Hey all- Lately I've been losing weight but it's not been in a good way I don't think. My mom got a little concerned when she saw me this past Tuesday and noticed I had lost weight and when I told her how she got concerned. I just have absolutely no appetite lately due to stress I'm pretty sure and nothing just tastes good. I snack throughout the day with fruit or yogurt and crackers and snack bars, maybe a small sandwich for lunch and that's about it and then have a nice dinner, nothing too large there either. I guess I could say I've really cut down on my portion sizes. This hasn't really affected my energy though. Has this happened to anybody else and how did you get out of your funk?
First of all, let's see exactly what you're eating. So, lay it out for us--everything from morning til night--what it is and how much--and then we can add it up and see what your intake is. OK?
Breakfast- I have yoplait yogurt with fruit in it and it's usually anywhere from 120 calories to 180 calories.
Snack- I'll have a fruit snackbar and that's 140 calories and I'll have it with some chocolate milk and I calculated it to be around 240 calories just for that milk alone. Chocolate milk seems to be the one of the few things that tastes good to me lately.
Lunch- I have two slices of white bread and then 3 slices of either turkey or ham with some good old american cheese that is reduced fat, not fat free. Then I'll have some fruit like grapes probably less than a cup.
Snack- more yogurt or more fruit or snack bar
Dinner- I'll have about 3 to 4 oz of lean cooked meat, chicken,pork, hamburger meat cooked somehow and then usually 1/4 a cup of a side dish like potatoes of some sort or brown rice. I'd guess my dinner is about 500 calories.
I have absolutely no veggies right now in my diet. I usually love salads of mixed greens with different salad dressings but lately they just don't taste good. I either drink water, or milk or a low calorie Fruit punch drink mix made by Crystal lite. I'm just concerned about my diet nutritionally wise since nothing just tastes good to me right now except for fruit and yogurt and then my dinner. I'm wondering should I take a multivitamin?
If you're eating 3-4 oz of lean cooked meat, that will be around 150 calories, give or take depending on the meat. 1/4 cup cooked of rice or potatoes is only going to be 50 calories at most, so I think your dinner, if that is all you're eating, is probably closer to 200-250 calories. A whole cup of cooked brown rice is 180 calories.
That being said, however, while your calories may not be coming from the healthiest sources (veggies, etc), you appear to be eating around 1200 or so a day. Have you tried checking your calories for a day in a tool like FitDay to be sure? Generally when my calories get that low, I have to work extra-hard to make every calorie count, nutrition-wise, to meet my vitamin and mineral targets. A multivitamin might not be a bad idea, though getting vitamins and minerals in food is my personal preference.
Semi-related, have you considered talking to someone about your stress? When you are so stressed that even eating seems difficult, it may be time to seek out some professional guidance. If you have counseling resources available to you, it might be something to look into, so you could learn to manage and handle your stress in a way that doesn't make food stop tasting good.
Mandalinn- No I haven't done fitday. I probably should until I get a better knowledge of what and how many calories things have. I will check it out. Thanks for clarifying and calculating the calories better for me!
As far as talking to someone, I was doing that and I made some big adjustments per their recommendation that really helped with my stress and I have continued and kept up the changes. But then due to insurance saying I had used up all of my visits and that I would have to start paying out of pocket I had to stop going since I cannot afford to pay out of pocket. I then tried to find some free counseling services in my area but I do not qualify since we make too much for that and we have health insurance but yet we make barely enough to live on due to debt. The financial situation is what has me stressed out and then my mom is really sick again from chemo, she had breast cancer and got a double masectomy but now the cancer has come back in other areas so I'm pretty worried about her since she's a lot sicker than the last time and the doctors have told her to put her affairs in order.
Gosh, I'm so sorry to hear about your Mom! At least you can tell her that you are eating enough and doing OK--because from what you've described, you're over the 1200 cals, which is the lower limit unless you're on a medically supervised program.
That said, you can probably eat more than 1200 and still lose weight, and you might feel better. Since your appetite isn't really strong right now, you could do that by having just a little more, say, an extra ounce, of protein foods with your meals--chicken, meat, eggs, etc. Or a bit more of the starchy foods. That way you're just increasing what you already eat somewhat. Of course, vegetables would be good to add, and they don't add many calories--if there are any that you like.
I agree with mandalinn82 that a multivitamin would probably be good--and also, do give FitDay a try. It has helped me a lot.
As for the counseling--will you be able to have more insurance-covered visits once the New Year rolls around? Usually it's so many visits per year. Also, there are sometimes free support groups for families of cancer survivors. It's not the same as individual therapy, but you might find it helpful.
So sorry to hear about your tough times. As far as diet goes, I don't think you are in a "funk" at all. You seem to be getting sufficient calories, what you are eating is not perfect nutritiously but it isn't horrible either, and you are losing weight. Sounds good to me! I think we really do over-estimate how much food we need to eat to be healthy. I know I sure do. But when you look at the numbers of what you are eating you seem to be hitting about where you should. If you feel okay, keep doing what you are doing. If you start to get hungry maybe up it a little bit (and upping it with nutritious foods would be optimal) but I certainly don't think you are at a point right now where you need to consciously increase what you are eating. Just my opinion of course. Good job so far!
Okay thanks all for the support and your comments! I think I will up what I eat by adding some variety of greens for a salad, since I do not like cooked veggies unless it's corn on the cob grilled :-) or a baked potato. Right now I'm waiting on some anti-anxiety medicine for myself and hopefully that will help me feel a little better.
JayEll- I had forgotten about support groups at churches. I'll look into that too. I did a support group when my dad died when I was 18 because we couldn't afford counseling and it did help somewhat. As for insurance yes I think once the new year starts I get more visits and I intend on going back to the therapist I used, since that was the first therapist I really liked and connected with.
I have the same appetite problem. Recently, I switched my work scenario and I was constantly working non-stop, with barely 15 minutes of each 10-hour shift as a break (that includes bathroom and lunch breaks altogether!). By the time I get home, I'm exhausted and starving and I each a huge amount at dinner. This week, I virtually couldn't feel hungry at all. I don't know when I should each because I stopped feeling hunger pangs altogether and my appetite is almost nonexistent throughout the entire day. I 'm not quite sure how to get my body back in tune with its natural metabolism, but since I haven't hit the gym or exercised in 2 weeks, I think I might just do some exercises to see how it goes. If you think therapy or support groups will help, by all means, do try! I hope everything works out for you.
No appetite
At least you can tell her that you are eating enough and doing OK--because from what you've described, you're over the 1200 cals, which is the lower limit unless you're on a medically supervised program. 
