Too Much Food!

Options
ReikiLove
ReikiLove Posts: 26 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm having a lot of success with this program. I started a month ago and I've already lost 10 lbs. I'm supposed to eat 1300 calories a day, but when it's time for me to eat, I'm not getting enough calories, no matter how full I am. I eat mainly a raw diet. I have a bowl of low sugar cereal with coconut milk for breakfast; a Luna bar for lunch; and a wheat wrap sandwich with hummus, babaganoush, sriracha sauce, shredded carrots, and pear tomatoes for dinner. I often have about 12 English cucumber slices along with that. For a snack, I'll have these nutty pretzel bites called Somersault snacks, sometimes with a sugar free popsicle. Since I workout 6-7 times a week for 75 minutes a pop, I'm burning a lot of calories, up to 420 a day. Because of this, my calorie intake is very low.

The problem is I'm completely satisfied with my caloric intake. I never feel hungry after my meals and allotted snack later on in the evening. When I put my food and exercise stats in for the day, it's always substantially less than the amount I should be eating. I don't want to eat if I'm not hungry just because it meets my caloric requirements for the day. If I do that, I'll be too full and get nauseous.

I'm feeling great from the exercise and my diet. I don't want to change that. But I also don't want my body to go into starvation mode. Recently, my weight loss was at a standstill for 4 days. I've normally lost a few ounces every other day. I didn't change anything, kept eating what I eat and exercising as much as I normally do, and I ended up losing 1.5 lbs. I feel happy, healthy, and energized. I never feel deprived. If I did, I would definitely eat more.

If anyone has advice or has dealt with or has this same issue now, I would really appreciate some help.

Thanks!

Replies

  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    Options
    You can try some more calorie dense foods like cheese, nuts, avocado.. heck switch to a real popsicle instead of a sugar free one. And definitely add some protein in your diet. A luna bar isn't a meal.

    It probably won't last though, speaking from experience...
  • rachaelbarton
    rachaelbarton Posts: 57 Member
    Options
    Perhaps try a higher calorie bar for lunch, like a Clif Builders bar, if you think that adding more food would make you feel sick. It's a small change that will add a couple hundred extra calories a day.
  • ReikiLove
    ReikiLove Posts: 26 Member
    Options
    The problem is I'm a vegetarian and stopped eating most dairy. I use pesto in my sandwich wraps, which I forgot to mention, that has a small amount of cheese in it. I need to find a non-dairy way to add more calories. That's what's making things so hard.

    Maybe I'll try incorporating rice or some other starch to get me closer to my daily calorie goal, but the nausea is really bad if I feel too full.
  • leooftheyear
    leooftheyear Posts: 429 Member
    Options
    What about adding nuts or some veggies with hummus
  • Ang108
    Ang108 Posts: 1,711 Member
    Options
    Is it possible that you eat more calories than you think ?
    You say you eat mostly a raw diet, but cereal, Luna bars, wraps and hummus are far from raw and do have many more calories than lettuce, tomatoes and cucumber slices.
  • Keiras_Mom
    Keiras_Mom Posts: 844 Member
    Options
    Coconut oil, avocados, nuts/nut butters--all vegetarian with no dairy. I could easily eat 2000 calories a day if I incorporated all those. :laugh:
  • Lizzy622
    Lizzy622 Posts: 3,705 Member
    Options
    How are your macros? It appears you use some more protein. Chia seeds or hemp seeds could help increase protein (both are complete proteins) are nutritionally dense so you don't have to eat much to get a serving.
  • Iwishyouwell
    Iwishyouwell Posts: 1,888 Member
    Options
    You don't need to concern yourself with "starvation mode". The majority of talk you hear in dieting circles about so called "starvation mode" is a ton of bunk. Take a look at some of the actual, controlled studies of the phenomenon and you'll quickly realize that worrying about this is a non-issue for the vast majority of people. Especially considering that even in "starvation" mode, you still lose.

    I don't see what the problem is. But your own admission you're not hungry, you feel great, you're fueled up enough to still exercise, and losing weight.

    Why, oh why, would you be seeking a way to disrupt a perfectly good weight loss journey because you're breaking some sort of "rule"?

Categories