Having a hard time eating

faceofshadows
faceofshadows Posts: 6
in Food and Nutrition
I can't seem to eat more! Now I went from usually always skipping breakfast, sometimes not eating lunch, but then I would eat dinner and "snack" until I would go to bed. Yes I am very well aware how bad that whole routine is, but It wouldn't even register to me that by dinner time I hadn't had anything to eat besides an energy drink or a blended coffee :s. I've increased my water TREMENDOUSLY, from 0 to well over 8 cups. No more pop, energy drinks and I'm weaning from the blended coffees, lol. So I have been TRYING my hardest to at the least have 3 meals and a snack somewhere, but by the time lunch comes I almost have no appetite, and same with dinner. I LOVE food. All kinds of food, but I feel like I almost have to choke it down. Is it just my body adjusting to the shock of the new changes? And has anyone else gone through something similar? Tell me I'm not alone! =(

Replies

  • BeautifulKristen
    BeautifulKristen Posts: 281
    You might have something wrong with your thyroid/metabolism. So I would suggest going to the doctor and get blood tested and see if you have problems

    because I am the same exact way. I don't eat much. I am never hungry. I have a bad thyroid gotta take 130mg of levothyroxine.. I also just started drinking TONS of water from 8-16 glasses a day.. Before I used to drink 4-5 cans of diet pop. I have not drank pop for 2 months now. And I am feeling awesome.
  • faceofshadows
    faceofshadows Posts: 6
    That is Awesome! I've had my thyroid tested about 6 times Since I was 18 and it always comes back fine! The only thing I need to do is get my good cholesterol up a point, lol. I drank diet until I got pregnant. Then I switched to regular and couldn't go back to diet. I think the first thing I noticed was no bloating! =)
  • GinaMauricio17
    GinaMauricio17 Posts: 69 Member
    im going through the same thing. i have no appetite lately. i dont know why. maybe im not excited about food right now. i work at a supper market and look at food all day, and cant think of a thing to eat! to be honest im kinda glad because i been a late night binger in the past. maybe my body needs a break so it took my appetite away lol
  • spaingirl2011
    spaingirl2011 Posts: 763 Member
    There's nothing necessarily *wrong* with snacking ... it's just when it goes uncontrolled that matters. Instead of 3 meals a day, why not try 6 snacks (half-a-meal sized) throughout the day so that you get in your needed calories but don't feel like you have to choke down a whole meal? And that way, your metabolism stays high.

    Hope this helps! Good luck!

    (P.S. I have a thyroid problem too, but not being hungry has never been a problem for me! lol!)
  • faceofshadows
    faceofshadows Posts: 6
    I tried the 6 small meals today, and I think I found that even harder, lol. It's really weird. It's almost like halfway through eating I feel like I'm about to start gagging, so I take a drink of water and try to hurry up and finish. I wouldn't say at the time my snacking choices were bad. I love fruit and veggies, but I am a sucker for chocolate, lol. I am bound and determined, so hopefully tomorrow won't be as bad =)
  • LadySpade
    LadySpade Posts: 1
    I do 6 small meals, or at last try to! In the morning have a smoothie, or pre make pancake batter the night before, or pre mix and egg creation so all you have to do is grill it. Dont be afraid of protein powders, or supplements, some of them increase the hungry feeling by boostin motabolism. I find if I drink 2 glasses of water when I wake up then have breakfast an hour later, my 10am 12pm 2pm dinner and snack seem to fall into place. But if I miss that water and breakfast im off all day! wake up the motabolism, I find drinks are the easiest in the morning, smoothies or protein shakes, supplement powders. But I need the energy because I landscape and burn through it so quickly. Good to see you on here :) If you ever need someone to talk to msg me! also got to Domesticas fitness train and say hello to the ladies, they have some great tips for everyone's journeys.
  • BuckeyeLife
    BuckeyeLife Posts: 313 Member
    Are you struggling to get your calories in for the day? If no, doesn't matter when you eat. If yes, then maybe look to get more calorie dense foods. If you're not hungry and you're getting calories with proper nutrients, then really there is no worry.
  • BuckeyeLife
    BuckeyeLife Posts: 313 Member
    I do 6 small meals, or at last try to! In the morning have a smoothie, or pre make pancake batter the night before, or pre mix and egg creation so all you have to do is grill it. Dont be afraid of protein powders, or supplements, some of them increase the hungry feeling by boostin motabolism. I find if I drink 2 glasses of water when I wake up then have breakfast an hour later, my 10am 12pm 2pm dinner and snack seem to fall into place. But if I miss that water and breakfast im off all day! wake up the motabolism, I find drinks are the easiest in the morning, smoothies or protein shakes, supplement powders. But I need the energy because I landscape and burn through it so quickly. Good to see you on here :) If you ever need someone to talk to msg me! also got to Domesticas fitness train and say hello to the ladies, they have some great tips for everyone's journeys.

    Eating does not "wake up your metabolism." But if your system works for you, keep doing it, not saying don't., Just wanted to clarify there is no "wake up" for metabolism.
  • michelleepotter
    michelleepotter Posts: 800 Member
    I used to have this exact problem, and I think I have pretty much gotten past it. I have not been much of an eater my entire life. I mean, I LOVE the taste of food, but I used to never get hungry until dinner time. In fact, I lost a bunch of weight my first year of college, because I'd forget to eat until after everything was closed, and all I had in my dorm room was canned ravioli. So I'd have one can, and that would be all I ate all day long.

    The first thing I would suggest is eating less at dinner time. In fact, maybe figure out how much you usually eat at dinner, and then spread that out through the day. Don't start out trying to force yourself to eat full meals at breakfast and lunch. Just eat something, to train your body to get hungry at that time.

    Also, avoid carbs. I love bread products, but there's nothing worse than trying to choke down a biscuit at breakfast when you are just not hungry. It feels like it grows in your mouth and throat, and you feel full after only a bite or two. I started out having protein drinks for breakfast. Then I moved onto yogurt, and now I eat eggs and sausage. I only recently have been able to add a banana to that. The point is, find something that is (relatively) easy to eat, and eat a small amount of it.

    Oh, and eat your new meals at the exact same time every single day. Eat breakfast at the same time every day. Even if you only eat three bites of yogurt, do it at the same time. Same for lunch, and snacks. This will train your body to expect it, and this is how you start actually getting *hungry* at those times.

    One more thing, are you exercising? I have found that exercise has greatly increased my appetite. I didn't intend to start eating a mid-morning snack, but after I work out I am *famished*! It's kind of a good feeling! :)
  • BuckeyeLife
    BuckeyeLife Posts: 313 Member
    I used to have this exact problem, and I think I have pretty much gotten past it. I have not been much of an eater my entire life. I mean, I LOVE the taste of food, but I used to never get hungry until dinner time. In fact, I lost a bunch of weight my first year of college, because I'd forget to eat until after everything was closed, and all I had in my dorm room was canned ravioli. So I'd have one can, and that would be all I ate all day long.

    The first thing I would suggest is eating less at dinner time. In fact, maybe figure out how much you usually eat at dinner, and then spread that out through the day. Don't start out trying to force yourself to eat full meals at breakfast and lunch. Just eat something, to train your body to get hungry at that time.

    Also, avoid carbs. I love bread products, but there's nothing worse than trying to choke down a biscuit at breakfast when you are just not hungry. It feels like it grows in your mouth and throat, and you feel full after only a bite or two. I started out having protein drinks for breakfast. Then I moved onto yogurt, and now I eat eggs and sausage. I only recently have been able to add a banana to that. The point is, find something that is (relatively) easy to eat, and eat a small amount of it.

    Oh, and eat your new meals at the exact same time every single day. Eat breakfast at the same time every day. Even if you only eat three bites of yogurt, do it at the same time. Same for lunch, and snacks. This will train your body to expect it, and this is how you start actually getting *hungry* at those times.

    One more thing, are you exercising? I have found that exercise has greatly increased my appetite. I didn't intend to start eating a mid-morning snack, but after I work out I am *famished*! It's kind of a good feeling! :)

    Your body does not work on a clock like this. You cannot train your body to get hungry at a specific time.
  • michelleepotter
    michelleepotter Posts: 800 Member
    Are you struggling to get your calories in for the day? If no, doesn't matter when you eat. If yes, then maybe look to get more calorie dense foods. If you're not hungry and you're getting calories with proper nutrients, then really there is no worry.

    I don't know about other people, but I know that when I ate only one meal a day, it was not healthy for me. For one thing, even though I wasn't hungry, I was tired and cranky all day long. My body actually *needed* food, but I had learned to suppress the signals. (I'm not sure how or when I learned this, but nevertheless, I did.) Then I would eat dinner, and have energy, so I'd have trouble getting to sleep at night, and even more trouble getting up in the morning. (Which would lead to skipping breakfast...) Obviously the situation I described above -- where I ended up eating only one can of ravioli, and nothing else, every day -- was bad for me. But when my husband started cooking dinners, that wasn't any better. I would be suddenly famished every evening, and eat absolutely horribly, because my poor body had just gone almost 24 hours without food and was STARVING.

    I suppose some people could be healthy eating only once a day. But I think it causes unnecessary problems that I am glad to no longer have to deal with.
  • michelleepotter
    michelleepotter Posts: 800 Member
    Your body does not work on a clock like this. You cannot train your body to get hungry at a specific time.

    Do you have some kind of evidence to support this claim? Because the last three months of my experience say otherwise.
  • BuckeyeLife
    BuckeyeLife Posts: 313 Member
    Your hunger hormones don't have a watch to go by "when to eat." Hell my appetite changes daily. If I eat a lot of carbs, my appetite comes back <2 hours. If I eat protein and fat, it can go 3-4 hours easily. Last few days I have been skipping breakfast and eating a later breakfast, which has dropped my appetite to like 3 big meals instead of a few small snacks. My experience is that I eat when I am hungry, and that comes and goes whenever each day. I read something about this a while ago, cannot find it.
  • michelleepotter
    michelleepotter Posts: 800 Member
    Your hunger hormones don't have a watch to go by "when to eat." Hell my appetite changes daily. If I eat a lot of carbs, my appetite comes back <2 hours. If I eat protein and fat, it can go 3-4 hours easily. Last few days I have been skipping breakfast and eating a later breakfast, which has dropped my appetite to like 3 big meals instead of a few small snacks. My experience is that I eat when I am hungry, and that comes and goes whenever each day. I read something about this a while ago, cannot find it.

    So, what you are saying is that you do something totally different from what I do, and get a different result. Huh, that *is* very strange.

    Science has shown that the body has natural rhythms that are pretty consistent. Some of them are dependent on external forces (such as exposure to light affecting melanin production, which in turn affects sleep cycles). No, your body doesn't know what time it is by the clock, but it does have internal time keeping. If not, it wouldn't be possible to train yourself to wake up at a certain time. Heck, "power naps" would be impossible, as they rely on waking at a specific time in the sleep cycle.
  • BuckeyeLife
    BuckeyeLife Posts: 313 Member
    That is all a mental conditioning. It does not mean you are actually hungry.

    Back to what OP is saying. Eating a dinner and snacking until bed is not bad for you. When you eat is irrelevant. If you're not hungry, don't go about forcing yourself to eat.

    http://www.leangains.com/2010/10/top-ten-fasting-myths-debunked.html
  • xsqueakme85
    xsqueakme85 Posts: 91 Member
    I am the same way! And I get full so quickly and don't like the feeling of being so full! I know its not my thyroid, I think my body is finally adjusting to less food!
  • michelleepotter
    michelleepotter Posts: 800 Member
    That is all a mental conditioning. It does not mean you are actually hungry.

    Of course it is mental conditioning. That is the whole point. And no, this training does not *cause* my body to need food, it causes my body to give off the natural hunger signals that I had previously forced it to suppress. My body already *needed* food, I just just done such a good job of neglecting it that it stopped asking. Like the kids who come from third world countries where they've been literally starving most of their lives, and you offer them something to eat and they turn it down because they don't feel hungry. I did that to my body, and this is how it gets fixed.
  • michelleepotter
    michelleepotter Posts: 800 Member
    http://www.leangains.com/2010/10/top-ten-fasting-myths-debunked.html

    BTW, I read this article, and it says absolutely nothing about eating only dinner and snacking, nor about any of the points I brought up on the problems this can cause, nor about whether you can train yourself to be hungry at certain times. I certainly never claimed that the time of day one eats causes problems -- it's the running around all day on no fuel and then trying to eat reasonably when you are both starving and tired at dinner that causes problems.
  • BuckeyeLife
    BuckeyeLife Posts: 313 Member
    http://www.leangains.com/2010/10/top-ten-fasting-myths-debunked.html

    BTW, I read this article, and it says absolutely nothing about eating only dinner and snacking, nor about any of the points I brought up on the problems this can cause, nor about whether you can train yourself to be hungry at certain times. I certainly never claimed that the time of day one eats causes problems -- it's the running around all day on no fuel and then trying to eat reasonably when you are both starving and tired at dinner that causes problems.

    You are not running around on "no fuel." Serious lack of understanding how the body works. You store fat, fat is fuel. And if you are starving(which means your body is releasing a hormone telling you to eat) then that is a WHOLE different issue. This person is not having an appetite, which means they are not hungry and not releasing a hormone saying so. If your body isn't calling for fuel, why throw fuel at it? This person has made it clear they are not starving, they have the opposite issue.

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