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Will my body tell me when I need to eat?
I have recently gotten a new job where I don't have many opportunities to eat. I usually stress a sandwich i the morning, follow up with another sandwich during lunch and finish with a good portion of some potato-based dish in the evening before falling asleep, half dead. I work at a call center and don't do any training except a 30 min walk in the afternoon so I don't expend much energy during the day.
I've recently started wondering if my eating habits really give my body the energy it needs, since my only large meal is when I get home in the evening, when eat as much as I can. Can I trust my body to make me hungry early during the day (I only get hungry upon coming home) to make me increase my food intake, or should I start counting calories? Since I don't eat prepackaged food and don't follow precise recipes, I'd find it hard to make a good estimate. I eat a multivitamin pill every day so my vitamin/mineral intake should be fine.
Might be worth noting that I smoke about 5 cigs per day and eat a 200mg caffeine pill in the morning and another 200mg pill after lunch. I've been doing this for quite a while and still manage to feel hungry despite the caffeine and nicotine, probably because my tolerance should be rather high.
I could rephrase the question as will my body tell me that my calorie intake is too low, or will I slowly lose muscle mass/weight? I am a 20yr old male with a 22.7 BMI.
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The total of 400 mg caffeine and cigs do still curb your appetite considerably, compared to the average stimulant free person, and while tolerance can be built up, it effects more the energy you get from caffeine, not the effect it has on your hunger levels. As a solid drinker of at least 3 large coffees a day (for at least 4 years now), the use of caffeine as apetite surpessant is still potent. Couple that with the effect of cigs on your apetite (which can never be gotten used to, source is my dad, a smoker of 20 years, who still uses them instead of breakfast. If the effect deteriorates in time, this should not be possible.) Couple that with your job, which I gather is exhausting in its mental aspect atleast (provides considerable distraction away from your biological needs) and I can safely say yes, you will need to at least eat smart and with a purpose, as in track calories in at least a rudimentary way, so you can be sure you don't start losing weight. When I started my factory job, I lost like 5kg in 2 months, simply by going to work and being too exhausted to care about food. Its a serious problem for people with normal eating habits ( not obese people! mind you, I know people that gain/maintain weight at incredibly intense and physically demanding jobs, its part of their personality to think about food intently).
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>>42236394
Continuing, your body will give you signals that it craves energy, but not in the usual, straighforward way (intense hunger). You will get winded easily, your blood pressure will drop, you will start getting dizzy when getting out of bed, and the surefire way to notice you're losing weight is to sometimes hear ringing in your ears or they start to pop or get that out of plane/bus feeling in your inner ear. Its related to blood pressure and its the precursor to feeling sleepy more, losing sleep, feeling distracted and if you're like me, straight up lose endurance in the gym/ any kind of physical activity. Be careful, be smart, and gains will stay with you.
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>>42236394
hmm, alright, thanks for the fast and elaborate answer.
Hoped I could avoid it, but I guess I have no choice but to count the calories I ingest. And yes, the job is mentally exhausting (compare it to explaining that 2 + 2 = 4 to 50 new and different 6 year olds a day, who are sure that 2 + 2 = 5 and don't really care for math). Off to read food packaging!
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>>42236441
been only working there for three weeks, used to work part time but now a full-time employee, haven't experienced these symptoms yet, and hopefully will not. I have never slept as well as I do now though (averaging 9-10 hours every night), the mental exhaustion deprives me of all my hobbies and interests. If I am to trust my older colleagues, this is just a phase before I get used to repeating the same things over and over... Thanks again for the advice.
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>>42236160
>Do I feel hungry or "sort of hungry"?
Your body to eat
>Are you thinking about food?
Your body to eat
>Has it been 4 hours since I last ate something?
Your body wants to eat
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