Eating 1200 calories a day and famished

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  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    edited April 2015
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    hndaman2001 wrote: »
    I am a guy 45yrs old 5ft4 and weigh 140 with a slim build. Mfp wants me to eat 1500 calories a day but I gain weight eating that much. I don't exercise very much I chose sedentary for activity. I changed my goals to 1200 calories a day. Do you think this would be good or to less. I want to get back to 130. Thanks for any help.

    Um...no

    Scooby's (your gender, height, weight, age....sedentary) gives you 1750 calories for staying in bed all day (BMR) and TDEE (is maintenance) of 2100 for sedentary.

    http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

    Really aggressive weight loss goals help you shed pounds quickly.....BUT the trade-off is more of the weight you lose will be lean muscle. To lose a larger percentage of fat.....you need a moderate goal....1/2 pound a week for 10 pounds to go. Google skinny-fat.....only the scale looks good.
  • hndaman2001
    hndaman2001 Posts: 2 Member
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    Thank you so much for the info. So I guess eating to little is just as bad as eating to much. The last 2 day I have only eaten about 900 calories but I am not starving. So I could eat 1750 calories and still lose weight? I eat a lot of fast food but try to eat grilled chicken instead of burgers and substitute the fries out for something else. Thanks for your help!!!
  • Allelito
    Allelito Posts: 179 Member
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    hndaman2001 wrote: »
    Thank you so much for the info. So I guess eating to little is just as bad as eating to much. The last 2 day I have only eaten about 900 calories but I am not starving. So I could eat 1750 calories and still lose weight? I eat a lot of fast food but try to eat grilled chicken instead of burgers and substitute the fries out for something else. Thanks for your help!!!

    Eating less calories will make you lose faster, eating more calories will make you lose slower (or not at all, depending on how much you eat)
    Are you completely sure you've been eating as little as you think? Logging everything you've had to eat and drink? Fast food restaurant foods can be very inaccurate in what the nutritional info says and what you actually get since they can't 100% replicate every single burger etc, and they're not weighing every ingredient.
    Maybe try and cook more yourself so you can accurately weigh every single ingredient on a food scale (if you own one, otherwise I suggest purchasing one)?
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    edited April 2015
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    dordee666 wrote: »
    I have been following MFP for 16 days now and down 4lbs. I currently weigh 150, female, 5 feet 9 inches. The last few days I have been waking to a growling stomach. some days I can not concentrate because I am so hungry. I eat 1200 cal a day and never go over. I exercise every day (4 days strength and cardio and 3 days cardio only). I never eat those calories I earn. I am thinking I may need to adjust my protein intake (increase it) and reduce the carbs. any suggestions or thoughts? thanks!!

    WTH? eat back your exercise calories

    5'8, 160lbs and I eat 2100 calories a day and am still losing (trying to hit maintenance)
  • RGv2
    RGv2 Posts: 5,789 Member
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    rabbitjb wrote: »
    dordee666 wrote: »
    I have been following MFP for 16 days now and down 4lbs. I currently weigh 150, female, 5 feet 9 inches. The last few days I have been waking to a growling stomach. some days I can not concentrate because I am so hungry. I eat 1200 cal a day and never go over. I exercise every day (4 days strength and cardio and 3 days cardio only). I never eat those calories I earn. I am thinking I may need to adjust my protein intake (increase it) and reduce the carbs. any suggestions or thoughts? thanks!!

    WTH? eat back your exercise calories

    5'8, 160lbs and I eat 2100 calories a day and am still losing (trying to hit maintenance)

    Yep, that bolded line gave me the sadz. That little food and that much working out is normally a recipe for complications down the road.
  • segacs
    segacs Posts: 4,599 Member
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    hndaman2001 wrote: »
    Thank you so much for the info. So I guess eating to little is just as bad as eating to much. The last 2 day I have only eaten about 900 calories but I am not starving. So I could eat 1750 calories and still lose weight? I eat a lot of fast food but try to eat grilled chicken instead of burgers and substitute the fries out for something else. Thanks for your help!!!

    You only ate 900 calories and yet you ate a "lot" of fast food? Even a small meal at a fast food place often has more calories than that. If you're eating 3 meals a day you're probably eating a lot more than you think.
  • terar21
    terar21 Posts: 523 Member
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    OP up your calories immediately. Your goal is set too aggressive for how close you are to your goal weight. Two pounds a week isn't the right solution for you right now. You're doing cardio seven days a week and not eating calories back. You could be easily meeting under s thousand calories depending on how long your cardio is. Not a good combination.
  • beamer0821
    beamer0821 Posts: 488 Member
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    good advise already. my two cents if you are hungry, like belly hungry you won't stick to this long term. up your calories so its doable. with exercise you should be eating more. good luck
  • terar21
    terar21 Posts: 523 Member
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    hndaman2001 wrote: »
    I am a guy 45yrs old 5ft4 and weigh 140 with a slim build. Mfp wants me to eat 1500 calories a day but I gain weight eating that much. I don't exercise very much I chose sedentary for activity. I changed my goals to 1200 calories a day. Do you think this would be good or to less. I want to get back to 130. Thanks for any help.

    There is no way you're gaining on that much. You said you're eating a lot of fast food. Not a bad thing. But that kinda indicates you're not really weighing foods and don't know how much you're eating. If you're gaining you're eating more than that. I'm two inches short and twenty plus pounds lighter and a woman. At fifteen hundred I would still lose at sedentary. It would be slow as hell and probably more like maintaining due to small errors in burns and consumption. But I certainly wouldn't gain. I maintain sedentary at sixteen hundred. That's before even taking exercise into consideration. Use an appropriate weight loss per week goal and start focusing on trying to weigh your foods for accurate consumption. There is no way you should try to eat twelve hundred calories.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
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    OP read the links that were provided about setting your calorie goals appropriately. This is another good one:
    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1

    Doing the math and logging accurately will help you find the balance between meeting your goals and doing it in a way that is sustainable because you are not hungry all the time.

    Anecdotally I am 5'2, started at 150, and lost about 30 lbs netting 1500 a day and now netting 1700/day and still losing slowly. I eat 1900-2000 cals most day.
  • dordee666
    dordee666 Posts: 4 Member
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    wow! thanks everyone! really appreciate all the amazing info. I had set my weight loss goals to 2lbs a week but now I am going to reset those goals to 0.5 to 1 lb a week and eat back some of my exercise calories. I have a 30th high school reunion in July that I am getting ready for. I no I dont have a lot to lose, just want to be more comfortable in my clothes. Again, thanks so very much everyone for your input!!!

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