I am NOT "starving" myself...

I'm getting ragged on by eveyone I know for "starving myself."  I do not feel that I am at all.  I eat FAR less then I used to ( I acually eat less than my 8yr old these days) but I eat when I'm hungry.  It's not like my stomach is goin crazy and I don't eat so that I have less calorie intake or anything.  I've just lost my appetite. I skip more meals then I should, but it's partly cause I work graveyards so I end up sleeping all day, and again I have less of an appetite. So... yeah.

* To all those who commented* - Thanks for the response.  The concensus seems to be that I am in fact starving myself. whrentham98 made a good point though: How many of you actually read my profile? Not that anything my profile says makes anything better, but... One thing that I would like to point out though is this - "It's not like my stomach is goin crazy and I don't eat so that I have less calorie intake or anything." Meaning I am not INTENTIONALLY starving myself. And as far as eating less than my 8 yr old, first of all, he's a growing boy. Second of all, to give an example, the other day we had White chedder macaroni and kobe meatballs for lunch.  Now, anyone that knows me knows that I love Kraft dinner (or the white chedder mac, in this case) and can eat an entire box to myself easy. And normally I could eat 10 - 15 meatballs along with that. But the other day I had a cup of the mac, and six meatballs. My 8yr old had a full bowl and 8 meatballs. Or later that day for dinner we had burritoes. Normally i could polish off four or more stuffed ones. I had 2, not stuffed (used a cup of filling between the 2) and my 8yr old had 3. So yeah, again, I don't see it as starving myself... Anyways, thanks agin for the feedback. Good luck to you all.

P.S - If anyone is interested/able check out my food intake to get a better idea of what I am actually eating. Just ignore the 3 pizza nights I've this month. The place I order from is SOOOOOO good lol

there is no why component attached to whether you're "starving" yourself or not. it's a yes/no type question. many anorexics, not saying you are at all, lose their appetite and they eat "when they're hungry" but does that mean they're not starving themselves, no! same thing applies. if you, a grown man, is eating less than your 8 year old then you are starving yourself plain and simple. how many calories are you eating? and you skip meals? sometimes we have to do things that we don't WANT to do to be healthy, and for you that might mean eating when you're not hungry but skipping meals and eating like a toddler is starvation.

Just losing an appetite is not something that is ever positive.

If you said to any doctor "Lately, I've been skipping meals and I'm just not hungry, but maybe it's my shift work" then you would be given a requisition to undergo a few tests.

You're right it could be graveyard work alone, but shift workers generally have to be extremely disciplined to create meal times and sleep times precisely because their biological clocks are so compromised by the shifts. I know it is no fun to eat because it is time to eat as opposed to when you are hungry, but your hunger signals are wrecked by the hours you work. So it is dangerous to get sloppy about dealing with that challenging kind of schedule by assuming anything about it is normal.

The risks of many cancers are significantly higher for graveyard workers, so screening is important for you.

And Chrissy has already pointed out and picked up on the unreality of a grown man eating less than an 8 year old. I think your loved ones are not ragging on you -- they are pointing out something that needs attention because they love you.

Try not to dig your heels in and go speak with a doctor -- it's the right thing to do.

I work overnights and the people I work with, as well as myself, have seemed to experience a massive increase in appetite since starting the strange hours.

Are you getting adequate calories so you get adequate nutrition?  Is your goal to lose weight?  Are your friends and familly used to seeing you eat massive amounts of food and be at a high weight? 

Starvation happens when we don't eat enough to get all the nutrients we need.  If you are getting good nutrition, which is easy to figure out here using the Food Log and Analysis tools, you're not starving.

I think you got some of the answers you did because usually when we see people in these forums who make the kind of statement you did, they are sometimes very thin people looking to get emaciated.  If you're not one of those, then good luck to you in reaching your goal.

Ask any vet..... one of the first signs that an animal is unwell is when it goes off its food.  Human beings are essentially no different and a loss of appetite, if there's no obvious cause, should get checked out by a doctor.  Skipping meals is unhealthy in itself for many reasons.  Sleeping all the time is not the action of a normal, healthy person.... again could be symptomatic of a sickness or some kind of deficiency.   Lack of calories (energy) alone will always lead to fatigue and lethargy.

Make a bigger effort to eat at regular times and to eat normal-sized meals with a good balance of different foods.  And, if you can't do that, then do see your doctor for advice.

I wonder if anyone who responded to your post took the time to read your profile?  You've been through a lot and you're taking control of things to improve your health.  From what you said in your profile, you're baseline weight was 300+ and you've dropped 35+ in less than two months.  Is it any wonder that everyone around you is making these types of comments.  10% is a lot and certainly more than the 2lbs per week that is safe to lose.  I suspect you'll level off soon and drop at a much healthier rate.  In any case, all the advice your getting is sound.  You should DEFINITELY be under a doctor's care given what you've been through.  If you haven't already, you should ask your MD to do some baseline tests for overall health.  Cholesterol, Triglycerides, Glucose, BP and Body Composition.  Good Luck, Alan.

I suspect you probably are still under a doctor's care given the medical concerns so do run anything you feel you'd like an opinion on past the doctor at your next appointment.  That is why you are paying him:)

From the food you've described, it hardly looks like starvation to me.  Be careful not to drop under the 1400 or so a day that would put you into starvation mode and try to fill up with fruit and vegetables so that you get your vitamins but also be aware that sometimes people around you get scared when they see change.  If, subconsciously, they've compared to you weightwise and come to the conclusion that you are fine so that means they are fine then when you start losing weight it will scare them.  AND if you are suddenly able to show self control that they can't then you are OBVIOUSLY starving because they would be:)

My point is that when I first decided to do something about my weight, the first thing that I noticed was the inability of anyone to talk about it subjectively.  Everyone has a personal attachment and to say someone needs to lose weight is often taken as a personal attack .  Making it much more objective helped me but the reactions of those around me sometimes freaked me out.  People raising their voices and virtually screaming at me that I was okay and didn't need to lose any weight when I was teetering between overweight and obese and they were simply using me as a measure.  They needed to lose and I wasn't saying that but effectively I was.  This collective denial is part of the reason for the obesity problems today so don't worry too much.  Look at the numbers, talk to the doctor, ensure that you are getting a balanced diet and don't go under the 1400 per day but, beyond that, be a bit careful about how you take comments from others. 

Good luck.