I'm confused. Can you really eat too little?

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  • kerimanuel
    kerimanuel Posts: 17 Member
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    Wow! You've lost a lot. That's great! So, am I figuring correctly that you are consuming 1100 calories a day?
  • jkal1979
    jkal1979 Posts: 1,896 Member
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    OP, this link might be of interest to you. Note that she weighs more in her after photo.

    http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/07/21/meet-staci-your-new-powerlifting-super-hero/
  • brianpperkins
    brianpperkins Posts: 6,124 Member
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    Foreverblessedx3 wrote: »
    depends if your nutrition needs are being met. I eat 700 calories a day, but I drink 400 calories of 60 grams of protein, and I take supplements for iron, and vitamins, especially extra C, D and B12. I drink one supplement of magnesium, calcium, potassium and VitD. I get the remainder of my protein from food and average 75 grams a day. I've lost 25lbs since Dec 1st. Weight loss has slowed down the last week, but I just look at it as a lull, and look for it to speed back up since I will be going to the gym.

    I don't see why you can't eat fewer calories if you are making sure you are meeting your nutrition needs through plenty of supplements.

    Is your LCD medically supervised or are you simply assuming that your 4 pound per week loss in somehow done in a healthy manner?
  • grooveadelic
    grooveadelic Posts: 15
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    wow! A really heated thread here! I preface my post with this: My Doctor put me on a restricted calorie diet because I used to be fit and thin and I have a slight frame despite my measurements, my bones are small, my wrists = thin, my fingers = thin etc. Everything except my butt, belly, hips, thighs etc... I got FAT.

    I changed jobs and let old injuries bring me down and just got fat, which lead to joint problems. He adjusted my perception of food and nutrition by having me weigh my food, measure my portions, OMG, a cup of something ain't very much! 3oz of lean mean is TINY compared to the normal American diet and our perception of what a 'serving' is. 500 calories a day is HARD to do, seriously if you're full on 500 calories either you've had your stomach stapled or you're eating more than 500 calories! I had/have wiggle room in my diet, from 1000 - 1500 calories a day, on days where I don't do much I don't eat much... and even at a 1000 calories, I am not feeling full at the end of the day but that's OK if I've not done anything to warrant eating more.

    Common sense.... measure that 500 calories and make sure 1. That's what your eating and 2. make sure you ARE full.

    My Dr. saved my life, my profile on MFP says I've dropped 67 lbs, in reality it's closer to a 100 lbs, I just couldn't bring myself to update my highest weight on here. He whacked my food by more than HALF, encouraged me to eat 'clean' cutting processed foods, foods I didn't make myself. Once I was faced with the reality of how much I was eating it opened my eyes to what a portion is and how many calories are REALLY in things. For those who say they eat under a thousand calories a day, I challenge you to weigh, measure and track your food, you'll see it's a bit more than you realize. One way to really REALLY make that deficit work in your favor and not compromise the nutrition, good old fashioned work.... work it out, your body will thank you for it.
  • irene4134
    irene4134 Posts: 14 Member
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    If done for not more than a month to maximise weight loss I don't see why not... Isn't that we are fat and been overeating as such our bodies have kept those extras as fat.. my take is let my body be fuelled by those reserves so we reduce them see.. After a month u start incorporating 2 starches to ur meal. .. atleast 70g cooked rice.

    Well for me I never go over 900... if I do I gain so bad.. like some1 said this thing does not take into consideration the body size
  • brianpperkins
    brianpperkins Posts: 6,124 Member
    edited January 2015
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    irene4134 wrote: »
    If done for not more than a month to maximise weight loss I don't see why not... Isn't that we are fat and been overeating as such our bodies have kept those extras as fat.. my take is let my body be fuelled by those reserves so we reduce them see.. After a month u start incorporating 2 starches to ur meal. .. atleast 70g cooked rice.

    Well for me I never go over 900... if I do I gain so bad.. like some1 said this thing does not take into consideration the body size

    Just how small does it take to get to 900 calories for maintenance?

    I've yet to encounter a person of normal height, with an open and accurate log that has a maintenance level that low.
  • grooveadelic
    grooveadelic Posts: 15
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    The question should be how small is the person and how accurate is that calorie count? I had a friend who was eating 1000 calories a day and gaining weight..... in reality she was eating about 2000 calories a day and not exercising. I had another friend go on the HCG 500 calories a day diet, she weighed her food and strictly adhered to it, by the end of the day she was sitting on her couch bundled up in a blanket laying down, she didn't even have enough energy to keep her core temp up!

    One day I will graduate to a maintenance diet of about 1800 to 2000 calories a day but with the understanding that I will keep my cardio and strength training routine in place too...
  • kerimanuel
    kerimanuel Posts: 17 Member
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    Again, I'm not eating JUST 500 calories. Someone threw that out there as an example and y'all are thinking that's what I'm having. Check out my diary. You'll see I'm averaging 800-1000. Some days more. I'm eating. Every meal. I'm just eating better now. The days that my calories were high were days that I ate junk. I know now, based on all your comments, that I need to eat more to stay healthy. But seriously, I feel like I'm eating healthy. I could easily consume many more calories if I ate junk, but I've been very careful not too. I did have a couple of slip ups as you'll see in my diary. So to get more "good" calories I'm going to really have to make myself eat more. I'm trying to wrap my head around that.
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
    edited January 2015
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    kerimanuel wrote: »
    Again, I'm not eating JUST 500 calories. Someone threw that out there as an example and y'all are thinking that's what I'm having. Check out my diary. You'll see I'm averaging 800-1000.

    I looked over the last 5 days or so, and you're routinely eating 800-900 calories and burning 300ish through exercise. That's a net of 500-600 cals per day. So my estimate of 500 cals for the sake of this conversation wasn't far off.

    Can you eat too little? Not really, not in the short term. Is it healthy or recommended? No. I, and I think everyone else in this thread, suggest you eat more... especially if your logging is at all accurate.
  • ketorach
    ketorach Posts: 430 Member
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    kerimanuel wrote: »
    Again, I'm not eating JUST 500 calories. Someone threw that out there as an example and y'all are thinking that's what I'm having. Check out my diary. You'll see I'm averaging 800-1000. Some days more. I'm eating. Every meal. I'm just eating better now. The days that my calories were high were days that I ate junk. I know now, based on all your comments, that I need to eat more to stay healthy. But seriously, I feel like I'm eating healthy. I could easily consume many more calories if I ate junk, but I've been very careful not too. I did have a couple of slip ups as you'll see in my diary. So to get more "good" calories I'm going to really have to make myself eat more. I'm trying to wrap my head around that.
    I think there was some confusion. No one said you were *eating* 500cal per day. But your NET intake (after burning say 400cal from exercise) is 500 calories (eat 900, exercise 400), which is probably not all that healthy.

  • kerimanuel
    kerimanuel Posts: 17 Member
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    Dang! I really need to figure this stuff out.
  • jkal1979
    jkal1979 Posts: 1,896 Member
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    Go to the Getting Started forum on here and read the stickies. That will be a start to figuring things out, including how to set your calorie goal to the proper amount.

    Just remember the goal is to reach your calorie limit set by MFP.
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
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    kerimanuel wrote: »
    Dang! I really need to figure this stuff out.

    The cliff notes version is this:

    Your body needs a certain amount of calories just to maintain basic bodily functions - breathing, pumping blood, etc. For most people, this is going to be somewhere between 1000 and 1600 calories depending on a variety of factors. The more you ask your body to do beyond those basic functions, the more calories it needs to do them. So everything from walking to your car to washing dishes to working out puts additional strains on the body and requires additional calories.

    Now, if you don't give your body the calories it needs, it doesn't just up and quit. It find calories it can use in other places - body fat and muscle tissue - and breaks those things down for energy so it can do all the things you are asking it to do.

    Losing some body fat is rarely a bad thing. And losing some muscle is unavoidable. But losing too much is, at the very least, counter productive to most people goals (think thinks like getting stronger, looking fit/toned, etc), and if taken to an extreme, can be very problematic.



    Cliff note for the cliff notes:
    Your body needs calories, give them to it. If you are exercising, your body need more calories.
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
    edited January 2015
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    jkal1979 wrote: »
    Just remember the goal is to reach your calorie limit set by MFP.

    Correct.

    Also, your mindset should be to eat as much as you can and still lose weight... not to eat as little as you can while losing weight.
  • kerimanuel
    kerimanuel Posts: 17 Member
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    ketorach wrote: »

    I think there was some confusion. No one said you were *eating* 500cal per day. But your NET intake (after burning say 400cal from exercise) is 500 calories (eat 900, exercise 400), which is probably not all that healthy.

    So what's the use of working out to burn calories if you just have to eat more to make up for what you burned? Does this mean I would be better off eating my 800-1000 calories and not exercising? That doesn't seem right.
  • grooveadelic
    grooveadelic Posts: 15
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    what helped me, and this is just my observations.... eating cleanly took the weight off me. Cleanly meaning whole foods. Instead of a bag of trail mix (reasonably healthy in most people's eyes) I made trail mix from raw nuts and thinly sliced and dried veggies and fruits without preservatives, stabalizers and added sugars. I have coffee with real heavy cream in it, delicious and my body knows what to do with the real foods, not the 'non-dairy' creamers and powered stuff I literally consumer MORE calories in whole foods than processed foods and lose weight? I was flabbergasted! I couldn't get my head around that either... I'm eating MORE calories and losing more weight.... but it's the foods I was eating.

    My joints thank me too, my arthritis has calmed down quite a bit, the swelling and inflammation went way down. I shudder to think what I subjected myself to all those years of processed packaged foods.
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
    edited January 2015
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    kerimanuel wrote: »
    ketorach wrote: »

    I think there was some confusion. No one said you were *eating* 500cal per day. But your NET intake (after burning say 400cal from exercise) is 500 calories (eat 900, exercise 400), which is probably not all that healthy.

    So what's the use of working out to burn calories if you just have to eat more to make up for what you burned? Does this mean I would be better off eating my 800-1000 calories and not exercising? That doesn't seem right.

    MPF knows you need 1600 calories to maintain your weight (or something there abouts... I'm just using that number as a reasonable approximation for this conversation). So MFP tells you to eat 1200 cals in order to lose weight. When you exercise, that required 1600 goes up by, say 300 cals, so MFP increases the 1200 by the same amount to keep you on track and to hopefully prevent under eating/poor nutrition.


    This is pretty basic stuff, but not always the most intuitive. My suggestion: read the stickies and start learning. Also, you came to MFP for help, presumably because you weren't sure about things like calories and dietary needs. So when MFP tells you to eat more, why are you assuming you know better? You came here for a reason, do what MPF tells you to do.
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    edited January 2015
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    You cannot eat too little to stop losing weight.

    You most definitely *can* eat too little to stop being healthy.

    The dividing line will be in a slightly different place for everybody - the rule of thumb is that the lower your intake, the more carefully you have to monitor what you are eating.

    We dont' have much to go on here, but my guess is you will have trouble maintaining a 5x a week vigorous exercise plan on that low of an intake. Let your performance be your guide - if you aren't getting faster/stronger/longer, you're likely not eating enough/properly.
  • grooveadelic
    grooveadelic Posts: 15
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    According to my Dr. eating back your calories you gain from exercise should happen after you've hit your goal weight. When you burn 400 calories in exercise class, you're not burning off your nutrition, you're not burning 400 calories of calcium or 400 calories of Iron, you're burning 400 calories of macronutrients that can be converted to energy (protein, carb, fats). When you sleep you're converting protein to muscle, essential fats to enzymes and necessary endocrine support and carbs to glucose to store in the muscles, if you're short on these items, the body metabolizes stored fats.... burning fat isn't an instant process, in fact, fat is the hardest to metabolize, the body will sacrifice quicker energy sources (glucose and ultimately lean muscle) so the goal is to eat healthy during the day to sustain the daily activities, workout to build endurance and muscle mass, get good rest, so the body can repair and send signals to fat stores.... "hey guys, give up the savings account, we need fuel for these muscles we're building"
    I hope this helps... it's so confusing... It took my Dr. drawing out out on a dry erase board for me to 'get it'.
  • grooveadelic
    grooveadelic Posts: 15
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    and the whole idea behind working out? so you CAN eat without creating fat! if your daily activities require 800 calories (just an example) and you're intaking 1800, 1000 is going to be stored as fat. It's hard to get the calcium you need without drinkin' the milk right? so you need that 'milk' for the micronutrient of calcium.... but you need to burn off the calories that come from the carbs, fats and proteins you consumed WITH the calcium. Your not going to get enough micronutrients without eating properly, and you're not going to lose weight without burning the extra off.... you can crash diet and lose weight, the wrong weight, it's called 'skinny-fat'.... you're light on the scales but wobbly in the butt....

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