Calorie binge v. Starvation HELP!

mustnothrowcantelopes

Lately I feel like I've been horrendously going over my calories by like 700 (ok, so that was a few random days here and there) or more so going way under like by 400-500. I have read stuff on here about "starvation mode" and such and maybe I need to examine what I'm eating more and whether it's both filling and healthy, but I feel like lately my brain kind of just stopped sending signals to my body as to whether or not it's hungry. Like lately, I kind of have a difficult time telling, which makes it frustrating for me because than I have to manually eat something like every 3 hours because I can't rely on my body to tell me if I'm hungry or not. I feel like I've kind of lost my appetite in general. Not that I stopped liking food when I eat it, just I don't know. Like I have 400 calories left and I'm just like : " Oh no, I have to eat something, but I don't feel like it."

Any advice?

ktanderson05

I have to eat about 1800 calories a day, so I aim for 400 calories at each main meal and then around 100calories for my snacks...NOw i"m not perfect and can't always follow that, but I try my best to follow it to those standards.

jeremymaritz

I think it's really important to analyze the source of those calories; to find out how much 'food' is actually in your food. Like you could eat 300 calories of Snickers bars and be just as hungry 5 minutes after as you were before. However, take those same 300 cals, spend them on Black Beans and some lean protein and you'll be full literally for hours. Not all calories are the same.

Tiffany1111

To me it sounds like you need a better set of rules for yourself. What's really been helping me is not concentrating so much on what I'm eating but how much I'm eating. The less you eat, obviously the less calorie dense the food will be. It's a good sign that you are not feeling like you have to eat all the time because your stomach has gotten smaller.

jen1516

I'm having the same issue of not feeling hungry. I have trouble eating all my calories. I'm alotted 1200 calories but then usually work out burning 500, so I had 1700 to eat today, but I just couldn't. Even forced myself to drink a yoohoo just to use up 180 calories. I still had 705 remaining and now it's past midnight and a new day begins. Hopefully today I will be able to eat my calories and not send myself into starvation mode. I am a newbie and am still learning.

ocsurfmama

I was just talking about this with hubby tonight! I find myself not eating enough and it's worse when I have earned more calories from exercise. I had cut out all bread from my diet so I think I may go back to having one slice of 12 grain bread with my breakfast.

Maybe you could just use some fresh idea's on food choices to eat?? Feel free to friend me if you like and you are welcome to view my food diary. I am finding that small meals through the day help me reach my goal, better than three main big meals. I have also been eating more omelets because I can add sausage, ham, and veggies to it to up my calories without feeling like it's too much.

The best thing I made for the first time was a frappe' drink using Chocolate Almond milk (1/2 the fat and sodium of other milks and full of great vitamins) When I am short on my intake of calories I'm going to make one and sip on it, in place of some of the water I'm drinking.

Chocolate Almond milk - 1 cup
Brewed, cooled coffee - 1 cup (use decaf at night)
Hot Cocoa Powder Dry mix - 1 TBLS
Ice, 1 to 2 cups, crushed (depending on how thick you want your shake)

Put all in the blender and use Frappe button until mixed and thick.

Russellb97

I think it's really important to analyze the source of those calories; to find out how much 'food' is actually in your food. Like you could eat 300 calories of Snickers bars and be just as hungry 5 minutes after as you were before. However, take those same 300 cals, spend them on Black Beans and some lean protein and you'll be full literally for hours. Not all calories are the same.

Exactly right. Calories are technically calories but they were not created equal. Protein and fiber calories will help you feel full longer.

CallejaFairey

you could also try little things, such as using oil when you cook. adding avocados into meals, or handfuls of nuts. the body is a strange and weird thing. feeling hungry when it sholdn't, and not when it should. i hear a lot of people saying they can't eat as much as their calories allow, and they just aren't hungry. well, sometimes in order to help your body realize when it should be hungry, i think you need to force it. it gets used to a routine pretty quick. i used to only be hungry around my usual eating time, which was once a day pre-MFP. now, i am hungry every couple hours. but it took making myself eat. so if you set up a schedule, just stick with it. eventually your body will start to realize it's ok to be hungry, then you wil wish for the days when it wasn't. lol

katcena

Adding in some type of a protein shake like Shakeology could really help you out. Depending on what your calorie needs are for the day you could add things to it (peanut butter and bananas with Chocolate Shakeology) on a day you need extra caolories (could be as hgh as 500 cals), or a simple cup of strawberries blended in (for 200 calories) on a day you don't need extra calories. Then you know that you are at least getting all of the nutrients in for the day that your body needs to function correctly.
Adding a multi-vitamin and at least one salad a day will help too. The multi-vitamin so you are sure to get your vitamins and the salad always seems to get my metabolism going!

jasminebaggins

Since you've opened up your diary I've noticed you eat a lot of snacks and not so many meals and then somedays you have two or three lunches. Try to force yourself to do medium sized, three meal days but of course don't beat yourself up if you want a snack. Definitely try things brown rice and veggies or gluten free (heee heee I know you) bread and peanut butter or lean cuts of meat.

mustnothrowcantelopes

I've been staying away from peanut butter and even though I have gluten free bread in the house, for some reason I've been avoiding it. I think I've become so terrified of going over that my brain has gone into ' what can I eat that has as little calories as possible' and then I end up with like a 300-500 calorie deficit. I might have to start having peanut butter sometimes. I love it a lot, but I've abused it in the past where I would make these shakes using bananas , chocolate ice cream and peanut butter and they never seemed to fill me up. I don't really end up having more than one lunch , but it's actually more like meal 1, meal 2, meal 3 and so on, I don't know why I didn't just right that.

Noz7

I think it's really important to analyze the source of those calories; to find out how much 'food' is actually in your food. Like you could eat 300 calories of Snickers bars and be just as hungry 5 minutes after as you were before. However, take those same 300 cals, spend them on Black Beans and some lean protein and you'll be full literally for hours. Not all calories are the same.

Exactly right. Calories are technically calories but they were not created equal. Protein and fiber calories will help you feel full longer.

Well, if you need to boost your calories, you should do it with things like seeds, nuts and dried fruit - healthy oil and fibre and some carbs. I want to have these healthy snacks (ie. not wheat based stuff that has high GI) and I find I need to be very careful to not go over the calories.

Peter Dingle is a good author who has a bit of advice for healthy diet.

The other comment is that when you've exercised really hard, sometimes you feel like you can't eat. Fair enough and I don't feel that you should force yourself.