Eating When Hungry or Eating Calorie Quota?
 

First let me apologize for posting so much. This community has been such an invaluable source of real, "people-tested" information for me that I just can't find anywhere else.

Currently, however, I'm having a bit of dilemma. I'm not sure if I should only eat when I'm hungry or "force" myself to eat to fulfill my calorie quota. I've started off at a 1700 calorie limit (FitDay suggestion because of my current weight). Unfortunately I have to force myself to eat when I'm not hungry just to get to 1500.

Should I listen to my body and only eat when hungry or continue eating 1500 calories even when I'm full? Or should I maybe lower my calorie limit to 1200-1500?

Honestly I'd say you need to do a balance of both. Some days I eat way under because I am just not hungry or I'm busy, then I have hungry days and I eat over... but I make sure not to eat over what would be maintenance.

Make sure you are getting enough nutrition, (vitamins, protein, etc.), and if you aren't do eat something. If you are good on your RDAs (without resorting to vitamins) then I'd say skip it. Just don't eat too little on a regular basis or you will screw yourself up.

Listen to your body, but also use your brain.

I kind of have to do half and half. I rarely get hungry, so when I eat based on hunger I am lucky if I get in 1000 calories. However when I do get hungry if I am not eating based on quota I could be up over 3000 without batting an eye. I need to eat a certain amount to stay healthy, and lately I honestly haven't been doing to well at that and I need to do better at that. I am not sure if there is some magic number. FitDay gives me one, GWF another, Free Dieting another one yet.

I have been needing something (someone) to keep more accountable to eating the right amounts, because yesterday was the first time I have been over 1250 in a while, and its hard to keep up my workout schedule on a so little.

Maybe we need a thread of support for people who are having troubles keeping within calories both ways, those who need to be accountable to stay within their minimums, and those who need to be accountable to stay within their maximums.

I used to be very mis-informed about my diet. I thought because I was only eating once or twice a day, it should have been IMPOSSIBLE for me to GAIN weight.

One of two things, or even both were the culprit. First of all, the foods I chose were high calorie. I could easily reach 1000 calories just at dinner alone. Add to that coffee with the sugar and milk, a fast food lunch and yeah, I can see the error of my ways. Also, I would go for DAYS on end without eating until dinner. I usually cook and it is usually chicken, fish or spaghetti, so I am pretty sure I came very under calorie range on days like that. So the extreme restriction and then going way, way, way over were neither the answer. They were both part of the problem.

Once I re-vamped the list of "could have" food against the "could not have" foods, I had a much bigger gap to fill because they were low calorie foods. I thought I would never be able to eat that much. I had to do as you suggested and FORCE myself to eat. That doesn't mean you have to do it every single day. As others suggested, you could juggle it around a bit. Until a couple of weeks ago, I hadn't eaten breakfast in years. Now, I want breakfast. My body needs breakfast. I am hungry about every 3 hours or so, but I never let myself go over 4 hours without eating.

Your body will get used to it over time and it will seem more natural to eat more. Mine adjusted a lot quicker than I thought it would.

If you feel you weren't eating enough healthy food or were eating in unhealthy ways (skipping meals), I think it's fine to eat on a schedule for a while to retrain yourself. But I wouldn't eat until you're stuffed, ever. I just think that's a habit and feeling you don't need.

At your starting weight, yes, you should be eating at least 1700 cals a day, especially if you're adding exercise in. I've done the 'not hungry so don't eat' at 1200 calories and I'm going to tell you, you'll lose in the beginning, but then it will stop. And when you're only eating 1200 where do you go from there?

What are you eating that you can't eat 1700 calories? If you need to, add an oil/vinegar salad dressing, an ounce of nuts (almonds - 164, soy nuts - 134), peanut butter (1Tb - 100 cals, but watch what a Tb is!)

When you eat too little, you'll find that you don't move around as much, so you don't burn as many calories. This is often why people lose a lot at the start of a low-calorie diet, but then stop losing. Their body will try and force them to move less. FWIW - I still lose weight on 2000 cals/day (2300 on weight lifting days). Don't be in a rush to drop those calories. :)

Here's what I do when I'm not close to my calories and not really hungry, I measure out 2 Tbs of peanut butter and lick it off the spoon. It's not much food wise, it's great protein, and it's rich and a very nice treat.

I have the same problem most days. Then there's others when I'm over. Seems like when I have a Salad for lunch...that's when I'm way under because Salads just don't add up when you use a low cal dressing. It is kinda a nice feeling though to KNOW you need to eat more.

I have some difficult because I can not just eat peanut butter. Peanuts are a no-no food for me. I cant eat a lot of oils because they tend to make me sick and I can really only have 2 kinds Olive Oil and Coconut Oil. The only saving grace I have had the last couple days in calories getting higher (still only around 1300 average) is that I am supposed to have at least Tablespoon of Coconut Oil a day. Its a lot harder to come up with extra calories, that are still healthy when you have other food restrictions.

I have the same problem most days. Before I started this I ate twice a day, breakfast (McDonalds) and Dinner (most of the time McDonalds) and drank about 8-10 cans of MtDew a day! So even though I didn't eat often, or much, I had TONS of calories. So eating every 2-3 hours is extremely hard for me. And the healthy food I am eating now just doesn't have that many calories so I find myself scrambling at the end of the night just to get my calories above 1000!

Right now it is 2:30pm, I am only at 600 calories and have no clue how I am going to get at least 600-800 more in today! Drives me nuts.

It helps to plan your meals out ahead of time for each day. Not for the whole week, necessarily, but if you can see what you're going to eat for the day, you can see where your calories can be increased or decreased. A tool like FitDay is really helpful for this.

Most people who are trying to lose weight and who do not plan ahead tend to undereat during the day and then lo and behold, find themselves too low. It's better to increase the earlier meals and snacks than to try to add 600 calories in the evening. :yes:

Jay

I definitely do need to start menu planning again. Its always been my way to do things, and for some reason I have really slacked off since I started trying to lose weight.

A balance of the two. I try to eat things that will be nutrient rich and calorie correct so that I hit right at my goal each day and am neither overstuffed or starving. There are little things that you can add in here and there that will bring your calories up. Can you post a sample menu of what one of your low cal days looks like?

Thank you all for some many responses. It's extremely nice to know that I'm not the only one struggling with getting in a minimum amount of calories.

Amy, today is a great example of a day I'm struggling. I'm currently sitting at just over 1k and it's 8 pm. I just finished playing tennis (NSV!) and have absolutely no appetite and no desire to force myself to eat another meals worth of calories this late in the evening. (Suggested calorie range is 1500-1700 for my weight)

My meals for today:

Bacon, cooked
130
Bread, raisin, toasted
86
Margarine
38
Milk, skim or nonfat, 0.5% or less butterfat
83
Publix Roast Beef
320
Sweet potato, frozen, cooked, baked, with salt (a.k.a. Sweet...
132
Turkey, ground
140
Cheese
42
Lettuce, raw
8
Sour cream, fat free
36

Total

1,014

Excuse the editing - I copied directly from FitDay.

Basically I had 3 slices of low fat bacon for breakfast along with a cup of skim milk and a slice of raisin bread with half a tbs of marg. For lunch I had a roast beef sub on wheat, no cheese, with lettuce and banana peppers. I had planned on having a peach with it but it was rotten inside and didn't have another one. For dinner I had a bunless turkey burger with low fat cheese, sweet potato fries and a very small side salad with my own ranch dressing made from FF sour cream.

I feel like I've eaten a lot today but the calories just aren't there.

I don't see any snacks. Adding in two snacks at around 200 cals a piece will bump you up 400 cals. Rather than lettuce on your sub and salad use a greener leafy veggie like baby spinach, better for you and more calories. That would bump you up another 75 cals or more. Add an egg or a few egg whites to your breakfast, protein and more cals. Definitely have some fruit with at least one of your meals.

Also you could add heatlhy drinks. For instance when I do a major walk in the morning if I'm hot and tired but not hungry I'll have a small glass of chocolate milk. Even with skim milk and just a touch of chocolate syrup you're looking at 200 calories easy. Likewise on most juices. The actual fruit gives you the fiber but if you can't handle it juice still has plenty of calories and nutrients.

Cebsme - what about almond, cashew, or sunflower seed butter? Or veg sticks with hummus? I make horseradish hummus and put it on everything my calorie plan allows. If you can tolerate almonds, almond milk (mmm chocolate almond milk) is ~120 calories.

I rarely ever get hungry, so I use snacks to bump up my calories. For example, I wasn't hungry at all today. I forced down a soy yogurt and some berries for breakfast, had a small salad for lunch, and stir fry for dinner. All of that came to about 800 calories. Add in some snacks that don't make me feel full and I came in at about 1400, lower than I hoped for, but I'll do better tomorrow!

The almond butter, cashew butter and sunflower butter should be okay. I plan on buying something next time I head up to trader joes, because we dont have a lot of that stuff around here.

I used to drink soy milk, which has been a big problem for me getting used to because I cant handle cows milk. I will buy some almond milk tomorrow when I go to school as I will be by the grocery store. We are also getting 3 goats next weekend and one of them is producing milk, so I think I will try that as well, regardless I can use it for other things like ice cream.

Today I got up to 1450 so far. GWF says I should eat 1910. I dont know if I could do that, but I think I would like to shoot for at least 1600 a day, strangely because I used to never have trouble getting up over 2000-3000 a day. I do eat snacks however I think I need to make them higher in calories, since meals are hard for me to get too higher.

One of the hard things for me is breakfast, I am trying to get used to it but its hard. I know its good for me and it can help boost my metabolism.

Trader Joe's has sunflower seed butter - it's absolutely amazing. Just keep it in the fridge, it'll last for ages.

I've always struggled with breakfast. No one in my family is a big breakfast person, so I had to train myself to eat something in the morning. What's worked for me is getting it ready the night before. My typical breakfast is steel cut oatmeal (which I make twice a week and pre-portion) with some almond milk and frozen blueberries on it. I put it all in a to go container, and nuke it after I've had enough coffee to safely get the spoon to my mouth.

I don't like breakfast, it's just not my thing. But I've found if I eat it, I actually make smarter choices for the rest of my day, food wise. Something about knowing I choked down breakfast reminds me all day to stay out of the area with the vending machines, or eat the lunch I packed instead of going to the awesome sushi dive down the street.

You absolutely need to eat more than 1000 cals a day. I'd say that at any weight, but especially at your current weight. Add cheese to the lunch sub, and since you're having problems getting calories in, use full fat cheese and sour cream. If you must, swap out the turkey burger for a hamburger. However, just watch that you're not adding things that you're not tracking. Was there butter, mustard or mayo on the sandwich? Did you take any condiments with the burger or fries? How was the burger cooked (any fat added)?

You've had some good suggestions. It's up to you if you take them. Seriously, an ounce of most nuts are going to be ~150 cals, that's not a lot of food.

The breakfast thing is a problem for a lot of people. I used to be one of those who skipped breakfast, but I don't any longer. Consider having non-breakfast foods for breakfast. I know one woman who has pizza for breakfast most mornings (homemade using flatbread and chicken). I couldn't face it myself, but she detests eggs.

Cebsme - It might not be the same for all, but I seriously do not lose weight if I eat too little. Over the years I recognize that I would start a sub-1200 calorie diet and feel great. I suspect it was my body being thankful for good food, not the usual crap. However, a couple of weeks, or a month later I'd be losing no weight and wondering why I was depriving myself.

Seriously ladies - sit down each night and plan your meals for the next day. I've found it very helpful, both on hungry and non-hungry days (although to be fair I'm almost always hungry so the non-hungry days are rare). However, it doesn't leave me sitting at the end of the day looking for things to eat. Frankly that would be dangerous to me and I could see myself eventually eating crap to make up the calories.

From experience, NEVER skip meals... Your body ends up stockpiling what you do eat, and makes it harder to burn off. Oh boy, do I know this.

Have you tried doing mini-meals? It might make you feel less like you're just eating for eating's sake. Especially if you find snacks you really like.

Good luck! :)

I just wanted to thank everyone for the tips, advice, and especially support in this thread. Today I have gotten up to almost 1500 calories so far, and I feel like I still made healthy choices. I am not hungry, but I am not overly stuffed. I have my gym class tonight and feel like I have enough energy to get through the full two hours. According to my GWF I have already burned off every thing I have eaten and then much more, but its not like I ate it all and then started burning, they have both been through out the day until now. I still dont think that I can get up to the 1900 that GWF is suggesting, but I can see 1500/1600 now, that doesnt seem so hard to reach and still be rather healthy.

Actually no, there weren't any condiments on the sub. I normally get mayo and instead used banana peppers to get the flavor without the calories. Same with the turkey burger/fries. The turkey burger was also baked so no oil added.

I have however found some great solutions in the past two days. I've added in a protein shake in the evening which adds in another 100 calories. I've also been sneaking in extra calories via bananas. Yesterday I hit 1600 and felt great. Just takes a bit of practice.

if you uder your calories you'll lose weight. "starvation mode" is not really an issue unless your 95 lbs or something

Starvation mode exists in different levels far before 95lbs. Something I dont like to talk about, I am a recovering anorexic. I never got down as low as 95lbs thankfully, but yes I did go into starvation mode. This is one of the reasons its important for me to try to get enough calories, not overdo things and think easy fix. Even when I havent been trying to lose weight I have ALWAYS had to keep a food journal since I went into recovery.

I also cant stand the term "starvation mode" its very misleading.

Yes, and no. The term starvation mode is probably the worst term to use. I'm going to copy something in that I just posted in another thread. It was about some people needing to eat more to lose weight.

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It's hard for a lot of people to grasp, but for me it works better. It kind of goes this way:

Higher calories
- more energy
- move around more, not exercise, just do more
- more energetic workouts
- better sleep
- consistent weight loss

Lower calories
- less energy
- spend more time on the couch
- go through the motions during workouts
- insomnia
- lose fast (sometimes), then lose next to nothing

I adding the sleeping stuff before I finished up the post. I really didn't think about it, but I do seriously sleep better. When I was on lower calories I would lie awake at night just wanting to go get something to eat. Now, I plan a snack before bed (usually protein shake and fruit), and sleep extremely well. An interesting point is that I'm well over 100 pounds lighter than when I last started to lose weight, and actually eating more (started at 1600-1800, eating 2000 now). That really just kind of floors me.

I do eat more on days I do weight training (in the form of a post-workout shake), and I generally take a break every 12-weeks. Having said all that (in the interest of full-disclosure) I'm currently about 9 pounds heavier than I was in March. Primarily because I let everything (food and exercise) go to **** during the final weeks of school and exams). I proved, that for me, planning really is everything.

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I'll add a little more here. My current maintenance level appears to be about 3000 calories a day. My activity level at my current weight requires that amount of fuel to maintain. When I eat 2000 calories a day my 'system' works well, and I lose weight. I recognize that in the past when I tried to eat under 1200 calories a day I was truly starving my system. Yes, I would drop weight very quickly, and then suddenly I would stop. I couldn't understand that, and would try to eat less. What I recognize now (and people who know me in real life comment on) is that I have a ton of energy at this calorie level. At under 1200 calories I would workout, however, I did nothing else physical during the day. I wouldn't walk any further than I had to, I wouldn't take stuff upstairs - just leave it on the step until I was going, in fact, I would do as little extra movement as I could get away from.

At that calorie level my body was telling me I wasn't giving it enough fuel - to slow down. Oh, and every cold/flu/bug going around - I caught it. The magic 1200 number isn't a real one. It's just a number that most nutritionists feel you should eat to get the proper level of nutrients. Each person has that magic level that they should stick to. The problem is that it's not always easy to find. What works for one person may not work for someone else.

However, let me point out that my 80-something mother, who is ~120 pounds maintains that weight eating just slightly less than I do (we eat different breakfast, lunches, etc. but the same dinner). I would say she eats ~1800 cals a day. Oh yes, and then there's the chocolate bars (family size) and the candy she buys every week when she goes out. I call her the poster child for NEAT (I'll give you a link in a minute). She's almost always on the move. Not that she doesn't have a nap/lie down now in the afternoons, but she's always moving around. I try to emulate her, but it's tough some days. :D

More information on NEAT (Non Exercise Activity Thermogenesis)
http://mayoresearch.mayo.edu/mayo/re..._lab/about.cfm