Not eating enough.. HELP
Options
Replies
-
singingflutelady wrote: »maura_tasi wrote: »Sijomial--You don't have to overeat to gain excess weight. Undereating will do it as well. I gained my weight while undereating. Body goes into starvation mode and metabolism gets completely screwed. Body saves every bit of anything it gets as fat. It took me 6 months of planning, alarm-setting, and forcing food down my throat to lose 25 pounds and get the metabolism turned back around.
I have to say I don't agree with this. If this was the case, people who suffer from anorexia would not be losing weight in a rapid and unsafe manner. If you're constantly eating a very low calorie diet you will lose weight. Starvation mode is not real.
This type of response is one of the problems... Anorexia does not require rapid and unsafe weight loss. What many people don't realize is that the anorexia most people associate with the term is actually more "end stage" anorexia nervosa. Exceptional weight loss, frail bodies, metabolizing your own organs, even a traditional "VLCD" are not required diagnostic criteria for anorexia nervosa in general.
What *is* required is the deliberate avoidance of eating and a fear of gaining weight. Putting to practice behaviors that will encourage a person to ignore hunger impulses, such as excessively drinking water or eating "filling" foods to avoid calories in a way that would put a person under a nutritionally-sound level. Experiencing high anxiety levels when a person exceeds calorie goals or eats "unhealthy" foods is another part of it.
Anorexia as a term is a medical condition that means "without appetite" and thus, a person can have anorexia medically without having anorexia nervosa as well. People dealing with anorexia will not want to eat because they simply do not have an appetite... This can be caused by medications, lifestyle, food availability, and more. This is the primary mechanism behind many weight loss prescriptions... medically-induced anorexia. It's also one of the mechanisms of weight loss surgery for many in the first 1-2 years due to reduced grehlin production after the alteration of the stomach. This type of anorexia can be generally overcome with feeding schedules, training and concerted effort, sometimes requiring a dietitian.
It is when anorexia is caused by psychological complications that it becomes anorexia nervosa. Psychological denial of hunger is a totally different matter, and can happen at any weight, body size, lifestyle... Low body weight was dropped as a diagnostic criteria a long time ago. Someone suffering from anorexia nervosa that is overweight may see an initial weight drop off but it is pretty common for them to then experience thermogenesis stalls and other complications... They don't go from fat to skinny in a matter of months on a consistent downward trajectory. It tends to take a long time for an obese anorexia patient to look anorexic, but that doesn't mean they aren't suffering from the condition.
Anorexia, both medical and psychological, is a complex condition and I really wish more people would educate themselves before trying to speak to it... Especially those that speak in the same breath about low body weights and starvation being "not a thing" because I promise you, starvation can and does happen. Perpetuating the idea that you don't have to worry about starvation is harmful when a person is speaking to a consistent habit that aligns with an eating disorder. Of all situations that could actually lead to starvation complications, eating disorders are certainly one of them.
And as someone posted before me, you can starve 3/4 of a month but then binge the other days, and gain... and the worst part of this is when your metabolic process is adapted to compensate for your starving days. You will indeed gain weight, while exhibiting starvation symptoms and meeting the diagnostic criteria for ED. That's exactly what happened to me... And I had to fight for 7-8 years to get a doctor that stopped assuming I was lying based on my fatness and actually did the tests that were needed to show the severe impact to my thyroid. I never want to see someone go through what I went through... It's important to be able to differentiate between someone who is impatient because they aren't losing fast enough and are blaming "starvation mode" and someone who is concerned about their starving because they know they are undereating and it's not safe.
If anything, we should be encouraging a healthy relationship with food and giving solid suggestions, not giving people reasons not to be concerned or to dismiss their worries about very real problems that could happen.
Great job explaining the psychological part of anorexia but in order for a formal diagnosis of anorexia nervosa to be made under DSM-5, low body weight is required.
You can be diagnosed with OSFED (atypical aneroxia) if at normal or higher weight.
https://www.eatingdisorders.org.au/eating-disorders/what-is-an-eating-disorder/classifying-eating-disorders/dsm-5
Or ED-NOS
EDNOS was under DSM 4. They changed it to OSFED in the 5th revision.
1 -
singingflutelady wrote: »maura_tasi wrote: »Sijomial--You don't have to overeat to gain excess weight. Undereating will do it as well. I gained my weight while undereating. Body goes into starvation mode and metabolism gets completely screwed. Body saves every bit of anything it gets as fat. It took me 6 months of planning, alarm-setting, and forcing food down my throat to lose 25 pounds and get the metabolism turned back around.
I have to say I don't agree with this. If this was the case, people who suffer from anorexia would not be losing weight in a rapid and unsafe manner. If you're constantly eating a very low calorie diet you will lose weight. Starvation mode is not real.
This type of response is one of the problems... Anorexia does not require rapid and unsafe weight loss. What many people don't realize is that the anorexia most people associate with the term is actually more "end stage" anorexia nervosa. Exceptional weight loss, frail bodies, metabolizing your own organs, even a traditional "VLCD" are not required diagnostic criteria for anorexia nervosa in general.
What *is* required is the deliberate avoidance of eating and a fear of gaining weight. Putting to practice behaviors that will encourage a person to ignore hunger impulses, such as excessively drinking water or eating "filling" foods to avoid calories in a way that would put a person under a nutritionally-sound level. Experiencing high anxiety levels when a person exceeds calorie goals or eats "unhealthy" foods is another part of it.
Anorexia as a term is a medical condition that means "without appetite" and thus, a person can have anorexia medically without having anorexia nervosa as well. People dealing with anorexia will not want to eat because they simply do not have an appetite... This can be caused by medications, lifestyle, food availability, and more. This is the primary mechanism behind many weight loss prescriptions... medically-induced anorexia. It's also one of the mechanisms of weight loss surgery for many in the first 1-2 years due to reduced grehlin production after the alteration of the stomach. This type of anorexia can be generally overcome with feeding schedules, training and concerted effort, sometimes requiring a dietitian.
It is when anorexia is caused by psychological complications that it becomes anorexia nervosa. Psychological denial of hunger is a totally different matter, and can happen at any weight, body size, lifestyle... Low body weight was dropped as a diagnostic criteria a long time ago. Someone suffering from anorexia nervosa that is overweight may see an initial weight drop off but it is pretty common for them to then experience thermogenesis stalls and other complications... They don't go from fat to skinny in a matter of months on a consistent downward trajectory. It tends to take a long time for an obese anorexia patient to look anorexic, but that doesn't mean they aren't suffering from the condition.
Anorexia, both medical and psychological, is a complex condition and I really wish more people would educate themselves before trying to speak to it... Especially those that speak in the same breath about low body weights and starvation being "not a thing" because I promise you, starvation can and does happen. Perpetuating the idea that you don't have to worry about starvation is harmful when a person is speaking to a consistent habit that aligns with an eating disorder. Of all situations that could actually lead to starvation complications, eating disorders are certainly one of them.
And as someone posted before me, you can starve 3/4 of a month but then binge the other days, and gain... and the worst part of this is when your metabolic process is adapted to compensate for your starving days. You will indeed gain weight, while exhibiting starvation symptoms and meeting the diagnostic criteria for ED. That's exactly what happened to me... And I had to fight for 7-8 years to get a doctor that stopped assuming I was lying based on my fatness and actually did the tests that were needed to show the severe impact to my thyroid. I never want to see someone go through what I went through... It's important to be able to differentiate between someone who is impatient because they aren't losing fast enough and are blaming "starvation mode" and someone who is concerned about their starving because they know they are undereating and it's not safe.
If anything, we should be encouraging a healthy relationship with food and giving solid suggestions, not giving people reasons not to be concerned or to dismiss their worries about very real problems that could happen.
Great job explaining the psychological part of anorexia but in order for a formal diagnosis of anorexia nervosa to be made under DSM-5, low body weight is required.
You can be diagnosed with OSFED (atypical aneroxia) if at normal or higher weight.
https://www.eatingdisorders.org.au/eating-disorders/what-is-an-eating-disorder/classifying-eating-disorders/dsm-5
Or ED-NOS
EDNOS was under DSM 4. They changed it to OSFED in the 5th revision.
Oh ok0 -
-
maura_tasi wrote: »Sijomial--You don't have to overeat to gain excess weight. Undereating will do it as well. I gained my weight while undereating. Body goes into starvation mode and metabolism gets completely screwed. Body saves every bit of anything it gets as fat. It took me 6 months of planning, alarm-setting, and forcing food down my throat to lose 25 pounds and get the metabolism turned back around.
I have to say I don't agree with this. If this was the case, people who suffer from anorexia would not be losing weight in a rapid and unsafe manner. If you're constantly eating a very low calorie diet you will lose weight. Starvation mode is not real.
This type of response is one of the problems... Anorexia does not require rapid and unsafe weight loss. What many people don't realize is that the anorexia most people associate with the term is actually more "end stage" anorexia nervosa. Exceptional weight loss, frail bodies, metabolizing your own organs, even a traditional "VLCD" are not required diagnostic criteria for anorexia nervosa in general.
What *is* required is the deliberate avoidance of eating and a fear of gaining weight. Putting to practice behaviors that will encourage a person to ignore hunger impulses, such as excessively drinking water or eating "filling" foods to avoid calories in a way that would put a person under a nutritionally-sound level. Experiencing high anxiety levels when a person exceeds calorie goals or eats "unhealthy" foods is another part of it.
Anorexia as a term is a medical condition that means "without appetite" and thus, a person can have anorexia medically without having anorexia nervosa as well. People dealing with anorexia will not want to eat because they simply do not have an appetite... This can be caused by medications, lifestyle, food availability, and more. This is the primary mechanism behind many weight loss prescriptions... medically-induced anorexia. It's also one of the mechanisms of weight loss surgery for many in the first 1-2 years due to reduced grehlin production after the alteration of the stomach. This type of anorexia can be generally overcome with feeding schedules, training and concerted effort, sometimes requiring a dietitian.
It is when anorexia is caused by psychological complications that it becomes anorexia nervosa. Psychological denial of hunger is a totally different matter, and can happen at any weight, body size, lifestyle... Low body weight was dropped as a diagnostic criteria a long time ago. Someone suffering from anorexia nervosa that is overweight may see an initial weight drop off but it is pretty common for them to then experience thermogenesis stalls and other complications... They don't go from fat to skinny in a matter of months on a consistent downward trajectory. It tends to take a long time for an obese anorexia patient to look anorexic, but that doesn't mean they aren't suffering from the condition.
Anorexia, both medical and psychological, is a complex condition and I really wish more people would educate themselves before trying to speak to it... Especially those that speak in the same breath about low body weights and starvation being "not a thing" because I promise you, starvation can and does happen. Perpetuating the idea that you don't have to worry about starvation is harmful when a person is speaking to a consistent habit that aligns with an eating disorder. Of all situations that could actually lead to starvation complications, eating disorders are certainly one of them.
And as someone posted before me, you can starve 3/4 of a month but then binge the other days, and gain... and the worst part of this is when your metabolic process is adapted to compensate for your starving days. You will indeed gain weight, while exhibiting starvation symptoms and meeting the diagnostic criteria for ED. That's exactly what happened to me... And I had to fight for 7-8 years to get a doctor that stopped assuming I was lying based on my fatness and actually did the tests that were needed to show the severe impact to my thyroid. I never want to see someone go through what I went through... It's important to be able to differentiate between someone who is impatient because they aren't losing fast enough and are blaming "starvation mode" and someone who is concerned about their starving because they know they are undereating and it's not safe.
If anything, we should be encouraging a healthy relationship with food and giving solid suggestions, not giving people reasons not to be concerned or to dismiss their worries about very real problems that could happen.
I apologize if my post was poor wording, I was using the diagnosis criteria listed in the DSM-5, which includes being underweight as one of the symptoms to be diagnosed. I understand that one can experience internal damages, without displaying a low weight but that would typically be classified as OSFED. I really do apologize if my wording offended anyone. I was just using my knowledge of the DSM-5 and my university studies and probably should have emphasized what I meant in a better way.0 -
I found out today as I entered my food that I was not eating enough. I ate breakfast, lunch and a snack and when I got home I still had 600 calories to eat! I was surprised.0
-
-
I just recently started making it a goal to eat more (after the trainer at the gym shamed me).. and quite frankly I hate it. Once I get up to 1000 calories (and yes, I am meticulous with the counts).. I just feel tired, sluggish and overly full all the time. Hopefully it's just an adjustment period. I was never hungry at 700, so at 1200 I just feel gross.11
-
Andizaleski5 wrote: »I just recently started making it a goal to eat more (after the trainer at the gym shamed me).. and quite frankly I hate it. Once I get up to 1000 calories (and yes, I am meticulous with the counts).. I just feel tired, sluggish and overly full all the time. Hopefully it's just an adjustment period. I was never hungry at 700, so at 1200 I just feel gross.
This is not normal unless you are under 4 feet tall! 700-1000 calories daily is not enough--especially if you are working out too.
5 -
lucerorojo wrote: »Andizaleski5 wrote: »I just recently started making it a goal to eat more (after the trainer at the gym shamed me).. and quite frankly I hate it. Once I get up to 1000 calories (and yes, I am meticulous with the counts).. I just feel tired, sluggish and overly full all the time. Hopefully it's just an adjustment period. I was never hungry at 700, so at 1200 I just feel gross.
This is not normal unless you are under 4 feet tall! 700-1000 calories daily is not enough--especially if you are working out too.
I'm 5'5. I realize that.. working on it. Just feeling whiny while I do it ^_^1 -
MsBecca22, I know what you mean. I struggle to eat 1200/day, and preplanning is not the answer. I preplan for the entire week, cook the food on Sunday, pack the bag for lunches and snacks every day, go to work with the full lunch/snack bag...and come home with the full lunch/snack bag. It just doesn't cross my mind to eat.
Try putting an alarm on your phone to reach into your bag and eat SOMETHING you preplanned every 3 hours. At this point, my goal is to simply go home three days a week with an empty lunch bag!
Are you putting tasty food in your lunch bag? How could you not want to eat it? Is your work that interesting that you forget?
The only thing I "forget" to eat is hummus. I had been eating it over the summer because I thought it was "healthy" with some crudites, but honestly don't like it that much. I'd pack hummus and celery and carrots for a snack and 50% of the time bring it home. Now I have several cups of hummus in my refrigerator--I'm not motivated to eat it because I don't like it much. (I will just give it up entirely--even if it means monitoring the snacks I DO like more)
ETA: So in the spirit of being helpful, my recommendation would be for your food this week (or next if you've already planned) to pick two of your FAVORITE dishes to make. Also find two more that look really interesting that you think you would eat--base your meals around these four dishes. You can make two lunches and two dinners from each. Also, for breakfast, think about your favorite breakfasts. Eat one or two at least that week. You can easily add calories to breakfast, by adding a meat if you don't have one already (and if you are not a vegan/veg). You could also add an egg. People have mentioned the nut butters. Fresh jams on your toast and/or a serving of fruit.
For snacks get some trail mix. With the nuts and dried fruit you can get some fast and easy calories that will not fill you up.1 -
Christine_72 wrote: »
I'd be starving to death after barely eating all day...0 -
TavistockToad wrote: »Christine_72 wrote: »
I'd be starving to death after barely eating all day...
600 calories left for dinner seems about perfect to me.1 -
kellyjellybellyjelly wrote: »I never get these kind of threads,who has trouble eating 1200 calories?!?! I could maybe see if you're sick or something but I just don't understand otherwise
I always wonder if most of the people who can't eat up to a certain calorie point are underestimating how many calories they're eating & eating way more than they think.
I am eating a 1000-1200 calorie diet to lose weight and I do occasionally have trouble meeting the calories. I track, weigh, measure etc. so I know I am eating what I should be eating, but find that there are times I have not met my calories for the day, and I am not hungry. Now, it is usually only 100-200 calories off, so I try to add something but it is hard when you aren't hungry. I attribute it to the foods I eat during the day as I eat a lot of veggies, fruits and lean meats so I think that I feel satisfied I just haven't met my goal.
What I have started doing is pre-planning and tracking everything early in the day to see where I am calorie wise, and then I can add things to make sure I meet the goal. My weight loss is better is I eat my calories than if I fall short. Hope this helps!2 -
Add healthy fats to your diet. ..olive oil, avocados, nuts, eggs....full fat yogurts. 1000 calories is way too low. Eat for your health, not just for weight loss0
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 392.1K Introduce Yourself
- 43.6K Getting Started
- 259.9K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.7K Food and Nutrition
- 47.4K Recipes
- 232.3K Fitness and Exercise
- 403 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.4K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 152.8K Motivation and Support
- 7.9K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.4K MyFitnessPal Information
- 23 News and Announcements
- 999 Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.4K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions