Cannot eat past 1,000cals

Hi Everyone!

I cannot seem to eat past 1000 or so calories, I`ve heard of the `1200 calories` myth and it`s really taken a toll on me. I drink so much water a day (compared to before, which was sometimes once in 2 days), now i drink about 10 glasses of water a day.

I try eating cereal, fruits, and occasionally chicken, or rice, but they never add up and I know I`m not eating enough.

I would consider changing if it`s counterproductive to my weight-loss goals (I`d like to lose 20lbs!) but I`m willing to keep it unchanging If it wont pose as much as a problem as people tell me it will.

Any advice would be appreciated! thanks!
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Replies

  • jtangcs
    jtangcs Posts: 37 Member
    I just took a quick peek into your food diary and noticed that you're eating really small meals... like just a single banana for lunch.

    I guess my first question is - do you feel hungry? If you do, then you should eat. If you don't, then I would suggest building up your calories slowly... add meat, fish and other proteins into your meal, as well as cheese, yogurt and other dairy products. If you're not allergic to nuts, throw those in for a snack.

    Second question is why you're eating so little to begin with... I know it's easy to forget meals when working, and just ignoring it, telling yourself you'll eat later. I've been there before. For a few years, I only had coffee for breakfast, and then dinner. It was not good. And it wasn't that I didn't like food. In fact, I loved food. But everything just seemed to get in the way.

    Less than 1200 calories is like starvation mode, and I know this from personal experience. It's not good for your health.I really noticed a problem, as I got older, because I'm experiencing hair loss much earlier than most people. I was also more tired than I should be for someone in their late 20's and early 30's.

    But I know it's hard to eat so much more right away, so my suggestion is to build up to it. But you'll need to start adding just more calorie packed and higher protein foods. Try to maintain set meal times. That will really help you get the calories you need to keep going. I started doing that recently again, and have found that it really has helped. My incessant headaches have gone away too.

    If you don't have time to cook, go buy some Lean Cuisine when it's on sale (to save some money). I almost always have some of those at home. And when I buy them, I always check the "best before" date. If there's at least a year or two on them, then it's good-to-go. It's great backup for those days/weeks where cooking is a nuisance. I've found Lean Cuisine to be the better tasting frozen dinner so far.

    Good luck! And feel free to pop me a message if you ever need some encouragement. I've done the college/career building/back-breaking not eating type of thing. It takes time to make change.
  • BlueObsidian
    BlueObsidian Posts: 297 Member
    Your diary suggests you have a serious problem with your relationship with food and I would really suggest talking to someone. There are many days where you haven't even eaten 700 calories! What you are doing is not healthy. You are not getting the protein and fats that your body needs. You are not providing yourself with enough calories to keep your organs functioning properly.

    Starving yourself can lead to major health problems. Your body needs fuel to keep going. Please seek help from a professional.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    i can eat a 1000 calories for dinner no problem..

    How can it be hard to eat 1000 in a day ..
  • FrankiesSaysRelax
    FrankiesSaysRelax Posts: 403 Member
    Your diary suggests you have a serious problem with your relationship with food and I would really suggest talking to someone. There are many days where you haven't even eaten 700 calories! What you are doing is not healthy. You are not getting the protein and fats that your body needs. You are not providing yourself with enough calories to keep your organs functioning properly.

    Starving yourself can lead to major health problems. Your body needs fuel to keep going. Please seek help from a professional.

    This!! Please take some advice. What you are doing is not healthy and when you eat normally again, you'll gain all the weight back. You know what you're doing isn't healthy.
  • bronnyd
    bronnyd Posts: 278 Member
    It is important to be eating enough which is at LEAST 1200 calories (though in my opinion that is still too low). If you are finding that you're not very hungry, try eating more healthy calorie dense foods like avocados, nuts, nut butters, eggs with yolk, cheese, etc.
  • melindasuefritz
    melindasuefritz Posts: 3,509 Member
    stop drinking so much water and eat some food. maybe u are getting to full on water? 1000 caleries is way to few unless u are 100 pounds and 1200 is wway to few unless u are 120 pounds
  • vjohn04
    vjohn04 Posts: 2,276 Member
    Eat some potato chips?
  • LaurenEFord
    LaurenEFord Posts: 15
    I struggled with that for awhile myself. For me, it was more due to an unhealthy relationship with food more than anything else. I increased my meal size, included more snacks, and incorporated more calorie-dense foods. And honestly, I feel much better than I did before.
  • tbetts23
    tbetts23 Posts: 303 Member
    Ok, you are eating bananas, rice and Cheerios. Please! Eat a balanced diet, not diet as in weight loss, as in nutrition. You are young. You might think this is the way to go for a quick loss but, it will affect your health! You skin, you hair, your muscle. Add some protein,, maybe a veg or two.
  • mrsartis1
    mrsartis1 Posts: 42 Member
    There are a lot of reasons why you should eat more than 1200 calories in a day. Your age, your height, your activity. I am not sure what you want to do though? DO you want to lose weight? or what is your goal? How do you want our help? I used to do that kind of diet but I have learned my lessons.
  • Pearlyladybug
    Pearlyladybug Posts: 882 Member
    stop drinking so much water and eat some food. maybe u are getting to full on water? 1000 caleries is way to few unless u are 100 pounds and 1200 is wway to few unless u are 120 pounds

    :noway:

    What make you say that?

    anything under 1200 no matter how much you weigh is not enough!
  • kristarablue2
    kristarablue2 Posts: 386 Member
    First I am actually jealous, I can't keep my calories down....but then I have serious food issues, just opposite of yours. If you seriously want to eat more calories then add some olive oil to your cooking or to salad dressing. Nuts or nut butters are also a great way to add calories if you don't feel like eating. I think another poster asked if you are hungry, you may want to examine if you are hungry or not. Also many small meals are great pare a carb with a protein, so instead of just having a banana, what about a scoop of peanut butter with it, it will add 190 calories very quickly.

    Good luck, you got this, just pay attention, make sure your getting the nutrients you need but also the calories. I have seen people even add butter or oil to coffee or smoothies to increase calorie consumption without the heaviness of food. I did not take in enough calories at the beginning and it had an adverse affect on my body (my hair thinned out lots), don't do that to yourself and your taking the first step right now....great job!
  • skinnydreams19
    skinnydreams19 Posts: 282 Member
    How did you gain weight? I'm so jealous, though, I can't seem to eat under 3000! 3800 today :(
  • shrinking_sarah
    shrinking_sarah Posts: 9 Member
    You need to eat more protein. If you can't eat it, then get some premier protein drinks and drink it (160 calories, 30g protein). In today's diary you have a total of 16g of protein. Depending on how active you are, you need more like 80-100. A cup of rice or one banana is not an adequate meal.

    Eat: meat, chicken, fish, shrimp, scallops, other seafood (tuna--one 2.5 oz pouch has 18g protein!!). Low-fat cheese, Greek yogurt, lentils, beans. You also need some fiber in your diet--fresh veggies, fruits, etc.

    Your current diet is neither healthy nor sustainable. Without enough protein, your body will "steal" protein from your muscles. Your lungs and heart are muscles. You could literally cause yourself to go into cardiac distress.
  • Eat small meals 3 meals and 3 snack throughout the day
  • Missyb322
    Missyb322 Posts: 145 Member
    I don't believe that's true. If you look at all the research on the IF diet, you will see many people believe that low calories, skipping meals, etc is a recipe for disaster. Modern day wants you to eat 5-6 meals a day with increased protein even though it's proven that too much protein is not necessarily a good thing for your liver and kidneys. I too have a hard time taking in enough calories if I try to eat "right" and limit simple carbs, sugar, and fats. If you look at my diary you make think I also have an issue with food and need to see a psychiatrist. That's not the case. I have a medical condition which prevents me from taking in a lot of food at one time. So therefore I would have to take in high calorie foods or snack constantly to achieve an adequate amt of calories a day. My goal is to teach myself not to take in all these high calorie foods and to only eat when hungry and not when everyone else is eating. Many of us could seem to have some issue with food or else we would not plan social life around food all the time. So ask questions, give advice but try not to accuse if you're not sure what's actually going on.
  • kaylabrose
    kaylabrose Posts: 71
    A banana is not lunch. You're choosing low cal foods, that's your problem. Have toast, peanut butter etc. if you seriously can't eat past 100 calories then go to a doctor.
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
    If you undereat you stop being hungry, but that doesn't mean you don't need the calories. Increase them gradually. Either eat more often or find ways to increase the caloric density of your meals.

    It is very bad for your health to eat so low and you're likely sacrificing a lot of muscle in the process.
  • YolieCreator
    YolieCreator Posts: 173 Member
    Try to slowly add healthy food into your meals. A single banana is not a meal, but add a piece of whole wheat toast and a little peanut butter and it is. Or try smoothies. You're able to put a lot of different healthy things into a single glass. Eating very little will make you lose weight, but your body may pay the price in the long run. When your body isn't getting the right about of nutrients it will start to steal it from where it can. IE calcium, your body can steal it from your bones. And I'm not sure of your nationality, but you look asian. 1/2 Japanese here. Bone health is very important as someone of asian descent and as a woman. Try adding slices of fruit to your cereal. Lean meat and fish.

    I agree with the small meals and snacks. Or I've been advised by a lot of military people I know who are health nuts 5 small meals. Eating just once your body tries to hold on to as much as possible because it doesn't know when more is coming in. Balanced meals
  • Warchortle
    Warchortle Posts: 2,197 Member
    I don't understand the " can't " part... you're not hungry or you're not losing weight when you eat above 1,000 calories? If you don't eat above your BMR your body is going to store fat out of a survival mechanism and all the weight you lose is muscle because muscle cannibalizes first. If you don't like food then start drinking calorie dense shakes with maybe 2 scoops of protein and a cup of dried oats with milk. You could just sip it or drink it one go, but that should easily bring you to a healthy daily goal.
  • leahestey
    leahestey Posts: 124 Member
    It's great you are drinking a lot of water.
    You have to think like this about food. You CANNOT drive a car without fuel. It can only go so far on fumes and it gives out. You might even break something because you pushed the car too far. The same goes for your body. I used to have a hate-love relationship with my food. Then, I found that some foods worked well and others were awful. Listen to your body. This is the only body you get. Treat it well, you'll feel better and live longer. Treat it like crap, get unwanted results. Hope you do well in whatever decision you make.
  • Personally, I don't see a problem with not eating past 1000 cals.
    However, I am a former anorexic who has some serious issues with food and numbers.

    I would suggest meeting with a dietitian. Do you have health insurance? It might cover an appointment to go over some nutritional needs. From looking at your diary, I am concerned about your lack of protein (for starters). Try getting in some more protein (cheese, peanut butter, meats, etc), and that will help up your calories. Maybe some protein shakes?
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
    I don't believe that's true. If you look at all the research on the IF diet, you will see many people believe that low calories, skipping meals, etc is a recipe for disaster. Modern day wants you to eat 5-6 meals a day with increased protein even though it's proven that too much protein is not necessarily a good thing for your liver and kidneys. I too have a hard time taking in enough calories if I try to eat "right" and limit simple carbs, sugar, and fats. If you look at my diary you make think I also have an issue with food and need to see a psychiatrist. That's not the case. I have a medical condition which prevents me from taking in a lot of food at one time. So therefore I would have to take in high calorie foods or snack constantly to achieve an adequate amt of calories a day. My goal is to teach myself not to take in all these high calorie foods and to only eat when hungry and not when everyone else is eating. Many of us could seem to have some issue with food or else we would not plan social life around food all the time. So ask questions, give advice but try not to accuse if you're not sure what's actually going on.

    But with IF you do eat a healthy number of calories, it just limits the window for eating them. Even if you do 5:2, you're supposed to net your goal for the week, you just have two very low days and five higher ones.

    What the OP is doing is under-eating all the time.

    Also dietary fat is fine.
  • chrisdavey
    chrisdavey Posts: 9,834 Member
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  • laughingdani
    laughingdani Posts: 2,275 Member
    Your meals look more like snacks.

    I eat triple what you're eating on a daily basis.

    More protein. More good fats.

    That'll bump up the cals with no problem.

    You HAVE to be hungry.

    Don't do this to yourself.
  • Pearlyladybug
    Pearlyladybug Posts: 882 Member
    A banana is not lunch. You're choosing low cal foods, that's your problem. Have toast, peanut butter etc. if you seriously can't eat past 100 calories then go to a doctor.

    You edited that quickly didn't you.
  • this has troll thread or eating disorder written all over it...

    Yes, some of what she says is indicative of EDs, but your comment is slightly less than useless. Maybe suggest some helpful ideas for her?
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
    I cannot seem to eat past 1000 or so calories

    I assume you're looking for weight-gain strategies then, yes?

    Because if you can't eat more than 1000 calories a day then there's no possible way you're overweight.
  • flutterbye811
    flutterbye811 Posts: 86 Member
    I think what makes this even MORE difficult to justify is that you seem to exercise a lot, as well. And, from your pictures it doesn't look like you can have that much to lose- definitely concerning that you are doing more damage to yourself than good, and although in other posts you've talked about how much you've lost already it seems like you're lack of food consumption/exercise/etc is lining you up for an eating disorder.

    Listen to what everyone has to say and really attempt to add higher calorie foods, protein, and balanced meals into your diet ASAP and check in with a doctor....you're young, don't let whatever is fueling this get out of control.
  • Cn you give me some suggestions on what I should be eating for my meals I am very busy, up and down the stairs several times. Dy, wAlking my dogs 3-4 times a dy, plus either Zumba or Jazzercise for an hour Nd sometimes walking for an horror bike riding.. I need to loose 10 pounds for health reAsons..I LOVE my protein as well!! I'm open for any suggestions from anyone!!!