Do You Force Yourself to Eat if Under Calories

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  • cnelson1974
    cnelson1974 Posts: 235 Member
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    No, I eat every two hours even if I'm not hungry. This way, I'm never hungry and better yet, never starving. If I'm not hungry I just eat a small snack (2 rice cakes is 100 cal.).
  • ileen327
    ileen327 Posts: 21
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    Hi Mz, I have had that problem, and I am new here! I thought I would want to eat every calorie I was allowed but find I don't want to eat if not hungry. I am trying to eat more snacks ( fruit, nuts , string cheese, healthy seeds0 to get to my points. I have been under 3 days and know that if I keep doing that I will not lose weight as my motabulism (sp) will shut down. I have heard from many people it is important to keep the " fire burning" Beleive it or not eating will keep it burning hotter!
    ( I was hesitant the first week and didn't lose at all! ) Body was starving and keeping every calorie I ate on me!!
    My husband saw that I was doing this. So, try to eat at least 3 meals and 3 healthy snacks that should get you there.
    Or maybe break it up to 5 or 6 small meals so you will have an appetite. Hope this helps!
  • BlueInkDot
    BlueInkDot Posts: 702 Member
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    I say that if you're not hungry, don't force yourself to eat.

    Eat when you're hungry, not because you feel like you have to.

    The only concern I'd have in your case, is to make sure that you are fueling your body correctly. Make sure you're providing your body what it needs. Look at your macros. Does anything seem off? If it all looks fine, then maybe that's just how your body is right now.

    Maybe in a month or two it'll change in the opposite direction. Who knows?

    If this was to continue for many months or if you start to experience other unsettling symptoms, THEN you can be concerned, but if you feel fine, then I say no worries. :)

    Edited to add: The green tea is probably a significant part of it. Green tea is naturally caffeinated, and caffeine is an appetite suppressant. Be careful that you're not over-caffeinating yourself, lol! I would suggest switching the tea to something decaffeinated sometimes so that you don't get too much caffeine in your system. I dunno about other people, but too much caffeine really messes me up. o_O :P
  • lina1131
    lina1131 Posts: 2,246 Member
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    Nope. It rarely happens. :laugh:
  • nxd10
    nxd10 Posts: 4,570 Member
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    Focus more on your weekly numbers than a daily one. Eat more for the next few days to make up for it. If your lack of appetite persists, you should see your doctor.

    I agree. But it's easy to get too tired to eat and then lose your appetite.

    Toast with butter and a small glass of oj can run you 400+ calories. It ain't hard to add them on.
  • mum212
    mum212 Posts: 173 Member
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    i have been under my goal so i put it up to make myself eat more last week i was under everyday so forced myself to eat fruit as i wasnt feeling like eating im still under by 150 or so x x x. but i dont eat back all my calories i burned x
  • funkycamper
    funkycamper Posts: 998 Member
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    Focus more on your weekly numbers than a daily one. Eat more for the next few days to make up for it. If your lack of appetite persists, you should see your doctor.

    Yup.

    If you have the app on a smartphone, it works really well to track your intake by the week. Leptin levels typically take about three days to start changing due to undereating; same with cortisol; and a few days in a row aren't enough for any metabolic slowdown (all per the excellent research presented by Lyle McDonald at the Body Recomposition website).

    And your body isn't on a clock where it resets itself every night at midnight. It's your deficit, or lack thereof, over time that matters not on a day-to-day basis.

    Exercise, especially when more intense, tends to depress my appetite so I often have days when I'm low by several hundred calories. But that's nice because this also means that a couple times a week I can go out to a nice dinner or socialize with friends at a party or just plain enjoy a nice splurge (Nancy's Bakery cinnamon roll warmed up with extra butter....nom,nom!) and not go over my calories for the week. Doing this every 3-4 days will keep your leptin/cortisol levels OK and shouldn't cause you any metabolic slowdown.

    So, if it's chronic and you never make those calories up, yeah, it can be a problem. If you find ways to make up those calories, then don't sweat it and enjoy eating them on another day.

    Obviously, if you are feeling overly fatigued and/or not able to get through a workout session due to lack of fuel, that's another issue and you need to increase your eating in order to have the fuel to meet your fitness/activity goals.
  • arcticfox04
    arcticfox04 Posts: 1,011 Member
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    I eat -/+ 150 calories of goal everyday. Depends if I'm not hungry or not.

    Seems kinda silly when someone goes 50 calories over and throws a temper tantrum.
  • WickedGarden
    WickedGarden Posts: 944 Member
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    No, there is no 'reset' button on your body. If you take in too many calories, you can burn them off the next day, or make up calories the next day.

    Kinda like sleep, if you don't get enough sleep one night, you can make up the sleep the next day (or on the weekend).
  • cassandraforbes1
    cassandraforbes1 Posts: 5
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    try and eat at lease six time for the day or you will be hungry
  • reneecgc
    reneecgc Posts: 179 Member
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    I use to eat more most of the time. I would treat myself to some frozen yogurt.
  • x_pix_x
    x_pix_x Posts: 21
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    Today and yesterday was the first time I have felt like this but I know why I have so may not be the same thing. I hadn't spaced my calories out enough so had too many left at the end of the day basically. I couldn't eat that amount, I tried to eat what I could by adding in a tortilla wrap with my salad and having an apple and a yoghurt after I'd eaten my tea, but I just feel full now and don't want to eat, so I decided that I'm not going to make myself eat up to my calories tonight as it would just make me feel sick. What I did instead was work out why and how I could change it.

    I only have a short space of time to eat during the working day because of how my breaks fall (breaktime is the only time I can eat) I can't have anything stodgy or too filling at work as it makes me feel tired and sluggish so I tend to eat yoghurt/fruit/cereal type things which give me enough energy and leave me feeling satisfied without being over filling but aren;t particular high in calories.

    Basically I need to eat the bulk of my calories before and after work and just leave a small amount for during work. If I don't get those morning calories in then I'm left with too many at night, especially as I then burn a few by walking for almost two hours to get home. Before this, I'd been having granola with strawberries and pouring yoghurt and a big mug of coffee before I left the house, at least 100g of grapes on the bus to work and maybe a couple of clementines or some belvitas when I got to work before I started. This used up a good amount of my calories so I didn't need to worry about having them left at night. I'm gonna get back to doing that and hopefully I won't be left like I have been the last couple of nights with too many calories unused. I knew I'd done wrong when I didn't want to walk all the way home because I was too hungry, problem being, I needed food ealrier than I usually would but still only wanted the same amount that I would usually have. If I'd have eaten more in the morning I wouldn't have felt anywhere near as hungry as I did before I got home and then worrying about needing to eat more after I'd had my tea.
  • taso42
    taso42 Posts: 8,980 Member
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    try and eat at lease six time for the day or you will be hungry

    leasing is a bad value proposition when it comes to meals. better to outright buy. even with depreciation, it works out better in the long run. wait wut?
  • wendybird5
    wendybird5 Posts: 577 Member
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    Part of why I gained all this weight in the first place was because I used to continue eating, even if I wasn't hungry anymore, just from guilt about still having food on my plate. That is definitely a habit I want to break. Now if I'm hungry, I eat. If I'm not hungry, I don't eat.

    I've had some days where I didn't reach my target calories, but just didn't feel hungry at all so I didn't eat them. If my body doesn't need the food then I'm not going to force it to take it. Usually the next day I'll feel a little hungrier and then let myself eat a little more to compensate, but over all I listen to what my body says.
  • mockchoc
    mockchoc Posts: 6,573 Member
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    just listen to your body; if you're not hungry don't eat / if you're hungry eat

    if you find you're ill a lot or feeling very tired but not hungry, go to a doctor

    simpleeeeeeeeeees :)

    We listened to our hunger signals and that's why we got fat in the first place. They aren't reliable.
  • rduhlir
    rduhlir Posts: 3,550 Member
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    Eat if you are hungry, don't if you aren't. There is no point in forcing yourself to eat. If you are way below your calorie goal one day so what...not that big of a deal. But if it starts to become habit, maybe putting in some whole versions of food might help. Like instead of low-fat milk get normal. Use olive oil when cooking. Things like that. There are simple ways to add calories and still eat the same you are.
  • TyFit08
    TyFit08 Posts: 799 Member
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    I have PCOS. When I gained the weight, I was eating high carbs and I wasn't necessarily hungry, but rarely satisfied, which kept me eating. That has a lot to do with how my body processes carbs. I have been on MFP for a year and I have tried 1200, 1400, 1600 calories, high protein/low carb, all while working out 5 to 6 days a week doing things like Insanity or Jillian Michaels Body Revolution. I lost just under 15lbs and gained it back before the year was over.

    So new year and determined to get back to the old size 6 me. I have run five out of the last six days. I have had very little appetite all week and my performance has not been suffering in my workout. In fact I feel energized. I have been drinking green tea all along, because the health benefits are tremendous, but I do know it can suppress your appetite, though it hadn't really been doing that for me before. I have been starting my day with a protein shake,, then working out and having a boiled egg and English muffin with a little butter and honey for a snack and then whatever I cook that evening. For example tonight, I made a salad and grilled tilapia with penne. For the last six days I have planned to have another meal after that since the first two are rather low in calories, but I'm full and can't eat anymore.

    I guess I will see if this continues, but it actually feels good to not go to bed starving and feel satisfied.
  • emmiee921
    emmiee921 Posts: 224
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    Many people say you should eat your calorie but I really think if your not hungry don't eat, I don't think women need to be hitting 2000 calories. After going to Thailand and seeing how they eat I'm going to follow thier diet
  • VelociMama
    VelociMama Posts: 3,119 Member
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    I see this as a consistency issue more than anything else.

    If you're on a program and setting daily goals for yourself and you aren't sticking with it, then it's impossible to know for sure if you're plan is really working the way you expect it to or not.

    Furthermore, relying on your hunger signals can be extremely misleading. I find it to be a lot easier to keep myself on track to stick to my plan and fill in calories with things like nuts or peanut butter that are calorie-dense but won't make me feel overstuffed.
  • akafn
    akafn Posts: 6 Member
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    Thanks for posting this topic, I am having a similar issue. Except, it's not that I don't get to my MFP goal calories, it's that I'm well below the 1,200 mark. I seem to be struggling to get to 900 most days, I'm just not hungry. I don't drink a lot of caffeine (one cup of coffee in the morning), so I'm not sure what could be causing it.

    I have been doing a fair bit of strength training lately, and I have increased the amount of protein I eat slightly, I'm not sure if that is why I'm feeling full?

    What about drinking the calories? Does anyone have suggestions for healthy, high calorie beverages? Juice maybe?

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