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

middlehaitch

Kerimanuel, you hit the nail on the head a few posts back when you said something like not worrying about the weight loss and more about the shape of your body ( I should have found it again and quoted, but I didn't ).

Up your calories to the MFP suggested, and eat it. ( be virtuose 80% of the time if possible)

If your 5 workouts a week are all cardio, change it so that you are doing 3 weight bearing days.

This can be body weight ( nerd fitness), hand weights, or barbell ( strong lifts, NROLFW, etc) any will do depending where your starting point is. The goal of them all is to progressively challenge your muscles.

Heavy lifting is lifting as heavy as you can, and I think this can include body weight.

Changing to eating at MFP goal plus 50-75% of you exercise calories (MFP over estimates) plus incorporating weight bearing exercises, should have you feeling fitter and and stronger, plus you will be looking better in a swimsuit by summer even if your body weight barely changes.

Take lots of pics for comparison and use the tape measure for judging loss rather than the scale.

You may have to re adjust your calories to get them just right. MFP is an excellent tool for that. I have to do it every time I pick up a new exercise routine.( so I don't lose in maintenance )

Cheers, h.

Ps I am part of the 55-65 thread, I eat back half my exercise calories, lift heavy for me, and have maintained for 6yr
It is an interesting thread for anyone peri- menopausal or post. Join us.

brianpperkins

kerimanuel wrote: »

brianpperkins wrote: »

Looking at the diaries, I honestly hope people are just terrible at accurately logging. The other option is that people are deliberately netting under 500-600 calories per day for protracted periods without medical supervision.

The third option might be that we just didn't know. I've been netting that. I thought I was doing good keeping my calories to 800-1000. I wasn't aware that I had to make up for what I burned by exercising. I'm 47 years old. I've never had a problem with my weight. I've had four children and always lost the baby weight easily. I've never been educated on this stuff. It's only now that I'm older, I've gained some unwanted weight and the weight loss isn't coming as easily as it has in the past that I'm doing some research and finding this stuff out. I'm sure there are MANY people in my situation.

This may sound harsh, but the information is readily available. With an entire getting started section of the forum full of guidance on how to start, how to use the site, etc and the repeated warnings that low net caloric days generate when you try to complete a day ... didn't know only holds up for about a day or two after joining.

brianpperkins

irene4134 wrote: »

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.

If u read my post I said to maximise weight loss on the 1st month not maintainance that's why I say thereafter increase ur carbs.
Yes I di agree it's not healthy bur it won't do much damage if done over a shorter period...
Like I said If I eat more than 900 I gain weight or dnt lose at all...

As we speak am on max 600cals a day... and will do it for next 3 weeks. Actually am on a low carb and I don't feel hungry and if I do feel hungry I up my intake.
I have gained back 9kg in 3mths just by eating more than 1000... so am strict yes cos I want fast results atleast lose 6 kg then the rest I will do it with 900 cals

So you're on a VLCD that promotion of violates the guidelines of the site?

mcclelland0484

I went against all the experts. At 6'6 and 365 I went in a 1000 calorie diet for 45 days and lost 48 lbs. I did this with permission from my doctor. I then slowly adjusted my diet up to 1800 calories. I did this while taking vitamin supplements. Blood work was done every 2 to 3 weeks. I maintained a work out routine consisting of weights and some light cardio. Down 117 lbs total since aug 1. Healthy as can be. Muscle is intact. I am able to complete 11 pull-ups and I can run 1.5 miles in 10:47. It depends on you and the opinion of an app matters less than what your body telling you.

RoxieDawn

I see the above poster went into a high deficit to lose faster and did it well.

I am not sure if OP is still checking this. I am 5'4" and 118. I have 8 more lbs. My TDEE on non exercise days is around 1300.

Of course if you eat less than 1200 calories every day for weeks on end your body will certainly catchup but not comfortably. The starvation mode is a myth. You have to totally stress your body out depriving it of nutrition for a lot longer period of time to have this happen.

I eat around 1000 to 1100 calories a day. Please do not say anything yet... I am sedentary and only exercise about 3 times a week for about 90 to 100 minutes each week. I sit behind a computer all day.

My body took about 3 weeks before it went into action. I am a very small frame and 46 so there is hormones, water retention (which switched me to low sodium a lot of water), changes going on all the time. Drinking more water solved a lot of problems for me and I believe it helped me with already slower aging metabolism.

No two bodies are the same. It is suggested that and proven alot of people can EM2LW and have it down to science.

Many many people up their calorie intake and start loosing. It may be for me in that three week period I was pushing my body to to use the deficit, but somehow I think I am back down to eating lighter when I was 10 years younger.

Others are much much more active than I am. Worth trying some scenarios for a week at time

grooveadelic

Way to go McClelland! 1000 calories and you didn't eat back your exercise deficit probably? 1000 calories or better is not VLCD.... wiki it....

Same here, I'm not as impressive as you but I'm almost 50 and had some gnarly past injuries to overcome, but I'm close to my 100 lb 'loss' mark. My Dr. also took blood work, monthly and fortunately the only real vitamin I had to take was D3. I was told I would never run again, and I can do 2 miles, training for my first 5K in march and hoping to do the spartan race in August.

irene4134

brianpperkins wrote: »

So you're on a VLCD that promotion of violates the guidelines of the site?

Hei guys I don't want to get in trouble with MFP actually I didn't know that it was a violation, normally I don't engage in chats I always read and not post...in any case my sincere apologies for having posted...
But just to clear the air it's a doctor's drawn programme, took bloods and all that and we do routine check ups. Am also not comfortable with it and we have agreed to up the intake after a certain milestone.. well the app has been helping me stay focused and I do intend to use it even at maintainance. .. it's a great app. And NO you can't do it without a Doc's approval.. I hope it's clear my sincere apologies for the confusion. It is important that u don't deprive your body nor starve it... take care of those bodies for they will take care of u when u older. Chaow and all the best.

HazelBug1987

I would say aim for the 1200 calorie goal and pop a multivitamin on days you have trouble meeting that goal. You are my height. When I'm not breastfeeding I need about 1750 calories to maintain my weight at about 120 pounds. I'm not sure why you want to go lower than 120 since that is pretty slim. But as long as you stay healthy then I don't mind.

It would probably be better to get in some exercise than eat below 1200 calories.

chideldali

Don't worry too much. Your body knows what it needs and you feel fine and you're losing weight then you're doing fine.

brianpperkins

irene4134 wrote: »

brianpperkins wrote: »

So you're on a VLCD that promotion of violates the guidelines of the site?

Hei guys I don't want to get in trouble with MFP actually I didn't know that it was a violation, normally I don't engage in chats I always read and not post...in any case my sincere apologies for having posted...
But just to clear the air it's a doctor's drawn programme, took bloods and all that and we do routine check ups. Am also not comfortable with it and we have agreed to up the intake after a certain milestone.. well the app has been helping me stay focused and I do intend to use it even at maintainance. .. it's a great app. And NO you can't do it without a Doc's approval.. I hope it's clear my sincere apologies for the confusion. It is important that u don't deprive your body nor starve it... take care of those bodies for they will take care of u when u older. Chaow and all the best.

The entire tone of this conversation is different if you include you're on a MEDICALLY ORDERED AND SUPERVISED low calorie diet. Without that important detail it reads as though you self selected a VLCD and then basically promoted it versus a doctor's order and supervision. It's a similar distinction between doctor's supervised and prescribed use of opiates for pain control and somebody buying and using them from a street dealer. The need for medical supervision during such diets is because they are inherently dangerous without a doctor.

Liftng4Lis

So you're eating under a 1000 calories a day and working out. You're body is not getting the nutrients it needs. Sure you'll lose that 14 pounds you need to and probably pretty quickly, but will it be sustainable?

GulfcoastAL

A dietician answers this question on the MFP blog today....... http://blog.myfitnesspal.com/ask-the-dietitian-should-i-eat-back-my-exercise-calories/?utm_source=mfp&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=weekly20150112&mkt_tok=3RkMMJWWfF9wsRoku6rBZKXonjHpfsX64+otUKexgokz2EFye+LIHETpodcMTsJmMK+TFAwTG5toziV8R7DBLM153N8QXRTg

kerimanuel

Thanks for sharing GulfcoastAL

sofaking6

GulfcoastAL wrote: »

A dietician answers this question on the MFP blog today....... http://blog.myfitnesspal.com/ask-the-dietitian-should-i-eat-back-my-exercise-calories/?utm_source=mfp&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=weekly20150112&mkt_tok=3RkMMJWWfF9wsRoku6rBZKXonjHpfsX64+otUKexgokz2EFye+LIHETpodcMTsJmMK+TFAwTG5toziV8R7DBLM153N8QXRTg

Not to knock anyone for linking to this, but I think it's a horrible blog. Their reason for telling you not to eat back exercise calories is that they assume you are counting your calories incorrectly. That's just...dumb, IMO. Why not write a blog about how to tell if you're counting wrong and how to fix it? But what do you expect from a blog that advocates 5 minutes workouts.. </rant>.

rosebette

I think we need to get a bit of perspective here. Some of the folks posting here have been on VLCD diets or diets at 1000 or less because they have been extremely overweight, even obese, and under a doctor's supervision. Because these individuals have a lot of body fat reserve, they can go that low without compromising their health. But OP is an active person who is already normal weight striving to get to the lower end of her BMI. At some point, eating 800-1000 and essentially "netting" around 500 (because of her exercise) is going to cause some damage because she doesn't have that much reserve to work with. I'm 10 years older than OP and a little shorter, but fairly active (work out 5 X a week), I very seldom eat below 1200 or net below 1000. And my weight when I'm on track is 120, only 5 lbs. above OP's goal. The point -- she can reach her goal without the kind of extreme calorie restrictions being proposed.

BWBTrish

sofaking6 wrote: »

GulfcoastAL wrote: »

A dietician answers this question on the MFP blog today....... http://blog.myfitnesspal.com/ask-the-dietitian-should-i-eat-back-my-exercise-calories/?utm_source=mfp&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=weekly20150112&amp;mkt_tok=3RkMMJWWfF9wsRoku6rBZKXonjHpfsX64+otUKexgokz2EFye+LIHETpodcMTsJmMK+TFAwTG5toziV8R7DBLM153N8QXRTg

Not to knock anyone for linking to this, but I think it's a horrible blog. Their reason for telling you not to eat back exercise calories is that they assume you are counting your calories incorrectly. That's just...dumb, IMO. Why not write a blog about how to tell if you're counting wrong and how to fix it? But what do you expect from a blog that advocates 5 minutes workouts.. </rant>.

Indeed what a horrible blog post.

So like me ( i am on a 1200 calories a day and yes it is monitored!), should not eat anything more, and this while i train 6 times a week ( cardio) and 3 times a week light lifting?
So my body has enough energy to do that? Totally *kitten*!

Of course i know my HRM overestimate. I know that too. But i use my brains, read up and found out that a couple of sites said around the 25% overestimation for the Polar HT7.

Now when i burn 400 ( just to take an easy number) calories i eat about 25% back so a hundred. Not as bonus or that i can eat more. But because my body need the nutrition/fuel to keep up the work.

So this blog post is a very bad one. And should have indeed gone more into details what is wrong and how to fix it.

WinoGelato

rosebette wrote: »

I think we need to get a bit of perspective here. Some of the folks posting here have been on VLCD diets or diets at 1000 or less because they have been extremely overweight, even obese, and under a doctor's supervision. Because these individuals have a lot of body fat reserve, they can go that low without compromising their health. But OP is an active person who is already normal weight striving to get to the lower end of her BMI. At some point, eating 800-1000 and essentially "netting" around 500 (because of her exercise) is going to cause some damage because she doesn't have that much reserve to work with. I'm 10 years older than OP and a little shorter, but fairly active (work out 5 X a week), I very seldom eat below 1200 or net below 1000. And my weight when I'm on track is 120, only 5 lbs. above OP's goal. The point -- she can reach her goal without the kind of extreme calorie restrictions being proposed.

^^^This. I am frightened at how many people, whose situations are not at all similar to the OP, are saying, "I did this because my doctor told me to and it worked for me". That's fine, but the OP has less than 15 lbs to lose (and I think even that is now debatable since she has acknowledged that maybe her goal is more about body recomp than a number on the scale.

OP - read this, as well as all the links embedded within.
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1

For context - I am 5'2 and lose 0.5 lbs/week (which is what the OP should be aiming for) at 1650 NET calories/day. I eat more like 1800-2000 cals/day.

GulfcoastAL

I know. Who wants to listen to a dietician (and the My Fitness Pal Food & Nutrition Editor to boot!) when we have allllllllll these experts on the forums.
I adore 5 minute workouts, by the way.

brianpperkins

"It’s easy, and fairly common to overestimate calorie burn (both from everyday activity and from exercise) and underestimate calorie consumption." ... so accurate logging undermines that entire blog ... but why read what is actually in it?