eating more?

countrygirlx11

Hi everyone. This is my first post to the boards. I recently joined MFP and started my healthy lifestyle. Unfortunately, I've come down with a viral infection that has me feeling like crap! I haven't been able to lay around all day because I had mandatory school, which required me to walk..but I haven't been able to work out. I know most people lose their appetite when they're sick, but all I want to do is eat right now. I don't want to gain weight. I feel like I should probably be eating maintenance during this time, but I'm afraid, because although I'm new here, I've been trying to limit my calories to net 1,200 for about a month. I feel scared that my body isn't used to eating that much. What do you suggest I should eat? I'm trying to eat healthy foods, but it's hard not to feel bad when going over. But I know my body needs fuel, at least I think. Does your body burn more calories when you're sick and have a fever and everything? Can anyone give me advice? Thanks

honu18

Are you secretly me? I'm in this EXACT situation right now. I don't know what to do either. I feel so bad about eating more, but I feel like my body needs it. But I'm so scared to gain weight. Such a problem. I think we both need to suck up a pound or two gain that may occur in order to get healthy again. We can be back on track soon But I am very curious to others responses about this. Just know you are not alone. I also have no idea if you burn more calories when you're sick.

manjingirl

As Eddie said in Ab Fab - just do your best sweetie.

Seriously, you probably don't need any more calories while you're sick, and while fever may increase the metabolism it won't be significant in the short term (7 days or less, providing you're not burning up in which case you should go to the hospital). But eating well and providing your immune system with good protein and nutrients will aid your recovery. If you're craving some bad stuff, make sure you've eaten some really healthy stuff first and keep the fluids (water is best) up.

Exercise when your body feels ready. Or when you're well. Hope you're on the mend already.

Acg67

Are you secretly me? I'm in this EXACT situation right now. I don't know what to do either. I feel so bad about eating more, but I feel like my body needs it. But I'm so scared to gain weight. Such a problem. I think we both need to suck up a pound or two gain that may occur in order to get healthy again. We can be back on track soon But I am very curious to others responses about this. Just know you are not alone. I also have no idea if you burn more calories when you're sick.

not saying you have an ED but read this

Why wouldn't you eat?
Not eating gave me a sense of accomplishment. A stupid voice in my head was telling me if you don't eat then you are strong, you can control your life. At some point I wanted to eat, I wanted to get better but it was so hard to change my old way of thinking and eating. For me eating= being weak plus I developed this fear that if I ate a bit more I would get fat. Looking back I can see how stupid my fear was. I was soooo underweight that it would take a weight gain of at least 30kg for me to be classified as slightly overweight!

I've heard a lot of people talking about the anorexia voice. Is there such a thing?
Yeap. Sounds crazy but there is. When suffering from anorexia you have this stupid voice in your head telling you what to do and what not to. Mine was telling me:
-Don't eat you will get fat
-Don't eat you will gain weight too quickly
-If you follow the meal plan the dietitian has given you, you will lose control
-If you eat you are weak
- Don't you love all the attention you are getting from being so underweight?
-You are a failure, you don't deserve to be happy and well.
But then you also have YOUR voice telling you that you need to eat to get better, that you will die if you continue this madness, that you deserve to be well and healthy
And there is this constant battle between the two voices that drives you crazy!!
I believe that this voice is all of your irrational fears that come with this disorder. It is just good to group all these fears as a voice. This way you know that the disorder is not part of your true self.

Every day was a little bit better, a little bit easier. I reach my goal weight a few weeks before I left home to study. But that was not the end of my disorder. Once I got to a healthy weight I dropped my kcal to less than1000/day and started exercising (doing lots of cardio) because I was afraid I was going to gain more weight.

http://www.pinkbarbells.com/2011/08/anorexia.html

Raf702

When your sick/ill that will hinder your metabolism from it's optimal performance. Your body is working harder to heal itself, which means your expending more energy than usual. Regardless, if you think you'll gain weight. You WON'T, only if you eat at maintenance. You must be sure that it's accurate as well. Sure you might feel full, since your not used to it. But by eating at maintenance your supplying your body with just enough nutrients to keep you and your metabolism functioning normally. Even if it isn't healthy food, just be sure your calories match up to your maintenance calories for the day.

Don't fixate on getting back into the gym, etc. Just focus on your calorie consumption for the day, keep it at a maintenance or under. And you won't have any issues with gaining any weight. If anything, it would be water weight only, if your drinking plenty of fluids. Don't lose sleep over your maintenance calories, your perfectly fine. Good luck, and hope you feel better so you can get back on your feet to do what you love.

beautybiz

I googled it and found out that the fever and other symptoms do cause you to burn more calories when you are sick and you loose a lot of fluids. The suggestion is to eat protein and complex carbs and drink lots of water.

Feel Better. :flowerforyou:

bluegold12

I've been so good to myself for a month but today I feel like going off my 1200 calorie diet to eat a lot more. I feel like I need to eat atleast another 500-700 calories to feel "healthier" ...which is complete BS. I wouldn't have dropped 9lbs in a month if I had felt like this everyday. So I won't be eating more.

I finally figured out why this new thing is going on for me. While my weight was going up, I hit a plateau exactly where I am right now. And of course, while going down, it's going to hit a similar point and my body will panic. Usually when I plateau I stay there for 6 whole months minimum But this time, I won't. I'm going to push past it by not letting some misguided digestive system take over. And, on tuesday, I ate 1400 calories, so my body suddenly adjusted its daily calorie expectations. Now's my poor brain's getting bad messages.

Sometimes your body will confuse you and tell you it knows your needs better than you. Regardless of what your reason is for wanting to eat more, follow your plan. If you indulge, don't indulge so much that your brain will adapt to the indulgence. Focus on what your goal is. Just like when you started with your 1200 calorie diet and got past the "I wanna eat more" urges, you can get past the current urges too.

honu18

@Acg67

Thanks. Yeah, I've thought about seeking help for a pre-ED. I definitely eat enough daily, because I love food, but it is a mental struggle for me- because there are days, like today, that I just want to keep eating and I go back and forth in my head all day about what and when I can eat. Anything that I eat that's not scheduled or logged or if I go over results in me not stopping to think about it. That was a wakeup call. Thank you.

bluegold12

I do hope you feel better later Being sick is no fun

Acg67

@Acg67

Thanks. Yeah, I've thought about seeking help for a pre-ED. I definitely eat enough daily, because I love food, but it is a mental struggle for me- because there are days, like today, that I just want to keep eating and I go back and forth in my head all day about what and when I can eat. Anything that I eat that's not scheduled or logged or if I go over results in me not stopping to think about it. That was a wakeup call. Thank you.

hope you get everything sorted out and i wish you the best

countrygirlx11

Thanks, everyone. I'll stick to maintenance and whatever happens happens. 1 pound or two will not kill me! Feel better to you honu as well