Not consuming enough calories

Options
MitsuShai
MitsuShai Posts: 151 Member
edited June 2015 in Health and Weight Loss
I was wondering if not consuming enough calories is a problem.
On some days I consume less than 1000 calories but that's because I wake up at 11am or 12 pm (and go to bed at 11 pm), so I skip breakfast. The rest of the day I eat a balanced lunch and dinner but I end up going under 1000 calories. Is this really a problem? I understand it's unhealthy but I don't do this consistently, just on the weekends and Fridays.
I have nothing to do on those days, that's why I sleep so much. However, I still workout on those days.
«1

Replies

  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,718 Member
    Options
    Why not go out for a long walk... and then eat back some of the exercise calories?
  • SherryTeach
    SherryTeach Posts: 2,836 Member
    Options
    If your lifestyle prevents you from having time to eat, how did you get into the situation that you needed to lose weight? More importantly, find some hobbies or volunteer. Don't waste your life sleeping because you can't figure out something better to do. Really, the world has so much to offer.
  • IsaackGMOON
    IsaackGMOON Posts: 3,358 Member
    edited June 2015
    Options
    PAV8888 wrote: »
    Why not go out for a long walk... and then eat back some of the exercise calories?

    If she's already having a hard enough time eating her calories... I don't think walking is really going to help.

    OP eat calorically dense foods;
    • Nuts, nut butters / trail mix in moderation
    • Pasta
    • Oats
    • Poptarts yo

    If you are consistently under 1200 calories you could experience nausa, dizziness, tiredness and some other problems. One or two days every once in a while isn't going to cause this, but constantly re-occurring instances like this aren't going to end well.
  • MitsuShai
    MitsuShai Posts: 151 Member
    Options
    SherryTeach wrote: »
    If your lifestyle prevents you from having time to eat, how did you get into the situation that you needed to lose weight? More importantly, find some hobbies or volunteer. Don't waste your life sleeping because you can't figure out something better to do. Really, the world has so much to offer.

    Haha I used to eat a lot. I'm a student and currently I have A LOT of free time. I am picking up some hobbies but it's not enough to motivate me to get up each day.
  • MitsuShai
    MitsuShai Posts: 151 Member
    Options
    IsaackGMOON wrote: »
    PAV8888 wrote: »
    Why not go out for a long walk... and then eat back some of the exercise calories?

    If she's already having a hard enough time eating her calories... I don't think walking is really going to help.

    OP eat calorically dense foods;
    • Nuts, nut butters / trail mix in moderation
    • Pasta
    • Oats
    • Poptarts yo

    If you are consistently under 1200 calories you could experience nausa, dizziness, tiredness and some other problems. One or two days every once in a while isn't going to cause this, but constantly re-occurring instances like this aren't going to end well.

    Thanks! I hate poptarts though hahaha :p

  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,718 Member
    edited June 2015
    Options
    She is under-rating and staying at home waking up late because she has "nothing to do".

    Walking, a relatively low level activity that comparatibely burns only a few calories, has the potential to get her out of the house, get her active instead of being in shut down mode, and in general, perk her up.

    You may also notice that I added: AND eat some of the exercise calories back!

    The implication is that she would eat 1500, not 1000 calories the day of her walk.

    I do have trouble believing that most of us are actually incapable of eating more than our MFP assigned calories, if we decide to do so, regardless of what we may temporarily believe when we say that we can't.

    Because: ice cream, butter, salad dressing, cheese, peanut butter, nuts, chocolate, cheesecake, twinkies, snickers bars, coke, pizza, and beer..... I am sure most of us can come up with an item or two that helped get us here....
  • myoceanside
    myoceanside Posts: 1 Member
    Options
    Granola bars! Try Luna bars, they have about 180-190 calories and it's good to eat for breakfast! They also have s'mores flavoured ones or chocolate cupcake flavoured ones and it's great for if you're craving something unhealthy.
  • zoeysasha37
    zoeysasha37 Posts: 7,089 Member
    Options
    Could u add some higher calorie items to your day ? Like you could add a few spoons of peanut butter and it would bring your calories up without having to take time to prepare another snack. When im low, i just eat 5spoons of peanut butter and it brings me up !
  • strong_curves
    strong_curves Posts: 2,229 Member
    Options
    MitsuShai wrote: »
    I was wondering if not consuming enough calories is a problem.
    On some days I consume less than 1000 calories but that's because I wake up at 11am or 12 pm (and go to bed at 11 pm), so I skip breakfast. The rest of the day I eat a balanced lunch and dinner but I end up going under 1000 calories. Is this really a problem? I understand it's unhealthy but I don't do this consistently, just on the weekends and Fridays.
    I have nothing to do on those days, that's why I sleep so much. However, I still workout on those days.

    There are lots of people who don't eat until after 12 noon and they still manage to get in their calorie goal for the day. In the long term, it could end up being a problem.

  • SherryTeach
    SherryTeach Posts: 2,836 Member
    Options
    Yes, sleeping instead of doing fun stuff is worrisome. If I had a lot of free time, I can think of dozens of things I'd like to be doing.
  • MitsuShai
    MitsuShai Posts: 151 Member
    Options
    sunn_lighter wrote: »

    Sleeping 12 hours a day and not being motivated to go out into the world sounds a little off to me.

    ...are you happy?


    Yes I'm happy....I know some people who do that on the weekends.
    PAV8888 wrote: »
    She is under-rating and staying at home waking up late because she has "nothing to do".

    Walking, a relatively low level activity that comparatibely burns only a few calories, has the potential to get her out of the house, get her active instead of being in shuut down mode, and in general, perk her up.

    You may also notice that I added: AND eat some of the exercise calories back!

    The implication is that she would eat 1500, not 1000 calories the day of her walk.

    I do have trouble believing that most of us are actually incapable of eating more than our MFP assigned calories, if we decide to do so, regardless of what we may temporarily believe when we say that we can't.

    Because: ice cream, butter, salad dressing, cheese, peanut butter, nuts, chocolate, cheesecake, twinkies, snickers bars, coke, pizza, and beer..... I am sure most of us can come up with an item or two that helped get us here....


    I kind of do "get out of the house" because I walk to the gym at my apartment complex. I will try to eat more after I work out though. I'm just worried because eating under 1000 calories doesn't seem like a huge problem to me. I've been on MFP for a few years and I always gave up on losing weight because every time I always go over my calorie limit. If I eat when I'm not hungry then it might start my bad habits back up again. I will try eating some nuts throughout the day. I love nuts but I gave it up because it has a lot of calories.
  • folgers86
    folgers86 Posts: 84 Member
    Options
    If you're worried about long-term effects, you're better off speaking to your doctor. From personal experience, if you consistently (or for the majority) eat too little you can experience issues other than low blood pressure/blood sugar. Your liver, for instance, can become quite stressed, and that's an organ you really want to keep happy. If you're worried it may not be healthy (and I don't know if it's medically "okay" to eat less than 1,000 calories on the weekends only) you can simply try to add more calories into what you already eat those days :/
  • LiveLoveRunFar
    LiveLoveRunFar Posts: 176 Member
    Options
    Maybe doing a weekly goal average would work better. Some days you eat more, some days you eat less but you try to hit the weekly goal consistently.
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,718 Member
    edited June 2015
    Options
    Your initial post gives the impression that you may be slightly depressed.

    Moving around and leaving the house involves more than going to the gym in the apartment.

    It involves moving outside, interacting and seeing people, places things. Depending on your personality, this may prompt you to put on make-up, choose clothes so you can dress to impress (or not--I don't actually know you!)

    Depending on the city/location you're in, people greet/say hello to each other as they walk around ;-) Boardwalks, river or sea dike walks, official trail walks, walks in parks....

    One of the things that sometimes happens when we consistently under-eat is that our body tries to slow us down to compense for the large deficit and/or the persistent under-eating. Think of it as your body attempting to reduce its energy output since you're operating in a famine!

    If that's happening with you, by moving around you may be able to partially counteract that...

    And if it is not happening to you, oh well, you will have gone for a nice walk and eaten a bit more food instead of just staying in bed and being extra starved--unless you're want to argue that staying in bed when not tired makes more sense?

    Someone mentioned a weekly balancing instead of a daily one... that's actually a great idea.

    Last, but not least, any particular reason you're hovering around 1200 Cal?

    1200 often pops up because you're trying to lose 2lbs a week. Depending on the amount of fat that you have available to lose... this may or may not be an over-aggressive goal for you.
  • amanda_the_mom
    amanda_the_mom Posts: 20 Member
    edited June 2015
    Options
    They never said they were staying in bed when they weren't tired, they said they slept in... Probably because they're lacking in sleep and catching up. If they want to sleep that much, then what's the problem? We're a sleep-deprived society.
    As far as the calorie deficit, I would pay close attention to your symptoms and see if you're getting more tired, or low energy etc. I think the occasional very low calorie dating is probably fine, it's not good to do frequently. I understand what you mean about not wanting to "trigger" bad eating by forcing yourself to eat more than you feel like, but honestly, you'd probably be feeling pretty hungry if you were really eating so low, so if you're not feeling hungry I would think you're fine and you're probably eating more calories than you think.
    Also, eventually you will need to eat more when you reach your goal, so you might want to think about ways of increasing your calories without being triggering or you will have trouble with maintenance.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    Options
    Blaaahhhh i look forward to the weekends, so I can sleep in and not have to leave the house for anything!!
    I'm not depressed, I'm just a home body. I don't think it's unusual.
  • MitsuShai
    MitsuShai Posts: 151 Member
    Options
    christinev297 wrote: »
    Blaaahhhh i look forward to the weekends, so I can sleep in and not have to leave the house for anything!!
    I'm not depressed, I'm just a home body. I don't think it's unusual.

    Same here! :) I hate dressing up just to go out on the weekends, I would rather go out on the weekdays when I'm already dressed up for school.
  • MitsuShai
    MitsuShai Posts: 151 Member
    Options
    albalegume wrote: »
    Maybe doing a weekly goal average would work better. Some days you eat more, some days you eat less but you try to hit the weekly goal consistently.

    You know what, I like that idea! Thanks!

    folgers86 wrote: »
    If you're worried about long-term effects, you're better off speaking to your doctor. From personal experience, if you consistently (or for the majority) eat too little you can experience issues other than low blood pressure/blood sugar. Your liver, for instance, can become quite stressed, and that's an organ you really want to keep happy. If you're worried it may not be healthy (and I don't know if it's medically "okay" to eat less than 1,000 calories on the weekends only) you can simply try to add more calories into what you already eat those days :/

    Thank you for the info!
  • MitsuShai
    MitsuShai Posts: 151 Member
    edited June 2015
    Options
    PAV8888 wrote: »
    Last, but not least, any particular reason you're hovering around 1200 Cal?

    1200 often pops up because you're trying to lose 2lbs a week. Depending on the amount of fat that you have available to lose... this may or may not be an over-aggressive goal for you.

    Yes, I set it to lose 2 lbs a week. I didn't think that mattered too much since it didn't change my exercise requirements. I'm trying to lose 15-20 pounds.
    I just changed it to "lost 0.5 pounds a week."

Categories