eating calories

dsagaties1963

Since I never ate much, once a day or every other day, my body went into starvation mode and I gained tons of weight. I need to lose 100+ lbs, but I can't eat all my calories. I am now eating everyday 3 times a day and getting in a snack but I am still under my calorie goals. I have lost 4lbs so far, is this bad, and how can I add more calories without more fat or sugar? I know I am supposed to eat the calories they have set for me, but so far I have been unable to do it. I figure as time goes by I will be able to hit that calorie goal, but since I'm losing weight and not being a couch potato is this okay for a little while?

triathlete06

Wow. Where do I start?
First, you are only eating 3 meals/day? Why? You should eat 5...3 meals and 2 snacks. Guess what - you don't lose weight if you don't eat enough. If you have 100+ lbs to lose, do it right. Avoid processed foods. Eat high quality foods. High quality foods don't have a lot of fat or sugar. Stick to lean proteins.

Contrary to what people believed years ago - FAT IS OK! As the market has come out with more low-fat/fat-free stuff...people got fatter! Why? Because your body needs fat! So try to eat like this 50% carbs/ 30% protein / 25% fat.

Hope that helps!

TinaS88

How long have you been trying to loose? It's not going to just disappear, it will take time. 1- 1 1/2 lbs a week is the HEALTHY way to do it. Just eat right, drink lots of water.

To get your cals up, try eating some peanut butter or nuts.. something healthy with a good amount of calories.

41degsouth

Eating 5 meals vs 3 makes no difference to total weight loss; only the net calories do. However, snacks are an easy way to build in more calories if you're not meeting your targets...

Captain_Tightpants

I glanced back through your diary for the last week and really, you're not that bad. You rarely eat less than 1200 and you're eating pretty clean too.

You really need to drink more water though.

The thing about large calorie deficits is that people who have a LOT of weight to lose (I'm talking 90lbs or more) can get away with it much more safely than people who are closer to normal weight.

You may need to start gradually eating more calories as time goes on, but also as you lose weight your goal of 2250 will drop too and the two will meet somewhere in the middle (like Benjamin Button). By the time you've lost 50lbs your goal may be down somewhere around 1800 a day and you probably ought be eating at least 1400 a day of that - but for now, I'd say you're doing alright.

Don't be scared of fat. The right kinds of fat are not only not harmful but they are essential. You can add cals to your diet without getting much fuller just by using the odd tbsp of olive oil to cook with, or by eating small amounts of nuts, cheese or peanut butter.

Hope that helps.

AND DRINK MORE WATER.

dsagaties1963

thank you I just started a week ago, I only ate once a day because I wasn't hungry, and if I did eat when I was hungry I'd be violently ill, so I didn't eat if i wasn't hungry. Now I am up to 3 meals a day and 1 snack I have lost 4 lbs. I try to avoid sugar because diabetes run in my family. I can do peanut butter thank you..

clickmaster

Since I never ate much, once a day or every other day, my body went into starvation mode and I gained tons of weight.

The only starvation mode is starvation. The idea that a low daily caloric intake results in a slowing of fat loss is myth. What is not myth is that as you lower your caloric intake in the extreme, your body will begin burning lean tissues and fat resulting in a less fat loss per unit decrease in caloric intake. In other words, you'll still lose fat and you'll lose it faster but you'll not lose it as fast per incremental increase in caloric deficit and you'll catabolize important lean tissue.

Here's how to eat.

Whether you want to gain weight, lose weight, add muscle, or maintain, you should use the same diet. In other words, everyone should be eating essentially the same macro nutrients (carbs, fats, protein), micro nutrients (vitamins, minerals, fiber, etc.) barring special health or medical considerations because we all have essentially the same physiognomy and there is only one version of peak health. Here is how we should all eat according to the US National Institute of Health who are among the best health professionals in the world and the people doctors listens to in the US.

OPTIMAL INTAKE
Eat varied, wholesome, and high quality foods such that your daily caloric intake is about equal to your daily caloric burn while keeping your macro nutrient ratios at about 55/25/20 (%calories from carbs/fats/protein). Only slight changes should be made in the macro nutrient ratios to accommodate the extreme demands of special activities such as extreme athletics or inactivity due to illness.

Note: Here are the details in case you're interested:
http://health.gov/dietaryguidelines/2010.asp
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/nutrition.html

You get to make the food choices (no supplements without a doctor's recommendation) based on your location, culture, available foods, personal preferences, personal resources, food allergies, etc. However, the words "varied", "wholesome", and "high quality" are important. And, you should consume your food in 4-6 daily meals with healthy snacks between such that you're nourishing yourself every two hours when awake.

VARIED means a variety of foods including fruits, dairy, meats, vegetables, grains, nuts, etc.
WHOLESOME means as unprocessed, unrefined, nutritious as is practical.
HIGH QUALITY means using the best ingredients, the least contaminants or fillers or unnecessary chemicals, etc.

•FAT LOSS: If you want to lose fat, simply adjust your portion size (the amount you take in at meals and snacks) down such that your daily caloric intake is about equal to your BMR. You can calculate your BMR here ---> http://www.calculator.net/bmr-calculator.html

•MAINTENANCE: If you want to maintain your weight just keep your portion size at a comfortable level which you can determine simply by weighing yourself once per week and checking your clothing fit and reflection in the mirror to ensure you're at or close to your ideal body weight.

TRACKING
Nutrient tracking is necessary to ensure you have the optimal caloric intake and macro nutrient balance. For most people, tracking is only required for fat loss because of the difficulty in cutting intake and nutrients while maintaining digestive and appetite satisfaction. Tracking makes it necessary to read labels, look up food nutrients, record data, plan meals and recipes, etc. Of course, that's what MFP's all about. And, once the fat loss dieter reaches goal weight, tracking my be discontinued. Tracking will also force you into making good food choices because bad ones will either drive your caloric intake over the limit or create periods of hunger in waking hours. Ideally you want all your hunger to be while you're sleeping.

SUPPLEMENTS
Supplements should be avoided because they are not approved by the FDA, are virtually unregulated, do not have the protections afforded foods and drugs, are not recommended by the US National Institute of Health, do not require any testing, are often contaminated, may not even contain what the label says, usually contain cheap ingredients, are often over priced scams, have been known to be dangerous, and can have numerous adverse or unwanted side effects. A vitamin-mineral supplement may be taken if it the product of a major manufacturer such as Bayer or Pfizer.

So, how do you eat more food? You just eat more food. If you have a problem with your relationship with food, see your physician and talk about eating disorders.


Good luck and good health!!

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41degsouth

clickmaster, really like nearly all of what you wrote.

you should consume your food in 4-6 daily meals with healthy snacks between such that you're nourishing yourself every two hours when awake.

Please provide a reputable citation for this claim, which I would argue has been well debunked as a myth. In fact, the frequency of eating only matters insofar as it changes the total number of calories that you consume.

clickmaster

Please provide a reputable citation for this claim, which I would argue has been well debunked as a myth.

lol...Okay. Me.

I don't need a citation. Simple logic will suffice. The more food we attempt to process in one sitting the less able is our GI tract to process it thoroughly. No machine, human or otherwise, can process with the same efficiency as the load is increased indefinitely. That means the GI tracts is less able to extract the nutrients when it is over loaded. Hence, a smooth flow of nutrition through the GI tract is ideal.

Similarly, the biological demand for nutrition is continuous and on-going which accounts for our BMR. Ergo, we need a steady flow of nutrition through our digestive system ideally.

Therefor, both supply and demand should ideally be as smooth and relatively continuous as practicable. Of course, we cannot live ideally. But, we can try, no?

If you don't accept my explanation simply ask yourself why the IV feeding in a hospital is not in the form of three infusions per day but rather, continuous. This is all just common sense and I don't see there's anything to debunk. If someone wants to eat once per day, it's not going to result in a substantial loss of health as long as they get the nutrition required. It's just not ideal.

Good luck and good health!!

♠

ruqayyahsmum

If you don't accept my explanation simply ask yourself why the IV feeding in a hospital is not in the form of three infusions per day but rather, continuous. This is all just common sense

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umm my daughter when in hospital was not on continuous iv feeding, she would recieve her tpn and lipids twice daily

when they moved her onto peg feeds they would give her 3 or 4 bolus feeds a day to mimic normal eating patterns