Do you ever have to make yourself eat?

YES! there are times when I am not hungry at all... AND I do mean 'not at all' through the entire day. Then there are those days where I can eat the entire house.

One last thing, we know this woman has a hard time eating her calories, people keep on telling her to eat more. She has been on this site, for about a month, and lost 11lbs. That throws what most of the people are saying in the garbage. I quote myself "common sense" :-D

There's more people on this site that eat their calories and then some and still lose. I generally eat all my calories allowed and sometimes dip into my exercise calories. Your way may work for you but it's not healthy. I'm sure this woman and other people with COMMON SENSE (as you call it) will see that the healthy way isn't to starve yourself but to nourish your body and fuel it up so that you can continue working out to the best of your body's' ability. You may love to feel sluggish and slow (yet lose weight) but I think there are a lot more people who would rather feel happy, healthy and energized. Gotta put fuel in that car to make it run

This goes to both of the ladies post, the one I am quoting and the other one who mentioned "running on fumes if you want to run out of gas." Not once have i mentioned "starving yourself." I haven't mentioned "my ways" of eating. Both of you use the car analogy and the gas. What you're "actually doing" is putting gas in the tank when it's already full. You are NOT RUNNING ON EMPTY, trust me. WHat happens when people eat a big meal, think of the "crash hour" at lunch time. There is a difference between eating more and eating. I never said "don't eat" and I never said "eat more" or "eat less". Eating increases insulin which in turn will store bodyfat if the muscles are full of glyocgen. EATING PREVENTS you from losing fat. Eating also triggers the PNS(parasympathetic nervous system) what this does it slows down your body, makes you tired and lethargic. We have all ate a big meal and just felt very tired and relaxed this is the PNS in action. If you don't eat such a big meal yes, the PNS isn't triggered as much but this doesn't mean it's not triggered it's still triggered every time you eat. I personally don't eat during the day and eat at night time. when I "WANT TO FEEL TIRED." During the day, since I am not eating the opposite effects occurs, it gives you adrenaline and GH secretions. Which keeps you energize and alert and it also preserves muscle tissue. Also this lowers your insulin level which increase glucagon once your glucose level goes below 70. What this does it "liberates fat." You can't pull this off eating 6 times a day.

Does this mean you can't lose weight eating 6 times a day? NO, you can lose weight as long as you're in a caloric deficit. There are times when it's necessary to eat more for maximum performance and results, but this woman doesn't fall in to this category.

thanks for sharing those links. i USED to eat when I was hungry, just as my granny taught me. But then I started reading this and that, and started to believe I was supposed to eat every two or three hours. Well, sometimes, most times, I am not hungry. Needless to say, I feel like a glutton, a pig, and just plain old greedy. I do find some truth in what everyone is saying on MFP. There is a certain amount of truth in everything that is spoken, we just have to pick the meat from the bones.

Because of my eating and eating, sometimes my appetite is so big that I am constantly running to the kitchen.

So much to learn.

Anyway, thanks for the links!

I agree, there is some truth in everything, but it's highly misinterpreted. Like in your situation, you know when to eat your body will tell you. This goes back to the old saying "listen to your body" if people aren't hungry they shouldn't eat, if they are hungry they should eat.

There's just no reasoning with you is there? Who are you helping here? Are you doing this just for kicks? People ended up on this site for a reason - usually bad eating and exercise habits. Before I even got any interest in health and fitness, I would listen to my body daily. It would say "i want a banana nut bread". "i want to eat a box of mac and cheese". "oh i'm gonna be healthy today and eat a salad". "oh i was healthy yesterday so today i'll eat a cheesesteak". Guess what happened? I was getting fatter and fatter. Nobody held me down and force-fed me. What happened to you down in Mexico? Did the Federales hold a gun to your head and force you to eat? Was you body saying to stop eating but you kept forcing yourself to? \

Overeating is easy to do when you haven't got a clue. And so is undereating. After months or years of bad habits, sometimes our bodies don't know how to give the right signals any more. There are people on this site who eat a net of 0 to 800 calories a day. Every day. After a while these people's hunger signals are messed up. If they suddenly eat a "normal" amount one day, they'll feel stuffed. Getting out of that situation is a process. It takes some gradual adjusting. Often there's an eating disorder involved. This is even harder to get out of than a "bad habit". Sometimes a bad habit can lead to an eating disorder. And what do you do? You encourage the bad habits and disorders. Do you really think you're helping anyone here?

This chronic under-eating thing seems to be the #1 issue that people have on this site. Some of these people have serious food issues - guilt, binging, purging, anorexia, and need some good guidance. You are doing harm to ones unfortunate enough to take your advice to heart.

Dozens of people have tried to reason with you in prior threads and have gotten nowhere. I don't even know why I'm still typing.

"If your hungry eat. If you're not hungry don't eat" sounds like great advice, and for most people on earth it probably is. But the people on this site don't represent an even sample of "most people on earth". The majority are here to lose weight, and the majority gained their weight by eating according to their intuition. When we "graduate" from here, with all new habits ingrained into our brains and bodies, then we can eat intuitively and it will be healthy. So basically the people that your message is for are not the people who are in this community.

What else can I say? This is all COMMON SENSE, no?

thanks for sharing those links. i USED to eat when I was hungry, just as my granny taught me. But then I started reading this and that, and started to believe I was supposed to eat every two or three hours. Well, sometimes, most times, I am not hungry. Needless to say, I feel like a glutton, a pig, and just plain old greedy. I do find some truth in what everyone is saying on MFP. There is a certain amount of truth in everything that is spoken, we just have to pick the meat from the bones.

Because of my eating and eating, sometimes my appetite is so big that I am constantly running to the kitchen.

So much to learn.

Anyway, thanks for the links!

I agree, there is some truth in everything, but it's highly misinterpreted. Like in your situation, you know when to eat your body will tell you. This goes back to the old saying "listen to your body" if people aren't hungry they shouldn't eat, if they are hungry they should eat.

There's just no reasoning with you is there? Who are you helping here? Are you doing this just for kicks? People ended up on this site for a reason - usually bad eating and exercise habits. Before I even got any interest in health and fitness, I would listen to my body daily. It would say "i want a banana nut bread". "i want to eat a box of mac and cheese". "oh i'm gonna be healthy today and eat a salad". "oh i was healthy yesterday so today i'll eat a cheesesteak". Guess what happened? I was getting fatter and fatter. Nobody held me down and force-fed me. What happened to you down in Mexico? Did the Federales hold a gun to your head and force you to eat? Was you body saying to stop eating but you kept forcing yourself to? \

Overeating is easy to do when you haven't got a clue. And so is undereating. After months or years of bad habits, sometimes our bodies don't know how to give the right signals any more. There are people on this site who eat a net of 0 to 800 calories a day. Every day. After a while these people's hunger signals are messed up. If they suddenly eat a "normal" amount one day, they'll feel stuffed. Getting out of that situation is a process. It takes some gradual adjusting. Often there's an eating disorder involved. This is even harder to get out of than a "bad habit". Sometimes a bad habit can lead to an eating disorder. And what do you do? You encourage the bad habits and disorders. Do you really think you're helping anyone here?

This chronic under-eating thing seems to be the #1 issue that people have on this site. Some of these people have serious food issues - guilt, binging, purging, anorexia, and need some good guidance. You are doing harm to ones unfortunate enough to take your advice to heart.

Dozens of people have tried to reason with you in prior threads and have gotten nowhere. I don't even know why I'm still typing.

"If your hungry eat. If you're not hungry don't eat" sounds like great advice, and for most people on earth it probably is. But the people on this site don't represent an even sample of "most people on earth". The majority are here to lose weight, and the majority gained their weight by eating according to their intuition. When we "graduate" from here, with all new habits ingrained into our brains and bodies, then we can eat intuitively and it will be healthy. So basically the people that your message is for are not the people who are in this community.

What else can I say? This is all COMMON SENSE, no?

The thing isn't necessarily about "good or bad advice" The other advice is fine, it "can" result in weight loss. I don't think the signal can be misinterpreted, we just ignore it. Most of us on here have stuffed our face at one time or another and we knew we shouldn't be doing it. I honestly don't see any benefit of this person eating more. As she lose weight, she will eat closer to her AMR. I know her metabolism is suppressed no question about that I am sure we all agree on that. She is losing weight, she's getting results with her suppressed metabolism. As she improves her fitness and loses weight she will eventually need more calories. At this time it's not needed. We don't know what her "ACTUAL" BMR is, her metabolism might be so suppressed it's at 1000 calories a day. Does she even exercise? we don't know. There are many factors to take in to consideration. People that just randomly say "eat more" with out thinking of the possible consequences, that's what bothers me. It's common sense the more she eats the less the caloric deficit. This can slow down her progress.

Asmcriminal, you tout your "3 weeks I lost 18 lbs" as your proof that whatever noodling around you're doing is working, but as I recall, last week you kept spouting "in 2 weeks I lost 20 lbs" as your proof.

Not that I am a Nobel laureate in mathematics, but that would imply to me that you gained 2 lbs in the past week. See what I'm getting at here?

I've also seen you say on other threads that PTs aren't nutritionists so don't listen to them. I would conjecture that you are even FURTHER from a nutritionist than a Licensed PT.

Though I may not agree with everything asmcriminal says...he does have a right to say it. I think several people on this site are being really negative. Look this is not a one size (no pun intended) or one formula works for everyone type of thing. Weight loss is not easy-if it were we wouldn't be the fattest nation in the world. I think programs like Weight Watchers and MFP are great especially for people who need to learn healthy habits and portion control. However, these are not the only way to solve the problem of weight loss...

I haver a friend who just dropped 20 pounds and really doesn't eat much. She eats when hungry and definitely is well under 1200 cals a day. This works for her - she is a single mom with 2 boys and is extrmemely busy. She eats a little when hungry. She looks fantastic and is healthy because she eats veggies, fiber, and lean meats when hungry. The point is why would you eat if you are not hungry-you wouldn't take your car to the carwash if it wasn't dirty because that would be a waste of money.

I have struggled most of my adult life with weight. I weighed 200 in college and 230 (gaining 80 pounds with both of my pregnancies). I am currently 157lbs., 5"7', and a size 8. I am not done. When I am well under my 1450 cals a day, I lose weight. Some days I eat the MFP recommendations because life is about balance. The point is the media is constantly changing their recommendations on what is healthy-one day carbs are good, then they are bad, then healthy carbs-one day fat is bad, then healthy fats are good. The point is everyone is different, everyone's body chemistry and genetics are different. The bottom line is you need a calorie deficit to lose weight. I have to agree with asmcriminal.

Also, the theory about not eating enough to lose weight has been "blown out of the water" by anorexics, bullimics, gastric bypass patients, lap band surgery patients and anyone who has ever lost weight due to illness. I do not recommend these as ways to lose weight, but people do not gain weight who have any of these issues.

Just sayin'

The sky is purple. Look, I can misinform people on the internet too. How cool.

I'm going to step in here to point something out... I am the OP. I started this thread not looking for advice as to whether I should eat or not, but wondering how many people get in this same boat. Commiseration and support. NOT Advice.

I have a BS in Engineering, and 75% of the way to a MS in Engineering, pursuing a PhD before I'm done. I'm not stupid, I'm not easily influenced by random internet trolls. I know what I need to do, I didn't post for advice. So don't worry about what message I'm picking up from either side of the debate this thread has evolved into. It is entertaining, but it isn't going to effect my plan in the slightest.

Also, for the record, I got to this weight by leading an extraordinarily stressed life and giving less than zero consideration to myself in the process. I didn't pay any attention to when and what I ate, which has thrown my metabolism for a loop over the last 10 years. Recently things have calmed down a bit and I have been able to put more focus on myself and see exactly what I have been doing to my body. I've done my research, met with my doctors, and I know what I need to do. Right now I'm focusing on changing my mindset and habits so I can do it.

I apologized over PM for participating in the devolution of this thread. Just also wanted to do it out here in the open as well. Clearly the whole thread has gotten way off track from the original simple question. When I was referring to those with food issues, disorders, etc, I was speaking generally, and in no way meant to imply the OP had any disorder or issue.

My very first answer in this thread was the only one on topic. The rest were just me taking internet troll's bait. Sorry I was a part of it.

I'm going to step in here to point something out... I am the OP. I started this thread not looking for advice as to whether I should eat or not, but wondering how many people get in this same boat. Commiseration and support. NOT Advice.

I have a BS in Engineering, and 75% of the way to a MS in Engineering, pursuing a PhD before I'm done. I'm not stupid, I'm not easily influenced by random internet trolls. I know what I need to do, I didn't post for advice. So don't worry about what message I'm picking up from either side of the debate this thread has evolved into. It is entertaining, but it isn't going to effect my plan in the slightest.

Also, for the record, I got to this weight by leading an extraordinarily stressed life and giving less than zero consideration to myself in the process. I didn't pay any attention to when and what I ate, which has thrown my metabolism for a loop over the last 10 years. Recently things have calmed down a bit and I have been able to put more focus on myself and see exactly what I have been doing to my body. I've done my research, met with my doctors, and I know what I need to do. Right now I'm focusing on changing my mindset and habits so I can do it.

I apologize for contributing to hijacking your thread - it wasn't my intention at all. And while I'm glad you have the wisdom to understand that some strategies aren't healthy or safe, there are a lot of folks out there (especially lurkers) who aren't knowledgable enough about nutrition and weight loss to know who to listen to. So I don't like to stand idly by and let unsafe information be given without at least offering a different perspective and more complete info. Hope you can understand that. But again, sorry your thread went south.

As to your OP, I frequently have to make myself eat. I think part of why MFP is a great tool is that it can help you learn how to manage your intake, and what a healthy amount of healthy food is - and retrain your body/mind to function properly on it. I use MFP to help me keep on a schedule and eat when/what I should, whether I "feel like it", or not. Cause there are many days when I wouldn't eat at all, if it were left up to my appetite.

You might get something out of this post of mine -

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/175241-a-personal-view-on-exercise-cals-and-underfeeding

Congrats on starting the process, and good luck reaching your goals! :flowerforyou: