Is it bad that I'm running 6 miles a day with only around 1300 calorie intake?

art6994

I lost a good 8-10 pounds at the beginning of this year, I'm 5'1 and went from 135 to fluctuating between 127 and 125. Since I went back to school, I've gotten off my game a little bit and it's finally Christmas break so I'm dedicating this whole month into getting back into my fitness and diet routine. I'm a huge runner, and now that I have the time I've been running about 6 miles 4-5 days a week, with 4 miles 2-3 days a week and throwing a rest day in there. I also do a little bit of weight training (whether it's a few arm, leg, or ab workouts) after I do my run. Myfitnesspal is telling me to eat 1,200 calories a day, and since running makes me super hungry I eat around 1,300 total a day, which includes a lotttt of carbs and protein. Should I be eating more, or is this okay? I'm trying to lose a little bit of my weight I gained back and once I lose it start to maintain and tone up.

dbmata

try it for a few months and tell us your results. How does your body react to it?

Mr_Knight

If your performance isn't suffering, you're likely not doing too much. At your weight, a four mile run is only adding about 300 calories to your burn.

Original_Beauty

I think yes you do need to eat more, because if you are eating 1200 calories and burning about 300-400 calories a run, that leaves your daily intake too low. It leaves you on 800-900 calories, which is far from enough. You should be eating 1200 calories minimum after exercise.

mamadon

Original_Beauty wrote: »

I think yes you do need to eat more, because if you are eating 1200 calories and burning about 300-400 calories a run, that leaves your daily intake too low. It leaves you on 800-900 calories, which is far from enough. You should be eating 1200 calories minimum after exercise.

This. Your not eating enough with that amount of exercise.

sijomial

art6994 wrote: »

Myfitnesspal is telling me to eat 1,200 calories a day, and since running makes me super hungry I eat around 1,300 total a day....

No MFP is "telling you" to eat 1200 +exercise calories.
So log your runs, get credited with extra calories and eat them. That's how this tool is intended to be used.
Might be worth also entering your stats and runs into an online running calorie calculator to get some confidence in the numbers.

Then see what results you get (weight loss, running performance, hunger....) over a period of weeks and adjust calorie goal accordingly.

sugaraddict4321

Based on your stats, you're not eating enough. I plugged your numbers into the IIFYM calculator using exercise 4x a week, and your TDEE is around 1874 calories. If you go with the standard 20% reduction, you can still eat 1500 cals a day and lose weight. Since you don't have a lot to lose, you don't need to be so aggressive with your deficit. Be consistent and patient, log everything faithfully to make sure you're not missing something, and you'll be fine.

zipa78

sugaraddict4321 wrote: »

Based on your stats, you're not eating enough. I plugged your numbers into the IIFYM calculator using exercise 4x a week, and your TDEE is around 1874 calories. If you go with the standard 20% reduction, you can still eat 1500 cals a day and lose weight. Since you don't have a lot to lose, you don't need to be so aggressive with your deficit. Be consistent and patient, log everything faithfully to make sure you're not missing something, and you'll be fine.

Exactly, less is - if not more, then at least better and healthier when it comes to losing weight.

JustWant2Run

Yes. You should be burning around 450-500 calories running 6 miles... 1300-500 calories isn't enough. 1200 should be your NET number... Net meaning food - exercises

johnnylakis

If you are losing more than 2 pounds a week, I would worry

pineapple_jojo

Do you want to be sick and skinny or strong, fit and lean? If the former then carry on, if the latter then eat more calories.

martyqueen52

Personally I think you are way undercutting. I follow IIFYM.com calculator, and so do lot of my power-lifting friends.

Anyhow, according to their calculator, being 20 years old, 5"1, and 127 lbs.... exercising 3x a week ... just to MAINTAIN your current weight you need 1700 calories. To cut 1lb a week you need 1400. Now if you're running 5x a week you need 1800 to maintain and 1500 to cut 1lb. per week.

This calculator has always worked for me, so, take it as you will. But I definitely suggest upping your calories running 6 miles a day.

Linnaea27

art6994 wrote: »

I lost a good 8-10 pounds at the beginning of this year, I'm 5'1 and went from 135 to fluctuating between 127 and 125. Since I went back to school, I've gotten off my game a little bit and it's finally Christmas break so I'm dedicating this whole month into getting back into my fitness and diet routine. I'm a huge runner, and now that I have the time I've been running about 6 miles 4-5 days a week, with 4 miles 2-3 days a week and throwing a rest day in there. I also do a little bit of weight training (whether it's a few arm, leg, or ab workouts) after I do my run. Myfitnesspal is telling me to eat 1,200 calories a day, and since running makes me super hungry I eat around 1,300 total a day, which includes a lotttt of carbs and protein. Should I be eating more, or is this okay? I'm trying to lose a little bit of my weight I gained back and once I lose it start to maintain and tone up.

I'm your height but lighter, and enjoy runs of about the same length. Based on my exercising when I was closer to your weight, you're likely burning around 500 calories on those 6-mile runs and maybe 300 or so on the shorter runs. So that would mean you're taking in about 800 calories net on your longer run days-- which will mean you lose weight really fast, but that's just not enough food to be healthy. Certainly if you're logging your exercise in MFP, your food diary will warn you on those days that you're not eating enough (it does that if you net less than 1000 calories).

I think women our size (I'm guessing you are a woman from your height??? Correct me if I'm wrong) can be all right eating around 1000 cals a day (NET, not total) when losing weight, but that is certainly not necessary to see results and doesn't seem enjoyable in the least. Try using MFP's exercise diary and it will add your exercise calories to your daily intake, so you'll be able to eat more and still lose weight at whatever rate you selected when you set up your account (sounds like you told it you want to lose 1 lb a week). That's how the site is meant to be used, and I find that it is pretty accurate.