Why do I have to eat more?

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staceyhoy
staceyhoy Posts: 5 Member
edited February 2016 in Food and Nutrition
I am allotted 1500 calories a day and adding extra calories for exercise I only ate about half. I tried to complete my food journal and was told to eat more calories. I ate tuna, yogurt, vegetables, a large vegetable smoothie...all very healthy but low calorie. I was totally full. Why do I have to make myself eat more when I'm not hungry? Isn't that what fot me into trouble in the first place?

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  • ClosetBayesian
    ClosetBayesian Posts: 836 Member
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    staceyhoy wrote: »
    I am allotted 1500 calories a day and adding extra calories for exercise I only ate about half. I tried to complete my food journal and was told to eat more calories. I ate tuna, yogurt, vegetables, a large vegetable smoothie...all very healthy but low calorie. I was totally full. Why do I have to make myself eat more when I'm not hungry? Isn't that what fot me into trouble in the first place?

    Yes to the bolded

    But

    Are you absolutely, positively sure of how much you are today? Weighed everything you ate (in grams, preferably)?
  • jacquifrench304
    jacquifrench304 Posts: 131 Member
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    One day or maybe two in a row of being under goal will not cause a problem , but after a few days of eating under your goal you will get hungry , when you do don't forget you have the extra ones you didn't eat today and enjoy them. If you aren't reaching your goal on more days than you do reach your goal or eat your extra banked calories on your hungry days chances are your body will be missing important nutrients that it needs , things like periods stop , hair can fall out , nails will break and your breath will be awful.
    Don't sweat a day or two under , but don't forget when you are Hungry (it will happen) that you have a buffer and use it !
  • staceyhoy
    staceyhoy Posts: 5 Member
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    I'm sure. I measured everything that wasn't prepackaged.
  • zira91
    zira91 Posts: 670 Member
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    Add ice cream to that and you can easily get 200+ of yummy cals added ...yum..
  • peterpreece
    peterpreece Posts: 2 Member
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    staceyhoy wrote: »
    I am allotted 1500 calories a day and adding extra calories for exercise I only ate about half. I tried to complete my food journal and was told to eat more calories. I ate tuna, yogurt, vegetables, a large vegetable smoothie...all very healthy but low calorie. I was totally full. Why do I have to make myself eat more when I'm not hungry? Isn't that what fot me into trouble in the first place?

    If you keep undereating to that degree for more than a few weeks, your body will lower it's BMR "basic metabolic rate" and start to expect less food, so metabolism will slow down to store the food. If you keep a constant higher supply combined with exercise then your BMR will stay higher.
  • jacquifrench304
    jacquifrench304 Posts: 131 Member
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    On weighing things I would suggest the pre packaged stuff too , some of it can be off by quite a bit , some folks in the U.S. Tell me they are allowed to be up to 10% over or under weight for each serve it all adds up
  • nutmegoreo
    nutmegoreo Posts: 15,532 Member
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    Only time it won't let you close your diary is if you have logged less than 1000 calories. If you aren't weighing all solids (including prepackaged, those can still be off considerably), you are likely eating more than you realize anyway. If you are exercising you should eat some of those calories as well, because you want to fuel your body. In the short term there may not be much damage, but after a while (days-weeks) you may feel lethargic, unable to concentrate, dizzy, plus more. If you continue past that point, you can start doing long-term damage through malnutrition.

    For one day, I wouldn't worry about it, but maybe plan tomorrow a bit better so that you are getting as close to that 1500 as possible plus 50% of exercise calories. 50% because the program tends to overestimate calorie burns. Give it some time (several weeks) and revaluate your progress. Are you seeing the losses you expected? Too much loss, increase your calories. Not enough loss, decrease your calories.

    Your body can only burn so much from fat reserves and will use muscle beyond that point, so 2lb/week is maximum to aim for. Weight loss should decrease as you get closer to your goal weight, to help preserve your muscle mass, and to help with transition into maintenance.

    Best of luck! There are some great threads stickied at the top of the getting started and general diet forums called Most Helpful Posts (each forum has different posts linked). These have some fabulous information in them.
  • Phrick
    Phrick Posts: 2,765 Member
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    jacquifrench304 wrote: »
    On weighing things I would suggest the pre packaged stuff too , some of it can be off by quite a bit , some folks in the U.S. Tell me they are allowed to be up to 10% over or under weight for each serve it all adds up

    actually the FDA allows 20% +/-, and I get why but it does make things frustrating sometimes. I used to eat a particular brand of pepperoni stick that said the serving size was 42 grams - in probably 18 months of eating them I never had a singe one come in under 45 grams and most of them were higher (often above 50g). On the other hand the protein bars I ate frequently short-change you on grams the majority of the time. In the end they probably cancel each other out but whatever, it's still irksome.
  • CassidyScaglione
    CassidyScaglione Posts: 673 Member
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    Like, a handful of peanuts would fix your problem. Meeting cals is hard because you are eating low cal foods only, then supplement with a few calorie dense foods to make it up. Put sesame, or flax in your tuna, put some nut butter on your toast, switch to 2% dairy or higher.
  • stmokomoko
    stmokomoko Posts: 98 Member
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    CassidyScaglione wrote: »
    Like, a handful of peanuts would fix your problem. Meeting cals is hard because you are eating low cal foods only,

    Yeah, I have the same issue as the OP.

    Tuna/chicken fills me up so much that I could eat a can of it at lunch and be okay until bed time, even if I do circuit training. According to my original calculations, I'm allowed 1380 calories, but when I eat chicken/tuna with a salad on the same day, I'd be so full at around 800-1000 calories.

    I guess I was just used to eating fast food with easy calories that don't fill me up.

  • CassidyScaglione
    CassidyScaglione Posts: 673 Member
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    @stmokomoko

    I have pretty much the exact opposite problem. I love spices, nuts, seeds,etc. Add them to everything when cooking, and because they are very nutrient dense calories add up fast! I wind up eating much smaller portions than what I am used too. Now I normally have a veggie salad of some kind that I can eat in addition to whatever that is more filling.

    You and OP can do something similar but in the opposite direction and meet calories easily.
  • Michael190lbs
    Michael190lbs Posts: 1,510 Member
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    This is why I do weekly calories and daily Macro's Two days a week I'm so busy I barely hit 1000 calories after workout calories calculated but the other 5 days I'll be in the 3000 range and holding Maintenance for 6 months
  • toe1226
    toe1226 Posts: 249 Member
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    Who told you to eat more? You don't HAVE to do anything, including eating when you're not hungry. A lot of people on this site watch 19 yo girl after 19 yo girl try to lose weight quick on an 1100 calorie diet, it makes people quick to say "you need to eat more" - and sometimes you do. But if you're fulfilling your human nutrition requirements adequately, the numbers are up to you.
  • Therealobi1
    Therealobi1 Posts: 3,262 Member
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    that is very low if accurate
    under eating in my opinion is just as bad as over eating.
    be careful in your quest to lose weight. I have seen posts in the past of people with hair loss, loss of periods, bad skin etc which in the end is as a result of under eating.
  • Therealobi1
    Therealobi1 Posts: 3,262 Member
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    toe1226 wrote: »
    Who told you to eat more? You don't HAVE to do anything, including eating when you're not hungry. A lot of people on this site watch 19 yo girl after 19 yo girl try to lose weight quick on an 1100 calorie diet, it makes people quick to say "you need to eat more" - and sometimes you do. But if you're fulfilling your human nutrition requirements adequately, the numbers are up to you.

    and some of those 19year girls will wonder why their hair is falling out, loss of periods after long time at very low intake.

    also we are not even talking 1100 here, OP is saying half of her 1500 intake and is even exercising
  • Rocknut53
    Rocknut53 Posts: 1,794 Member
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    toe1226 wrote: »
    Who told you to eat more? You don't HAVE to do anything, including eating when you're not hungry. A lot of people on this site watch 19 yo girl after 19 yo girl try to lose weight quick on an 1100 calorie diet, it makes people quick to say "you need to eat more" - and sometimes you do. But if you're fulfilling your human nutrition requirements adequately, the numbers are up to you.

    ^^This^^
    I'm like you, some days I eat under because I'm just not hungry, even after exercise, or especially after exercise. I don't eat back all my exercise calories due to the possibility of inaccuracies in calories in and out.
  • MKEgal
    MKEgal Posts: 3,250 Member
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    If you're a woman of average height, you should have at least 1200 cal/day to be sure you get all the nutrients
    you need to stay healthy. If you're shorter, or elderly, or your doctor says it's OK, you could go lower.

    +1 to using more calorie-dense foods.
    Full-fat dairy, nuts, fatty fish, avocado, pasta, legumes.
    And ignore the estimate MFP gives you for exercise calories, just aim for your healthy calorie goal.
    Most machines overestimate calories burned. If you're losing weight too fast, add some back in.

    The last link in the first section of this blog post about goal setting (including weight, calories, and macros)
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/MKEgal/view/2014-06-08-setting-goals-667045
    is to a calculator which can help you estimate a reasonable calorie goal, as well as servings of the food groups.
    Other useful links / info there, too.
  • nutmegoreo
    nutmegoreo Posts: 15,532 Member
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    toe1226 wrote: »
    Who told you to eat more? You don't HAVE to do anything, including eating when you're not hungry. A lot of people on this site watch 19 yo girl after 19 yo girl try to lose weight quick on an 1100 calorie diet, it makes people quick to say "you need to eat more" - and sometimes you do. But if you're fulfilling your human nutrition requirements adequately, the numbers are up to you.

    If it's the program telling her that she needs to eat more, it's because she is under 1000 cals for the day. If it's a one-off so be it, but it is very difficult to obtain all necessary nutrients at this calorie level.
  • tonyrosen
    tonyrosen Posts: 5 Member
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    If you're counting on calories from a high vegetable diet, you may be disappointed in how many calories you take in. I stopped counting them altogether, and eat green veggies as "free" (I don't even log them any more). I also tend to eat more veggies, since I'm ignoring how many I eat. Most veggies are "negative" anyway (if they're green).

    Eat. More. Protein. Your calories will go up - but, then you definitely have to watch the fat.

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