I've completely lost my appetite and I'm concerned...
 

Hello everyone,
When I started low carb my appetite was completely diminished for many months. I wasn't alarmed by this, I assumed it was a natural response from my body healing (from hyperinsulinemia). My body was previously in this weight gain cycle because of my metabolic issues. Getting out of that cycle via carb control allowed my body to "see" all it's excess fat and use it for fuel. This then resulted in a natural reduction of appetite - the body was eating its fat, so it needed less food from environment.

As I lost more and more weight, my appetite slowly increased. Again, I figured this was normal. As I moved closer towards what my body considers a "normal" amount of body fat, it wants to use less of it and demands more fuel from the environment. Eventually I got to a point where my body desired enough food to lose very, very slowly. Then I started consciously counting calories.

However, the past week I've had no appetite to speak of. When I say reduced appetite, I mean it. I don't have any desire for food at all, not even treats, junk food snacky type things, or fruit (stuff I previously would want to eat even if I wasn't that hungry). I'm barely clearing 1000 calories and some days not even that much. This was very common for me early on, but things were different then (I had a lot of excess fat my body was for the first time ever capable of using, and I hadn't previously made a conscious attempt to restrict food quantity intake). I actually got scared and I forced myself to "over eat" yesterday (which, by the way, came out to about 1200ish calories). This doesn't feel normal. I'm afraid that perhaps in my efforts to speed up my body's rate of weight loss, I might have done something to damage myself. I heard that one sign of starvation is losing all perception of hunger. I don't see how it's possible that I could be starving though, I was creating only a modest deficit (not more than 300 or 400 average calories at most under maintenance) and I never allowed myself to feel "genuinely" hungry.

One potential benign cause of reduced appetite might be weather change... it's recently become *very* hot where I live. Does hot weather reduce appetite?

I'm probably just being paranoid, but it's freaking me out. Has this happened to anyone else?

Hey there...truly hot weather crushes my appetite so it might simply be your reaction to the heat. Try to use shakes as a nutritional supplement...frozen so they'll feel good too...and maybe add a bit of extra cream and berries to it to up your calories. Your concern is enough to make me feel confident that you can handle it. You're aware of the problem and addressing it...that says alot all by itself.

Hi! Everyone I know has a diminished appetite in hot weather and I've usually wanted to just snack on things like salads, fruits and meats in the summer and not each much at all. As soon as cool weather sets in, my appetite starts to rampage.

I also find I have other times when my appetite changes apparently for different reasons than weather, although they're unknown to me. Sometimes I eat like a fiend--other times I don't.

I'm wondering since you're having a hard time reaching a good calorie level if you might want to increase your fat intake a little here and there. Generally speaking, fat does tend to decrease appetite, but at the same time a little goes a long way toward increasing calories. :)

Thank you everyone for the advice :)
I get a little paranoid about my health sometimes. It's probably just the weather. I will try to make sure I eat something until it passes.

I just thought of something! Do you like smoothies? (The smoothie thread made me think of this.) We make them from time to time, especially on a warm afternoon for a snack. We use Carb Countdown with frozen berries.

It really does stink when you know you should eat but just don't want to.

Hi ,
Smoothies are great. Thanks for the suggestion, when I don't feel like eating but I know I need to, I'll consider making one. :)

I know that on the PCOS board you mentioned considering glucophage. I know one of the side effects of glucophage for me was total lack of interest in food. In fact things that I would love to eat all sounded disgusting to me and I couldnt force myself to eat anything.

Sometimes it also happens to me out of the blue where there are weeks I lose any and all interest in food, I dont feel like eating and I struggle to pull in 1000 calories.

I usually try and have something to bring my caloric intake up, sometimes I just dont worry about it.

Eventually my appetite always returns. It just goes in phases. The weather getting warmer might be a big one. Usually when its warmer I have less interest in food.

Yes, hot weather always knocks my appetite down! Especially when it's muggy - feels soooo oppressive. Who wants to eat then?

Also ketosis kills my appetite and I also struggle to get the foods in that I should. I've started supplimenting with Atkins shakes. I try to get 4 or 5 small "feedings" in a day, with a shake being one of them. Even when I'm hungry, I can't eat much at one sitting.

I agree, try to find shakes, smoothies, or other hot-weather treats that you will find refreshing & enjoy enough to try and push your intake back up.

Think about our ancestors. They typically started to gain weight late summer/fall (when fruits, nuts, etc are plentiful) so they would have an energy store for the lean winter months. They would be back to their "normal" weight by spring and could eat regularly as spring and summer moved on. But a weight gain during early summer would have no benefit. I bet that it is "built in" for us to have decreased appetite late spring/early summer when eating extra food would not be critical (maybe even have a negative effect in the efficiency of the hunter-gatherer lifestyle). The warming of spring/summer could be the trigger to lose appetite and maybe the chilling of fall could trigger an increase in appetite.


Just a thought. (Too many genetics and ecology courses on my transcript....)

Hi

When I went to Cuba from Sunny and -20 Canada in March, I thought I was eating ALOT, and I came back 1lb lighter. I reviewed my meals, and I really ate like a bird (a small bird, not a Pterydactyl). The super-hot weather made me lose my appitite.

However, make sure you get 1200+ calories, cuz you do not want to slip into starvation mode and kill your metabolism!!

M

I agree, the heat can really do a number on your appetite. The other thing that may be happening is you may be drinking more because of the heat. If you are doing so then you might not be hungry because you keep your tummy full from liquids. My olny thought is to just snack on high cal foods like nuts to help boost your cals for the day.