Making yourself eat when you just aren't hungry?

Dawn410
Dawn410 Posts: 120 Member
edited 1:44AM in Food and Nutrition
I usually have an appetite like a line backer. A week ago I came down with the flu, i was really sick. No GI issues, but despite that, I have had no appetite for 8 days now. I have been living on between 200 and 600 calories a day. I've been feeling better for 3 days but i just can't eat. I have a few bites of yogurt and I'm stuffed. I don't want to add in high calorie junk to upp my calories, because then I will go right back to eating unhealthy all the time, but I also know how unhealthy low calorie intake can be. I have been working hard with a trainer for months and I don't want to undo all the strength I've built.

Any tips for making yourself take in food when your body is telling you not to? Any healthy higher calorie foods you recommend?

Thanks.

Replies

  • Dawn410
    Dawn410 Posts: 120 Member
    Anyone? It's really starting to worry me. I miss having some appetite!
  • Asher_Ethan
    Asher_Ethan Posts: 2,430 Member
    Drinking a cocacola always makes me feel better after I've been sick.
    How accurate are you with your logging? You might be hitting your 1200 and not even realize it. In your diary I notice a couple generic entries and it looks like you really didn't start logging until a couple days ago.
  • kk_inprogress
    kk_inprogress Posts: 3,077 Member
    Nothing wrong with being low a few days while you're not feeling well. If you're having a hard time, try calorie dense foods that you don't have to eat a lot of, like peanut butter or trail mix.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited October 2015
    kkenseth wrote: »
    Nothing wrong with being low a few days while you're not feeling well.

    This. If you are feeling better but the appetite isn't returning, you might want to let your doctor know.

    Last time I was sick all I wanted to eat was oatmeal -- combination of bland, comforting, and easy, I think. I added protein powder to keep my protein up and berries and just went with it. I did try to eat a little something at usual mealtimes because I figured it would help me recover.

    Soup always seems appealing when I'm sick too.
  • rockmama72
    rockmama72 Posts: 815 Member
    edited October 2015
    I'm gonna be honest... I'd deal with it, enjoy a little dip on the scale, and know that it won't last forever. A week or two really won't do much damage.

    A focus on protein, fats (for satiety and calories) and produce (vitamins for healing) will help you get back to normal!
  • dawnmcneil10
    dawnmcneil10 Posts: 638 Member
    I just went through a similar experience. What I discovered was once I started to feel like eating again I didn't want the same foods as before I was sick. Try different foods, if you ate fruit and yogurt before being sick and it doesn't have much appeal now try something like an apple with peanut butter or maybe a slice of string cheese wrapped in sandwich meat. It might also help to just take a few bites here and there, make up a container of finger foods, hard boiled egg, diced meat/cheese, grapes, veggie sticks, crackers and just pick throughout the day. You'll get back your appetite eventually just remember you need to fuel your workouts so if you're not eating share that with your trainer, they need to know that.
  • extra_medium
    extra_medium Posts: 1,525 Member
    Your appetite will come back - you said it was a bad flu and you've only been feeling better for a few days. But if you want to pack in some calories try a few tablespoons of peanut butter throughout the day.
  • SueInAz
    SueInAz Posts: 6,592 Member
    Your appetite will return eventually and possibly with a vengeance once it does, especially if you've been eating almost nothing. Keep in mind, too, that it's always nice to see a dip in the scale from periods like this but most of that lost weight is going to be water and muscle, not the things you necessarily want to lose.

    When I get sick, especially if there's nausea involved, it ends up being a vicious cycle. I don't feel like eating and then because I'm not eating I feel worse and so I don't feel like eating... and so on. I find when I'm feeling like that it's better for me to drink my calories than eat them. Ginger ale, a smoothie or a protein drink usually makes me feel much better.
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