How much should one REALLY eat?

Lately I've been feeling not very hungry. I've been eating but not very much and I haven't really noticed that I haven't eaten most of the time. I'm starting to wonder if my body really needs all that I thought. I've read taoist and hindu texts that say things to the effect of eat little or eat no more than you need...but how does one know what they need?

Thanks
Tracy

 

listen to your body. It knows the best way to survive.

 

well. this'll sound realyl corny but i think its all in your calories and stuff. if you can eat 2000 calories a day. then go and do it. you know.. not everyone has th e opriviledge of eating...

if you want to make your eating worth while, then have fruits and vegetables- sacred plants of the earth that might not be around much longer.. for all we know (dont mnid me i read too many books).

you need to eat something no matter what tho... even to just keep your metabolic rate constant. the moments you eat less, your body will try to slow down its digestion process to makes more critical use of wht's its given. then when you realyl feel liek having a bigger meal, all that food will take longer to consume and digest because it will e doing so at a much slower pace...

even when you havent eaten for a while, jsut have a fruit or something pure and natural... it can help your body's future more then you think.

 

well if it's about calories, try a daily calorie needs calculator:
http://www.thecolumn.org/how-many-calories-do-i-need.asp

if you go above the daily calorie needs, you'll gain weight.
If you go below, you'll lose weight. Of coarse this is for the average matabolic rate. If you have a high one, you'll burn more, lower one, you'll burn less.

the reason many americans are overweight (besides bad eating habits and genetics...) is because they base their diet on 2000-2500 kcal. Which is more than most people need.

 

You might be short of zinc. Try apples, oysters or beef.

 

that 2000-2500 caloreis per day isnt good advice. for a lot of poepl it would be a starvation diet. it would only be too much for for some people

im loosing weight eating over 3600 calories aday. no rapid wiegh loss mind ya, been dropping about 5 pounds every 3 weeks.

 

I just dont think my body needs alot of food... I'm not necesarily talking about calories... it just seems like I dont need to eat as often or as urgently as I used to... i used to get head aches and feel weird when I didn't eat enough. Now I can go most of the day without feeling eating and not feeling too hungry. I always make sure I eat something. But sometimes lately I don't get hungry until soon (an hour or so) before bed and then if I eat my tummy feels kinda funky while I'm trying to sleep. my body is confused. Of course if I'm doing any real physical activity like walking through the woods I get crabby if I haven't eatten enough... (I dont do that often) I'm just confused because when I was 16 I started eating small meals throughout the day and that kept me satisfied and made me lose weight but now I dont feel the urge to eat most of the time... its just weird and I'm wondering whats going on with me. I personally don't believe that the human body needs 2000-2500 calories a day in most cases.... I understand that if you're constantly doing physical activity but not when your life is pretty much walking, sitting in class, and reading...


maybe I'm right? I dunno...
I wish I knew what my body needs...
tracy

 

Maybe your activity level has changed. If you used to be a lot more active or a different kind of activity you probably wanted/needed more fuel than you do now.

I can't imagine loosing weight at 3600 calories a day. That's a lot! I plateau at about 2000-2500. Lose weight at below 2000 roughly. Exercise factors in as well of course.

I say listen to your body. Eat nutritiously for those calories that you do get. How do you feel? I know that when I do yoga I don't feel hungry for a long time after and helps me realize what my body needs. So I understand how you feel.

If you feel good and energetic I imagine you don't have much to worry about.

Shazi

 

Okay..if you're female, minimum (if you're desperate) is 1000kcal, minimum so your body works properly is 1200kcal. the average female (older than 18) should eat about 2000kcal, at my age it's still no more than 1800.Starvation: 800

By men it's ...I think...minimum(desperate) 1200, minimum for properly working 1400.
Average 2500kcal.Starvation: 1000

Of coarse this'll change depending on your activity level, metabolism,muscle mass,and weight.
Look at any dieting site and it'll tell ya. (I've met many books on this, and studied the whole thing before attempting weightloss, so don't say something like:"but you're just 14...." I've studied this topic A LOT.)

However, this is just based on the average person.

And the 3600 calories part....will cause you to GAIN weight (rapidly), unless you're already obese....then it'll help you loose weight.

 

just chew your food properly until it is almost liquid so you get the most out of it

probably you are in some weird cycle and will evetually have a few days of non-stop eating...i get like that...some days i can barely eat a thing, the next i will graze all day.
but if you dont feel like eating much make sure what you are eating is good for you..
for energy!

 

I think the average diet should be about 2,000 calories a day. 1,200 is the bare minimum for weight loss in women. Anything less is starvation. And, I know from personal experience that after starvation, your body stores everything as fat, just in the event that it goes through another starvation period. Not to mention, starvation makes your metabolism slow down. I severely restricted calories once, and though I lost a lot of weight, I could gain weight if I ate anything over 1,400 calories. Eat 1,200 MINIMUM!