Which is more important?!

RoosMommy01

In your honest opinion what is more important; making sure you net your BMR every day or listening to what you body is telling you.

I've been really good at netting my BMR but I feel like I"m just stuffing my face all the time. I've had ppl tell me to eat high calorie foods like nuts and all that but there are just certain days (like today) that I eat breakfast and I'm just not hungry for the rest of the day. I ate breakfast this morning at 8am and had a mid morning snack; I usually eat lunch at 1pm but today I just wasn't hungry and the idea of eating just wanted to make me puke.

I don't know if it's just a phase my mind is going through but I feel like I really should listen to my body when it's telling me I'm not hungry instead of eating food just to net my BMR.

Heck I feel like that's what got me overweight in the 1st place, always eating even if I wasn't hungry!

divediva2

It is difficult to say really without seeing what you had for breakfast? I definitely was a low calorie girl at one time and hated eating breakfast! I started eating breakfast long before starting EM2WL because I had to. One thing I know, I include protein, carbs and fats in every meal to keep a balance. It really makes a difference. I really think you need to try to be eating at your BMR and work up to your TDEE gradually, it is hard. Small frequent meals might be your best friend right now. Try not to have any fluids with your meals too. Drink your water in between meals. Eat healthy foods, stay away from processed as much as you can. Watch your sodium, don't be using that salt shaker at all! Eat slowly, chew thoroughly so your food is easily digested.

Take it slow and steady. This is not a fast process but it is worthwhile and you will find it is rewarding once you get to your TDEE with cut and can see how great you feel. Keep trying.

RoosMommy01

Thanks. Usually my breakfast consists of oatmeal and eggs.

I'm thinking it could be the heat as well. I'm in TX and the temp today is 108!!

Raynn1

I think that listening to your body when sick is important. However when we are just beginning to learn to eat again, we all hit that point where we felt stuffed, not hungry at all, piggish for eating when we didnt feel like it, it is important to net your BMR. You should be eating above it of course.

It is a mental shift to know that you need to eat more than we are accostomed to. Especially us overachievers who overate and got this way in the first place.. but there is a HUGE difference between eating the healthy good foods and getting the cals you need, and eating the total crap and gaining the weight/fat..

I started off around 1400 cals when I converted my WW points to MFP cals... I then jumped to my Cut value, and promptly lost a few pounds... then things stalled rather quickly... I realized that my body was still not forigving me for the damages I had done, so I knew I needed to eat more. It actually goes against everything we have ever been taught about dieting, but rememeber, we are choosing to do it this way so we NEVER have to "Diet" again!
I am currently at TDEE for a metabolism reset.... its 1400 cals MORE than I started with a few months ago. those first few weeks even at my cut value, I was struggling to eat more, but eventually it became easier... full fat foods, no diet stuff... real cheese and nuts.. good oils... good protein. These things add up in cals and are ALL good for you...At 1400 cals more than I used to eat, my weight is unchanged, save a pound or two... This to me proved I was starving it all the time.. Now it is much easier to actually get the cals in, but like anything, it takes time to adjust... just like when you first started a low cal diet way back when.. those first few days you thought you would die because the cals were so low and you were starving... Same thing here, only now we are eating more:)

I would really suggest reading through all of the stickies again and realize you need to eat above your BMR. Find your TDEE and your Cut value and make the jump up. Its hard in the beginning to eat more, but it does get easier:)

Raynn1

Thanks. Usually my breakfast consists of oatmeal and eggs.

I'm thinking it could be the heat as well. I'm in TX and the temp today is 108!!

Heat can definitely make it harder to want to eat.. those are the days that protein shakes, or protein "ice creams" can come in handy:)

PLUMSGRL

Medically speaking (I'm a nurse), it's easier to eat/drink cool/cold foods, especially in hot weather.
The stomach just tolerates it better.

PrfctGdess

While it IS important to listen to your body, there's no way that one meal a day for an extended period of time is enough food for an adult. I'm sorry, but despite the heat you'll have to eat at least a little more than that.

Zylayna

Eating above your BMR is definitely more important under normal circumstances (ie, you aren't sick or suffering from a reduced metabolism)

When you come from a VLCD, your body has been trained to live on low amounts of food/Cals. It needs to be gently reminded/taught how to deal with normal calorie intake. At first you will feel like you want to puke, like you are eating yourself into a very large grave. (I literally rolled in my bed, clutching my stomach, in tears, complaining "How can anyone think it feels GOOD to be full????!!!" I was extremely miserable). The bloat, stuffed, awful feeling is completely normal. You just have to push through it. It will get better.

My advice is to take it slow if you can't do it all at once. Every week, up your calories by 100 more until you get to your TDEE for reset (which I'm pretty sure you are going to need if you are having this much trouble getting to BMR). Just take your time, let your body adjust as you go if you need to. Then do the reset that we talk about in this forum for the full 8 weeks before dropping into your cut of 15%. The only downfall to the slow approach is that it will take longer before you will be likely to see any losses. But, you may find it physically easier to do.

This is a life changing approach to fat loss...it's a very slow process, but in the end, you will be thankful that you stuck with it. We're here for you! You can do this...