Shrinking appetite....?

[Capirossi]

Has anyone noticed their appetite shrinking since restricting calories? Or are you still having hunger pangs? If so, do you give into them or do you have a special little trick?! :devilangel:

Personally, I eat what I plan to eat and the only little extra I have now and again is ONE square of very dark chocolate. Just let it sit there on my tongue, omg it's like heaven! lol My appetite has shrunk a lot these last two weeks. I have my pre-designated 'snacks' in between meals as I am a 'little and often' type of gal, but after dinner at home I don't feel the need for anything else.

How about the rest of you?

 

[VodkaQueen75]

hey ive been doing it 2 weeks on monday and I have to say that I have noticed my appetite shrinking too, today for lunch i had a bowl of salad and 1 jumbo snack a jack with a smidge of philadelphia light on and could only eat half of it! whereas before that would have just been a snack lol
It can only be a good thing!! My stomach has been making some right funny hungry noises but ive not 'felt' hungry.

xx

 

[IrishMum]

My 'taste' has changed. Before I'd have happily ate 2-3 bags of crisps (any flavour!)- now they just taste greasy?! The same with most eating-out foods- takeaways, restaurants- they seem saturated in oils? Maybe that what happens after eating 'clean' food for so long now? The only chips I like are oven chips because they're 'dry', does that make sense? And they're a 'treat' food- not a regular staple food! LOL!
A warning though- sometimes if you're restricting too much, your metabolism will slow way down and send messages to your brain to stop you feeling hungry as it goes into 'preserve' mode (aka starvation mode)- where it thinks theres a famine and is trying to reserve its stores of energy. I don't think you'd be restricting that much, just thought I'd mention it?

 

[VodkaQueen75]

whats starvation mode? i have been keeping a food diary on food focus and have been having between 800 - 950 cals a day, is that too low? xx

 

[Marianne]

My appetite has definitely shrunk and, like Irish Mum, my tastes too have changed. Things I used to find delicious before now seem greasy or stodgy, or make me feel ill after eating them, so I don't!

 

[IrishMum]

whats starvation mode? i have been keeping a food diary on food focus and have been having between 800 - 950 cals a day, is that too low? xx

In a word- yes! Your body needs on average 1200cals a day to function, any less and it'll start to use anything to get the energy it needs- muscle, fat etc. I've said it before- thats the one bugbear I have with FF, it's one of the only 'diet' sites that will 'allow' the recommended daily cals to go below that.
Google 'Starvation Mode' and it'll go into more detail than I can here. It is a genuine stage- I spent most of my life in it- and have spent most of the summer getting my body back on track so I can lose like a 'normal' person. What I always did was restrict way back and lose the lbs, then gain them back when I stopped restricting- only this time I was gaining back pure fat as I'd burnt muscle whilst 'starving' my body. My metabolism was shot to bits.
I'd recommend using an online BMR calculator to see what your body uses on an average day (without exercise, moving around etc.), then see what you usually burn (easy way is to multiply that figure by 1.2). What you need is a 500-1000 deficit to lose 1-2lbs a week- but try not to have a deficit that will put you under your BMR figure. It may take that bit longer to lose the extra lbs, but you'll be doing in without doing any harm to your body, and the weight will be more likely to stay off?
If your BMR is say 1500, then the average person will burn 1800. A deficit of 500cals a day will leave you with 1300cals and a 1lb loss a week, but is way under what your body needs- so what most people will do is to burn more calories to give you a greater deficit, therefore a bigger loss, i.e. burn 200cals to give you a deficit of 500cals (need 1500, burn 2000) to lose 1lb a week. I hope this essay isn't too confusing?...

 

[Capirossi]

I too worked out my cals on FF and it recommends 1137. I do 'around' this amount most days, sometimes I am a bit over, sometimes a bit under, but never under 1000 as I am too scared now after my experience on JUDDD.

I too have gone off the naughty foods! I have just baked some cookies as a friend is popping around later. I always have to have one as it comes out of the oven, all nice and warm - mmm!! But I just took them out and they are cooling now and not appealing to me at all!! I have noticed this with a few things. Happy days

 

[radicore]

I find I can't eat much anymore. I used to eat these massive portions, but nowadays I can manage less than most of my friends. I went to Subway with one of my friends (I was having a "day off") and before I used to get one of those foot-long sandwiches and still be hungry afterwards, but that time I could barely manage the six-inch one!

I'm not much a fan of "naughty foods" anymore, either. I never used to eat that much junk food, though my weakness used to always be icecream. I can't really stomach that anymore, though. Chocolate makes me feel sick as well! I still eat a lot of yogurt though; it's a lifelong addiction and it's not that bad for you, and I just can't face giving it up. x)

 

[KD]

Your appetite does seem to decrease. I think there are a number of reasons for that. For one, most people make better use of their calories and use energy dense foods which are better at sustaining you. Also healthier foods often stop those craving spikes.

Another thing is that people tend to be more aware of what they are eating. Often eating slower and taking more care of each mealtime. This makes you feel fuller.

BTW the weightlossresource site doesn't allow you to eat under 1100 calories a day. Well, the software makes this the minimum. Anything under that (unless it's a proper formula as in LT, LL or CD), is considered unhealthy and can cause too much muscle loss as well as putting you into starvation mode. It's just not worth taking the risk.