 2.5km. 3500 steps and takes me an hour. When I started moving in January 5000 steps took over 2 hours. There is progress but it is slow. With swimming I know I am most of the time in fatburn (110-130 bpm) for like 80 minutes, not in cardio, I would get alerts on my phone from the icm. If I would be below fatburn I would get really cold in that pool. 23c/73.5f isn't exactly warm water. To compare, a pool in the USA is at like 80f up to 90f for small children.

chris_in_cal

Kosterc4383 wrote: »

To compare, a pool in the USA is at like 80f up to 90f for small children.

USA pools are between 25C - 27C (77°F - 80°F)

80°F is at the high end.

herringboxes

Heated pools.

This New Englander laughs at the idea of swimming in that kind of warmth.

At the beach, at least you go numb from the cold pretty quickly.

Not all of the US is Southern California.

ninerbuff

Undereating that much will eventually stall your weight loss to a crawl. You're likely wiped out because you're undernourished. Eating less means less essentials for GOOD HEALTH. Health isn't just about weight loss.


A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

chris_in_cal

herringboxes wrote: »

Heated pools.

This New Englander laughs at the idea of swimming in that kind of warmth.

I applaud cold water bravato. I've spent much time in the ocean on both the east and west coasts.

herringboxes wrote: »

Not all of the US is Southern California.

Careful. The So. Cal Pacific ocean is not any kind of warm water paradise.

You Mainers all fly down south to Daytona or Myrtle for your swims. San Diego is as far south as we have.

Today SD ocean temp is 55°F and Portland ME is 57°F (according to NOAA)

herringboxes

I didn’t think So Cal ocean was Daytona-warm, but didn’t realize it was Maine-cold!

Was thinking of So Cal heated swimming pools, though.

Not sure I’ve heard of 90F pools anywhere, or the idea that those were geared to children. Almost wondered if OP assumed the hot tubs were children’s pools, but of course they are hotter than 90F.