Anyone out there overweight with a little to no appetite?

Roni_M

I am just wondering if there is anyone else out there with no appetite? I've always been this way. I packed on the pounds from drinking lots of milk to help with medication I am on and from not exercising. I've cut out the milk and reverted to stomache meds.

When I ate it wasn't always healthy food but it was only at dinner and there were many days I didn't eat. Now that i'm trying to lose weight i'm having a hard time keeping my calories up. I literally gag on breakfast and generally don't eat more than one peice of fruit. Lunch generally consists of some broccoli or a thin bagel with tuna. Supper is usually chicken and a salad. I've been trying to make healthy substitutes but I am cutting my calories down to about 700 - 800 net. Yesterday my net was 12... then I forced myself to eat a banana and a handful of almonds and got it up to 297. I don't want to drink my calories (protien shakes or ensure) because that is the bad habit I'm trying to break. Is there anyone else out there with this issue?

UponThisRock

Since your body obviously needs more fuel than that, I'm going to guess that these are mental issues.

Roni_M

Not at all! But thanks for the input!

crystal_loga

Seems like your body is in starvation mode, and it will cling to everything you eat until you can get in the routine of regularly eating. I would consult a doctor asap. Even if you are overweight, you may be extremely malnourished and can be doing damage to your organs.

Good luck on your journey!

My1985Freckles

Growing up, I was homeschooled. My mom felt that we wasted too much time eating lunch, so it was cut out. We ate once a day. Dinner.....

This is EXTREMELY BAD for your body. You need to start eating 3 meals a day (at least). My metabolism is better and I can finally lose weight now that I eat Breakfast, mid-morning snack, lunch, sometimes an afternoon/early evening snack (typically because hubby isn't home for dinner yet), and dinner... AND sometimes dessert.

I am eating healthier stuff than I used to too. My breakfast is generally small 250 calories is high, then 100-200 for my snack, Lunch I try to keep under 300, then 600 for dinner (I always exercise and eat back some of those too).

When trying to acheive a healthy lifestyle, LESS is NOT MORE.... Sometimes the MORE food you eat, the better your results.

ber3023

Side effect from meds?
I would say adding some protein drinks or ensure would be a good thing. Habit or not, your body needs more to sufficiently run.

iAMaPhoenix

Packing on 10#s a year is kinda hard to do with eating less than 1000 cals a day without there being something going on hormonally. I see you go to your doctor and was curious as to whether you have been tested for hypothyroidism or some other type of metabolic disorder. The fact that you are trying to lose over 100#s is also alarming that you have no appetite. I agree with Clukis who said there may be some mental issue there also. We are not saying that you need medication, but it probably would be beneficial to seek some counseling to find out if there is some underlying concerns that you are not eating but still packing on the pounds, along with a biological etiology for your weight gain. Good Luck and I am sure you will find like minded people on here who share your problem.

NashvilleShelley

Is that a side effect from your meds? Maybe eat breakfast before you take them. If you eat more, you will have more energy. Try oatmeal or toast and peanut butter for breakfast. Try a protein smoothie. But, you need to eat!! If it is the meds, I would call the doctor and see if there is a different med to take.

Larius

If your body is not accustomed to solid food, you should probably schedule times where you eat solid food at the same time each day, and slowly increase how much you eat at each meal.

Instead of ensure or protein shakes, you could blend real food into smoothies that provide "real food" nutrition.

*I am not a doctor, but I play one in MFP forums.

kmbrooks15

I'd definitely talk to your doctor. There could be a physical issue keeping you from having an appetite. Everyone is right, too...you could be doing serious damage to your organs by not giving them sufficient fuel.

Your doctor could possibly refer you to a registered dietitian, too, who could help you find foods that you can eat that would get the calories going in. You may have to build up gradually, too. There's also nothing wrong with using Ensure or Boost drinks and protein shakes if it helps you get the calories in. You can gradually replace the liquid calories with actual food as you work toward that, but in the meantime, your body NEEDS nutrition.

Are you sure you aren't having some kind of mental block toward eating? We're not implying you're crazy or anything, but you could have some emotional reason why you have to gag down breakfast. You might want to consider a few sessions with a counselor to be sure. It might even be something from childhood that you don't remember (especially since you say you've always been this way). My niece went through a period of time where she suffered from a phobia of swallowing. Never could trace it to any event, but she was terrified that if she swallowed, she would choke to death. She ended up in the hospital twice and had to stop ballet because she was so malnourished. Thankfully, the counselors were able to help her conquer her fear, and she's doing fine now--back to normal weight, back to dancing, everything.

You should definitely consult with your doctor and ask him/her to refer you to the appropriate people to help you with this. There is nothing wrong with seeing a counselor either; they are there to help you work through whatever problems you're having, and there's no shame in that whatsoever. I hope you can find whatever it is that's causing you to have this issue.

Roni_M

Maybe I wasn't clear... I eat between 1200 - 1400 calories, but after exercise my net runs between 700-800 most days. Yesterday was a bad day. When trying to up my carbs I ate a pkg of instant oatmeal for breakfast...then couldn't eat lunch. For dinner I had a chicken breast and a salad (baby spinach, baby romain, tomatoes, basalmic and olive oil). I couldn't eat all the salad (it was a big plate). I also didn't realize how low the calories would be in my home made dressing. I want to eat healthy but am wondering if someone with a very small appetite is better off eating a regular dressing or some higher calorie options.

This is more food than I've ever eaten. I'm sure my body has to adjust. I have a chronic illness so visit my doctor regularly and have bloods drawn regularly. I have only been doing this for less than two weeks and am seeking to fix the issue before I have health problems from it.

snorktharpe

hi roni- yes, i do know what you're talking about. however, i chalked mine up to depression. i have many, many illnesses, had to retire early and take disability, bla bla bla. somewhere along the line, i just stopped caring about my health altogether. then two months ago, i was diagnosed with diabetes and extremely high cholesterol. i was furious with myself and have been using this site and working on both things since. i guess it was the kick in the butt i needed. i felt like i'd just been sitting around making myself sicker for years and years.

but prior to that? i was exactly as you've described yourself. no appetite at all and i couldn't handle the thought of food until late afternoon. i did not exercise because i was already so physically limited, etc.

i still do not to eat when i first get up. so i get my coffee and wait for about 45 minutes or so and then i'll grab something quick- oatmeal bar, something like that. then i wait til an hour or so and have a yogurt, or a bowl of oatmeal, etc., a bit later, i'll grab an apple or a clementine fruit, then i'll have lunch... spreading your food out helped me. after two months, my system has gotten accustomed to it, etc. and try to find things you actually like to eat.

if none of this is the case for you, you really ought to discuss it with your doctor and take some sort of supplement- the calories you mentioned are way too low. best of luck to you

kmbrooks15

OK, your original post made it sound like you were barely even eating 700 calories. I understand now.

Has your doctor changed your meds lately? That could be the problem. I'd definitely make a followup appointment. Maybe there are some suggestions the doc can give for increasing your appetite.

It's hard to do the right things for your body when you have an illness that requires meds. Certain drugs can mess with your appetite or make it harder to lose weight, etc.

I hope you can figure it out. But in the meantime, don't be afraid to supplement with a protein shake or something. Better to have healthy liquid calories than come up short altogether!

Good luck!

Edited to add: You said in your original post that you're trying to lay off the milk. You could try almond milk. I buy the Almond Breeze vanilla; I get the sweetened and unsweetened (I have to add Splenda to the unsweetened). I use the unsweetened when I need it to be low-cal (40 calories per cup) and the sweetened when I need extra calories (90 calories per cup). It has 50% more calcium than cow's milk and less fat. I use it to make my protein shakes, so I end up with a good balance. That might be a good option for breakfast for you (use the sweetened almond milk and the protein powder and you'll get around 250 calories right there).

Nana_Anne

AHH! I just read your second post. I rarely can eat all my calories. I also can not eat that much. Just do the best you can. I watch my BMR too.

Roni_M

Thank you all for your responses! I know this isn't a "mental" thing because I have been like this since my early teens when my mother stopped forcing me to eat breakfast and packing my lunches (what teen would forgo 15 extra minutes of sleep to eat breakfast and brown bag lunches were so un-cool!). LOL

My weight gain is directly related to a lack of exercise and drinking large quantities of milk since I was put on these meds and has been many years in the making. Switching from milk to zero cal flavored water alone has cut 1300 calories a day from my diet. I didn't get this way from food, although my food choices haven't always been good. I have always had a very small appetite, i never ate breakfast or lunch and if I was too busy I would grab a bag of chips from a vending machine and that would be all the eating I would do all day. I was hoping the milk was filling me up and switching to three meals a day would be easy. It hasn't been!

I think the meds probably don't help as common side effects are bloating and ulcers. Unfortunately the other options for me have the same or worse side effects. I am under a doctor and rhuematologists care. I have only been on this program for a couple of weeks (11 days technically) and am trying to prevent the low calories from creating an issue. I am losing weight and exercising.

I like the idea of the almond milk! I might have to try that.

I would really like to get my body used to food three times a day. This is a 20+ year bad habit I'm trying to break so I don't expect it to happen overnight. I have to eat with my meds now since I'm not drinking milk. I find a banana in the morning seems to be manageable with coffee. It's lunch that's the tough one. I was thinking maybe a couple of scrambled eggs (not too heavy but lots of protien). I can't figure out how to get my carbs up without something really filling (like oatmeal or bread). Any suggestions there would be appreciated. A non-filling carb that is!

Generally my ratio is low on carbs, high on protein and the fat is fine. I mean I know I can up my calories with a trip to the local fast food place once a day but I want to do this the right way and make eating correctly and regularly my new habit.