Why?? -- Question about how much you eat

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Lizshouse88
Lizshouse88 Posts: 81
in Food and Nutrition
Ok so my question is... why is it so much easier for me to eat nothing at all than it is to eat a small meal? If I eat, I want to EAT. If I don't eat I could go all day and not get hungry.

I mean I try not to go all day without eating (although it does happen sometimes), but the point is that I am all of a sudden starving when I eat when I wasn't even hungry beforehand. I am larger - my BMI is over 60 - so I am supposed to eat about 2,300 calories per day but I get by fine on 1000-1600 per day without ever feeling hungry.

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  • w2bab
    w2bab Posts: 353 Member
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    I was the same way. I never was a breakfast eater, partially because once I started eating I was hungry all day. I started making myself eat breakfast every morning last January when my husband and I decided to lose weight, BUT I'm still not a big breakfast eater. I eat a banana before I work out in the morning, and then eat a granola bar around 9:00, then lunch and dinner. It was hard at first, but after a week or so, my body was in the habit of my small breakfast and mid-morning snack.
  • PeaceLoveTrees
    PeaceLoveTrees Posts: 42 Member
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    I don't really have an answer but I COMPLETELY AGREE with the breakfast statement! Make sure you start your day by eating something! Also, you might want to try grazing. That's basically what I do. I have my breakfast, a morning snack, my lunch, and an afternoon snack. I take all of them to work with me so I can eat throughout the day. It keeps me from being famished at meal times and helps keep my energy level steady.

    I've been snacking on a fourth cup of raw unsalted almonds every morning for well over a month now, it's my favorite!

    I'd like to add that drinking water, and only water, all day every day will help keep you full between meals and snacks. Right now my goal is 100 ounces a day. It's hard but worth it!
  • michellekicks
    michellekicks Posts: 3,624 Member
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    Because with a BMI of 60 your body requires a lot of calories for organ and brain function while maintaining homeostasis. When you eat next to nothing (very little i.e. 1000 calories daily) your body believes there's a famine and slows all metabolic function to match your intake level. Once you put food in it, it realizes there is no famine and ramps up metabolic function.

    When you eat too little, your teach your body to survive on less. What you want to do is eat enough to sustain a healthy metabolism while creating a caloric deficit large enough to lose weight e.g. a 500-1000 calorie deficit per day to lose 1-2 lbs/week.
  • MelodyandBarbells
    MelodyandBarbells Posts: 7,725 Member
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    I don't like small meals for the most part, either. My tummy grumbles due to having been teased with this food that's supposedly coming, and then I just eat a few bites. For me some items really just have to be snacks, that tide me per until meal time, and then I had to experiment to find what meals made me feel full. Some will make you fuller and more sated than others and you'll just have to find that combo that works for you. Check protein and fiber levels as well. Veggies will help you really bulk up a meal and can be often be eaten in very large quantities as snacks (baby carrots, for example)
  • _John_
    _John_ Posts: 8,642 Member
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    At that high of BMI it is likely that a Dr. would recommend a very low calorie diet as your body will easily use fat stores as food. The "rules" of a small deficit to reduce hormonal imbalances doesn't really apply folks in your BMI range.

    I would guess a VLCD prescribed by a Dr. would include vitamin and mineral supplementation to maintain optimum health though.

    I'm gonna cut against the MFP grain and say if you can eat a 1000-1600 calorie diet and not feel hungry whereas eating more calories makes you feel like eating more, I'd say you're probably ok. I'm suggesting this under the assumption that you are working with a health care professional though.

    Good luck, whatever the case, and it's good to see you are trying to better yourself for you.
  • Lizshouse88
    Lizshouse88 Posts: 81
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    I am actually trying to get the sleeve surgery (similar to bypass).. but of course I have to start wayyyy before the surgery is done. The doctor hasn't recommended a specific calorie amount, yet, but I haven't met with the nutritionist yet either. Either way they are aware of how many calories I am eating because I bring my logs to my appointments so I am sure if there was a problem with 1000-1600 calories a day they'd say something!

    Thanks for your input!!
  • michellekicks
    michellekicks Posts: 3,624 Member
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    I should clarify... 1000 is quite low, but 1600 is definitely acceptable. It's finding what you can sustain in a healthy manner that counts in the end.

    Sometimes VLCDs are prescribed to reduce morbidity due to extreme obesity and the benefit of losing weight outweighs the loss of muscle that will occur with the diet. If you can adhere, great. If not, there are some tricks you can use to improve the odds of adherence.

    Having said that, OP just asked why she's hungry when she eats but isn't hungry when she doesn't eat. I was only addressing the original question.
  • michellekicks
    michellekicks Posts: 3,624 Member
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    I am actually trying to get the sleeve surgery (similar to bypass).. but of course I have to start wayyyy before the surgery is done. The doctor hasn't recommended a specific calorie amount, yet, but I haven't met with the nutritionist yet either. Either way they are aware of how many calories I am eating because I bring my logs to my appointments so I am sure if there was a problem with 1000-1600 calories a day they'd say something!

    Thanks for your input!!

    Oh and in that case, you might as well get used to tiny portions anyway. You will need to.
  • acogg
    acogg Posts: 1,871 Member
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    Wrong thread, damn!
  • MelodyandBarbells
    MelodyandBarbells Posts: 7,725 Member
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    Having said that, OP just asked why she's hungry when she eats but isn't hungry when she doesn't eat. I was only addressing the original question.

    Hah. That almost makes this line of conversation OT, but I feel ya. I too can go days where I net a tiny amount of food, but in my current state of not having demonstrated long term control of my nutrition, will then have the unplanned 2,800 and 3,600 calorie days that I am not proud of. In that case, in my very personal opinion, that I can eat a very small amount of food is not entirely accurate (long term) and for me would not be a foregone conclusion if I were to create a thread asking this question. But then, of course, I am not the OP
  • notsoskinny987
    notsoskinny987 Posts: 13 Member
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    --I am struggling to meet 1200 calories a day as I can only seem to consume 900-1100 calories. I am not starving myself its just what I eat and i feel full and eat 3 meals with 1 or 2 snacks. Will I still be in the 'starving' category despite I feel fine and eating what I need.-- This is me.

    I must say for me to even eat breakfast, I just have to force myself to and ive done it for weeks now so I am use to it. It takes 21 days to form a new habit they say? Just have an alarm that says BREAKFAST on your phone, so when your listening to music it will stop the music to ring alarm bells.

    But I get it, i cant eat the calories im suppose to I feel full. I think its better to listen y=to your body when its full and hungry and not calories all the time, because everyones metabolism is at different rates, the size of your stomach is very different too. I started going crazy because I thought I was going to get fat because I was under calories but I was full. Listen to your body and eat what you should accordingly and everything will fall in to place
  • Dewymorning
    Dewymorning Posts: 762 Member
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    I think it is a psychological thing.

    I sometimes find myself that I suddenly get very hungry when I smell food. I didn't feel hungry at all before that, but as soon as I do smell the food it like lights up the 'eat' centres of my brain, or something like that.

    I would assume it is the same thing.

    Like today, as I was walking away from the gym I could smell freshly baked cookies, that really made me feel hungry. But I was a good girl and walked back to work and ate my pre-prepared food.

    Do you notice it happening with certain foods?
  • Gonzafitness
    Gonzafitness Posts: 76
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    You should try intermittent fasting. You get to eat way larger portions as well as not eat when your not hungry.
  • FromHereOnOut
    FromHereOnOut Posts: 3,237 Member
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    A couple of tricks that might help: first, have a glass or two of water in the 30-40 minutes before you eat, second, keep lots of veggies ready-to-eat.

    Sometimes thirst has a similar feeling as hunger. So, if you are eating a modest amount, but not drinking anything, you might begin to feel something that feels as though you are still hungry, when actually your body is just asking for water. I suppose you could also have a cup of soup with each meal too. As for the veggies, things such as celery, cucumber, colorful pepper slices, broccoli, cauliflower, etc can be eaten fresh pretty much ad libitum. So every couple of days buy a bunch of veggies & wash & cut them and have them sitting in containers in the fridge as the first thing you see when you open it. You can also make a dip from Greek yogurt with some spices (you can get a recipe for tzatziki, or you can just add spices or a tbsp of soup mix and chill it next to the veggies).

    It'd probably be best to follow these types of tips to getting yourself eating regularly than it would be to try intermittent fasting at this stage. You might need to learn to trust that you have the ability to eat regularly before experimenting with IF, especially with so much weight to lose (you wouldn't want an intermittent fast to turn into a continuous binge--you just don't have the sort of flexibility to take that risk at such a high bmi). Well, that's my personal opinion anyway.
  • jennifer_417
    jennifer_417 Posts: 12,344 Member
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    From what you're saying, it sounds like Intermittent Fasting might be a good fit for you. Do some research and see what you think. It's definitely not for everyone, but for some people it's perfect. I did it for about 6 weeks with good results; it broke the plateau I was on quite handily.

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