Food Intake problem

[Zarcath]

Having some problems lately getting myself to eat normally.

I've never really been a 3 times a day person, usually eat 2 a day, lunch and dinner. Lately I've only been eating a "full meal" once a day. I don't really realize i'm doing this and it's not on purpose. I just...don't feel hungry. And I lose track of time and I have no "routine" for meals (like no family meal times or people I eat with). Also lately i've been trying to eat more healthier. So before where i'd eat like mcdonalds or some shit every day, I just sort of..don't. I'll have like a sandwich or something and I think i'm getting less intake then the fatty stuff.

My BMI is under and my doctor told me like 2 years ago to start eating 3 times a day if I wanted to gain weight. When I told him I just don't feel hungry he said some people are like that, while on the other hand some large folk feel like they'll die if they don't eat 3 meals.

Worrying a bit, I don't mind my normal skinniness (my lower ribs always showed) but I just looked in the mirror and some new bones starting to peak out (upper). I still work out so the muscle is there, i guess the fat is going away?

edit: ah also, I'm always drinking liquids during the whole day. Maybe the liquids make me feel "full" and not hungry?

[EmpireF4i]

Im like that too but Im not skinny. Im about 5'10 and 165-170. The fluids you drink probably have alot to do with you not being hungry, depending on what your drinkin. If your drinking stuff that your body actually uses (like gatorade and stuff like that), your body gets some nutrients and you dont have to eat.

its just like drinking one of those diet shakes instead of eating a full meal. It makes you feel full, and your not eating, so you lose weight.

[dak]

smoke pot.

[Believe]

Breakfast would be the most important meal of the day if you are trying to gain some weight.

As I said in the Workout Question thread:
"You really need to eat a good meal in the morning, because at this point your body is in a catabolic state (eating tissue to use for energy)."

If you work out, you definitely need to be eating more calories than you are burning - or you are just being counter productive, because your body will have nothing to use for energy other than your little bit of fat and even muscle.

It may be easier for you to eat 5-6 smaller meals than 3 big meals a day.

[Taloo]

Just snack. Buy some shit thats pre packaged and ready to eat so that when you are hungry but dont feel like cooking you at least eat something. preferably something that is healthy but honestly anything works.

My appetite varies greatly. Some days I eat absolutely nothing and some days ill eat four or five meals a day (sup six thanksgiving dinners). at 5'10 I hover around 140 but im boney as hell. I have a serious problem with jsut getting wrapped up in whatever I'm doing and ignoring hunger untill its convienet for me to eat.

You dont have to make plans and have breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day but make an honest attempt to at least eat a decent breakfast and something at night with the occasional snack in between. You will probably find that even if you arent all that hungry once you start eatting you will be able to put away a decent meal nonetheless.

[The Dauntless One]

Originally Posted by dak

smoke pot.

Do it.

[NargorothRiP]

The most important thing you can do it at least have a glass of fruit juice or milk or really anything for breakfast to get your body metabolizing stuff so it isnt in the hibernation mode it goes into while you sleep. The one thing ive found to help make sure i eat breakfast is to stock healthy nutrition bars at work if i miss it at home.

[Zarcath]

Mmm as part of my "trying to eat healthy", I try to stay away from sodas when I can. I largely drink juices, teas and soy. I don't drink pepsi or coke at all anymore, and generally have fruit punch or sprite when i have to.

I guess the worst thing I'm doing is not eating anything when I wake up and just waiting until lunch. I'll buy some snack bars or something. A friend recommended a lot of peanut butter.

[Blumpster]

Don't plan meals. Just eat all day. Wake up, eat like a Nutri-Grain breakfast bar or some shit, drink some juice, have some water, follow it up with an apple or orange an hour later or so, then move on to some sort of vegetable like some carrots and broccoli with some ranch dip or something. By this time you're probably ready for something bigger like a sandwich, so have one of those, and always remember be drinking water the whole time. After the sandwich munch on some chips while you watch TV or play video games, then after you've had enough of the chips cook a muffin or have some toast. It should be around 3-4 now, so its about time for some more vegetables. I normally make celery with peanut butter. After that I wait til 6-7 for the only real meal for the day, dinner. It's always light, but high in protein. Usually some chicken, a steak and some vegetables, something like that. Nothing too big, and try to limit your carb intake for dinner. After dinner I usually have a bowl of ice cream, which isn't really advisable, but fuck that shit. Ice cream is the bomb shnizzle.

ALso, throughout the whole day I am wolfing down M&Ms, those little mini-chocolate bars, especially KRACKELS OMG, and as I said constantly intaking fluids, water, juice or milk.

Basically, do nothing all day except eat.

[Terawlyn]

I pretty much have the same problem. On some days I will eat 5 times, other days one.. yea especially since I have no eating routine.

So here's what I try to do everyday to kind of force me to eat better :

-Wake up 30 min earlier than I should, I have no excuse not to eat 2-3 peanut butter toasts, eggs if I have some, and a big glass of orange juice, even if I don't am hungry.
-Always carry some time of healthy snack in your backpack (if you're a student) or your suitcase, when you're bored or got a free min, eat it.
-Green veggies are good too.
-Lunch, I'm usually hungry for something at that time so it's pretty easy. Another good glass of orange juice and a fruit at the end is always good.
-Afternoon, I keep snacking on what I got in my backpack, even tho I'm not hungry, preparation for training.
-Then it's pretty much training, a real good meal with alot of protein (like Blumpster suggested), and try to eat a bit before bed, if you don't have problem sleeping on a full stomach.

Another thing that I try too is always keep the fridge full. I'm sorta lazy and that's the thing I have the problem with the most, but I realize when I don't have much food in the fridge, I sorta eat alot less and don't really feel inclined to go grocery shopping. When it's full I eat alot more because I'd feel bad if food went to waste.

Hope this helps, and trust me I feel your pain I'm like 5,8-5,9 and weight 130-135.

[Burkex]

It's actually better/healthier to eat 5-6 small meals a day than 3 big meals a day. It is better for your metabolism. I had that same problem as you do now. For awhile I would just work and play video games all day. I would be so busy that I wouldn't stop to eat, plus I had stopped going to the gym. Now I run 4 days a week and lift weights 4 days a week, I work, and I stopped playing video games, and guess what my appetite is back. My muscles let me know every 3-4 hours that they are hungry.

Here are some tips I have to be more healthy, thats what it sounds like you want to do:

1. Do some type of excersize daily. Maybe run or jog, play some basketball, lift weights or whatever. Just get your heart going and break a sweat. This will increase your appetite, burn some fat, and build some muscle.

2. Never skip breakfast. It is the most important meal of the day. And do not eat junk. No toaster strudles, no 10 stack of pancakes with an entire bottle of syrup, no bacon/sausge high grease foods, or any shit like that. You want to be healthy then eat healthy. You want to have some fruit, maybe some low fat yogurt, a piece of toast with some jam (no butter) and some eggs. I try to have a high protein diet so I usually go with 6-8 scrambled egg whites and 1 yolk, a bananna, some blueberries, 2 pieces of toast with rasberry jam and some green tea.

3. Take a multi vitamin in the morning with breakfast. You can not get every vitimin that your body needs from food. You need a multi vitimin. Go to GNC get their mega man daily vitimin. If you are a hard core workout person then go with the Universal Animal pak.

4. STOP DRINKING SODA. This shit is so fucking bad for you. It's pure sugar, rots your teeth, and is basically pure crap for the body. Drink water. Go to the grocery store and buy 2, 24 packs of aquafina bottled water and put them all in the fridge. When you go to work, in the car, to the gym, or wherever bring a bottle of water with you. Try to drink 6-8 bottles a day. It's good for your skin, your metobalism, your muscles, etc. Your body will thank you.

5. Cut down on all the carbs. Eat more protein. Carbs basically add on the pounds. Unless you are loading up carbs for a marathon there is no need to eat a loaf of bread, an entire pizza, a bowl of spaghetti, and more in a single day. Replace it with some protein especially if you are trying to build some muscle. Protein is good for muscle building. Also if this is the case and you are trying to put on some more muscle then try to eat your weight in protein each day, like if you weigh 205 eat 205 grams of protein.

6. Eat more fruits and veggies. I eat an apple a day for an inbetween mean snack. I try to eat a bananna and another fruit at breakfast. Also about 45 min before workuts I eat a bananna, they are great for energy. For lunch and dinner I have some type of vegetable with every meal maybe a salad or some broccolli, squash, spinich, and green beans. You should be eating fruits and veggies all the time they will keep you healthy.

7. Get a flu shot every year. Trust me I hate shots but I get it every year. You basically waste 5 minutes of your day getting the shot and then you don't get sick for the whole year. These days you can get a flu shot anywhere, the grocery store, hospitol, walmart, wallgreens, there is no excuse to not get one.

8. Wash your hands before you eat anything. There are germs everywhere on all the things you touch, doornobs, elevator buttons, money (by the way never put money in your mouth it is the dirtiest thing on the planet), and so on. With clean hands you will not be putting these germs into your body.

9. Get some sleep. If you are working out a lot your body needs rest. Muscles need to grow. Even if you are not very active sleep is important. Your body can get run down and when you don't sleep enough that is when you get sick.

10. Do not eat fast food crap. If you enjoy McDonalds just stop reading this now because you are not going to be healthy. That shit is loaded with fat and sugar. Anything that is fried you do not want to eat. The sugar makes it addictive too and you will crave more and crash after a few hours. Just stay away from fast food.

11. Cut down on the sweets. Candy bars, chocolate, cake, cookies, that is just more sugar thet your body does not need. It is not really good for you at all. If you are used to eating this junk every day than it will be very hard to stop. Sugar is addictive. You will have to slowly cut bak each day till you can kick the habit. I am not joking.

12. Do not smoke. Prob the worst thing you can do to your body. Easy way to get sick, get asthma, cancer etc. You are basically putting poison into your body. Just shoot yourself and get it over with. Seriously does smoking even serve a purpose? Not only is it a waste of money it is killing you. Sounds like a good reason to stop to me.

13. Read the lables on all foods. NUTRITION FACTS. It's there for a reason. Look at how much protein, fat, carbs, sugars, sodium, etc. You also want to look at the serving size because sometimes they try to trick you. Some foods will be more than one serving size so you have to multiply all the numbers. You basically want low fat, low sugar, low carb, with high protein.


If you follow these tips and eat right, get a flu shot, and sleep at least 8 hours per night I swear to God you will NEVER get sick. Some guy with the super flu could cough on you and your body would just laugh at the germs.




As for eating like I said 6 small meals a day is better than 3.
Something like:

*(Drink a bottle of water with each meal)
Breakfast: 6 scrambled egg whites, bananna, granola bar, blueberries
Snack 1: Apple with lowfat peanut butter and a dannon fatfree yogurt
Lunch: Can of tuna, spinach, brown rice
Snack 2: Protein shake, made with vanilla myoplex a bananna and pineapple juice
Dinner: Grilled chicken breast, broccoli, brown rice
Snack 3: a bowl of fat free yogurt with some granola and chopped up fruit


***You said you had trouble eating. If you starting working out/playing sports you will get hungry every few hours. And if you really want to be hungry ALL day long, go to the gym first thing in the morning. You will be starving all day long.***

[Kiroy]

This is a common problem for people who get little to no exercise.

GET MORE EXERCISE.