under eating

SarahEllieIs

I've been using MFP for a couple of weeks now, and am aiming for 1200 calories a day. I've been tracking my food, rarely feel hungry and regularly come in around the 900/1000 calorie mark per day. I have three meals a day, lots of fruit and veg and some snacks, put MFP still thinks it's an issue. Should be concerned? I don't really feel like eating any extra!

TimothyFish

If you are feeling hungry on 900 calories, you are probably eating more than you think.

livingleanlivingclean

Yes, you need to eat more. Unless you're not accurately logging, then how are you sure you're only eating 900calories?

How much protein and fat are you getting? Both are important, for maintaining muscle and good health. you can't just "fill up" on low calorie fruit and vegetables...

SarahEllieIs

I tend to 'scan' all my food/ ingredients so I dont think I'm too far out on calculating. I'm new to MFP so I'm not sure how to check fat etc!

futuremanda

Of course it's an issue... if you ARE eating only 900.

Are you remembering to log everything? Including, say, cooking oil? Or a bite to taste something? Are you having cheat days (and do you log them)? Do you weigh your food, measure it, or eyeball it? Are you meticulous when choosing database entries?

If you're not sure, go over your logging, which definitely has more of a learning curve to it than you'd think. (Underestimating is super easy to do.) But do get this straightened out, because 900 is not even kind of enough food.

SarahEllieIs

I tend to have a cheat day once a week, but don't go to far past 1200. To clarify not everyday is 900, I've just noticed one or two recently. I usually weigh my foodfood but haven't been occluding cooking oil! I will add that in from now on! Any advice on which is best to use? I've been using olive recently

Christine_72

I use extra virgin olive oil. At 120 calories per Tbs, it packs quite the calorie punch!

livingleanlivingclean

Olive oil shouldn't be used for cooking. Try coconut. Olive oil is great to add after cooking

If you're scanning it's highly likely your tracking is off! Lots of the entries are innacurate

How is staying within your calories considered "cheating"? I don't" cheat" but surely what you're doing can't be cheating?

arditarose

SarahEllieIs wrote: »

I tend to have a cheat day once a week, but don't go to far past 1200. To clarify not everyday is 900, I've just noticed one or two recently. I usually weigh my foodfood but haven't been occluding cooking oil! I will add that in from now on! Any advice on which is best to use? I've been using olive recently

Sit down and think about all the little things you haven't added in. Sauces, drinks, olive oil (120 for a tablespoon!), maybe semi-solid condiments. Tighten up your logging. You're possibly eating more than that 900. If you find that you indeed are eating less than 1200 calories often, time to eat a bit more.

futuremanda

SarahEllieIs wrote: »

I tend to have a cheat day once a week, but don't go to far past 1200. To clarify not everyday is 900, I've just noticed one or two recently. I usually weigh my foodfood but haven't been occluding cooking oil! I will add that in from now on! Any advice on which is best to use? I've been using olive recently

Oil has a lot of calories! About 120 per tablespoon (or 40 per tsp I think?). And it's totally fine to use, especially if you're eating "clean" and may not be getting much fat from other sources. (Like if your plate is a bit of chicken breast and a ton of broccoli and an apple, the oil is probably more important than if you're having bacon and eggs!) So your calorie count may be more healthy than you think.

I think olive oil is a good healthy option, and it's what I use. If you find you do need to boost your calories, even after accounting for oil and anything else you may be missing, upping your oil is one easy way to get there. But here's another good resource:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10142490/a-list-of-calorie-dense-foods

If you're only occasionally low in calories, try averaging over time (once you have enough logged days that you're sure are more complete). If you average over 1200, you're probably fine. But remember that you should eat a bit more as your activity level/exercise increases. The odd low day is okay, it happens, but if it happens too regularly, and brings your average way down, it can still be a problem.

SarahEllieIs

Thanks everyone I'll try and track a bit more thoroughly! I'm terrible with drinks I really don't drink enough! I'll definitely check out coconut oil! By cheat day i mean, I usually eat salads or meat/fish with brown rice and veg, on a cheat day its more like pizza and ice cream !