Just curious

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jmxxiiii
jmxxiiii Posts: 231 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I'm sure I'll be bashed, but I don't really care. I'm going through a lot emotionally and eating 1200 calories a day just isn't happening for me. I have 0 appetite, eating actually makes me feel sick.

I'm just curious, if I'm not really taking in any food (maybe a few hundred calories a day) and I'm losing weight steadily...what is my body feeding on?

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  • BellaFe
    BellaFe Posts: 323
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    Muscle
  • jmxxiiii
    jmxxiiii Posts: 231 Member
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    So...if things don't change for me...I'll end up just being a body of fat? Like 100% fat?
  • LittleMissDover
    LittleMissDover Posts: 820 Member
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    Why does this myth abound that the body will choose muscle over fat? It will burn fat first as it's easier. If you don't have a lot of fat then you'll lose muscle.
  • JustAnotherOneOfThoseGirls
    JustAnotherOneOfThoseGirls Posts: 165 Member
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    Sorry to break it to you, but your body usually eats away at more muscle than fat reserves if you put it into a state of starvation
  • olsondre
    olsondre Posts: 198 Member
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    You will be physically sick and look horrible, most likely
  • ubermensch13
    ubermensch13 Posts: 824 Member
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    Actually, it will burn whatever it can, probably a combination of muscle and fat, depending on your ratio. It is one thing to not eat much for a few days, we all sometimes do that when we are really sick, but don't make it a habit. Try drinking whole milk or OJ, things with high calorie content to make sure your body has food to burn.
  • BellaFe
    BellaFe Posts: 323
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    So...if things don't change for me...I'll end up just being a body of fat? Like 100% fat?


    No you will just look it. Like the posters above said your body "eats" a combination of both but you will end up looking flabby or as people around here like to say "skinny fat"
  • jmxxiiii
    jmxxiiii Posts: 231 Member
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    Ha, I'm already there!
    (physically ill and looking horrible)
  • olsondre
    olsondre Posts: 198 Member
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    Ha, I'm already there!
    (physically ill and looking horrible)

    I am sorry to hear that. I hope things get better and can start eating again
  • jmxxiiii
    jmxxiiii Posts: 231 Member
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    This is only temporary, every time I start to get my appetite back I found out more horrible news and I'm back to square one again.
  • PRMinx
    PRMinx Posts: 4,585 Member
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    It's not going to be sustainable weight loss.

    I'm a lot like you. When I'm upset, I don't eat. I feel physically ill. When my ex and I broke up, I dropped 5-10 in a couple of weeks. Of course, I gained it all back when I started to feel a little better and have since leveled out and am losing more healthfully.

    Having been there recently though, here's what I will say. When you go days without eating and you are already emotional, it just makes it worse because you are adding physical pain to your problems. Without food you will be lethargic and cranky and, eventually, you won't be able to tell the difference between being emotional because you are emotional OR being emotional because you are hungry. I know it's not easy to eat, but maybe try to choke down a little more than a few hundred calories a day. When your body feels better your mind (and your heart) feels better, too.
  • pawoodhull
    pawoodhull Posts: 1,759 Member
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    I'm sure I'll be bashed, but I don't really care. I'm going through a lot emotionally and eating 1200 calories a day just isn't happening for me. I have 0 appetite, eating actually makes me feel sick.

    I'm just curious, if I'm not really taking in any food (maybe a few hundred calories a day) and I'm losing weight steadily...what is my body feeding on?

    Suggestion, try using protein shakes if you don't want to eat. The more protein in your daily intake, the less muscle you will lose as your weight goes down. Like you, when I get stressed I don't want to eat (this is totally new for me since my WLS), but unlike you, if I don't get enough protein, my weight loss stops. The point is to retain and build muscle, so you might want to try the protein shakes when you just can't eat.
  • jmxxiiii
    jmxxiiii Posts: 231 Member
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    So is this "starvation mode" a myth. I always see people on here harping on others "if you don't eat, you don't lose weight" wellllll. that isn't true either.
  • jmxxiiii
    jmxxiiii Posts: 231 Member
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    I've lost 41 lbs in about 12 weeks. I will NOT be packing 41 lbs back on ever again.

    I try to drink protein shakes, I can usually get down about half. I'm still drinking plenty of water though, the climate I live in makes water a must.
  • mindyahart
    mindyahart Posts: 11
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    If you don't eat you won't lose weight in a healthy fashion. And what's the worst that could happen? You can die.......
  • JustAnotherOneOfThoseGirls
    JustAnotherOneOfThoseGirls Posts: 165 Member
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    "starvation mode" isn't a myth although it's usually exaggerated. People are wrong in saying that not eating will make you stop losing weight, it just slows down weight loss
  • BarackMeLikeAHurricane
    BarackMeLikeAHurricane Posts: 3,400 Member
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    Sorry to break it to you, but your body usually eats away at more muscle than fat reserves if you put it into a state of starvation

    Source?
  • auddii
    auddii Posts: 15,357 Member
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    So...if things don't change for me...I'll end up just being a body of fat? Like 100% fat?

    Don't worry, you'll never be 100% fat. You'll be dead long before that (lean body mass includes organs, so 100% fat would mean you have no organs either). You might want to try googling the side effects for anorexia. Not eating can lead to all sorts of problems including fatigue, irregular heart rate, infertility, brain damage, and death.

    I don't know how long it takes to damage your body. For now, it's fueling itself, but at what cost? Is your idea of attractive someone who was liberated from a concentration camp (yes, it's extreme, but you don't sound like you've been sick for a week and then once you're better you'll go right back to eating). If you are considering sticking with this because you are losing weight, I would suggest going to speak to a professional that deals with eating disorders.

    If you have only been sick for a few days and are curious what damage that causes, I would say not much, but once you are hungry, try to feed your body so that it can heal itself. (And if this is the case, I apologize for the first several two paragraphs.)

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