Making sure I eat enough when I don't feel hungry

menchi

I'm not sure if I'm adjusting to fewer calories in my diet (been 37 days) but recently I've been having trouble eating all my calories. I workout at the gym almost everyday and burn around 3-400 Cal. And since I've been feeling in better control of my body, I've been dancing more also. On a day like today with gym + dancing, I easily have 6-700 Cal extra to eat. I'm eating good healthy things like edamame, turkey, almonds, fruit, oatmeal, cheese, etc. I do feel comfortably full, but I still have all these calories to eat. I eat at least 1200 Cal total a day, often more, but I don't want to snarf down something high calorie just to get to my goal. Anyone have similar problems, or have thoughts on dealing with the problem?

p.s. The irony has not escaped my thoughts that "Really? You get to eat more? How is this a problem?"

flyawaybyebye

You want to learn to listen to your body, so if you aren't hungry, you shouldn't continue to eat. Your body knows what you need. I think it is a really horrible idea to override what your body wants and needs by forcing yourself to eat a certain number of calories when you are no longer hungry.

Mindful_Trent

The best thing I can think of is on the days you know you'll be working out and dancing, try to eat a little more at each of your meals - you may not be bothered by 100 extra calories at a time, versus trying to get in a ton of calories at the end of the day. Add an extra serving of protein or a little extra carbs or if you normally had something like eggs and toast for breakfast, add a piece of fruit... things like that. If you have to, drink some of the calories - I'm not a fan of fruit juices due to the sugar and lack of fiber, but milk and something like home-made smoothies are great (and you can really pack some calories in a smoothie depending on how you make it! My oatmeal/PB/banana/flax seed/milk smoothies are pretty high in calorie count!) Don't be afraid to have a snack at the end of the day, too, if you're a little hungry. I regularly eat late (9 or 10 at night, after my workouts) and it hasn't had any kind of negative effect. Granted, I usually go to sleep around 11 or 12 - I wouldn't want to eat IMMEDIATELY before I try to sleep.

Cytherea

You can eat plenty of high-calorie, healthy things. Nuts, for one. They are very high in calories and yet still healthy. So add a handful or two of nuts to your day, add peanut butter, stuff like that. You can also add drinks, like juice, which will add calories but not make you feel full like when you've eaten something.

Mindful_Trent

You want to learn to listen to your body, so if you aren't hungry, you shouldn't continue to eat. Your body knows what you need. I think it is a really horrible idea to override what your body wants and needs by forcing yourself to eat a certain number of calories when you are no longer hungry.

The problem is, is our bodies don't always tell us when we need to eat more. If they're not used to us upping calories (as is appropriate) when we workout, then they may not demand that of us - like they've been conditioned not to complain. Hunger (or lack thereof) is not always the best cue to go by. If you don't have a ton to lose (and the OP doesn't) then it's important to keep your deficit from getting too high. Obese people can handle higher deficits without negatively impacting their metabolism, but someone with only 10 lbs to lose can't.

menchi

Thanks for all the input. I like the idea of adding a little more to each meal since I normally try to plan and log my meals for the next day before I got to sleep. I still make lots of adjustments, but I have a plan to follow. The only nuts I like are almonds so I usually have a stash of that around. I'm cutting out juice entirely and having fruit instead which means I get the good fresh nutrients out of it w/o a sugar rush. I think I'm getting too good at finding healthy foods that help me feel full with not a lot of calories but plenty of nutrients. Good thing I have another few months before my goal weight to figure out how to balance the eating.