Not taking enough calories but not hungry
Replies
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Ok I have been on MFP for over two years not consistantly but on off here and there. Here my issue I am given 1610 calories per day but I gain about 800-900 additional calories due to working out. I never eat back my calories but I'm not even eating the original number. I'm not hungry and I'm loosing weight. I have been eating just under 1200 which when I complete the diary for the day they say is too littler and I may put my body in starvation mode. I eat three meals and two snacks some times three dialy, my diary is open so you can see what I am eating. Is anyone else having this issue? I know it effects some people and they don't drop the weight so they are told to eat more but I am loosing weight dialy and I am not hungry. Can I have some of you guys thoughts on this? Would you keep doing it the way that I am with great results or would you still eat the additonal calories regardless?
Hi there!
I've come to the conclusion for myself some time ago, that none of these numbers are set in stone. It's all very personal, and everything else is just a popular opinion that gets thrown around. The only exception is your doctor's expertise.
If you are really eating around 1600 calories, and you are perfectly comfortable in body and mind, then this is your magic number for now.
I didn't see your starting weight for your mission, but considering your total weight loss goal, you are very likely burning a good number of calories in your workouts, due to the extra 60+ pounds that you are carrying around and trying to get rid of. People tend to forget about this part. The brisk walk that you logged seems pretty reasonable, as I burn about 500 calories in 1 hour at a similar speed. I'm just lighter, and I have to put in more work....(51yrs, female, 5'5", 132 lbs)
Out of personal experience, I would suggest, that you keep an eye on how quickly your weight drops. You didn't gain it in a short time, you shouldn't lose it too quickly either. Everything needs time to shrink back into shape.
Good luck and happy training!0 -
OP, relax, you are doing ok for now. Here are some suggestions
1) log your food - you've only logged for a few days and it seems you aren't weighing much. Get the logging in order to actually know how much you truly eat. If you aren't hungry now, this will adjust over time.
2) I assume you haven't been tracking weight for much longer - if so you aren't "not losing' (double negative FTW!) Again, track and give yourself 3-4 weeks to actually see what is going.
Reads:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819925-the-basics-don-t-complicate-it
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/872212-you-re-probably-eating-more-than-you-think
Based on your actual DETAILED tracking and weightloss rates - you'll be able to see if your activity level, diet, etc makes sense.0 -
The plan itself seems fine. The only thing only you can know OP is that you've been on and off for two years - is your approach any different or more sustainable than the past attempts? Does your current plan allow you to eat some cake without feeling like you've committed some mortal sin and leading you to abandon the process? It may not be that serious, just something to think about0
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The OP has only logged 4 days one had 52g carbs on what appears to be an incomplete day. 108, 146 and 189g of carbs the other and somehow you came up with that the OP is doing low carb? Did you just type out random information?I had a look at your diet for the last few days- looks like you are avoiding complex carbs in many of your meals.
This will explain both why you aren't getting enough calories and why you are losing weight.
What is likely to be happening is as you are doing a low carb diet you are utilising the glycogen in your muscles and liver.
For every gram of glycogen you are dumping 4g of water.
Over a few days you might see a 2-3lb drop but it will mostly be water.
If you were to have a big dose of sugar/carbs/salt you will draw back a load of water and technically 'weight more' even though you won't have put on any fat.
If you want to keep on low carbing then do it but be aware of the metabolic processes involved.
Otherwise maybe try more complex carbs- I like sweet potato, brown rice, cous cous, quinoa.
She is under-eating carbs- low carb comes in many guises.
It doesn't have to be ketogenic to still trigger a water dump due to glycogen.
Sure a true ketogenic diet requires under 50g of carbs (roughly) to begin ketosis but that doesn't necessarily link that you have to be under 50g of carbs to have a water dump.
Also are you going out of your way to be insulting, or it in an accident?
Maybe wait for a response before jumping to a conclusion, pal.0 -
Passive-aggressive weeny man added to ignore list.0
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You guys :laugh:0
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If you're not hungry-you're not hungry. I've at this point just ignored the tiny disclaimer at the bottom. Sure it will take longer to burn the fat, but i'ts better not to force yourself eating things just to get the right calories (if I force myself to eat that would give me the excuse to go back to my bad habits). Do what you feel is right. It is your body and no body can tell you if you're on "starvation mode" or eating too few (unless you're only eating one meal/day.0
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If you are not hungry then eat less. I know people are going to proclaim the "starvation mode" but the bigger the calorie deficit you have the more weight you will lose. Now if you do this very extreme for months on end then yes your metabolism will start to slow a bit. This really doesn't start to happen that bad until you get lower body fat % though. If you keep up really low calorie though you will tend to feel like crap, have less energy and headaches a lot. I have tried the very low calorie and if can get past those problems make sure you still lift weights too greatly reduce the loss of lean muscle.0
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I had a look at your diet for the last few days- looks like you are avoiding complex carbs in many of your meals.
This will explain both why you aren't getting enough calories and why you are losing weight.
What is likely to be happening is as you are doing a low carb diet you are utilising the glycogen in your muscles and liver.
For every gram of glycogen you are dumping 4g of water.
Over a few days you might see a 2-3lb drop but it will mostly be water.
If you were to have a big dose of sugar/carbs/salt you will draw back a load of water and technically 'weight more' even though you won't have put on any fat.
If you want to keep on low carbing then do it but be aware of the metabolic processes involved.
Otherwise maybe try more complex carbs- I like sweet potato, brown rice, cous cous, quinoa.
Awesome explanation!! Thanks!0 -
The OP has only logged 4 days one had 52g carbs on what appears to be an incomplete day. 108, 146 and 189g of carbs the other and somehow you came up with that the OP is doing low carb? Did you just type out random information?I had a look at your diet for the last few days- looks like you are avoiding complex carbs in many of your meals.
This will explain both why you aren't getting enough calories and why you are losing weight.
What is likely to be happening is as you are doing a low carb diet you are utilising the glycogen in your muscles and liver.
For every gram of glycogen you are dumping 4g of water.
Over a few days you might see a 2-3lb drop but it will mostly be water.
If you were to have a big dose of sugar/carbs/salt you will draw back a load of water and technically 'weight more' even though you won't have put on any fat.
If you want to keep on low carbing then do it but be aware of the metabolic processes involved.
Otherwise maybe try more complex carbs- I like sweet potato, brown rice, cous cous, quinoa.
She is under-eating carbs- low carb comes in many guises.
It doesn't have to be ketogenic to still trigger a water dump due to glycogen.
Sure a true ketogenic diet requires under 50g of carbs (roughly) to begin ketosis but that doesn't necessarily link that you have to be under 50g of carbs to have a water dump.
Also are you going out of your way to be insulting, or it in an accident?
Maybe wait for a response before jumping to a conclusion, pal.
Low-carb is classified as anything under 130 g. OP was eating over 130 g for 2 days. On the days it said only 52 g and 108 g, I imagine she didn't finish filling out her diary.0 -
If you are not hungry then eat less. I know people are going to proclaim the "starvation mode" but the bigger the calorie deficit you have the more weight you will lose. Now if you do this very extreme for months on end then yes your metabolism will start to slow a bit. This really doesn't start to happen that bad until you get lower body fat % though. If you keep up really low calorie though you will tend to feel like crap, have less energy and headaches a lot. I have tried the very low calorie and if can get past those problems make sure you still lift weights too greatly reduce the loss of lean muscle.
Are you seriously suggesting that OP eat less calories when she is ALREADY eating under 1200? :grumble:
OP can easily hit 1200 cal/day eating nuts, seeds, nut butters, avocados, olive oil, coconut oil, etc.0 -
If you are not hungry then eat less. I know people are going to proclaim the "starvation mode" but the bigger the calorie deficit you have the more weight you will lose. Now if you do this very extreme for months on end then yes your metabolism will start to slow a bit. This really doesn't start to happen that bad until you get lower body fat % though. If you keep up really low calorie though you will tend to feel like crap, have less energy and headaches a lot. I have tried the very low calorie and if can get past those problems make sure you still lift weights too greatly reduce the loss of lean muscle.
Are you seriously suggesting that OP eat less calories when she is ALREADY eating under 1200? :grumble:
OP can easily hit 1200 cal/day eating nuts, seeds, nut butters, avocados, olive oil, coconut oil, etc.
Yes I am seriously suggesting that if the OP wants they can eat even less if they are not hungry and not force them self to eat more. I explained a few of the problems with doing so and even gave a suggestion about how to prevent one of the major problems with very low calorie diets.0 -
If you are not hungry then eat less. I know people are going to proclaim the "starvation mode" but the bigger the calorie deficit you have the more weight you will lose. Now if you do this very extreme for months on end then yes your metabolism will start to slow a bit. This really doesn't start to happen that bad until you get lower body fat % though. If you keep up really low calorie though you will tend to feel like crap, have less energy and headaches a lot. I have tried the very low calorie and if can get past those problems make sure you still lift weights too greatly reduce the loss of lean muscle.
Are you seriously suggesting that OP eat less calories when she is ALREADY eating under 1200? :grumble:
OP can easily hit 1200 cal/day eating nuts, seeds, nut butters, avocados, olive oil, coconut oil, etc.
Yes I am seriously suggesting that if the OP wants they can eat even less if they are not hungry and not force them self to eat more. I explained a few of the problems with doing so and even gave a suggestion about how to prevent one of the major problems with very low calorie diets.
OP should not be eating less than 1200 calories a day without approval from her doctor. People who follow a VLCD are on a wide variety of vitamins (via doctors orders) in order to ensure they are getting proper nutrition. You are not a doctor… Do not tell people it is okay for them to consume less than 1200 calories a day.
It is not hard to consume 1200 cal/day. OP did not become overweight from only eating < 1200 cal/day.0 -
Please may I assist with spelling? The word you should be using is 'losing', not 'loosing'. There is no such word as 'loosing'. 'Lose' means to misplace something whilst 'loose' means the opposite of 'tight'. Hope you find this helpful and good luck with the dieting, sounds like you are doing very well.
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If you are not hungry then eat less. I know people are going to proclaim the "starvation mode" but the bigger the calorie deficit you have the more weight you will lose. Now if you do this very extreme for months on end then yes your metabolism will start to slow a bit. This really doesn't start to happen that bad until you get lower body fat % though. If you keep up really low calorie though you will tend to feel like crap, have less energy and headaches a lot. I have tried the very low calorie and if can get past those problems make sure you still lift weights too greatly reduce the loss of lean muscle.
Are you seriously suggesting that OP eat less calories when she is ALREADY eating under 1200? :grumble:
OP can easily hit 1200 cal/day eating nuts, seeds, nut butters, avocados, olive oil, coconut oil, etc.
Yes I am seriously suggesting that if the OP wants they can eat even less if they are not hungry and not force them self to eat more. I explained a few of the problems with doing so and even gave a suggestion about how to prevent one of the major problems with very low calorie diets.
OP should not be eating less than 1200 calories a day without approval from her doctor. People who follow a VLCD are on a wide variety of vitamins (via doctors orders) in order to ensure they are getting proper nutrition. You are not a doctor… Do not tell people it is okay for them to consume less than 1200 calories a day.
It is not hard to consume 1200 cal/day. OP did not become overweight from only eating < 1200 cal/day.
I talked to my doctor about a VLCD and he said no. I did it anyways, and I have lost 50 lbs in a little over 2 months. Now I know going to say that is unhealthy. I don't consider not having hypertension or prediabetic to be unhealthy though or losing 14% body fat while gaining 2 % lean muscle. I just went to the doctor for a check up and he was amazed and how much better I am am now. He even says maybe the VLCD was a good idea. I am going to continue it until I hit the high end of my ideal weight and then will titrate my calories up slowly so I don't gain all the weight back.
You did bring up the really good point that I forgot though, when you lower your calories you must make sure still getting proper vitamins and minerals.
I am not saying this is best for everyone just the OP sounded kind of like me where wasn't hungry and so I started to low my calories and noticed the weight melt off so thought it might help them as well.0 -
You are losing weight. I dont see what the problem.....0
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If you are not hungry then eat less. I know people are going to proclaim the "starvation mode" but the bigger the calorie deficit you have the more weight you will lose. Now if you do this very extreme for months on end then yes your metabolism will start to slow a bit. This really doesn't start to happen that bad until you get lower body fat % though. If you keep up really low calorie though you will tend to feel like crap, have less energy and headaches a lot. I have tried the very low calorie and if can get past those problems make sure you still lift weights too greatly reduce the loss of lean muscle.
Are you seriously suggesting that OP eat less calories when she is ALREADY eating under 1200? :grumble:
OP can easily hit 1200 cal/day eating nuts, seeds, nut butters, avocados, olive oil, coconut oil, etc.
Yes I am seriously suggesting that if the OP wants they can eat even less if they are not hungry and not force them self to eat more. I explained a few of the problems with doing so and even gave a suggestion about how to prevent one of the major problems with very low calorie diets.
OP should not be eating less than 1200 calories a day without approval from her doctor. People who follow a VLCD are on a wide variety of vitamins (via doctors orders) in order to ensure they are getting proper nutrition. You are not a doctor… Do not tell people it is okay for them to consume less than 1200 calories a day.
It is not hard to consume 1200 cal/day. OP did not become overweight from only eating < 1200 cal/day.
I talked to my doctor about a VLCD and he said no. I did it anyways, and I have lost 50 lbs in a little over 2 months. Now I know going to say that is unhealthy. I don't consider not having hypertension or prediabetic to be unhealthy though or losing 14% body fat while gaining 2 % lean muscle. I just went to the doctor for a check up and he was amazed and how much better I am am now. He even says maybe the VLCD was a good idea. I am going to continue it until I hit the high end of my ideal weight and then will titrate my calories up slowly so I don't gain all the weight back.
You did bring up the really good point that I forgot though, when you lower your calories you must make sure still getting proper vitamins and minerals.
I am not saying this is best for everyone just the OP sounded kind of like me where wasn't hungry and so I started to low my calories and noticed the weight melt off so thought it might help them as well.
It was against your doctors orders.
It's against forum rules
But hey, recommend VLCD anyway. :noway:0 -
So that's smart. You ask your doctor if you should do VLCD, he says no, you do it anyway, then you promote it to others. That's very responsible of you.If you are not hungry then eat less. I know people are going to proclaim the "starvation mode" but the bigger the calorie deficit you have the more weight you will lose. Now if you do this very extreme for months on end then yes your metabolism will start to slow a bit. This really doesn't start to happen that bad until you get lower body fat % though. If you keep up really low calorie though you will tend to feel like crap, have less energy and headaches a lot. I have tried the very low calorie and if can get past those problems make sure you still lift weights too greatly reduce the loss of lean muscle.
Are you seriously suggesting that OP eat less calories when she is ALREADY eating under 1200? :grumble:
OP can easily hit 1200 cal/day eating nuts, seeds, nut butters, avocados, olive oil, coconut oil, etc.
Yes I am seriously suggesting that if the OP wants they can eat even less if they are not hungry and not force them self to eat more. I explained a few of the problems with doing so and even gave a suggestion about how to prevent one of the major problems with very low calorie diets.
OP should not be eating less than 1200 calories a day without approval from her doctor. People who follow a VLCD are on a wide variety of vitamins (via doctors orders) in order to ensure they are getting proper nutrition. You are not a doctor… Do not tell people it is okay for them to consume less than 1200 calories a day.
It is not hard to consume 1200 cal/day. OP did not become overweight from only eating < 1200 cal/day.
I talked to my doctor about a VLCD and he said no. I did it anyways, and I have lost 50 lbs in a little over 2 months. Now I know going to say that is unhealthy. I don't consider not having hypertension or prediabetic to be unhealthy though or losing 14% body fat while gaining 2 % lean muscle. I just went to the doctor for a check up and he was amazed and how much better I am am now. He even says maybe the VLCD was a good idea. I am going to continue it until I hit the high end of my ideal weight and then will titrate my calories up slowly so I don't gain all the weight back.
You did bring up the really good point that I forgot though, when you lower your calories you must make sure still getting proper vitamins and minerals.
I am not saying this is best for everyone just the OP sounded kind of like me where wasn't hungry and so I started to low my calories and noticed the weight melt off so thought it might help them as well.
Guess you missed the whole part about I am the healthiest I have ever been in my adult life..... Or that the doctor says maybe it was a good idea....0 -
So that's smart. You ask your doctor if you should do VLCD, he says no, you do it anyway, then you promote it to others. That's very responsible of you.If you are not hungry then eat less. I know people are going to proclaim the "starvation mode" but the bigger the calorie deficit you have the more weight you will lose. Now if you do this very extreme for months on end then yes your metabolism will start to slow a bit. This really doesn't start to happen that bad until you get lower body fat % though. If you keep up really low calorie though you will tend to feel like crap, have less energy and headaches a lot. I have tried the very low calorie and if can get past those problems make sure you still lift weights too greatly reduce the loss of lean muscle.
Are you seriously suggesting that OP eat less calories when she is ALREADY eating under 1200? :grumble:
OP can easily hit 1200 cal/day eating nuts, seeds, nut butters, avocados, olive oil, coconut oil, etc.
Yes I am seriously suggesting that if the OP wants they can eat even less if they are not hungry and not force them self to eat more. I explained a few of the problems with doing so and even gave a suggestion about how to prevent one of the major problems with very low calorie diets.
OP should not be eating less than 1200 calories a day without approval from her doctor. People who follow a VLCD are on a wide variety of vitamins (via doctors orders) in order to ensure they are getting proper nutrition. You are not a doctor… Do not tell people it is okay for them to consume less than 1200 calories a day.
It is not hard to consume 1200 cal/day. OP did not become overweight from only eating < 1200 cal/day.
I talked to my doctor about a VLCD and he said no. I did it anyways, and I have lost 50 lbs in a little over 2 months. Now I know going to say that is unhealthy. I don't consider not having hypertension or prediabetic to be unhealthy though or losing 14% body fat while gaining 2 % lean muscle. I just went to the doctor for a check up and he was amazed and how much better I am am now. He even says maybe the VLCD was a good idea. I am going to continue it until I hit the high end of my ideal weight and then will titrate my calories up slowly so I don't gain all the weight back.
You did bring up the really good point that I forgot though, when you lower your calories you must make sure still getting proper vitamins and minerals.
I am not saying this is best for everyone just the OP sounded kind of like me where wasn't hungry and so I started to low my calories and noticed the weight melt off so thought it might help them as well.
Guess you missed the whole part about I am the healthiest I have ever been in my adult life..... Or that the doctor says maybe it was a good idea....
He said "maybe" it was okay for you to go against instructions backed by research of thousands of patients over multiple life spans. Why don't you ask him if he will now recommend VLCD to his other patients, and why/why not?0 -
Low-carb is classified as anything under 130 g. OP was eating over 130 g for 2 days. On the days it said only 52 g and 108 g, I imagine she didn't finish filling out her diary.
By whom?
The American Academy of Family Physicians classifies Low Carb as under 60 grams a day.
Other government bodies and non-governmental organisations have different levels.
The thing is that you can call any lower-than-normal carb intake diet 'low carb'- it isn't a registered trademark ffs.
In any case, it is one small small phrase and people have been distracted by this word because the attention given to it by one tiny man.
Let's rename it lowish-carb- everyone happy now?
Glycogen would still be utilised, water would still be dumped, she would still weight less and it only takes a couple of days for it to happen, less if you are exercising hard, which I assumed she wasn't from her profile information.
Also I didn't definitely say that it did happen- I said it was likely, assuming all the information that was provided was correct.
I'm not a mind reader so if it wasn't then obviously the conclusion would be different.0
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