Calories are set to 1550 but I only cossume about 1000 per day

chdmama

MFP is telling me to eat around 1550 cals a day , I'm making good food choices and eating three meals plus two or three snacks a day and only hitting around 1000 per day ... Every time I update my journal it's telling me that I need to be eating more food , but I'm not hungry and I don't feel like I should be eating more cals just cause MFP says so lol but I don't want to be causing any harm by not eating enough ?

ogmomma2012

If you are not exercising, I guess it's not too bad if you're super short. If you are exercising, you're denying your body the fuel it needs to keep muscle mass.

Sued0nim

Eat more calorie dense food ..add oils, cream, cheese, nuts, butter, chocolate etc

galgenstrick

You're going to be losing muscle and causing other harm, assuming you're counting your calories accurately and really only getting 1000.

malibu927

Peanut butter, dairy products, nuts, avocados, oils, even ice cream and cookies...your body needs nutrients to keep running, and eating 1000 calories won't cover that.

JordisTSM

I would try to eat closer to your goal. You don't want to force yourself, but at the same time, eating too few calories can be a failure waiting to happen. The less you eat, the harder it is to ensure you are getting adequate nutrition, and you are far more likely to end up binging.

How about trying to add some more calorie dense foods in to your diet? Try some peanut butter, or a handful of nuts. Something that can get you closer to your goal but also add some good proteins and fats into your day.

TheEats

It is important to properly fuel your body.

What is your age, height, weight? Are those net calories or before exercise? How active are you on a daily basis?

It is not difficult to get the calorie count up and I would recommend eating as much as you can while still losing weight, for the following reasons:

1. Hitting your macros and micros.
2. Be able to give it your all when exercising for the benefit of your heart and muscles.
3. Keeping as much lean bodymass as possible and reducing the fat percentage.
4. Sustainability.

chdmama

I am counting properly , but I'm eating often and I do exercise at least a hour a day ... I don't feel like I should be adding things of I'm not hungry . I'm defiantly not starving my body

ogmomma2012

chdmama wrote: »

I am counting properly , but I'm eating often and I do exercise at least a hour a day ... I don't feel like I should be adding things of I'm not hungry . I'm defiantly not starving my body

Your body needs food. You need calorie dense food if you're going to work out so much. If you don't think this is a problem, maybe you should look up the red-flags of different Eating Disorders.

malibu927

chdmama wrote: »

I am counting properly , but I'm eating often and I do exercise at least a hour a day ... I don't feel like I should be adding things of I'm not hungry . I'm defiantly not starving my body

You are, though. Without enough calories/nutrients, you run the risk of weakening/losing muscle (including your heart), having your hair fall out, skin problems, being too tired to work out...the list goes on. Even a bit more oil when you're cooking will help in the long run. Recommended minimum intake is 1200 net calories (which means after your exercise is factored in).

Sued0nim

chdmama wrote: »

I am counting properly , but I'm eating often and I do exercise at least a hour a day ... I don't feel like I should be adding things of I'm not hungry . I'm defiantly not starving my body

But you are starving your body of adequate nutrition which leads to excess muscle depletion

Basically whilst you think you're doing it right, you're doing it wrong...eat more as you've been advised by the site and the members of the site

Unless you are under 5' in which case you might, just, get away with it

annavalente

You could consider adding in seeds and nuts as snacks throughout the day as these are quite high in calories and are also very filling :-)

chdmama

I'm 26 , 5'4" and 156lbs now ... I was down to 140 but packed on weight like crazy the past couple months because I didn't pay attention to anything I eat and slacked off at the gym . I'm kinda offended that people think I'm starving my body . I eat every 2 hours , I just choose to eat and apple instead of a cookie . I only drink water and I work out a hour a day (or to be fair 5-6 days a week) . I was always a small person but have gone through some pretty tough things in the past couple years and kinda let my self go ... I'm eating way more now then I was even when I was gaining a bunch of weight

futuremanda

chdmama wrote: »

I am counting properly , but I'm eating often and I do exercise at least a hour a day ... I don't feel like I should be adding things of I'm not hungry . I'm defiantly not starving my body

Starving your body has nothing to do with hunger. If we were only hungry when we needed food, no one would be overweight, or underweight.

The 1550 MFP is giving you already has a *sizeable* deficit built in. And MFP intends you to eat even more than 1550 when you exercise.

That warning MFP gives you, it gives you because the numbers you've given it are below guidelines for the minimum calories for health. It's generally recommended that females net no less than 1200 calories a day.

You say you don't want to do damage, but then say that because you're not hungry, you think you couldn't be doing damage. You asked, and when people answered, you basically just decided to discount the answer.

So why not go to Google and research for yourself why and how the 1200 recommendation is set, and then choose whether or not you are going to follow it? Then you will either feel better about ignoring the guideline, or better understand why it's in place and feel better about adding calories.

macgurlnet

Are you taking in only 1000 calories and THEN exercising or is 1000 your net?

If it's the former - you absolutely need to eat more. Unless you're really, really short, your body needs more fuel than that.

I find that when I do cardio I tend to lose my appetite after, but I try to make sure I'm netting at least 1200 calories at the end of the day. Sometimes I'm closer to 1100 but I do shoot for 1200 net at a minimum. Some nut butter on a piece of toast would be a good way to get the last couple hundred calories in

I'm 5' tall so I'm pretty short and can get away with the lower end of calories.

~Lyssa

chdmama

ogmomma2012

chdmama wrote: »

I'm 26 , 5'4" and 156lbs now ... I was down to 140 but packed on weight like crazy the past couple months because I didn't pay attention to anything I eat and slacked off at the gym . I'm kinda offended that people think I'm starving my body . I eat every 2 hours , I just choose to eat and apple instead of a cookie . I only drink water and I work out a hour a day (or to be fair 5-6 days a week) . I was always a small person but have gone through some pretty tough things in the past couple years and kinda let my self go ... I'm eating way more now then I was even when I was gaining a bunch of weight

Nope, can't be true. You probably weren't paying attention to how many calories you were eating.

I get it, I am 5'2 coming down from my highest weight of 262 and I have been losing an average of 8-10lbs/month for the past 7 months. My calorie limit is 1300 to lose a pound and a half per week. The point is you have a TDEE much higher than that, and by eating so little you are doing yourself a disservice, especially when you are so close to a "normal" range of weight that you could probably slow down the weight loss and focus on preserving what muscle you have.

Christine_72

OP are you positive you're logging correctly?
If you're not using a food scale and are guessing you're serving sizes and/or going off package serving sizes, then odds are you're eating more than 1000 calories.
Making your diary public will help answer these questions

joolsmd

Funnily enough you may be sabotaging your weightloss by not eating enough. Your body NEEDS a certain amount of calories and yes, eating a lot less will result in losing weight. But eventually your body is going say 'sod this, lets eat' and unless you are very careful, you're going to go bonkers with cake, fatty foods, and other stuff you really won't want.

I started here on 1200 cals, and have done OK, but found that upping my calories stopped me from being too unhappy and I still lost weight. OK, you're fine with 1000 cals now, but you won't be for long, and you'll make poor food choices when you are ravenous. Why not instead make good food choices now, up your cals a bit, so you still have a deficit and lose weight, and stop your body from going crazy in a week or so.

jennifershoo

Eat chocolate while drinking a beer. :drinker:

maidentl

chdmama wrote: »

I'm 26 , 5'4" and 156lbs now ... I was down to 140 but packed on weight like crazy the past couple months because I didn't pay attention to anything I eat and slacked off at the gym . I'm kinda offended that people think I'm starving my body . I eat every 2 hours , I just choose to eat and apple instead of a cookie . I only drink water and I work out a hour a day (or to be fair 5-6 days a week) . I was always a small person but have gone through some pretty tough things in the past couple years and kinda let my self go ... I'm eating way more now then I was even when I was gaining a bunch of weight

I'm sorry but what? You came here and asked a specific question and when people answer it, you're offended? There is a minimum recommended caloric intake, you're under it, this could cause issues. These are factual statements, not personal insults.