To eat or not to eat when I am not hungry

Aaron_K123

Hey all-

I've been having an issue recently with my diet and workout routinue that I didn't really plan for so I don't know how to address. I psyched myself up for this journey and came up with what I'd do if I craved foods or was starving. I thought of how to do cheat meals or allow for cravings once a week and yadda yadda.

Anyways as I am in my 2nd month of this workout/diet regimine (Sorry diary snoopers I've only logged on MFP itself for 2 days) I'm finding that I am actually quite satiated with my meals and have no problems with hitting my excecise goals but I find myself routinuely coming under my calorie goal...sometimes considerably under. Today is one of those days where I ate meals regularly throughout the day, did a fairly long cardio session and drank a recovery chocolate milk afterwords. Now its close to midnight and I'm not at all hungry and I tally up my day and I come to.....a net of 890 calories from eating 1390 for the day. I want to be hitting a net of 1500 at least at least according to the numbers and yet here I am having completed my workout....feeling almost buzzed with energy from it and not at all hungry.

So...do I go to the store and try to eat another 700 calories around midnight or do I just shrug and be way under for the day? Not the first time I've come to this point.

shadow2soul

That's up to you. It really is a personal decision.

I like to work with weekly averages, but that's just me. When I'm actively trying to lose weight, I'm happy as long as my week averages out to be my calorie goal (so some days over and some under). I've noticed that sometimes I'm hungrier on my rest days then on my actual workout days. Also if I am under for too many days in a row, I tend to have a day were I'm absolutely starving.

If your not hungry, what about a protein shake?



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
***Currently 32 weeks pregnant and not trying to lose weight.***

chrisdavey

and this is why restricting yourself to only "clean" food sources is silly.

DO you think you will be healthier if you eat only "clean" foods and under eat all the time? How do you think gym performance will go?

I'd suggest, if this is happening often that you add some extra calories during the day (that is if you don't want to eat much at night). This could be from some awesome "superfood" like coconut oil or almonds or unicorn horns or a burger here or there.

Aaron_K123

I guess my concern is mostly about losing muscle as well as fat when my goal is to lose fat only and either maintain or build a little muscle. I'm worried that if I under eat I will start to burn muscle as well which would lose me gains I could have had if I had just bothered to eat a little more. I think I'm eating well nutritionally at least but I might be fooling myself if I'm netting that low on calories.

Yeah I could have another protein shake (already had about 72g of protein in shake form today), its just hard simply because protein shakes are so filling and I really do feel just plain full right now. I mean I could suck it up and just down one but its not like protein shakes are particularly calorie rich either. My current diet is high protein which is one of the reasons I find it difficult to eat enough calorically.

chrisdavey

To preserve LBM:

1. progressive tension overload (lifting heavy stuff)
2. adequate protein
3. calorie deficit that is not too large for your BF% (obese people can get away with large deficits, someone 10% BF is not going to be able to preserve all LBM with 1000cal deficit a day. Maybe with some of dat dere celltech, dunno)

So yeah, eat some more.

Aaron_K123

and this is why restricting yourself to only "clean" food sources is silly.

DO you think you will be healthier if you eat only "clean" foods and under eat all the time? How do you think gym performance will go?

I'd suggest, if this is happening often that you add some extra calories during the day (that is if you don't want to eat much at night). This could be from some awesome "superfood" like coconut oil or almonds or unicorn horns or a burger here or there.

That's fair. I guess the idea of eating at midnight doesn't bother me, I don't really think trying to build or maintain muscle while losing fat I really want to maximize the amount of time I'm in a fasted state so eating before bed doesn't bother me.

What I find confusing is I haven't really lost any weight doing this (that's fine, I've probably retained water from weight lifting and creatine and my waist has shrunk so I am losing fat) and I haven't lost energy, meaning my workouts are showing gains and I'm able to complete them or do a little more each time. So I'm kind of psyching myself out about how much I should be eating. The numbers say eat more but my body doesn't seem to want to.

Eating a bit more fat in the form of something like almonds makes sense to me, I think my fat consumption is pretty low.

Aaron_K123

To preserve LBM:

1. progressive tension overload (lifting heavy stuff)
2. adequate protein
3. calorie deficit that is not too large for your BF% (obese people can get away with large deficits, someone 10% BF is not going to be able to preserve all LBM with 1000cal deficit a day. Maybe with some of dat dere celltech, dunno)

So yeah, eat some more.

I'm at about 26% bodyfat right now. My profile picture is me three years ago and what I am currently trying to get back to after 3 years of being very career focused and not paying as much attention to my health as I should have, I definitely have fat to spare right now on my body. That said if I net 900 in a day I am still hitting a more than 1k deficit and yeah I know I don't want to do that. It certainly isn't an every day thing, yesterday I netted 1600 for example.

Dewymorning

Eat more fats.

Avocado, butter, cooking oils, cheese etc.

High in calories, and looking at your diary, your fat levels are quite low.

Aaron_K123

Yeah my diary is a bit skewed because I've been on this diet/routine for about a month and a half and I only recently logged into MFP (last two days). I don't always hit such a low calorie net but sometimes I do and I never really go over so overall I'm under. I think adding in some more fat might be a good idea, I've been eating very lean protein perhaps put some red meat in there and some nuts.

Also added a more current picture of myself on my profile to show that yes I do have some fat to lose and no I'm not trying to do 1000 cal deficits intentionally starting from 10% bodyfat :-). Both pics are only of my back so doesn't show the largest problem which is the gut but I don't really like the idea of putting half-naked pictures of myself face included up on the internet really.

Aaron_K123

Alright quick run to the store got me 3/4 a pound of tuna, a tortilla for it and some almonds bringing me up an extra 600 calories to 1900 total, 1500 net. Kind of blew my sodium up with the canned tuna though but can't be perfect. Just hope I can sleep after eating all of this.

bonoeuf

and this is why restricting yourself to only "clean" food sources is silly.

DO you think you will be healthier if you eat only "clean" foods and under eat all the time? How do you think gym performance will go?

I'd suggest, if this is happening often that you add some extra calories during the day (that is if you don't want to eat much at night). This could be from some awesome "superfood" like coconut oil or almonds or unicorn horns or a burger here or there.

What is your definition of eating clean? The answer varies so much depending on which school you buy into. Not wanting to argue, just interested.

Aaron_K123

and this is why restricting yourself to only "clean" food sources is silly.

DO you think you will be healthier if you eat only "clean" foods and under eat all the time? How do you think gym performance will go?

I'd suggest, if this is happening often that you add some extra calories during the day (that is if you don't want to eat much at night). This could be from some awesome "superfood" like coconut oil or almonds or unicorn horns or a burger here or there.

What is your definition of eating clean? The answer varies so much depending on which school you buy into. Not wanting to argue, just interested.

Yeah I was wondering that as well. I assume he was just referring to me eating things like lean meats and raw vegetables rather than restraunt-style meals with rice and potatoes and sauces and what not. Of course now that I did go out and eat some more I'm wide awake even though its 1am and I have to be at work by 8 so damn.

missiontofitness

You could always drink a smoothie. I find that drinking my calories helps sometimes. You can throw a banana or two into a blender with other fruits and yogurt, and you easily have several hundred calories there. If you don't want to eat a full meal, it might help to sip on it slowly throughout the night. And depending on the yogurt you pick, might not jack up your protein too much.

fredgiblet

Peanut butter is your friend. Ridiculously high calorie and has protein and unsaturated fat. Make a smoothie with peanut butter, chocolate and bananas and watch the calories roll in.