Listen to my stomach or count calories?
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jerryellis63012
Posts: 105 Member
I'm wondering if I'm not hungry and calorie count is still low for the day should I eat or not? Would I go into starvation mode and metabolism shut down if I don't eat enough calories?
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Don't eat because you feel you should. I feel like my life changed when I realized that I don't need to eat if I am not hungry. A huge light bulb went off, and it felt very freeing. If I am not hungry, I don't eat. I am free !
I spent a lifetime not listening to my body, and ended up obese. I ate at all conventional times of day because that's what society tells us to do, plus I ate snacks, and then added in some emotional eating to top it all off. I never felt more out of control in my life. I don't ever want to go back there again.
Since LCHF, my hunger is under control. I know what physical hunger feels like now ( I didn't back then) and can differentiate between emotional cravings and actual hunger. I feel so powerful, like I am in charge. I can decide when to eat.
I am no scientist, but do not trust conventional wisdom on hardly anything anymore, including some of the diet myths out there. I do not believe that several small meals a day, for instance is a good idea, in order to keep your metabolism up. I embrace intermittent fasting. There is food all around me for Heaven's sake, whenever I need it. And I can skip a meal with no negative effects...in fact it would probably do me good.
I say celebrate when you don't feel like eating.....by not eating ! I used to get ticked off by that MFP message about not eating enough calories, but now I just smile and enjoy it. There will be other days when I go over in my calories.0 -
Kitnthecat wrote: »Don't eat because you feel you should. I feel like my life changed when I realized that I don't need to eat if I am not hungry. A huge light bulb went off, and it felt very freeing. If I am not hungry, I don't eat. I am free !
I spent a lifetime not listening to my body, and ended up obese. I ate at all conventional times of day because that's what society tells us to do, plus I ate snacks, and then added in some emotional eating to top it all off. I never felt more out of control in my life. I don't ever want to go back there again.
Since LCHF, my hunger is under control. I know what physical hunger feels like now ( I didn't back then) and can differentiate between emotional cravings and actual hunger. I feel so powerful, like I am in charge. I can decide when to eat.
I am no scientist, but do not trust conventional wisdom on hardly anything anymore, including some of the diet myths out there. I do not believe that several small meals a day, for instance is a good idea, in order to keep your metabolism up. I embrace intermittent fasting. There is food all around me for Heaven's sake, whenever I need it. And I can skip a meal with no negative effects...in fact it would probably do me good.
I say celebrate when you don't feel like eating.....by not eating ! I used to get ticked off by that MFP message about not eating enough calories, but now I just smile and enjoy it. There will be other days when I go over in my calories.
Thank you for that awesome response, that's how I was leaning, but was just looking for everyone's opinion on the matter...very good advise in my opinion!0 -
+1 to everything kitn said. Don't eat if you're not hungry. Your body won't let you starve. Worst case, you'll be hungrier the next day and go over your calories. That's OK too. The way MFP is set up, you have daily goals, but weekly works too, including weighing yourself weekly instead of daily.0
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Thank you for asking this question! I have been feeling the same, but thought I needed the meat, fat...so I would eat. Good to know that I don't have to meet the goals everyday. I will enjoy not being hungry more!0
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Thanks for clarifying this! Does IF increase cortisol? I find that it's pretty easy to skip breakfast, and when I eat breakfast I tend to be more hungry during the morning than when I'm fasting. Kind of odd.0
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I don't know about fasting increasing cortisol, but somehow I don't think so at least for me, just because I look forward to the fasting and feel so peaceful when I do it. I could imagine it might rise if you are feeling stressed due to the fasting. If you feel stressed, headache, extremely hungry, etc, then you should stop fasting and eat something I think. There is a lot of info about IF on Marks Daily Apple. I know he has all kinds of scientific facts about it.
For me, I just do what feels natural. I had been planning to start a fast yesterday, but gave in and ate, yet didn't stress out over it. Today I am just having BPC, probably 2 cups throughout the am, and not planning to eat until supper. For me that's very doable. I usually eat 2 meals per day, so to skip one isn't too hard.
I agree with you wheatless, in that when I eat, it sparks an interest in eating more and it's easy for the calories to add up. But when I fast it becomes easier to go longer without food, and I think my body needs a break from food every now and then.0 -
I think fasting probably does raise cortisol, but a short-term squirt of cortisol isn't as bad as chronically high cortisol. Both fasting and VLC (very low carb) trigger the body's "starvation" response. The difference is that people stay in VLC for a longer time, so cortisol probably stays higher longer.0
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I liked IF 2-3 times a week, but stopped a while back due to my question about the cortisol. I find conflicting opinions about it. From what I understand, the IF raises blood sugar in some obese individuals, which raises cortisol. I don't think I have the bs problem, but I'd have to test it. Right now, I'm leaving well enough alone since I just raised my carbs and calories and I don't want to compound the issue. I'd probably have a harder time getting in the macros and calories if I cut a meal. I can't eat big enough meals to get it all in in two meals. But then, ^^^ maybe I can just stop eating when I'm full, regardless of numbers.
I'd like to do IF down the road, though. I enjoyed it, too!
I've read differing opinions about the "starvation" response. Before discovering LCHF i was looking into bariatric surgery and realized that after the stomach surgery the patients are put on a 500 cal diet. I thought, well I could do that without the surgery! Sometimes I'm just not hungry, (other times I am, of course) but I surely don't want to kick in a "starvation" response if there is such a thing. Maybe it's just not anything to be concerned about, kind of as stated above.0 -
It's the other way around -- cortisol raises blood sugar. Both fasting and VLC reduce carb intake, which reduces "easy" blood sugar. One of the jobs of cortisol is to signal the liver to make more sugar out of protein -- that's the "starvation" response.0
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Thank you!0
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Great article, thanks!0 -
My blood sugars definitely go up when I fast. They spike to about 6.8-7 mmol/L.0
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Not counting food is fine if you are not hungry I guess. But I've tried eating only when I'm hungry and only as much as I need to be satisfied and I am constantly at about 2500 to 2800 cals. So gaining weight. There is clearly something wrong with me. I have to make a conscious effort to stay below 1800 a day.0
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Due to the great answers and info I received on this thread, I seem to have really tuned into when I am actually hungry and when I'm not. I even surprised myself and my wife when we were having breakfast @ Bob Evans the other morning and 2/3 through my omelette, I just stopped eating, put the fork down and said, wow, I can actually feel my body telling me I've had enough to eat...I've never done that in my life, I always ate everything on my plate bc that's how I was brought up.
Let me tell you, it was the most liberating feeling in the world! I didn't even get hungry again until late that afternoon, that never happens either! And now today, I'm about 500 calories below my goal...and not hungry! I am loving this part of Keto!
Thanks for all the input and advice everyone!0 -
So glad you made it through a tough time and a feeling the effects of not being hungry! It is liberating to be able to laugh at food and walk away! Having that kind of control is completely new here too! And feels good too!0
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jerryellis63012 wrote: »Due to the great answers and info I received on this thread, I seem to have really tuned into when I am actually hungry and when I'm not. I even surprised myself and my wife when we were having breakfast @ Bob Evans the other morning and 2/3 through my omelette, I just stopped eating, put the fork down and said, wow, I can actually feel my body telling me I've had enough to eat...I've never done that in my life, I always ate everything on my plate bc that's how I was brought up.
I had the same thing happen to me yesterday. My daughter and I went to Hardees and I got a low carb bacon cheeseburger and 3/4 of the way through I just felt like I could not eat another bite! I wrapped it up and brought it home to the dog (which made her very happy). Before this WOE I would have forced myself to finish it because we "shouldn't waste food" Did you get the "starving kids in China" speech, too? Never could figure out how me cleaning my plate helped them!
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geraldinemyoung17 wrote: »jerryellis63012 wrote: »Due to the great answers and info I received on this thread, I seem to have really tuned into when I am actually hungry and when I'm not. I even surprised myself and my wife when we were having breakfast @ Bob Evans the other morning and 2/3 through my omelette, I just stopped eating, put the fork down and said, wow, I can actually feel my body telling me I've had enough to eat...I've never done that in my life, I always ate everything on my plate bc that's how I was brought up.
I had the same thing happen to me yesterday. My daughter and I went to Hardees and I got a low carb bacon cheeseburger and 3/4 of the way through I just felt like I could not eat another bite! I wrapped it up and brought it home to the dog (which made her very happy). Before this WOE I would have forced myself to finish it because we "shouldn't waste food" Did you get the "starving kids in China" speech, too? Never could figure out how me cleaning my plate helped them!
Oh yes, I was told about those starving kids too! LOL! It's very liberating to know when to stop eating isn't it?0
