I am not meeting my caloric intake for the day, is this bad? Also,Please help explain net calories?
moshispins
Posts: 10
Hello! I am new here and this is the first time I have really started logging calorie. I am really happy to have found the myfitnesspal app, it makes logging so much easier!
But, I have noticed that I am not reaching my goal caloric intake for the day. I was supposed to have 1640, but I only reached 782 yesterday (and that was using a generous estimate of the oil I used for cooking). My husband seems to think this will prevent me from losing weight, is this true?
Also, I have already read the definition but I am still confused, can someone help explain how net calories work?
This is the first time in a long, long time that I have decided to seriously lose weight. I would hate for my confusion to cause my downfall. I am sorry if this has already been answered or is in the wrong place, I am very new here. Thanks for your help!
But, I have noticed that I am not reaching my goal caloric intake for the day. I was supposed to have 1640, but I only reached 782 yesterday (and that was using a generous estimate of the oil I used for cooking). My husband seems to think this will prevent me from losing weight, is this true?
Also, I have already read the definition but I am still confused, can someone help explain how net calories work?
This is the first time in a long, long time that I have decided to seriously lose weight. I would hate for my confusion to cause my downfall. I am sorry if this has already been answered or is in the wrong place, I am very new here. Thanks for your help!
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Replies
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Eating 782 calories (which is highly unlikely if you are not using a scale to weigh your foods) will not inhibit your weight loss; HOWEVER, eating such a low amount makes it impossible to get the vitamins and minerals your body needs to be healthy. My advice: get a scale, and USE IT to make sure you are eating the recommended amount.
Total calories consumed - exercise calories burned = net calories (1200 is the minimum you should have for net calories)
Be aware that the calorie burns on MFP tend to be overestimated.0 -
Yeah, people keep saying that it is unlikely that I am eating that little. I do have a scale and I did weight my food. I also used MFP to log the calories of the foods I could scan and kept an eye on the portions to make sure they were correct. I really do not eat much though. I didn't know if I should up how much I am eating or just keep it where it is. Especially considering I am trying to lose weight.0
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Also, the same thing happened last time I tried to track my calories. I felt dejected by the fact that I was not meeting my goal and eventually fell off track.0
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Sorry, honest question here. If meeting your calories is a problem, how did you come to need to lose 75 pounds?0
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If its volume of food you are having a problem with eat more calorie dense food - nuts avacado etc, if you are eating as little as you think you are it's not healthy or sustainable in the long term, even 1200 is very low for most people.0
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Well, the bottom line for weight loss is calories in/calories out so you will lose weight eating 782 calories per day. But, eating so little is neither healthy or sustainable. Do you really want to eat so little for the rest of your life? I really encourage you to approach this the healthy way, which is to use the application to calculate the calories you need and to follow through with eating that amount.0
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Why are you eating so few calories? While it won't inhibit weight loss, it's not healthy, so yes it is bad. Obviously you used to eat a substantial amount of calories or you wouldn't be overweight. There is really no need to eat so little now. You're going from one to the other extreme when you should be finding a happy medium. At the very LEAST, you should be taking in 1200 calories and eating back most of your exercise calories.0
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Liftng4Lis wrote: »Sorry, honest question here. If meeting your calories is a problem, how did you come to need to lose 75 pounds?
Nailed it.0 -
Liftng4Lis wrote: »Sorry, honest question here. If meeting your calories is a problem, how did you come to need to lose 75 pounds?
I always wonder this, too, lol.
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The human body is an amazing thing, when food is plentiful your body packs on weight as fat, when food is in short supply the body will slow down and burn less calories. Eating too little will put your body in starvation mode, your metabolism will slow and weight loss will be minimal.
You need to eat enough that your body doesn't think you are starving.-3 -
You can check out this link to read about setting your calories and going from there:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants
Yes, you'll lose weight eating that little, but it won't take very long for you to become miserable eating that little. Long-term, you'll see plenty of negative health effects, some of which you'll be able to see, some of which you won't. That's if you continue eating that little, but my guess is that the pendulum will swing the other way, and soon.0 -
beemerphile1 wrote: »The human body is an amazing thing, when food is plentiful your body packs on weight as fat, when food is in short supply the body will slow down and burn less calories. Eating too little will put your body in starvation mode, your metabolism will slow and weight loss will be minimal.
You need to eat enough that your body doesn't think you are starving.
NO. OP please do not heed this advice, it is incorrect.
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Yes, eat more to hit your target. Dried fruit and nuts can add up quickly to reach your goal. Measure them out first.0
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You can check out this link to read about setting your calories and going from there:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants
Yes, you'll lose weight eating that little, but it won't take very long for you to become miserable eating that little. Long-term, you'll see plenty of negative health effects, some of which you'll be able to see, some of which you won't. That's if you continue eating that little, but my guess is that the pendulum will swing the other way, and soon.
+1 for sexy pants!0 -
beemerphile1 wrote: »The human body is an amazing thing, when food is plentiful your body packs on weight as fat, when food is in short supply the body will slow down and burn less calories. Eating too little will put your body in starvation mode, your metabolism will slow and weight loss will be minimal.
You need to eat enough that your body doesn't think you are starving.
No
OP, you're expected to hit your goal. One or two days low isn't a problem, but consistent undereating can lead to malnourishment.0 -
How many days in a row have you failed to meet 1200 calories?0
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beemerphile1 wrote: »The human body is an amazing thing, when food is plentiful your body packs on weight as fat, when food is in short supply the body will slow down and burn less calories. Eating too little will put your body in starvation mode, your metabolism will slow and weight loss will be minimal.
You need to eat enough that your body doesn't think you are starving.
Wrong.
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beemerphile1 wrote: »The human body is an amazing thing, when food is plentiful your body packs on weight as fat, when food is in short supply the body will slow down and burn less calories. Eating too little will put your body in starvation mode, your metabolism will slow and weight loss will be minimal.
You need to eat enough that your body doesn't think you are starving.
ahh, NOPE.0 -
beemerphile1 wrote: »The human body is an amazing thing, when food is plentiful your body packs on weight as fat, when food is in short supply the body will slow down and burn less calories. Eating too little will put your body in starvation mode, your metabolism will slow and weight loss will be minimal.
You need to eat enough that your body doesn't think you are starving.
No.0 -
trinatrina1984 wrote: »You can check out this link to read about setting your calories and going from there:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants
Yes, you'll lose weight eating that little, but it won't take very long for you to become miserable eating that little. Long-term, you'll see plenty of negative health effects, some of which you'll be able to see, some of which you won't. That's if you continue eating that little, but my guess is that the pendulum will swing the other way, and soon.
+1 for sexy pants!
I feel like it should be required reading for everyone signing up for MFP. It really is helpful, and it contains links to other helpful posts. It's a lot of reading but oh so informative. It changed my perspective even after I'd been at this for a while.0 -
beemerphile1 wrote: »The human body is an amazing thing, when food is plentiful your body packs on weight as fat, when food is in short supply the body will slow down and burn less calories. Eating too little will put your body in starvation mode, your metabolism will slow and weight loss will be minimal.
You need to eat enough that your body doesn't think you are starving.
Science contradicts your post. The physical experiences of POWs, those with extreme eatig disorders, etc contradict your post.0 -
trinatrina1984 wrote: »You can check out this link to read about setting your calories and going from there:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants
Yes, you'll lose weight eating that little, but it won't take very long for you to become miserable eating that little. Long-term, you'll see plenty of negative health effects, some of which you'll be able to see, some of which you won't. That's if you continue eating that little, but my guess is that the pendulum will swing the other way, and soon.
+1 for sexy pants!
I feel like it should be required reading for everyone signing up for MFP. It really is helpful, and it contains links to other helpful posts. It's a lot of reading but oh so informative. It changed my perspective even after I'd been at this for a while.
Yeah knowledge is power, even when it comes to weight loss.0 -
Can you open your diary? Go to Home>Settings>Diary Settings and then set to Public.
You say you're weighing but in your OP you say you estimated the oil you used. If you're estimating things like oil then it's likely you're eating more than you think.0 -
I have just been eating when I am hungry, I refuse to deprive myself. I certainly do not eat so little calories every day (or like you said, why would I need to lose weight). It is when we eat out that is a problem which we have done in abundance recently. We aren't doing that anymore and I am just home cooking for myself, when I am hungry, with what I have at home.
So yes, you make a point, but I am more worried about if this is an ongoing trend from here on out without the eating out, if it will be a problem.0 -
ILiftHeavyAcrylics wrote: »Can you open your diary? Go to Home>Settings>Diary Settings and then set to Public.
You say you're weighing but in your OP you say you estimated the oil you used. If you're estimating things like oil then it's likely you're eating more than you think.
Sure, but I have only been on MFP for one day so there is not much info there. I have been using my phone and just keeping notes before yesterday.
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moshispins wrote: »ILiftHeavyAcrylics wrote: »Can you open your diary? Go to Home>Settings>Diary Settings and then set to Public.
You say you're weighing but in your OP you say you estimated the oil you used. If you're estimating things like oil then it's likely you're eating more than you think.
Sure, but I have only been on MFP for one day so there is not much info there. I have been using my phone and just keeping notes before yesterday.
In that case you don't really know what you're eating yet. Log accurately for a few weeks, with scale, and then see where you are. And make sure your accurate logging includes measuring things like oil. Do not estimate, even if you think you're overestimating.0 -
I just looked at your food diary for Sunday where you only hit 782 calories. You did not eat any real food for breakfast that may be a good place to start. A cup of tea for breakfast isn't enough. You also didn't have a snack. By including a breakfast and snack you should hit your minimum intake.0
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RunMamaMaya wrote: »I just looked at your food diary for Sunday where you only hit 782 calories. You did not eat any real food for breakfast that may be a good place to start. A cup of tea for breakfast isn't enough. You also didn't have a snack. By including a breakfast and snack you should hit your minimum intake.
Some people don't eat breakfast0 -
one major thing I noticed in your diary - you are not WEIGHING all of your solids. ie:
2 tsp sugar
1 slice cheese
1 tbsp mayo
ALL solids should be weighed with a food scale. Only liquids should be measured with measuring cups/spoons.
And honestly, it looks like you're simply taking the serving size off the packaging of items (ie bread, cold cuts, creamer). I'd bet money that your bread was more than 2oz. I like to use grams to measure, because there's no real math involved to figure out the number of servings (ie if my bread weighs in as 2.7 oz, I need to figure out how many servings that .7 is - but if I weigh in grams...and most entries in the DB have either a 1g or 100g serving size...then it's easy....so if my bread weighs in at 60g, then with a 1g serving size, I'd have 60 servings...or with a 100g serving size, I'd have .6 servings).
Also...you have a "homemade" entry for garlic mashed potatoes. Unless that is a recipe that YOU created, then you have NO IDEA what actually went into those potatoes, so you have no idea if the calorie count is correct. For homemade items, don't use the database...use the recipe builder or log the ingredients individually.
HTH! 0 -
moshispins wrote: »It is when we eat out that is a problem which we have done in abundance recently. We aren't doing that anymore and I am just home cooking for myself, when I am hungry, with what I have at home.
So yes, you make a point, but I am more worried about if this is an ongoing trend from here on out without the eating out, if it will be a problem.
You don't get to a point where you need to lose 75 pounds from eating out "too much" "recently." If you truly are 75 pounds over weight and now, all of a sudden, you're having trouble eating more than 800 calories per day, I'd consult a physician.
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