Advice please- not eating enough calories

Chunkahlunkah · February 2017

A suppressed appetite could be due to a variety of things. If it is in fact due to the food you're eating, you need to overhaul what you're eating.

A burger isn't unhealthy btw, even a 900 cal one. A day with that along with fruit/veg, your preferred starches (if any), and some leaner proteins (to comp for the saturated fat in the burger) is a healthy diet. I regularly eat like that and my blood work is really, really good. Try to rethink how you've labeled healthy and unhealthy foods. That mindset seems to be damaging your relationship with food.

wheninroam · February 2017

nutmegoreo wrote: »

wheninroam wrote: »

nutmegoreo wrote: »

How much weight have you lost during these three months? There are so many ways logging can be inaccurate including database entries and difficulties getting accurate calorie burns. If you're losing at the 1lb/week, I wouldn't mess with it. If you are losing faster, then increase your calories to match your goal rate. About 250 cals/day/0.5lb.

I've lost 8lbs so far. The last two weeks have been at a standstill.

So a bit slower that would be expected, assuming everything were completely accurate.

Have you been eyeballing foods, using a food scale to weigh things, using measuring cups, or going off package sizes for servings?

I have been using a food scale and using the packaged serving sizes for serving size/nutritional information. I think my logging has been as spot on as possible.

ActionAnnieJXN · February 2017

skinnyinnotime wrote: »

I.never undestand these posts. It's.not hard.to eat.1200'cals a day at all....yes, even in a healthy way

It's possible, of course, to lose one's appetite due to psychological trauma, grief, physical illness, etc., but when I see an overweight person who is actively seeking to reduce their weight and is unable to reach a minimum of 1200 calories, I generally assume that they have bought into some hard core "clean eating" propaganda and can't stuff enough twigs and seeds down their gullet to reach the minimum.

Or they are drinking Goo Tea from the Black Lagoon three times a day plus eating all the zucchini spirals and turmeric they want.

Or they have an eating disorder lurking just below the surface, whispering in their ear, "hey, look how incredibly dainty we are, we can't even eat 1200".

Anyway. Eat the kitteny burger. And some kittenish peanut butter on a nice ripe kitty cat banana. And a bowl of mamacat cherrios and kitty milk and be done with it. Or whatever you like that will fit into your day and your calorie limit! Boom..problem kitty cat solved. :-)

wheninroam · February 2017

AFGP11 wrote: »

Just looking at your diary for yesterday, it looks like you drank three of your meals and only ate a small something at dinner. You need to actually eat food. Protein shakes are not food. Can I ask if you have had disordered eating issues in the past? This is VERY restrictive and seems almost punishing. Are you afraid of cooking because you think adding oil and ingredients will raise the calories too much? A healthy diet would have a few meals that would each have protein, fat and fiber along with healthy carbs to give you an energy boost. Aim for 2-3 small meals and a few snacks per day. A healthy lunch might look like 3 oz grilled chicken, a small helping of veggies like broccoli or bell peppers and maybe a small sweet potato or piece of fruit. That right there is bigger than your dinners.

It seems like you are afraid to eat. I was like that at one time but it really worked against me. I lost muscle along with fat and though I lost 60 pounds, I had a higher percent of body fat at the end than when I started. Your body needs fuel.

Yesterday (and the day before for that matter) were terrible for me, I know that and MFP wouldn't even let me close it out per say. I wish you would have looked at another day! lol. I was was overbooked on decorating cakes and didn't even think of food. But that is my problem in general.. I don't really think of food or get much hunger pains. Probably due to my long-term bad habit of having just coffee for breakfast, occasionally something for lunch, and then dinner. I've been trying to change this (not that you can tell that from yesterday) and have been focused on getting something in me for breakfast/lunch as well as a protein shake after workout. Yesterday's protein shake came at 10pm when I realized I had barely eaten anything and had to get something in me.

I think my problem has been that I have been making the mistake of believing healthy=low calorie. So when I've been eating all of these low-calorie meals, I'm filled but not coming close to meeting my minimum calorie requirements.

Thank you for your insight:)

wheninroam · February 2017

Thank you for everyone's replies. They have been VERY helpful and insightful. I've apparently been focusing on low-calorie foods, thinking that was the way to go, and then of course being frustrated when I can't meet the minimum requirements. Seems so obvious now of course, but I had been in the mind set to avoid the burgers, opt for egg whites in order eat healthy. I've got the calorie dense list bookmarked and will certainly put in an effort for this week!

ActionAnnieJXN · February 2017

OP, it sounds like you are figuring things out nicely. Low calorie foods enable us to eat a greater quantity of food, but if that is not important to you or is even problematic on busy days, there is nothing wrong with eating more calorie dense foods instead, but merely in smaller portions. I've lost over 100 lbs eating mostly small portions of calorie dense foods myself. Good luck to you - you can get it worked out!

WinoGelato · February 2017

OP what you've described is very common. When people make up their mind to lose the weight and be healthy, and start logging foods on MFP, they get a bit of sticker shock if you will, at seeing how calorie dense some of their old favorites are. They cut out a lot of the foods they used to eat, or calorie dense sugary drinks, and start eating more nutrition dense foods which tend to fill them up for less calories. That's great, BUT...

It's also important to find a balance. Getting adequate calories is also important, to fuel busy lifestyles (sounds like you are a busy working mom) and exercise routines (sounds like you do that too). It's ok to eat a mix of foods, almost every food (even Johnny Rockets burgers) provides nutrition. Maybe a 950 cal burger can't fit every day, but a single with cheese could. Or if burgers sound good, make them at home for less calories. Look over the link of calorie dense foods posted above to find some quick wins of things to add to get you up to the minimum Cals (1200 NET is what you should be aiming for) but also just try to find a balance of foods that provide you nutrition, satiety, and enjoyment. Cutting everything out that you love in favor of low cal options is often not a sustainable long term solution. Most people here find their way to a balanced diet that includes those foods they love in moderation.

Good luck.

Advice please- not eating enough calories

Replies

Categories