Cant eat all my calories

ckhoilan01
ckhoilan01 Posts: 3 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I intermittent fast doing 5 hours eating and 19 fasting, I weigh 287 (down 25 pounds from starting weight) so you would think eating would be the easy part for me....but after I eat my first meal I'm full for the rest of the day and its only 950 calories. I workout and do cardio as well.

Replies

  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    edited August 2018
    You are making eating less difficult on purpose. Why? If you want to lose weight, tighten up your logging, or extend your feeding window, whatever is the problem; do whatever makes it easier to eat enough, but still less than you burn, consistently, for real, and for a long time.
  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
    You chose the food that added up to 950. Choose food that has slightly more calories, add fats to the food that is already on your plate, and/or drink some juice. You don't have to eat specific kinds of food to lose weight. You can lose weight eating nothing but twinkies if you are in a calorie deficit.



  • hesn92
    hesn92 Posts: 5,966 Member
    So why are you intermittent fasting then?
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    How long have you been dieting? If you started very recently, it's very normal to go through a bit of a honeymoon period where you feel fine without eating enough. It's also very common to accidentally miscount calories for a variety of reasons.

    Be sure that you are eating at least 1500 calories and including sufficient protein. An easy protein minimum to aim for is .8 grams of protein per pound of the top "healthy" weight for your height per BMI. That, plus resistance exercise (you don't have to start that today but I'd aim at easing into it over the next couple of months [even just bodyweight stuff]) will help you retain as much muscle as possible. As time goes on, you'll want to up your calories but for now, IMO, a large deficit is okay.
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
    It sounds like you might want to either relax your fasting times or increase the calories in the one meal you're eating. Either is fine, but if you can't manage to increase the calories in your meal then you do need to eat calories at other times to get enough.

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10142490/a-list-of-calorie-dense-foods/p1
  • leonadixon
    leonadixon Posts: 479 Member
    I started IF to help me make my calories more manageable a few months ago. I noticed that I get full pretty quick on my first meal of the day, so I keep it very small (for me that's about 300-400 calories). Believe me, I am quite hungry and ready for my large dinner meal a few hours later. I don't feel hungry in between for any snacking which is great for me. Maybe change your timing of your larger meal...
  • MagnumOpus1
    MagnumOpus1 Posts: 161 Member
    To make life easier don't have such a short eating window. It's clearly not optimal for you. I would probably shift to 8 hours instead.

    Why did you choose a 5 hour window to begin with?
  • mph323
    mph323 Posts: 3,565 Member
    edited August 2018
    romanicholas1997 wrote: »
    Are you woman? A great idea to look into healthy fasting, ladies cannot do just any types of fasting as it can be dangerous and negatively impact your health, although I’m sure you already know this :) Just make sure for now that the food you’re eating is nutrient dense and you’re getting the appropriate amount of calcium/zinc/magnesium/vitamins. You will definitely need to try and up your calories to atleast 1200 (women) or (1500) men minimum a day. You’re losing weight now but that WILL stop and then when you start upping your calories, even if it’s still not your correct amount, you will begin to gain weight again.

    Are you kidding? OP weighs 287 lbs. He will never stop losing weight on 1500 calories (let alone 950), especially while working out and doing cardio!! He will not begin to gain weight again until he eats over his maintenance, which is considerably more than 1200.

    Fasting for women is exactly like fasting for men. Pick an eating schedule that works for you, where you're not starving all day and have enough time to eat an appropriate amount. I would really be interested in seeing where you're getting this stuff from.

    Edited with apologies to correct references to OP's gender.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,013 Member
    And according to the profile, OP is I believe the male to the back of the picture, so the lady-specific rules wouldn't be necessary even if true :wink:
  • mph323
    mph323 Posts: 3,565 Member
    kimny72 wrote: »
    And according to the profile, OP is I believe the male to the back of the picture, so the lady-specific rules wouldn't be necessary even if true :wink:

    I just checked - yup! Changing my comment to account for my mistake. Sincerely sorry, OP.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    ckhoilan01 wrote: »
    I intermittent fast doing 5 hours eating and 19 fasting, I weigh 287 (down 25 pounds from starting weight) so you would think eating would be the easy part for me....but after I eat my first meal I'm full for the rest of the day and its only 950 calories. I workout and do cardio as well.

    As a male, what you're doing is dangerous...wouldn't be advisable for a female, but as a male, you need to be eating more. 1500 is the minimum for a male to meet basic nutritional needs and assumes a sedentary lifestyle.

    If IF is preventing you from meeting basic nutritional and calorie needs, stop doing IF...there's nothing magical about it.

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