I ate 600 calories today and I was full. Help.
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Hunger is a fickle thing. If you ignore it, it goes away. Thirst can be disguised as hunger. It is a hard thing to rely on. I agree with the previous posters who suggested nuts, avacado, etc. I like to do a little cheddar cheese with apple slices for snack from time to time. And planning is so important. Plan for three 500 calorie meals an that will easily get you to 1500.
Increase your cardio... that will rev your appetite!
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I've had this problem before so I can totally relate. The only thing that I can advise is just try to get over that 800 mark. If you drink a lot of ice cold water throughout the day you should find yourself hungrier. Unfortunately you're actually depleting the necessary calories for brain function and it could be very dangerous. I totally understand though if you're not hungry, you're trying to lose some weight, why the heck would you eat when you're not hungry.
Drink water, work out (even if just taking a walk), to try and make yourself hungry enough to eat something. Peanuts are great to fill up and stay full.
Good luck though, we can friend if you like, I totally understand what you're going through though. The problem is you're hurting your body and any weight you're losing will come right back because your body is in starvation mode, even though you may not really feel like you are.
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When you eat a very small amount for an extended period of time, your body adjusts to this amount of food, and ceases to send hunger signals.
Some of us overweight people got this way because we ate so terribly unevenly or did not respond to our initial natural hunger cues that our bodies become resistant to the hunger response. That is, we rarely, if ever, feel hungry.
Me, I hate feeling hungry and rarely experience the sensation. If I only ate when I felt hungry, I would eat only every couple days.
Part of building a healthy lifestyle is retraining one's body to normal levels. Whether that be reducing what you eat, or increasing it, it's important to know a good way to increase and prepare.
I'm not making a diagnosis, but 600 calories is less than the intake of an average anorexic person, and based on that alone, and even moreso when adding activity, you'd be diagnosed as such. Perhaps not psychologically, but physically... Many people don't realize that there is more than one kind of anorexia (anorexia as a term means without appetite).
Refeeding can be difficult, but you can do it. If you know you need to eat more, you should regularly and with metered effort increase your diet 100-200 calories every 1-2 days. Don't just jump all at once, as you may feel very sick because of it. Increase daily until you are at a normalized dietary level. Recognize that if you exercise, you need to increase the amount at least modestly in order to not have a similar problem happen.
Ultimately, what can happen if you maintain these habits over a long span of time, is that your body can go into preservation mode, and eventually become problematic for things like your thyroid. It doesn't happen in a couple weeks though... and without knowing how long the 600/day habit has been going on, it's hard to say if you're at risk of such an issue.
For me, I found the easiest way to increase my food was to eat a very small snack every hour. I know, sounds insane, but it's easy to do with a stash of almonds. Eating 10-15 almonds at the top of each waking hour will easily bulk your calories without making you feel like you're going to explode, or leave much remnants in your mouth. Once you get to a normalized calorie level, you can adjust the calorie intake options to other foods and habits, but it gets you there.
Love this, I wish there were more people like you commenting.0 -
Just throwing it out there... Have you started any medications? I recently restarted my Wellbutrin and had forgotten about some possible side effects. My appetite dropped and I a having to eat snacks in the evenings to reach my calorie goals some nights. it helps me to plan my meals. It's worth planning your meals and scheduling snacks. M-F I eat breakfast at 8:30. Lunch is typically at 1pm. Snack at 3 pm. Dinner is at 6:30. If I still have calories, I have a snack with my evening meds at 8:30.0
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First your diary is yummy...
Second are you drinking any caloric beverages besides Milk that you may not be adding?
Options:
Add a spread to your sandwich?
Pickles with your sandwich
Bagel/cream cheese (I eat half a bagel with my cereal)
peanut butter and graham crackers
peanut butter and celery (not for everyone)
nuts like pistachios, cashews, almonds and even dark chocolate covered peanuts
baked potatoes with a topping like broccoli and cheese
popcorn
baked tortilla chips and salsa
yogurts any kind
lower sugar bars (these will add about 170 to 190 calories)
Nature Valley Roasted Almond Crunch Bar
Cascadian Farm Organic Dark Chocolate Almond Chewy Granola
Clif Mo Jo Mixed Nuts, Trail Mix Bar
Kashi TLC Peanut Peanut Butter Chew Granola Bars
KIND Plus Almond Walnut Macadamia with Peanuts
Special K Protein Meal Bars
Good Luck... 0 -
Okay, I've read most comments, skimmed others, and I have a few thoughts.
1. Surely you're familiar with the food pyramid and that so many servings of grains, veggies, meats, etc. are recommended for a person each day, right? I believe the serving sizes you see on a lot of packages is more to help you accurately assess whether you're meeting those recommendations - not *necessarily* (sometimes, but not always) that you should always have just that item and be full. Like a serving of cheese might just be one slice, but one slice isn't a meal on its own, right? So it makes sense that if you want another slice of cheese or ham or some extra butter or what-have-you, just go right for it. My sandwiches aren't really sandwiches if there aren't at least two slices of cheese on them - maybe three if it's just a cheese sandwich. =P. Similarly, I usually buy the same bag of frozen veggies to go in a lot of my meals - a serving is technically 2/3 cup, but I simply refuse to have so few veggies. This point is dragging on longer than I meant it to, so TL;DR - the fewer ingredients/items in your meal, the more likely it is you should break the single-serving rule you've set for yourself.
2. I know the struggle of sometimes having too small of an appetite to get all my calories. As anyone else has said, nutrient/calorie-dense foods. I like to cut an avocado in thirds, mash one-third of it with salt, pepper, and a bit of mayo, and then add that to my sandwich (which I used to do as a meat substitute when I was vegetarian, but OMG it is SO GOOD with ham, and I don't even like ham). Sliced or diced avocado is also a great addition to boost the calories of your salads. Hell, I sometimes even bake an avocado half filled with diced onion, tomato, and cheese, and then I scoop that onto a baked potato. It sounds sort of strange, but I absolutely love it.
3. Plan your meals as much as you can! Sometimes you can't do this perfectly because you're undecided on what you're doing for dinner or you plan a meal that you later realize you can't have because you're missing an ingredient, so plan the best you can. I've been able to meet my calorie goal, without going too far over, MUCH more frequently since I started planning my meals in the mornings (some people plan the night before). If you had planned all your meals out that day that you came to 600 calories BEFOREHAND, you would have seen how few calories it was and been able to say, "Woah, hey, wait, maybe I'll have some snacks and add some more cheese to my sandwiches." Similarly, if you ever plan too much one day, you can see that ahead of time and fix it, instead of make yourself feel guilty for having 500 too many that evening.
4. I understand feeling that you don't want to get much of your energy from "junk" food, but at the end of the day, a mostly balanced 1100-calorie diet that includes 500 "junk" calories is much, much better than a 600-calorie diet of only clean foods. Food is fuel, and sometimes I'll make myself a 400-calorie milkshake after dinner if I see I'm still 500 calories behind.
5. I'm not going to jump on the Eating Disorder Bandwagon because I think most of the people commenting about that aren't listening to you (if I'm understanding you correctly, you did this for ONE day, and the other days that appear that way were just poorly tracked, right), but in the future if you do see that those low days are becoming a trend and you have a poor appetite, consider a professional. I personally had a span of four weeks a few years ago that I ate nothing (almost literally nothing - two bites of anything made me feel nauseous) because of a depressive spell that killed my appetite. I really think fast food saved my life, because that was the only thing I tried after those weeks that I could actually have a meal of, and then I was eating normally again. So again, I'm only mentioning this just in case you notice these days become a trend in the future.0 -
SergeantSausage wrote: »I gotta call shenanigans here.
There is no way someone who eats to near obesity (30-ish BMI) gets "full" at 600 cal and "struggles" to reach 1200.
The Cognitive Dissonance is screaming.
I'm not buying it.
Except it happens ALL the time. Like, have you opened a book or consulted a doctor? This is why most eating disorders in fat/obese people are not addressed, because of the myth that they can't have one.
Of course fat/obese people can have eating disorders
but it ain't one that's associated with eating less than 600 calories a day now is it?
Mine sure is. I'm over 400lbs, and a diagnosed anorexic/bulimic. I gained an exceptional amount of weight when my trainer/dietician told me to eat 1600 calories to lose weight I had existing at the time, when they didn't believe me when I said I ate less than 900 calories a day. I told them this and they refused to believe that I was like that.
Getting very sick from refeeding at an immediate 700+calories increase, multiple months of acid reflux problems due to my deprived body going into overdrive, and a year on thyroid hormones to get me out of clinical starvation response (where my thyroid didn't produce normal amounts of hormones for metabolism if I didn't eat every hour) was sure not fun.
Fat people can be anorexic, bulimic, and EDNOS. I'm so tired of having to make myself a mascot just to try and help people understand.0 -
SergeantSausage wrote: »I gotta call shenanigans here.
There is no way someone who eats to near obesity (30-ish BMI) gets "full" at 600 cal and "struggles" to reach 1200.
The Cognitive Dissonance is screaming.
I'm not buying it.
I see comments similar to this whenever someone claims not to be able to eat up to a reasonable calorie limit, but I know first hand how this can easily happen.
When I was getting fat, I would eat as much as 3000 extra calories from donuts or skittles, or some such, in addition to big regular meals. Then, when I decided to lose weight, I cut out all the donuts and changed my meals by substituting vegetables and fruit for everything I thought was fattening. Just like that I was under 1200 calories, but the bulky vegetables made me feel full.
I had to ask how I could get up to 1200 calories while still eating fat free foods. Answer: don't eat fat free food.
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lthames0810 wrote: »SergeantSausage wrote: »I gotta call shenanigans here.
There is no way someone who eats to near obesity (30-ish BMI) gets "full" at 600 cal and "struggles" to reach 1200.
The Cognitive Dissonance is screaming.
I'm not buying it.
I see comments similar to this whenever someone claims not to be able to eat up to a reasonable calorie limit, but I know first hand how this can easily happen.
When I was getting fat, I would eat as much as 3000 extra calories from donuts or skittles, or some such, in addition to big regular meals. Then, when I decided to lose weight, I cut out all the donuts and changed my meals by substituting vegetables and fruit for everything I thought was fattening. Just like that I was under 1200 calories, but the bulky vegetables made me feel full.
I had to ask how I could get up to 1200 calories while still eating fat free foods. Answer: don't eat fat free food.
This. The day I started logging and realizing just how much I was eating was the day before I started struggling to reach 1200... because I'd replace something small and full of calories with something large and filling but with 1/4 or less the calories. I quickly figured out how to fill in the calories (including end of the day ice cream! Hooray for end of the day ice cream!), but it was very much a struggle at first, especially as I got myself out of 'all greasy/sugary/fatty stuff is evil' and into 'everything is fine in moderation' mindset.
I still only eat 1200-1300 calories most days (including ice cream) as I space things out into lots of little but filling meals. I (almost -- holidays and birthdays get a pass!) never have cheat days because I don't need them. My biggest days are ones when I reach what MFP set for me to lose .5-1 lbs/week, and I tend to feel *super* bloated and just 'blah' and heavy after those days (oh, and I get to at least 80% on all my tracked macros, whether I eat 1200 or 1600... though 1600 days tend to go way over the sodium).
So, yes -- it's quite easy to struggle to reach an amount of calories when you're someone who was eating out of boredom and/or picking the rice or chips side instead of veggies every time, several times a day, and it wasn't really a habit/addiction/whatever, just a 'not thinking about it'.
OP: your body will adjust and you'll find yourself getting to the calories you need almost automatically, most likely. If it doesn't, THEN maybe seek help. You seem the type who will recognize and accept if you think you have a problem. Mean time, allow yourself for some 'junk'. Eat that serving of crisps, that 1/2 cup ice cream at the end of the day (or, even a whole cup), whatever!0 -
lilxmissxhavic wrote: »
Ellaskat, I havn't looked into it no, I'd be worried that I'd get in to bad habits to easily again. But I might have to give it a go.
Not suggesting you try this - that's up to you - but I thought it might be an explanation of why you are eating so little and still not hungry.
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I think you're counting wrong.
28grams of my Cheerios is over 100 calories, I weigh out 2 ounces of milk and that is another 50 or so.
Lunch meat is 50-100 or so calories for 4oz of meat. To me, that is not enough to fill a sandwich so I usually weigh out 6. The bread calories are 90 calories for 35 calorie bread on up. Add in your mayo, mustard plus anything in addition and that is at least 400 calories
So I believe you are eating more than you think you are.
I am hungry when I eat 1200 calories, your body would be screaming at you at 600.0 -
OP--you keep on referring to "recommended serving sizes" on the package and in MFP. A serving size is not a recommendation, it is simply a number used to calculate calories and nutrients.0
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You can definitely have an eating disorder at any size, but anorexia specifically has a BMI requirement for the diagnosis, so according to the DSM, you can't be overweight and have Anorexia. Frankly, eating 600 calories/day does not = having Anorexia. However, it is absolutely waaay too low for anyone, especially someone who is young and very active. You need to eat more, and your body will adjust.
OP, talk with your parents about your goals. Figure out the best way to have what you need around.
Eat 3 meals a day and have fat, protein, and carbohydrate in each meal (about 100 cals of fat, 100 cals of protein, 100 cals of starch, and 100 cals of fruits and veggies would do you well). So for example, breakfast switch to whole milk, add nuts, a cup of fruit, and bacon or an egg. For lunch, double your meat, add fruit and veggies, for dinner add protein source with some kind of grain or potato.
Once you have 3 good meals it's probably a good idea to add in snacks as well. Nuts are a great snack.
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This is exactly how I was today I had a small bagel with low fat cream cheese for breakfast wasn't hungry until 9 pm so I had a bowl of frosted mini wheats with 2% milk and I was perfectly full. I never ever eat like that. Once in a blue moon I do and I don't know why.0
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Your diary is entirely empty for me. That might be MFP acting up, but if you really ren't accurately logging your food then I am sorry but you are not eating just 600 calories. Probably not even just 1200. I have days where tipping 1000 is hard, but even for me, 600 would be insane. That's a big breakfast and a small lunch for me. So my advice? (Start to) log accurately--in grams, everything you eat--and check if you are really only eating as little as you think. My money is on the guess that you are eating more than you think (which does not have to be a bad thing at all! It simply cancels out the 'I only eat 600 cal'-thing). Good luck!0
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Faithful_Chosen wrote: »Your diary is entirely empty for me. That might be MFP acting up, but if you really ren't accurately logging your food then I am sorry but you are not eating just 600 calories. Probably not even just 1200. I have days where tipping 1000 is hard, but even for me, 600 would be insane. That's a big breakfast and a small lunch for me. So my advice? (Start to) log accurately--in grams, everything you eat--and check if you are really only eating as little as you think. My money is on the guess that you are eating more than you think.
This post was from January (someone bumped it) so chances are good that OP is no longer actively logging.0 -
ThMadame_Goldbricker wrote: »100 calorie ham sandwich? One slice of bread is approx 75-80cals 10g butter approx 70cals 1 slice ham approx 30ish (wafer thin). Not seeing how you get 100 cals?
that!!! One sandwich is like at least 200 cal minimum! Adding butter cheese some sauce so it's not dry will make full 500!!!i eat Kellogg's Special K red fruit with skimmed milk in morning that alone is over 200 cal and I'm sticking to the 30 gram portion wich mind you isn't big at all but keeps me going till lunch time. When I have some chicken breast or beef 100 gr 100 gr vegetables and some side 50 gr like pasta or brown rice. Comes to another 300 400 depending on what exactly is I'm having. And also that isn't a big plate.i eat 4 x a day and my calories are always allways around 1200 sometimes more sometimes less. And I have to compensate it with work out if I go over . But because my food choises are not high carbs my body doesn't start storing it as fat and I lose weight faster then if I would just stay with in the calorie count. Besides makes you feel better too .and your not starving or stuffed so you don't wanna move...0 -
ILiftHeavyAcrylics wrote: »Faithful_Chosen wrote: »Your diary is entirely empty for me. That might be MFP acting up, but if you really ren't accurately logging your food then I am sorry but you are not eating just 600 calories. Probably not even just 1200. I have days where tipping 1000 is hard, but even for me, 600 would be insane. That's a big breakfast and a small lunch for me. So my advice? (Start to) log accurately--in grams, everything you eat--and check if you are really only eating as little as you think. My money is on the guess that you are eating more than you think.
This post was from January (someone bumped it) so chances are good that OP is no longer actively logging.
Well that makes sense X'D I don't typically look at dates, you know. Thank you!0 -
lilxmissxhavic wrote: »I still live at home with my parents while I'm finishing my uni degree, I have to work with whats in the fridge/freezer.
I'd like to go back to the beginning and address this, because I see this type of comment a lot on MFP.
My daughter is 18 and is home from school for the summer. She does have a summer job, but we prefer that she save what she earns for spending money when she's away at school. When she's home, if she wants something to eat that we don't have in the house, she writes it on the grocery list and I pick it up when I go shopping.
Based on your comment, and on others I've read on MFP, I must be the only parent in the world to do this. Are you telling me that if you put a few items on your parents' grocery list, they would refuse you?
I also don't believe that someone who ate enough to become overweight is now completely satisfied on 600 calories a day. Either you're eating more than you think, or you're kidding yourself.
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Yep this^^^.RunRutheeRun wrote: »If you really did feel full, why not have something small yet calorie dense? Nuts are great for adding extra calories, also peanut butter
Eating a few handfuls of Nuts and a couple Teaspoons of Peanut Butter will up your calories very easily!
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I sometimes have a similar problem, mine isn't as low as 600 cals, but I often get to 8-900 and don't feel like eating anymore... although some days I can't resist a donut and end up way over on calories. You could probably just eat the same amount of food, but eat something with more calories. Another thing I find is that I LOVE late night snacking. I honestly have a huge snacking problem all around. My meals tend to be small and satisfy me, but even though I'm full I end up eating things just because it sounds good. Snacking might be a good solution to your problem (take my desire to snack, please!). We're told that mindless snacking or eating because you're bored is bad, but sometimes it's ok! People also say "you shouldn't eat close to bed because it automatically turns to fat because your metabolism slows down" that is a LIE. I shouldn't eat close to bed (although I totally do) because I get terrible heartburn... but other than that what time you eat really doesn't change anything. Allow yourself to eat when you just feel like it sometimes.0
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I had the same problem struggling to make it to 1200 cal a day at first considering before i onlt ate about 800 cal a day and drank 1500 to 2000 cal in soda and high cal coffee drinks.i had to figure out how to eat more ..i started working out and now i dont have a problem being hungry and eat 1400-1600 and dont drink my calories ..0
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I actually wonder if you're really eating 600 calories a day. I typically eat around 1200 a day and often have a sandwich for lunch. Typically, I've eaten 600 by lunch, mid-afternoon. For instance, yesterday I had a turkey sandwich on pita, and that was 232 calories. If you're eating ham and cheese on regular bread, you're eating more than that for lunch. I also noticed your diary isn't open, so there's no way of knowing how accurate your tracking is. If you want to see how to eat 1200 in a balanced way, check out my diary, which is open. I track most days (once in a while I skip if busy). Look at yesterday or Sunday for fairly typical days. I'm a mom of two grown sons who are still at home, so I pretty much stock what everyone wants to eat.0
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If you weight know 88 kilo's haven't to be so worried It can be dangerous for slim women but for sure you should start thinking about healthier diet (I mean more calories) 0
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booksandchocolate12 wrote: »lilxmissxhavic wrote: »I still live at home with my parents while I'm finishing my uni degree, I have to work with whats in the fridge/freezer.
I'd like to go back to the beginning and address this, because I see this type of comment a lot on MFP.
My daughter is 18 and is home from school for the summer. She does have a summer job, but we prefer that she save what she earns for spending money when she's away at school. When she's home, if she wants something to eat that we don't have in the house, she writes it on the grocery list and I pick it up when I go shopping.
Based on your comment, and on others I've read on MFP, I must be the only parent in the world to do this. Are you telling me that if you put a few items on your parents' grocery list, they would refuse you?
I also don't believe that someone who ate enough to become overweight is now completely satisfied on 600 calories a day. Either you're eating more than you think, or you're kidding yourself.
Good points. I've been wondering this too.
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