Does your stomach shrunk/adjust to your calorie intake?

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kaylabrose
kaylabrose Posts: 71
in Health and Weight Loss
I've always been an over eater, and recently with support from my mother I'm trying to eat a ''normal'' amount of food instead of snacking continuously, will my body adjust to this? (it's really embarrassing writing this because I'm a recovered anorexic, so you'd think I'd be able to just stop eating and ignore boredom hunger)
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Replies

  • darrensurrey
    darrensurrey Posts: 3,942 Member
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    Yes! Nothing else to add. The body's great like that. Adapts - push more food down, it stretches so you can eat more and more; eat less, it shrinks.
  • Xiaolongbao
    Xiaolongbao Posts: 854 Member
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    A lot of people claim their stomach shrinks. Sadly didn't happen for me. I can still eat just as much as I ever could...I just generally don't allow it.
  • DancingDreams1234
    DancingDreams1234 Posts: 165
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    It stretches, and comtracts to digest food - calories Are in what you eat.
  • AmberleyAngel
    AmberleyAngel Posts: 160 Member
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    No need to be embarrassed at all.

    Yes, your stomach does adjust. It takes a little time to shrink and this is where most people fail because they don't push through the first days of hunger, but once it happens you'll find yourself satisfied on less food. Just make sure it's nutritionally good food.

    Best wishes. :)
  • EmmaKarney
    EmmaKarney Posts: 690 Member
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    It's mind over matter - you learn to recognise the difference between genuine hunger and just eating for the sake of it out of boredom, emotion or habit.

    If you continue to be genuinely hungry you may need to look at your calorie intake and edge it up by a hundred or so until you find your sweet spot.
  • ashlinmarie
    ashlinmarie Posts: 1,263 Member
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    I was anorexic as well and turned over-eater...plus a fear of "restricting" and laziness...well, you know.

    I go through cycles. There are some times that I catch myself wanting to boredom eat, but I have noticed I handle considerably less food than I used to. Sure, I can still put down a 2000 calorie binge day, but I can no longer eat a bunch of crap foods.

    I've had a combo of adjusting and trying to learn will power. :) How many calories are you set at? I noticed when I was on 1200, I was starving constantly but I've upped to 1500-1800 (depending on the exercise) a day and am usually satisfied by this.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    A lot of people claim their stomach shrinks. Sadly didn't happen for me. I can still eat just as much as I ever could...I just generally don't allow it.

    same for me! i just dont eat as much, even though i still could!
  • changergirl
    changergirl Posts: 81
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    Yes it does. After 6 months of eating proper portion sizes I can't eat what I used to before. Even if I eat half of what I used to eat (junk food) I feel sick. It's awesome because I never thought I'd be able to control my unhealthy binging on snacks/junk food.
  • kaylabrose
    kaylabrose Posts: 71
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    I was anorexic as well and turned over-eater...plus a fear of "restricting" and laziness...well, you know.

    I go through cycles. There are some times that I catch myself wanting to boredom eat, but I have noticed I handle considerably less food than I used to. Sure, I can still put down a 2000 calorie binge day, but I can no longer eat a bunch of crap foods.

    I've had a combo of adjusting and trying to learn will power. :) How many calories are you set at? I noticed when I was on 1200, I was starving constantly but I've upped to 1500-1800 (depending on the exercise) a day and am usually satisfied by this.

    It's really good to know that there are people out there who relate, I had to gain weight urgently by doctors orders and was put on 3000-4000 calories a day with no exercise, so I guess that hasn't helped with my appitite now I've got the OK to maintain my current weight!

    I too go through cycles of restricting to 1200-1400 calories, then jumping up to 2000-24000 calories. It's really difficult, and I'm sick of food still controlling my life. There doesn't seem to be an end when it comes to my eating habits.
  • kaylabrose
    kaylabrose Posts: 71
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    Thanks to everyone who's responded kindly, I always get scared I'm going to be attacked when it comes to posting! :flowerforyou:
  • kingscrown
    kingscrown Posts: 615 Member
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    I've found the answer to be yes and no. When MFP got me down to 1200 calories a day I found it very hard to adjust too. I felt so hungry and deprived most of the time. I did it for several months and didn't lose much weight either. I asked my trainer about it and she suggested I raise my calories to 1400 a day. She said I work out too much to eat so little. The first week of 1400 felt luxurious. I felt like I was eating too much. It came time to weigh in and I dropped 3 pounds for the first week. I've been at 1400 for a month and I'm losing about 1 pound a week and I'm pretty happy with that and having a little more food in my day. 1400 feels good to me.
  • ironanimal
    ironanimal Posts: 5,922 Member
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    More quantity of food than calorie intake, but yeah, it definitely adjusts. My eyeballs bulge out of my head when I consider the AMOUNT I used to eat.
  • lacroyx
    lacroyx Posts: 5,754 Member
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    A lot of people claim their stomach shrinks. Sadly didn't happen for me. I can still eat just as much as I ever could...I just generally don't allow it.

    same for me! i just dont eat as much, even though i still could!

    Same here but only when it comes to pizza.
  • timberowl
    timberowl Posts: 331 Member
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    I think mine shrank a bit. After a few weeks of feeling like I was starving to death nonstop, it paid off when I had a binge and was full on about 1/2 the amount it used to take.
  • darrensurrey
    darrensurrey Posts: 3,942 Member
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    It's mind over matter - you learn to recognise the difference between genuine hunger and just eating for the sake of it out of boredom, emotion or habit.

    If you continue to be genuinely hungry you may need to look at your calorie intake and edge it up by a hundred or so until you find your sweet spot.

    Well done!

    And yes, it is about learning to recognise the difference. I find having a cup of any kind of Chinese tea is useful (aka flavoured, low calorie hot water).
  • Linuraleal
    Linuraleal Posts: 7
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    I don't really have much to add, other than you should be so proud of yourself to have recovered from AN :)
  • ashlinmarie
    ashlinmarie Posts: 1,263 Member
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    I was anorexic as well and turned over-eater...plus a fear of "restricting" and laziness...well, you know.

    I go through cycles. There are some times that I catch myself wanting to boredom eat, but I have noticed I handle considerably less food than I used to. Sure, I can still put down a 2000 calorie binge day, but I can no longer eat a bunch of crap foods.

    I've had a combo of adjusting and trying to learn will power. :) How many calories are you set at? I noticed when I was on 1200, I was starving constantly but I've upped to 1500-1800 (depending on the exercise) a day and am usually satisfied by this.

    It's really good to know that there are people out there who relate, I had to gain weight urgently by doctors orders and was put on 3000-4000 calories a day with no exercise, so I guess that hasn't helped with my appitite now I've got the OK to maintain my current weight!

    I too go through cycles of restricting to 1200-1400 calories, then jumping up to 2000-24000 calories. It's really difficult, and I'm sick of food still controlling my life. There doesn't seem to be an end when it comes to my eating habits.

    I was lucky...my friends intervened before I got too bad. I was 15 pounds below my low end "healthy" BMI...about 103 lbs and through their encouragement, I started eating more bit by bit. I wasn't an over-exerciser so it was easy to get back to a "healthy" weight. I'm lucky they even noticed because even my mom didn't see how thin I'd gotten.

    I definitely relate though...it has been a struggle my whole life. I wish food didn't control me, but to this day I have to work hard to not fall back into a cycle. If I get into a bad binge habit for a few days, I'll find for a few days after I'll eat very little...not even on purpose...so then I have to force myself back up to normal calories. Maybe try 1600 or so NET calories per day... it might help you not binge as much. I also try to keep junk out of the house and I keep almonds and a few other snacks that not only keep me full, but are higher calorie in case I'm low.
  • prattiger65
    prattiger65 Posts: 1,657 Member
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    I don't really know if it literally shrinks or not. What I do know is that I have the same feeling of being full while eating less food. It could be my brain adjusting or stomach shrinking or both. I don't know what it is, but it is happening.
  • metacognition
    metacognition Posts: 626 Member
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    It's not just the stomach getting smaller, which it does.

    The key is to eat a lot of high volume, nutrient dense foods that are lower in calories. Your taste buds adjust a lot over the months and things start getting sweeter and richer in flavor. Even plain oatmeal is pretty good to me now. And that's a cup of food for 100 calories. Vs. something like tuna casserole which would be around 300 for the same cup.

    Try to fill up on vegetables, fruits, lean protein (skinless chicken breast, legumes, greek yogurt). Having some fiber and protein at each meal will make you feel fuller longer, regardless of stomach size.

    Eating small meals every couple of hours isn't bad for you at all, keep doing it if it works (just count the calories in each meal).
  • fShaw86
    fShaw86 Posts: 878 Member
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    I was anorexic when I had postpartum depression. Instead of being a rosy-cheeked mom, I had lost 20-30 lbs (off of my lean body mass) after my son was born, and looked like the living dead. Not a good thing! I could only eat 1/4-1/3 portions of foods that I used to eat. So, yes, your stomach can shrink. Depends on each person's body, I guess.

    I learned to eat healthy/normal after that, and gained the weight back- and then some, lol. It was after that, that I realized something else had to be done so I didn't become fat. I started eating right, clean. Now, I just have slightly smaller than normal portions. You can do it :)

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