Eating enough

waterjogger

I know that I'm supposed to be eating exercise calories, but I have trouble eating my normal calories. I'm just not hungry. When I don't feel hungry I have a hard time eating for the sake of eating. I've been a compulsive eater for 30 years and I'm trying to break that cycle so I find it hard to eat the extra calories. My choices are much healthier and balanced now and I'm not putting away a bag of chips or oreos all on my own, but I still have that fear lurking in the back of my mind that if I start eating I may never stop. I eat roughly 300-500 per meal plus two snacks and I'm still way under my calories for the day. Even with a handful of nuts or seeds for snacks I'm still under. Yesterday we ate out at a Mexican restaurant and I had chips and salsa (thinking it was going to put me way over, but I still came out under. ) I'm consistently about 500 short of the minimum calories my nutritionist and MFP recommends. It's frustrating because all my life I've heard nothing but don't eat so much, and now everyone's telling me I'm not eating enough. Makes me crazy. Over the past year I've lost 25 lbs, plus 6 since joining MFP. My numbers are all improved-blood pressure, blood sugar, triglycerides, cholesterol, and my Kidney doctor was ecstatic that all my kidney function tests are almost within normal range now. I feel great-back and knee pain much improved but I'm still not "eating enough". I know I'm rambling at this point, but since my numbers are all coming down and I feel good-why "eat" when I don't feel like I need to???? I hope this all makes sense!:bigsmile:

ashleyxnicole89

Try eating high calorie low fat foods. Granola has tons of calories, but not much fat. Avocado is another one.

MjDavis1981

I wish I had the magic button to solve your problem, but honestly I am finding the same thing. I'm eating breakfast, lunch, dinner and three snacks and I am still not eating enough. This is tough stuff. I just started this yesterday so I am hoping to figure it out.

erickirb

since you have a lot to lose you may be able to sustain a larger deficit, that being said you should still get a minimum of 1200 Net (1200 plus your exercise calories)

So if your daily goal is 1500, and you burn 500, MFP will tell you to eat 2000 (1500+500), but you will be able to get away with 1700 (1200+500). So on days you burn a lot, just make sure you hit a minimum of 1200 plus what you burn (assuming your estimated calories burned are correct). If you are using MFP's estimates for calories burned just eat back 75% of them, as they are typically over estimated.

Fochizzy

What is MFP recommending for your calorie goal. I have mine set on 1lb weight loss a week, so if I work out and don't feel like eating all the calories back it is alright as long as I am neting over 1200, I tend to be anywhere in the 1200(rarely)-1600 range. Are you over 1200 net?

Elle_Jamaicangirl81

first of all... congrats on your weight loss so far.

From i joined MFP i realise how much food we can actually eat as long as we make better choices with them. Its pretty cool

i was told from people on here to at least make sure u have 1200 calories for the day... its a difficulty for me as well..

i usually opt for nuts or granola bars when i'm not so hungry but i need to put in those calories.

carradoc

I am finding the same too. I don't feel that I have to eat though, I find it more important to ensure that I get the right nutrition.

tinareet

you are like me its all or nothing(well less than we are told to) I think maybe concentrate on eating more earlier in the day will help, i know if i eat a large breakfast I still want to eat like normal the rest of the day. I could never say eat a snack after dinner, because thats when the binge is more likely to occur. I think its just finding what works for you and maybe having a treat meal(thats a lunch for me) a week and hopefully it will boost your cals. But good fats like peanut butter, avocado, oil, flaxseed and nuts are a good way of getting a few more cals.
Good Luck
xxxx

kellyyjean

bump for later

ChantalGG

Add olive oil to your foods. I made a tasty sweet potato salad yesterday and it was so healthy but very high in calories. I had to watch out because i only eat 1200 a day. I wish i had to eat more. lol

superdad88

It might be worth the money to talk to a Nutrition person. You need to find your macrons and go from there.

ejmcam

When you say you are under, are you talking about your exercise calories? How many calories a day are you eating before you subtract out your exercise calories.

RNewton4269

When I first started on this journey in January, I was told by my trainer that I wasn't eating enough for the amount of time I was working out and the intensity I was burning calories. I went from eating 1300 calories a day to 1600 and 30 pounds later..IT HAS WORKED!

Adding higher calorie foods to your diet does help as does the addition of good fats (like olive oil and avocados). I agree with everything else that was said.

Good luck to you!!!

MaryW1962

If the weight is coming off then don't worry about what others are saying. Later if the weight doesn't come off like it should or you start to feel deprived then eat your extra calories. Some days I'm under, some days just right, and occasionally I'm slightly over. Do what works for you!:happy:

superdad88

Eat some protien before bed. Like a protien shake, cottage cheese ect... your body will burn about 500cals while your sleeping. Plus you will wake up not feeling so hungry.

waterjogger

The nutritionist put me at 1800 cal/day. (MFP put me much higher, over 2000) I am eating right at 1200 per day, somedays under 1200, and I'm not eating any of the exercise calories back. I jog in the pool for an hour about 4 days a week and MFP says I burn about 600 a day with that. (I'm not sure how accurate that is, since I don't have a HRM for the pool.) My heart does stay high throiughout the workout as I take my pulse twice during the workout, then I do stretches/barbells in the water for another hour. My children say I move too fast in the water because they have a hard time keeping up with me when I'm going. The lifeguard at the pool told me I was getting a good workout too when she watched my pace/activity in the water.

bcattoes

How many meals a day do you eat at 300 - 500? Are you eating healthy fats? Adding just a spoonful of olive or canola oil to anything will up your calories pretty quick.

mimstero

I agree with most of the people here. I was losing fairly consistently, but now that it's summer and I am a teacher, I have more time to work out. I work off about 800-1000 extra exercise calories a day, and then I am supposed to add those back to my original 1300. Well, I do find that it's tough to eat all of those calories (except for the days that I get my fiance to go to Dairy Queen!) and lately I have been slowly creeping up or staying the same. I truly think it's because my net calories are anywhere from 900-1100. I am going to make a serious effort to stay at 1200 net calories a day and see what happens. I am 5 pounds away from where I think my body can stay with only a little effort, but the last few weeks have been frustrating.

ladyhawk00

Here are some threads that should help you understand why eating IS important. As mentioned, you have more leeway with your deficit than others, but you still need to stay within a certain range to avoid some negative consequences. While someone with large amounts of fat stores doesn't need to be concerned too much with burning a lot of muscle, not eating enough will still slow your metabolism - exactly the opposite of what you want. And while you may not "feel" it, it will leave you with less energy for exercising, meaning that you won't get the most out of whatever exercise you do.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/231636-the-eating-when-you-re-not-hungry-dilemma

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/222019-60-lbs-in-60-days?hl=60+lbs

As for how to increase cals in a healthy way:

Planning is key. Focus on balanced macros (protein/fat/carbs) in each meal/snack. Start with making sure to eat at least 3 meals a day. Once you've adjusted to that, add in snacks. Then, gradually increase the amount of cals in each meal/snack. Just 50 cals more for each meal/snack adds up. If you know you'll be working out, increase cals throughout the day.

MFP is a fantastic tool for anyone with poor eating habits or disordered eating (binge eating, undereating, irregular eating, etc.) to get on a schedule and teach your body and mind to recognize a healthy AMOUNT of healthy food. You WILL have days that don't go as planned, but you can learn from those and work on avoiding the circumstances that led to the mistakes. And, actually eating on schedule, eating the right amount of cals, and making sure your macros are balanced will help PREVENT those binges.

If you're not feeling hungry, a good way to increase cals without much volume is healthy fats from natural oils (olive/canola), nuts and nut butters (almonds, pistachios, walnuts), and avocados. Also, I would stay away from "low cal" or "low fat" options. Partly because you want to increase cals, and partly because those foods are usually processed and not nutrient dense, and the cals or fat they take out is replaced by sugar (real or substitute) and sodium - not a good trade off. A fruit smoothie, protein shake or chocolate milk are good cal boosters, because drinking cals can be easier than eating when you aren't feeling hungry.

Typically, it may be hard for a week or two, but your body will adjust to the increased intake and you'll find it isn't an issue for long. Eating enough will truly help your metabolism, and your appetite will increase with it.

GinaKB75

If I don't reach my calories for the day I normally drink my calories. I usually will drink a Kellogs Protein Shake (which is really yummy if you like chocolate Milk) on an Ensure High Protein Shake... Because Iwas so use to eating so unhealthy with fast food I had the same problem of not reaching my daily intake with healthy foods and found that drinking them really helps.

rockstar4ever929

Instead of eating 2-3 big meals a day, eat about 6-7 "mini" meals. This will help jumpstart your metabolism which will not only help you lose the weight it will also help you get hungrier faster! Congrats on your weight loss so far and good luck at keep at it