Having trouble eating enough?

How come your profile says you need to lose more than 100 lbs but at the same time you are concerned you are not eating enough? These two together, they do not make sense. Is the profile wrong?

Quasita wrote: »

If you are 100+ overweight, you likely have been consistently undereating for too long and need to increase your intake slowly with calorie dense foods at 100-200 calories per day until you reach your goal intake. It's completely possibly to be anorexic and very heavy (anorexic here meaning without appetite), particularly if you've trained yourself to be that way. It will eventually kick your losses off to a better rate, and totally worth it.

No. Unless you are an alien and get your energy from sources other than food, no.

If you're fat and I'm assuming not losing weight, then you are not at a calorie deficit, despite thinking you are. Pay more attention to everything you put in your mouth, log everything, weigh everything. I have a feeling you're eating more than you realize.

Plus side note, veggies are great, but make sure you're tracking your macros and getting enough protein and fat. If you reach your macro goals then you'll automatically be reaching your calorie limit as well.

Quasita wrote: »

If you are 100+ overweight, you likely have been consistently undereating for too long and need to increase your intake slowly with calorie dense foods at 100-200 calories per day until you reach your goal intake. It's completely possibly to be anorexic and very heavy (anorexic here meaning without appetite), particularly if you've trained yourself to be that way. It will eventually kick your losses off to a better rate, and totally worth it.

Second that

I lost quite a bit of weight (unintentionally) when I became vegan, because my dietary fat, and calories went way too low. I would enter my food at the end of the day and occasionally even be below 1000 calories. I felt full day to day, and couldn't cram in any more fruits, veggies and beans, but I still felt unsatisfied mentally. I knew I needed to eat more, but couldn't figure out how to do it without stuffing myself silly.

(Edited to add: In case anyone saw that as saying you can lose a lot of weight by severely undereating, I just want to make it clear that this isn't a good idea at all, and it was not intentional. I lost more than a few pounds of lean body mass (including a fair amount of muscle), and I'm still struggling to regain it. I figure it will take me at least a year just to get back to where I was.)

My calories and macros improved when I began to add more fatty foods like avocado and vegetable oils and increased my nut and seed ( and nut and seed butter) consumption. I also track my protein and make sure I'm getting enough; nobody likes to lose muscle.

Check your fat intake; if it's low, make a point of including more nuts and some avocado daily (if you like them, of course). If you want, start using more oil when you cook and on salads. I use roasted nut oils with fruit vinegars on salad and it's delicious.

There are people on MFP who know a lot more about optimal protein intake than me, but I tend to aim for at least .8 grams per pound of lean body mass (weight minus fat mass).

I didn't ask: are you losing weight too quickly? If not, the other posters could be right; you may be eating more than you think. If you can get a digital food scale you will be able to judge your portions more accurately. Fats especially are very calorie dense and a small error in measurement can have a significant effect on your overall calorie intake.

micymarie wrote: »

Not sure where to start. As for under eating for a long time that's definitely not the issue, after I moved out on my own a couple years ago I was just super broke and lived off of cheap food for a long time aka macaroni and cheese, bread, frozen food, del taco, etc. So I gained a bunch of weight from eating unhealthy stuff 24/7 not under eating. I actually do keep track of how much I eat. I don't have a scale but I use measuring cups to keep track; not sure if that makes a huge difference I guess I'll go get a scale and see if it changes things. And yes I am losing weight that's not a problem I just want to make sure I'm doing it the right way and not doing more harm than good.

Weighing can make a pretty big difference, again especially with fats, though you may not need to do that until you get closer to goal. I think people were assuming you weren't losing weight and therefore were underestimating your caloric intake. Honestly, you probably are (like nearly everyone, even registered dieticians in a study on calorie estimation), but if you are losing weight at a safe and reasonable level, it's not a big deal. It's when people start to stall or plateau that accuracy really counts.

Try increasing your fats and protein and see if the weight loss slows down. After the first couple of weeks, 1-2 lbs is considered safe, though with 100 lbs to lose you may be able to lose slightly faster without issues. If you are consistently losing 3-4 lb or even more per week, you need to keep adding calories, because you are right that too much of a calorie deficit can definitely do more harm than good.

Annie_01 wrote: »

aggelikik wrote: »

How come your profile says you need to lose more than 100 lbs but at the same time you are concerned you are not eating enough? These two together, they do not make sense. Is the profile wrong?

The more that someone weighs the more that it will take to fuel their body.

I am 200lbs...if I was only eating 1000 calories...that would not be enough. My BMR is over 1500.

I think that she is saying that since going Vegan that she is having a hard time reaching her calorie goals. The days that I eat mostly vegetables I do good to get in 800 calories. I am full but haven't met my calorie goal of 1600.

That was how I read it. I got so used to avoiding oils and restricting nuts to small portions when I was vegetarian (to make room for cheese and ice cream, lol) that when I stopped eating dairy my fat intake dropped like a stone. The volume of food went up, but calories went way down.

Now that I have increased oils and nuts, my calories tend to hover between 1600-2000 depending on my activity level and hunger. I can't remember the last time (not including being sick) that my calories were below 1200.