The Ultimate Question...

sthomse5

I am slightly conflicted... my daily calories is 1700 and I don't really have a problem meeting that. But some days, I have a problem eating enough to meet that. Like yesterday, I just wasn't hungry. I know I should get at least 1200 calories in, which is fine. But what I'm wondering is whether I should only eat when I'm hungry or if it is more important to make myself eat all my calories? I've heard you should only eat when you're hungry and I've heard you should make sure you eat your calories.

To be clear, this does not happen everyday. I usually fully enjoy eating my calories!

Ready2Rock206

Eat when you're hungry but eat higher calorie items. Instead of non-fat/low-fat cheese eat full fat cheese, add in some nuts or peanut butter instead of just celery, stuff like that....

btor

What she said! Obviously there are going to be days when you're not that hungry, but making sure that you do eat stuff that's good for you to meet that calorie minimum is really important! Your body needs calories to do what you want it to do! I was super sick one weekend and hate hardly anything... I lost two pounds that week, but the week after it came back. But really, if you're not that hungry just for one day, I don't think anything awful will happen (just like if you go way over one day). Be flexible and listen to your body!

valpreston

I too have heard that you should only eat when you're hungry, but as one who has skipped breakfast for so long (I didn't feel hungry) I felt it necessary to force myself to eat breakfast. I think as our bodies go into "starvation mode" it makes it so we don't feel hungry (mind tricks). As a result, I think you need to look at your eating patterns, not just what we eat and how much. If you notice that your eating patterns may be a problem (I substituted a night time cigarette for snacking - we also hear that we shouldn't eat late at night).
Even now, after months of trying to get into healthy eating, I still find it so easy to skip breakfast! And it has been over 20 years since I quit smoking and on occasional I still get cravings (not very often tho').
Just keep in mind the analogy of fuel for your car, and keep to the "snack" mode - eat something every few hours

dinosnopro

if it's only once in a while....meh I wouldn't worry about it. Sometimes I come up about 500 cals short at the end of the day, I find ice cream fills them out nicely