Struggling to eat enough calories!
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Replies
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I think that could really help as currently all I drink during the week is water and green tea. The only exception is at weekend when I have some beer.0
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1200 calories for a young man is ridiculous, how on earth are you fueling your exercise? Keep that up long term and you are risking health implications. Your body is currently cannibalizing lean muscle mass and things like connective tissues.
You will lose weight in a sensible deficit.
This all sounds like an end of day bowl of fun to me.
Ice cream
Chocolate
Nuts
Nut butters
Biscuits
You'll hit your macros.0 -
From: http://www.livestrong.com/article/277053-what-are-the-dangers-of-low-caloric-intake/#page=2
Inadequate caloric intake can lead to malnutrition over time. According to MedlinePlus, malnutrition occurs when the diet does not allow the intake of a sufficient amount of nutrients. A diet with extremely low calories does not allow for adequate consumption of the vitamins, minerals and antioxidants the body needs to perform its daily life processes. Vitamin deficiencies can lead to various problems, including fatigue, impaired wound healing and extreme weight loss.
A decrease in caloric intake may cause positive physical changes at first, primarily weight loss. However, an extreme decrease in caloric intake can cause negative physical changes over time. Once individuals lose excess weight, calorie restriction can cause various physical problems. The Calorie Restriction Society indicates that decreasing daily calories too much can lead to reduced bone mass, fatigue, sensitivity to cold temperatures and food obsession due to extreme hunger.
My suggestion is to go up to 1800 calories per day, log your exercise (preferably with a HRM) and eat back 50% of those calories as well). You should still see results on the scale, depending on how long you've been at 1200 you may see a stall in loss for a week while your body adjust, or you may see a drop as your body (while losing muscle and fat at 1200 calories, your body is holding onto water) drops the water now that your giving it more fuel. If after 2 weeks your still losing more than 2 pounds per week, you need to increase the calories again.0 -
One more:
From:http://www.healthstatus.com/health_blog/body-fat-calculator-2/caloric-intake-affects-health-2/
When your caloric intake is too low you will have several health problems. One problem is reduced muscles mass. Your body searches for sources of energy to just keep vital organs functioning and it will turn to your muscle mass for those energy foods. This is called catabolism. Your metabolic rate will drop dramatically if you eat too little calories and after three days of low calorie intake this will compound your muscle mass loss. When you don”t eat enough calories you become sluggish, develop nutritional deficiencies, and are often highly irritable. If you are lowering your caloric intake for weight reduction, you are actually setting yourself for high weight gain when you do being to eat properly again.
Binge dieting or not taking in enough calories can cause your vital organs to stop functioning properly. You will also have inadequate nutrient intake which will lead to electrolyte imbalances, low-potassium levels and low blood sugars. Watch for gallstones to form and gastrointestinal distress will now be a part of your life.
If you are looking for a quickie weight loss program look for a diet that will provide you with adequate calories to keep your organs and body functioning. Remember that you will definitely regain lost weight using low calorie diets, fatigue will keep you from working out and gaining back muscle mass, and you will lower your quality of life.0 -
1200 calories for a young man is ridiculous, how on earth are you fueling your exercise? Keep that up long term and you are risking health implications. Your body is currently cannibalizing lean muscle mass and things like connective tissues.
You will lose weight in a sensible deficit.
This all sounds like an end of day bowl of fun to me.
Ice cream
Chocolate
Nuts
Nut butters
Biscuits
You'll hit your macros.
I think the only reason is that because everything I am eating is just packed full of nutrients so my body is getting most of what it needs.
When I put down what I eat yesterday it seems like it should be more but it comes out at 1057.
Breakfast;
3 Scrambled Eggs - 210 calories
spinach - 23 calories
cherry tomatoes - 20 calories
Total - 253 calories
Snack - Hard Boiled Egg - 68 Calories
Lunch -
Home made Roasted Butternut Squash Soup - 159 calories (used the import recipe)
Granny Smith Apple - 80 calories
Total - 239 calories
Dinner
Home made Beef Stew - 264 calories (used the import recipe)
half a broccoli - 49 calories
half a cauliflower - 14 calories
Total - 327 calories
Snacks
10 pistachios - 60 calories
Banana - 110 calories
Total Calories for the day - 1057
I also ran 3 miles in the evening and burnt 564 calories.
What I really don't understand is that before I started eating healthy which was about 6 weeks ago I would have been eating near on 3000 calories a day and I feel less hungry now than I did then.0 -
If you ate 1057 and burned 564, your net calories for the day are 493. Even netting 1200 is an issue, seriously you are starving your body. I get that you want to lose weight, but you are going about it the wrong way. Your body is going to be eating the lean muscle you currently have just to keep your organs running. Lean muscle is what you want to keep while losing body fat. Trying to rebuild that lost muscle later is going to be 1,000 times harder than eating enough calories now and preserving the lean muscle (seriously go read the bulking threads and see what these guys are going through to build muscle). If you keep on this track not only are you damaging your body, you are not going to get the results you want at the end, because rather than losing fat your losing muscle as well. So instead of hitting your goal weight and being lean, you'll hit goal weight (maybe depends on what it is, you'll likely land in the hospital first) and have body fat that's much higher than you want and limited muscle mass, which is going to be much harder to fix.0
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Time to up the carbs then! Will help with my running as well which is a bonus as I am currently running 3 miles 4 times a week.0
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1200 calories for a young man is ridiculous, how on earth are you fueling your exercise? Keep that up long term and you are risking health implications. Your body is currently cannibalizing lean muscle mass and things like connective tissues.
You will lose weight in a sensible deficit.
This all sounds like an end of day bowl of fun to me.
Ice cream
Chocolate
Nuts
Nut butters
Biscuits
You'll hit your macros.
I think the only reason is that because everything I am eating is just packed full of nutrients so my body is getting most of what it needs.
When I put down what I eat yesterday it seems like it should be more but it comes out at 1057.
Breakfast;
3 Scrambled Eggs - 210 calories
spinach - 23 calories
cherry tomatoes - 20 calories
Total - 253 calories
Snack - Hard Boiled Egg - 68 Calories
Lunch -
Home made Roasted Butternut Squash Soup - 159 calories (used the import recipe)
Granny Smith Apple - 80 calories
Total - 239 calories
Dinner
Home made Beef Stew - 264 calories (used the import recipe)
half a broccoli - 49 calories
half a cauliflower - 14 calories
Total - 327 calories
Snacks
10 pistachios - 60 calories
Banana - 110 calories
Total Calories for the day - 1057
I also ran 3 miles in the evening and burnt 564 calories.
What I really don't understand is that before I started eating healthy which was about 6 weeks ago I would have been eating near on 3000 calories a day and I feel less hungry now than I did then.
scramble your eggs in butter with cream
try your vegetables roasted in oil with grated cheese, salt and pepper
eat more nuts
bring back carbs slowly
protein and fats are highly satieting0 -
I did carb cycling for a while and found it harder to get to my calorie limit.
I'd add some ham and cheese to your omelette in the morning, get some nuts for snacks and maybe protein bars too.
I only did it for 8 weeks or so. I do still try to eat lower carb, but I generally have a slice of bread with breakfast and sometimes have a jacket potato for dinner, or rice.0 -
cheese and ham will add some easy calories so definitely worth doing.0
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.1200 calories for a young man is ridiculous, how on earth are you fueling your exercise? Keep that up long term and you are risking health implications. Your body is currently cannibalizing lean muscle mass and things like connective tissues.
You will lose weight in a sensible deficit.
This all sounds like an end of day bowl of fun to me.
Ice cream
Chocolate
Nuts
Nut butters
Biscuits
You'll hit your macros.
I think the only reason is that because everything I am eating is just packed full of nutrients so my body is getting most of what it needs.
When I put down what I eat yesterday it seems like it should be more but it comes out at 1057.
Breakfast;
3 Scrambled Eggs - 210 calories
spinach - 23 calories
cherry tomatoes - 20 calories
Total - 253 calories
Snack - Hard Boiled Egg - 68 Calories
Lunch -
Home made Roasted Butternut Squash Soup - 159 calories (used the import recipe)
Granny Smith Apple - 80 calories
Total - 239 calories
Dinner
Home made Beef Stew - 264 calories (used the import recipe)
half a broccoli - 49 calories
half a cauliflower - 14 calories
Total - 327 calories
Snacks
10 pistachios - 60 calories
Banana - 110 calories
Total Calories for the day - 1057
I also ran 3 miles in the evening and burnt 564 calories.
What I really don't understand is that before I started eating healthy which was about 6 weeks ago I would have been eating near on 3000 calories a day and I feel less hungry now than I did then.
scramble your eggs in butter with cream
try your vegetables roasted in oil with grated cheese, salt and pepper
eat more nuts
bring back carbs slowly
protein and fats are highly satieting
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If you lower your carbs, you have to increase your fats, to sustain satiety, energy and calories. An easy way to approximate your BMR is to take what you weigh in lbs. Multiply by 10 this is roughly the calories you eat per day to maintain current weight.0
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I like the philosophies behind paleo but for me personally I am not sure I could stick with it forever as I do like my carbs. Over the last few weeks I have really been pushing the exercising and personally think that if I continue exercising the way I am I can easily bring in a bit more carbs. For me the best thing about paleo is the increase in veg that I get and the extra vitamins etc. I think the long term plan is paleo at the heart with a couple of exceptions. I have cut dairy out completely apart and really don't miss it to be honest.
Consuming more fats is central to the paelo diet.
Some high fat /high calorie Paleo foods:
lots of nuts like macadamias, walnuts, pecans
seeds like sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, hemp seeds, chia seeds,
bacon, fatty cuts of steak, hamburgers,
almond butter, avocados, coconut/ flax seed/ olive oil
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Nut butters, avocado, cheese, nuts.0
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1200 calories for a young man is ridiculous, how on earth are you fueling your exercise? Keep that up long term and you are risking health implications. Your body is currently cannibalizing lean muscle mass and things like connective tissues.
You will lose weight in a sensible deficit.
This all sounds like an end of day bowl of fun to me.
Ice cream
Chocolate
Nuts
Nut butters
Biscuits
You'll hit your macros.
I think the only reason is that because everything I am eating is just packed full of nutrients so my body is getting most of what it needs.
When I put down what I eat yesterday it seems like it should be more but it comes out at 1057.
Total Calories for the day - 1057
I also ran 3 miles in the evening and burnt 564 calories.
What I really don't understand is that before I started eating healthy which was about 6 weeks ago I would have been eating near on 3000 calories a day and I feel less hungry now than I did then.
But it's not. As a 27 year old male who exercises your body isn't getting "what it needs" in 1100-1200 GROSS calories. By your math here you netted a whopping 493 calories. That isn't fueling your body with what it needs.0 -
1200 calories for a young man is ridiculous, how on earth are you fueling your exercise? Keep that up long term and you are risking health implications. Your body is currently cannibalizing lean muscle mass and things like connective tissues.
You will lose weight in a sensible deficit.
This all sounds like an end of day bowl of fun to me.
Ice cream
Chocolate
Nuts
Nut butters
Biscuits
You'll hit your macros.
I think the only reason is that because everything I am eating is just packed full of nutrients so my body is getting most of what it needs.
When I put down what I eat yesterday it seems like it should be more but it comes out at 1057.
Total Calories for the day - 1057
I also ran 3 miles in the evening and burnt 564 calories.
What I really don't understand is that before I started eating healthy which was about 6 weeks ago I would have been eating near on 3000 calories a day and I feel less hungry now than I did then.
But it's not. As a 27 year old male who exercises your body isn't getting "what it needs" in 1100-1200 GROSS calories. By your math here you netted a whopping 493 calories. That isn't fueling your body with what it needs.
I agree. OP, you must start eating much more. People have suggested avocados, nuts, cheese, butters. You can add those to vegetables too- salad with avocado, some nuts and cheese on top, don't forget the olives, croutons, add some hearty chicken-this is a calorie dense meal.0 -
jtitus216A wrote: »If you lower your carbs, you have to increase your fats, to sustain satiety, energy and calories. An easy way to approximate your BMR is to take what you weigh in lbs. Multiply by 10 this is roughly the calories you eat per day to maintain current weight.
No, this is not accurate. My current weight is 140, so that would mean eat 1400 calories to maintain weight. I ate more than that when losing my weight. My actual maintenance calories with exercise are 2,000-2,200, without exercise my maintenance is 1,900 calories.
BMR is the amount of calories you must eat to survive at your most sedentary level, if you are comatose. Mine is about 1350 or thereabouts.
Please share where you got this information.0 -
jtitus216A wrote: »If you lower your carbs, you have to increase your fats, to sustain satiety, energy and calories. An easy way to approximate your BMR is to take what you weigh in lbs. Multiply by 10 this is roughly the calories you eat per day to maintain current weight.
NO
BMR =/= Calories needed to maintain. That would be TDEE.
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What is half a broccoli? what is half a cauliflower? you should weigh these items. I eat a ton of veggies everyday and i have no problems eating upwards of 1800 a day. a dinner for me can consist of 400g of broccoli, 200g of brussell sprouts, 3 eggs, ground turkey and salsa not to mention roasted peppers. its easily around 600 calories.
I bet your eating more veggies than you think if you are saying yor full, and your probably taking in more calories. they only way to know is get a digital food scale.0 -
Eat some dairy.0
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