Do I need those calories?

misselzeb

So I'm a 19 year old lady. 5'4 and 160lbs . My goal weight is 145 lbs. I do T25 and Jogging for my workout. I have a Polar HRM and burn around 600 calories For an hour, five days a week. I feel as if I'm stuck in my calorie intake. If I eat when I'm hungry and count those calories it's between 550-750 depending on the day, intuitive eating. (Which I feel is the best for a healthy relationship /mindset with food) BUT is my body searching for more food? Do I need those extra calories without maybe even realising it?

Ninkyou

Are you saying you are ONLY eating 550-750 calories? As in total?

If so, then the answer is yes. You need those calories. And you should also be eating at least a portion of your exercise calories to continue to fuel your workouts properly.

That aside, are you weighing your food?

misselzeb

Yes I do weigh my food, precisely to the gram. And as in the day total of max 750 calories yes. How much would you recommend?

PaytraB

Enter a goal loss of 1 lb/week into MFP and eat those calories plus at least half of your workout calories. When you get to within 10 lbs of your goal weight of 145, change your goal loss to 1/2 lb/week; continue to eat at least half of your workout calories.
You're not eating enough to fuel your body.

Ninkyou

UltimateRBF wrote: »

misselzeb wrote: »

So I'm a 19 year old lady. 5'4 and 160lbs . My goal weight is 145 lbs. I do T25 and Jogging for my workout. I have a Polar HRM and burn around 600 calories For an hour, five days a week. I feel as if I'm stuck in my calorie intake. If I eat when I'm hungry and count those calories it's between 550-750 depending on the day, intuitive eating. (Which I feel is the best for a healthy relationship /mindset with food) BUT is my body searching for more food? Do I need those extra calories without maybe even realising it?

misselzeb wrote: »

Yes I do weigh my food, precisely to the gram. And as in the day total of max 750 calories yes. How much would you recommend?

Intuitive eating is great but it doesn't work for everyone. You NEED to be eating more than 750 calories a day. Just to ballpark I'd say you should be eating about twice that. Plug your information into MFP's calculators with about 1/2 a lb weekly to lose as a goal and it will give you a reasonable calorie amount to work from. Follow that.

This. With only 15 lbs to lose, you should have a less aggressive calorie goal. 750 calories a day doesn't cut it for a grown adult, let alone an active one. My 6 year old eats more than that.

PlumpKitten

That's insanely low. If you're eating so little and burning so much, you might want to look at if you have a healthy and realistic view towards food and your body image - a major issue with young women.

I don't mean that to be critical. Just be careful. If you're really eating 600-700 and burning about that much via exercise, that leaves no calories for your body to basically function.

Crash dieting doesn't work. Log your details into MyFitnessPal, follow their guideline, keep exercising daily -- and the weight will come off in a healthy, sustainable way.

Good luck!

IsaackGMOON

OP WAT R U DOING STAHP

750 CALORIES IS NOT ENOUGH. THAT'S WAAAAAAAY BELOW THE RECOMMENDED GUIDELINES FOR A WOMAN (WHICH IS 1200, I THINK THIS IS STILL TOO LOW).

EAT AT 1400 AND EAT YOUR EXERCISE CALORIES BACK

I'M ONLY CAPPING BECAUSE THIS WILL GET YOUR ATTENTION AND WILL COME ACROSS AS A STRONGER POINT

RoxieDawn

OP, your question: "BUT is my body searching for more food? Do I need those extra calories without maybe even realising it? "

Answer = YES.

brianpperkins

If we accept your HRM derived calorie burn (which is probably inflated) ... 750 consumed - 600 from exercise = 150 calories. From that 150 subtract your RMR ... which calculators put at around 1870 ... so 150-1870= -1720 calories per day. That is unhealthy.

kamber13

Misselzeb: I have the same problem you have...it's VERY difficult for me to eat the MFP recommended 1,000 calories. And if I push it, I get sick to the point of vomiting. I don't know about the types of foods you eat, but when examining my food diary, I find I eat a lot of high volume foods that are low in calories... perhaps you do the same? I mean, some of my meals are over 6 cups in volume and under 300 calories. Just a thought.

misselzeb

kamber13 wrote: »

Misselzeb: I have the same problem you have...it's VERY difficult for me to eat the MFP recommended 1,000 calories. And if I push it, I get sick to the point of vomiting. I don't know about the types of foods you eat, but when examining my food diary, I find I eat a lot of high volume foods that are low in calories... perhaps you do the same? I mean, some of my meals are over 6 cups in volume and under 300 calories. Just a thought.

Yes! I eat protein panckes for breakfast, green smoothies for lunch (which always leaves me so full that I can nearly bent over) and a lot of fruits and veggies for dinner, especially cucumber. I'm a vegetarian that doesn't eat anything containing gluten. So yes, that's my situation .

Timorous_Beastie

My lazy 20 pound Pekingese eats more than 500 calories a day. You need significantly more than a toy breed, low energy dog.

I'm about your goal weight, at about 140 pounds and 5'5. But I'm more than twice your age and I bet not as active. I'm losing weight on 2000 calories a day.

PopeyeCT

kamber13 wrote: »

I mean, some of my meals are over 6 cups in volume and under 300 calories.

Please publish your cookbook!

brianpperkins

A 6 month old, 16 pound infant requires about 590 calories per day.

jnv7594

My question is always, how did you get overweight in the first place if that's all you can eat. You were obviously eating way more calories in order to get to the point you needed to lose weight. And I don't buy the "I eat high volume foods." Yes, you can eat a lot of lettuce for 300 calories, but it's not satiating and doesn't give your body what it needs.

misselzeb

jnv7594 wrote: »

My question is always, how did you get overweight in the first place if that's all you can eat. You were obviously eating way more calories in order to get to the point you needed to lose weight. And I don't buy the "I eat high volume foods." Yes, you can eat a lot of lettuce for 300 calories, but it's not satiating and doesn't give your body what it needs.

I wasn't a vegetarian back then. I switched to vegetarianism in beginning of April 2015 and then I started to lose more weight.

taentea

misselzeb wrote: »

jnv7594 wrote: »

My question is always, how did you get overweight in the first place if that's all you can eat. You were obviously eating way more calories in order to get to the point you needed to lose weight. And I don't buy the "I eat high volume foods." Yes, you can eat a lot of lettuce for 300 calories, but it's not satiating and doesn't give your body what it needs.

I wasn't a vegetarian back then. I switched to vegetarianism in beginning of April 2015 and then I started to lose more weight.

So this diet is still very new to you and naturally needs some adjustments before you settle on something that you can live with in the long term. You may feel full and excited with all the progress you are making now but not much time has passed, so there are downsides to this diet you have most likely not learned yet. You don't want to have issues with your bones, hair, blood, brain or other organs sometimes in the near future, so it's better to adjust your menu to something producing a more reasonable number of calories (aim for 1200 at the very least and add some for extra activity). Also watch your nutrients and vitamins. When you go for a diet with a lot of limitations there are always risks that require extra attention.

Being a vegetarian is not a problem. A well-thought out vegetarian diet will provide you with all the nutrition you need. Being an inexperienced vegetarian and a tad too eager one may lead to problems though. So just be careful. And there are definitely options to increase your calories without upping the volume of your food. Vegetarians manage to be overweight just fine.