Unintentional weight loss

Hoopoe

Hoopoe

Senior Member (Voting Rights)
I noticed that I've lost weight. I'm now at around 56 kg, and was 58-59 kg a few months earlier. This is borderline underweight for my height (178 cm).

I eat a lot and often and am often hungry despite eating.
It feels like I eat so much that am uncomfortably full after most meals.
I eat a high amount of vegetables because I think that helps with the illness (my gut feels nearly healthy on this diet).
I tend to eat less carbs than others and like to eat 3-4 hours before bed time.
Yoghurt and cheese worsen symptoms

I'm wondering if the feeling of fullness might be amplified due to small fiber neuropathy.
 
Vegetables are largely water and take up a lot of space for the amount of calories they contain. Could eating them in large amounts be why you feel full and yet hungry?

But if you've been eating this way for a long time and have only just started losing weight, perhaps it would be good to get checked out by your doctor just to make sure that nothing serious is going on?
 
Sasha said:
Vegetables are largely water and take up a lot of space for the amount of calories they contain. Could eating them in large amounts be why you feel full and yet hungry?
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I eat a lot of vegetables for the same reasons as @Hoopoe (plus I can't eat potatoes), and find exactly this.

I can be painfully full from my main meal of the day, and then suddenly not, and then find it's bedtime and I'm starving—all in less than three hours. So I cut down on the vegetable bulk slightly and added a bit more fat, and it seems to have helped.

As others say, though, if you're losing weight without having changed your eating pattern it's probably time to get checked out.
 
I too get full quickly when eating lots of vegetables as part of a low carb diet, and need to eat more often as a result and to get the calories.

As others have said, worth speaking to a medical professional to rule out anything that needs ruling out and to hopefully get some helpful advice going forward.
 
It sounds like you suspect a gastrointestinal problem so a visit to your doctor to assess your dietary intake versus energy expenditure and look for any pathology is a good idea.

I do wonder about the potential lack of calories in your diet - it sounds like it is lacking in carbohydrates. It is also not clear if you eat meat which is high in calories due to protein and fat content.

I don't tolerate a lot of fatty foods or a big meal of carbs so I eat small amounts of food throughout the day. If I had major food intolerances, I would see a dietician.
 
Hoopoe said:
I wanted another opinion to see how worrying it is. I suppose that if it gets worse I will need to do something about it.
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Feeling full too early is a good enough reason to check in with a doctor, and unexplained weight loss is too - the weight loss may possibly be explained by your diet but we don’t know so that’s where a consultation would be wise.

If you don’t mind me asking, is there any particular reason you feel like seeing someone right away? Feel free to ignore the question if it is unwanted!
 
I was shocked back in May of this year that I was down to 48kgs when I was weighed at the doctor's office. I asked the nurse to weigh me again. My normal weight has been 50kgs for the last 35 years. I think I'm losing muscle because my eating habits have never changed.
 
As others have said, talk to the professionals as there are many reasons for unintended weight loss, feelings of fullness etc.

I have a similar stature to you – I’m always borderline underweight or underweight. I recently noticed I had lost 5-6kg despite eating the exact same and no change in (in-)activity. I brought it up with the GP who said it was probably muscle atrophy. I’m unconvinced.

I did lose a significant amount of weight a couple of years ago (about 12kg) but that made sense as I was able to eat very little for months. I needed a dietitian’s help to put that weight back on – it did not go back on when I returned to eating normal amounts of food. The dietitian told me to increase protein (that was the most important one – it had to be ¼-1/3 of each meal), increase fat and let those two squeeze out fruit and veg for a while (because they’re low-calorie but make you feel full, so they leave less room for high-calorie foods). Ideally, I would have been having calorific smoothies during the day but they didn’t work out well for me. I did snacks instead but more liquid calories would have been good. I was amazed that I had to keep adding more and more to put the weight back on. But I did, and then I maintained it for ages and was able to come down to more normal amounts of food and still maintained it, so I stopped weighing myself.

The go-to for dietitians is to get you to add dairy - milk, cream, cheese, yoghurt - into places they don't normally belong, but you mention you don't do well with them. Me neither. Most oral supplements are based on whey protein but the dietitian should know if there are others. There weren't where I live but there might be where you live. I found peanut butter, walnut butter and almond butter helpful. (Peanuts and walnuts are low-FODMAP so if you have FODMAP issues they're still likely to be good.) Oh and I pour olive oil on things too.

This time around I’ve managed to put on 2kg by myself, without making myself feel uncomfortably full, but have stalled there. So far I haven't stuffed myself as much as I did the last time as it exacerbates other issues, but I am weighing myself every week to make sure I know what’s happening, and I have another appointment soon that might help.

It’s well worth talking to a dietitian to get advice as having the right balance of macronutrients is important.
 
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