I really don't feel like I'm starving myself... Am I?

Bigsky108
Bigsky108 Posts: 4
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm back at it again!
I work all day in the oil field and don't have hardly any time to eat, no joke. And being bored one day I came across this site/app. And let me start by saying it is awesome! But, I'm worried about what it's telling me.

I am trying to lose weight and thought i was on a good diet. All healthy food, it normally consists of a fruit at 6am, handful of bear naked trail mix by 10am. Clif bar or small salad at noon. Maybe another small snack around 3 then I'll eat some peas and chicken around 7. But it's saying I'm only eating roughly 800 calries a day. I feel fine but am i doing this wrong? It says I'm starving myself!
I just want to get back down to 175 again and was hoping to do so in 3 months from 205. Would that be an unhealthy goal?

Any help or advise would be great! Thank you ;)

Replies

  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,487 Member
    You are eating WAY too little.

    If you are losing in a healthy way expect to lose approx 1 lb per week.
  • janesmith1
    janesmith1 Posts: 1,511 Member
    Can you open your diary so people can see what you're eating? Yes that is awfully low for a male or anyone.
  • mfoy94
    mfoy94 Posts: 228 Member
    You are not a bunny rabbit, you are still allowed to eat "real food". Instead of focusing on eating "all healthy all the time" Accept the fact that you dont need to eat solely healthy to lose weight. And add a FULL meal or two into there, not just snacks.
  • jzammetti
    jzammetti Posts: 1,956 Member
    I agree with everyone else - eat more. Add full fat foods like avocado, nuts, nut butters, butter, oils, etc... even if you feel fine, after a while weight loss will stall and you will not feel fine.
  • Bigsky108
    Bigsky108 Posts: 4
    Just opened my diary, I only have one day logged so far though haha.

    Another major problem is, everyone I work with normally only gets to choose their food for the day from a gas station on the way to work. Including myself.

    Thanks for all the help so far people! I did this same thing with a ton of running a few years ago and went from 230 to 165 in a matter of 5 months, and felt great! Only problem now is i don't have much time, if any at all, to exercise. So when i hear you need to diet around how many calories you burn in a day. I feel that I'm not doing enough.
  • mfoy94
    mfoy94 Posts: 228 Member
    After looking at your diary here is a little advice to gain some good food in there.

    Add something to your breakfast. I wont try to peddle that "Jumpstarts your metabolism" bull****, but just 1 banana would be something i would recommend for a snack, not a "meal" Or add something with it, some granola and yogurt with it would be a great breakfast!

    Same for lunch, actually. I like salad but they can be boring and often need a little something on the side.

    Your dinner actually looks pretty good, though!


    I have 1200 calorie goal every day, and I have around 400 for both lunch and dinner and 100 ish for breakfast (I stick to salad and apples normally though, which is less calories than a single banana by far haha), But I also eat snacks constantly, not always "healthy" ones. I love ice cream, sometimes spending 160 calories in a skinny cow ice cream sandwich isnt a bad thing! Its all about moderation, not cutting out the junk 100%
  • concordancia
    concordancia Posts: 5,320 Member
    We become overweight by ignoring the signals our bodies are sending us in the first place. We have to learn to listen to our bodies again by eating by the numbers for awhile.
  • darleyschroeder
    darleyschroeder Posts: 322
    It looks like you are choosing good foods. If it's hard for you to get in the calories, then try to add things that are small, but have some caloric bulk. Avocados are great, lots of healthy fat and are 200-250 for a whole one. Peanut butter is also a good thing to add in. If you have veggies or fish, you could lightly saute them in olive oil. Try 1-2 oz of cheese as a snack.

    It is important to get enough food. You might not feel it now, but it could come back to bite you in the butt. It will make your workouts more efficient as well.
  • janesmith1
    janesmith1 Posts: 1,511 Member
    Thankfully you're eating more than just 800 cals! It was 935 cals. I imagine your work must be very physical, right? You could buy a HRM and find out how many cals you're burning - you can wear either a HRM armband like the epulse2 or the Scosche & dl a good program to actually track your cals.

    What is important is to plan ahead. You can bring brownbag lunches with you to your worksite, things that can be thrown away after.

    Planning your meals in advance seems to be a great way to lose weight, the problem always seems to happen with unplanned meals. I speak from experience! :)

    Just out of curiosity, what were you eating before you came here? What was your diet like?
  • samantha1242
    samantha1242 Posts: 816 Member
    If you are out working in the oil field you really should be eating more. I don't know what job you hold but some of that work is crazy labour intensive and you will need lots of fuel (food) to keep you going!
  • delyn356
    delyn356 Posts: 145 Member
    Maybe your body has been accustomed to eating so little, so now you don't feel as hungry. But you definitely need to be eating a lot more! Add more stuff to your breakfast. Oatmeal is always good, or maybe some eggs!

    If you want to stay in the "healthy" way of eating, add in some natural PB which is pretty calorie dense, but has good fats! Also avocados are great too. If you feel like you can't handle a big breakfast or whatnot, you can always do protein shakes, which are versatile so you can always switch it up.
  • Bigsky108
    Bigsky108 Posts: 4
    It sounds so foreign to add more fatty foods haha, but I understand what you guys are saying. I guess I never put much thought into it, just seems right to stick with all natural foods. But the avocado and peanut butter are great ideas! I'd like to stick with a max of 1200 though if possible, i mean, the least calories before actually starving yourself sounds best?

    The HRM sounds like a really neat idea! I'll have to grab one next time i make it to town :) I've always had a decent diet i think besides beer, i don't drink pop ever, i don't eat any sweets etc... But i did eat alot of good home cooking before i came out here. Pro ably 2.5 times as much as i do now! I've been here for roughly a year working the pipeline and building stations, so there's never any time to sit and we skip lunch semi often. But I can tell my body got use to eating smaller amounts.
    Packing a lunch is do able, that i blame on myself for being lazy sometimes >.<

    Thanks for all your support! I'm truly impressed with how friendly people are on this site, I would've never guessed haha.
  • peaches3683
    peaches3683 Posts: 7
    You really shouldn't eat any less than 1200 calories a day. Otherwise, your body thinks you're "starving" and will slow down your metabolism to try and conserve fat. The body needs fuel to work efficiently otherwise it'll slow things down to try and maintain. You need to feed your metabolism with several (4-6) small meals a day, so that you're constantly "burning" energy instead of conserving it. If you exercise, and it sounds like your job is physical, then, by all means eat a little more. Make your body work for you, by making it burn off the excess weight. I know it sounds counter intuitive, but your body will respond by revving up your metabolism vs. slowing it down when you have a constant fuel source. Good luck and much success to you.
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,343 Member
    ...I'd like to stick with a max of 1200 though if possible, i mean, the least calories before actually starving yourself sounds best?
    No. There's absolutely no way a healthy young man involved in vigorous manual labor should be eating 1200 calories a day. That's not enough to feed a skinny 13-year old girl. It's not healthy and it's not beneficial to your body in the long term. In addition to the hormonal issues it can cause (see below), such an extreme deficit gives an extreme likelihood of losing a lot of lean body mass (of which muscle is a component) along with the fat.

    Here's an article which discusses the hormonal issues associated with large deficits and lots of activity:

    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/why-big-caloric-deficits-and-lots-of-activity-can-hurt-fat-loss.html


    If you want to set yourself up on a reasonable weight loss program, read the first post in this thread, do the calculations and quit starving yourself:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12
  • delyn356
    delyn356 Posts: 145 Member
    I agree with the above poster...no male should be eating as little as 1200 calories esp. since you're involved with vigorous work.

    Just to give you some reference, I'm 5'3" (female) & around 149lbs & I eat around 1550-1600 calories to lose weight. I can eat around 1800-1900 to MAINTAIN. You should probably be eating around at least 1800...

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

    You should take a look at the link I posted. Lots of good information on TDEE, BMR, & how much you should be eating & it helps to figure out your daily goal.

    edit: I guess the previous poster was thinking the same thing about the roadmap! Look at it!!
  • janesmith1
    janesmith1 Posts: 1,511 Member
    Men are lucky like that, they get 1800 as their bottom line. Us girls? 1200 lol. But if you're working out or doing a lot of chores, walking, or working like this guy I'm sure it's much higher.

    For instance for me, when I was not working out as much but under 1300 I was miserable, but now I do anywhere between 500-1000 cals of exercise, etc per day and I can eat again. Today I'm at 1500 for instance or more and wow it feels good. I feel better with more cals in me and I'm not as tempted to binge at higher cal levels, if you understand what I mean.

    As far as Big, he should eat more - and if he can, make his lunch the night before he goes to work with all kinds of great things in it, juice boxes, pnb & jelly, fruit, etc. He can even eat that huge salad he ate today with a pnb sandwich, fruit, etc.

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