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MyFitnessPal Community

not eating enough calories?

feliciashadix

To reach my goal weight I am suppose to eat 2,090 cals a day! I only normally eat 1,500 a day! Do I need to eat more to help reach my goal like it says or what?

Replies

debubbie

Are you weighing your food to be certain that you are eating 1,500 calories a day? If you are exercising, you may should eat at the recommended calorie goal to keep from feeling hungry all the time and make adjustments as needed. Also, as you lose weight your daily calorie goal will decrease to help you reach your goal weight.

greekyogurtandpuppies

1500 seems fine if you're not hungry as long as you're not exercising an excessive amount to me

jemhh

Is your goal to gain weight? If not, and your mfp calorie goal is based on losing weight, you are well able to eat 2000 calories.

I second the question--are you weighing your food and logging accurately?

brianpperkins

What is your weekly loss goal in your MFP settings? How large of a deficit are you truly creating by eating 1500 per day? Are you exercising?

RodaRose

You might be o.k. Please make sure that you are getting daily protein and fats/oils.

goaliesmate

Are you eating a balanced diet? By that I mean are you eating too many low calorie, fibre dense foods so that you have no appetite left for foods with higher fat and protein levels. Most of the calories eaten are used by our brain and internal organs and muscles at rest. Go too low on nutrients needed for your current weight and you can put your long term health at risk.

47Jacqueline

It depends on how heavy you are. If you have only about 25lb to lose, you probably should stay at the 1500 cal level, but if you have a lot of weight to lose you probably would be at the higher amount.

jellybaby84

2090?! That seems like an awful lot of calories to me. Assuming from your user name that you're female? I don't think many females need to eat that much (net) even to maintain.

RGv2

jellybaby84 wrote: »

2090?! That seems like an awful lot of calories to me. Assuming from your user name that you're female? I don't think many females need to eat that much (net) even to maintain.

According to the OP's profile, they have over 100lbs to lose, so yes....2000 calories to lose sounds perfectly fine to me.

You'll find many females on this site are netting in that 2K range to lose weight.

Anyway....OP, can you please open your diary to receive further feedback? 1500 net is probably fine for you, but I would question that you're really struggling to get to 1500 calories and your actual intake is probably higher.

go4me1

What is a deficient??

kwtilbury

RGv2 wrote: »

Anyway....OP, can you please open your diary to receive further feedback? 1500 net is probably fine for you, but I would question that you're really struggling to get to 1500 calories and your actual intake is probably higher.

This. I'm not sure it's possible to "normally" eat 1,500 calories per day and yet be 100+ overweight, unless you're four feet tall.

allyphoe

jellybaby84 wrote: »

2090?! That seems like an awful lot of calories to me. Assuming from your user name that you're female? I don't think many females need to eat that much (net) even to maintain.

Maintenance for me (40s, 5'4, sedentary) is nearly 2,200 calories, back-calculated by consistently logging and tracking weight trends over an extended period. And I'm not 100 pounds overweight.

jenniferphariss7

jellybaby84 wrote: »

2090?! That seems like an awful lot of calories to me. Assuming from your user name that you're female? I don't think many females need to eat that much (net) even to maintain.

I'm female in my calorie goal is 2070 a day to lose 2 pounds a week

jellybaby84

Woah - I'm seriously jealous! My maintenance amount is around 1350 net.

lemurcat12

RodaRose wrote: »

You might be o.k. Please make sure that you are getting daily protein and fats/oils.

This. Also, it depends on a lot of things, like what your goal is, how you got your calorie goal, how much you exercise (if you exercise you will want to eat some back, but the numbers can be inflated), height and weight.

Logging accurately can be a challenge at first, so if you are really finding more than 1500 a challenge to get to you might want to have someone check your logging.

Personally, though, I think calorie goals for people with substantial amounts to lose can be inflated, as the calculators (including the one MFP uses) assume average body fat, so tend to overstate BMR. I also think when you have lots to lose it can be motivating to lose 2 lbs or so per week rather than smaller amounts and often people are less hungry and more able to adapt to a new eating plan at the beginning of a diet when really motivated and then can increase activity as they lose rather than decreasing calories. That's what I did.

So sometimes there's a benefit to eating more at first, but if you are doing well on 1500 it might well be fine.

feliciashadix

I have set my goal to loose 2 lbs per week and my goal weight is to loose 100+ lbs. I exercise 2-4 times a week (depending on my work schedule). I eat healthy; proteins, fats, dairy, veggies, grains, and so on daily. I do measure my servings and log everything I eat. I do however eat around 1,800 on days I workout. I weigh a lot and have always struggled with my weight and eat less than anyone I know that's close to my size. I am always full for up to 4 hours after each thing I eat. My muscle % is 52% which I have been told Is great for my weight.... I suck at cardio ,but love strength training.I do 275lbs easily on leg press. Every tells me low weight and high reps, but low weight for me is higher than some.......

vgrezzy

eat your high calories. given your current weight and activity level as well as muscle %, your body probably burns through it pretty rapidly. 1500 may be way too low for your body to function properly. if you're still concerned, visit a dietician that is specialized in this kind of stuff

RGv2

feliciashadix wrote: »

I have set my goal to loose 2 lbs per week and my goal weight is to loose 100+ lbs. I exercise 2-4 times a week (depending on my work schedule). I eat healthy; proteins, fats, dairy, veggies, grains, and so on daily. I do measure my servings and log everything I eat. I do however eat around 1,800 on days I workout. I weigh a lot and have always struggled with my weight and eat less than anyone I know that's close to my size. I am always full for up to 4 hours after each thing I eat. My muscle % is 52% which I have been told Is great for my weight.... I suck at cardio ,but love strength training.I do 275lbs easily on leg press. Every tells me low weight and high reps, but low weight for me is higher than some.......

I'd still ask that you open your diary. I ask, since you prefer strength training, do you track your progress with a tape measure at all? Many times, with strength training weight loss can be slower due to water retention, muscle retention (losing mostly water and fat, rather than water, fat, and muscle).

High reps low weights or vice/versa, it still comes down to your deficit.

erickirb

47Jacqueline wrote: »

It depends on how heavy you are. If you have only about 25lb to lose, you probably should stay at the 1500 cal level, but if you have a lot of weight to lose you probably would be at the higher amount.

I would say the opposite, as the more you have to lose the larger your deficit can be

quiksylver296

go4me1 wrote: »

What is a deficient??

Deficit, not deficient. It is the difference between the amount of calories you eat in a day and the amount of calories you burn in a day. If you burn more calories than you eat, you will create a deficit and lose weight. If you eat more calories than you burn, you will create a surplus and gain weight.