not hungry, eat calories anyways?

isa75

So I am only a few weeks into this (signed up a year ago, but only recently got serious about doing it a couple of weeks ago).

For the first week or so I found it was a struggle to stick to stay in the green as far as my calorie consumption was concerned, by mid afternoon I was starving and grumpy and not pleasant to be around. I do exercise: jogging, occasional kettlebell classes plus some light weight lifting.

I have adjusted my nutrition to take in more protein and decrease sugar and this has helped so much that I have found for the last few nights that I am just not hungry about 200-300 calories below my target calorie intake (target without exercise is 1200, I am 5'4", 168 lbs).

I have a target to lose ~30 lbs, but I am not stressing about poundage and am more concerned about just getting into shape.

I feel really good, so I am loathe to force feed myself. Last night by the time dinner was through I was so far below my target calorie intake even after drinking some wine. I had a little extra cheese late in the evening to make up some of those calories, but had no interest in eating more than that, and still came up far below the target.

Also, could it be that I am just not accurately capturing my calories somehow? I have tried to be meticulous, I tend to be conservative on how I record, cook my meals when possible, weigh out ingredients, measure etc. I don't deduct calories for the weight lifting yet as I don't think my heart rate has increased much as I do it. I have used the calculations that MFP comes up with for my cardio-calories burned from running, but have ordered a HRM to get a more accurate reading.

I keep hearing about going into starvation mode: Should I be making an effort to take those calories in even if I'm just not hungry?

myak623

Maybe the better solution is to plan your meals ahead and try to spread those 200-300 calories throughout the day.

I've caught myself being too conservative earlier in the day and then end up having too many calories left later. I don't have a time cut off for eating so I usually get them in, but would've been easier spreading them out.

nutrientnatalie

I try to eat intuitively. Which means, when I'm hungry, I eat. If I'm not hungry, I don't. If I don't want dinner and I'm not hungry, I don't eat it. But during the day if I'm really hungry, I'll snack on fruit and veggies and not deprive myself of food just to wait for the next meal. I also don't force myself to eat, so if I'm not hungry I don't eat. Just listen to your body, if you're hungry of course eat but if you aren't, don't!
But, try to spread out your food. Maybe eat a bigger breakfast, or take something with you like baby carrots or a banana so you can eat it later. Also, if you aren't consuming enough calories, try organic or natural peanut butter. It's good for you, and it'll boost your calorie intake. Same with natural peanuts and almonds (not the roasted or salted kind, the regular kind).