I don't feel like eating

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spacingout
spacingout Posts: 54 Member
in Getting Started
Hello,

I'm new here and I've been trying really hard to eat but because of the medications I take, it's a struggle and it's been this way for some time. I have no desire to eat and feel nauseous before and after eating whole foods until around night time when my medications typically wear off. I have 100+ to lose and I know this isn't good for my metabolism. I can handle liquid meals or meal bars right now.

I want to make sure I'm doing this properly. I just can't seem to fill up my food diary without getting a message saying that I'm not eating enough. Last night I felt some forced to eat a Lean Cuisine and fiber one bars to use up my calories so that message from NIH saying I was not eating enough would go away. I still ended up with over 1,000 calories to use and my recommended sugar went over a bit.

Thanks :)

P.S. I purchased a premium account here last night. I'm a little confused because it's letting me put in percentages or grams for carbs, fats and protein. The default was 50% carbs, 20% fat, and 30% fat (I think?). I played around with it because it didn't seem right. Why more carbs than protein?

Right now, it looks like this:

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I haven't seen a dietitian or even a doctor yet (that will be on the 3rd) but since I'm in the 100+ club, are there recommended goals as far as nutrients go? I noticed you can customize others (like sugar, sodium, etc.) as well.

Thank you.

Replies

  • CasperNaegle
    CasperNaegle Posts: 936 Member
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    First off it doesn't honestly matter when you eat.. your body processes proteins, carbs, and fats the same no matter what. If you are exercising you do want to feed your body before and after with protein. I'd start with about 1.2 grams of protein per pound, fat between .2 to .4 probably closer to .4 with 100 pounds to loose. Then around 1 gram of carbs per pound. I'd adjust from there based on what you see happening. Exercise is important to keep muscle and build while you lose.
  • AnnikaViking
    AnnikaViking Posts: 7 Member
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    I wouldn't get too fixated on your macros just yet. I agree with Casper above here and start with a protein intake around 1.2 gr per pound.
    The default carb of 50% is because you can eat a lot of carby food and still be pretty low on carbs, assuming you eat the right carbs. Pasta, white rice and wheat will add up carbs very quickly. Vegetables with less starch (think anything that grows above the surface on the earth) are low in kcal and you can eat loaaaaads of them without getting much kcal from them.
    In your case tho, as you are struggeling to eat, I'd focus on protein and total kcal intake. Snack on nuts (including peanut or other nutty butters), seeds and beans. They are hight in protein, high in kcal and easy to eat. a favourite of mine is roasted chick peas. Takes 30 min to make. Throw them in the oven on high heat, season with whatever you like and keep stirring them every 5 min or so until they start to crisp up. Way better than crists and packed with goodness!
    Are you keen on shakes and smoothies? Try making some with nut butters, whatever veg you like. Add banana to make it thicker and berries for flavour. Be careful with fruits as they are high in sugar, since you are already a bit over on this.

    Dont stress too much, try and see what you like. Play around with flavours and textures and think quality :)

    Ps. My way of adding up those last kcal after dinner, if I am still low; measure up peanut butter and mix with greek yoghurt. It's protein and good fats, low in sugar. And SUPER tasty!

    Good luck!
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    My dietitian is all over me to get my calories from real food but if your stomach is having trouble, go ahead and have a protein shake to get your calories up. Treat the bars and the shakes as backup, not your main source of nourishment.

    While my stomach was healing I called it my "six month old baby" and introduced it to soft foods slowly until it could tolerate new foods. I suggest something similar. During the day when your meds make you lose your appetite, eat small plates of calorie dense foods, slowly introducing new foods as it can tolerate. If you have a bad day not getting close to target, finish off the day with a protein shake.

    Good news, despite all the media and internet hype about not eating in the evening, your body doesn't really care when it gets it's calories and won't hinder your weight loss as long as you stay close to your daily calorie goal.
  • dredremeg
    dredremeg Posts: 202 Member
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    Since you can tolerate liquids try making protein shakes with peanut butter, almond or cashew milk or smoothies.
  • spacingout
    spacingout Posts: 54 Member
    edited August 2015
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    Thanks for the tips! I might try the smoothies idea. I have this amazing blender and never use it. Do you lose nutrients with smoothies though?
    jgnatca wrote: »
    Good news, despite all the media and internet hype about not eating in the evening, your body doesn't really care when it gets it's calories and won't hinder your weight loss as long as you stay close to your daily calorie goal.

    I feel like that would be debated everywhere. From past attempts at losing weight, it wasn't considered a good idea to eat everything at one time because it supposedly slowed your metabolism.
  • spacingout
    spacingout Posts: 54 Member
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    I still haven't eaten. I'm having a very stressful day on top of that. This day has been an epic fail already. :(

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