Consistently below my calorie goal...is this an issue?

ninareinert1

I'm an athletic woman and am burning quite a bit of calories per day. Really trying to lose these stubborn 5 pounds I've gained since turning 40 (am 42 now). I'm eating complete/healthy/full meals and snacks but am under my calorie goal per day (but still between 1200 - 1500 calories). Wondering if not reaching my calorie goals is lowering my metabolism? How vital is it that you reach your calorie goal?

Theoprastus

As long as you're not eating below 1200 calories (which has its own dangers), but aren't eating over your daily calorie goal, you will reach your weight goal. If the calorie deficit is greater than your goal, you will lose weight faster than your goal. Don't worry about slowing your metabolism-- "starvation mode" is a total myth, unless you've been eating extremely little for a period of months, in which case you have more problems on hand than the slowing of your metabolism.

Make sure you're logging all your calories correctly, and if you're consistently below your goal, you will find you're simply losing weight quicker than the program designed for you. Great job staying active and watching your intake, and I wish you luck on shedding those last few!

ninareinert1

Thank you for the response, Theoprastus. Crazy thing is I'm not losing any weight so far even though I'm below my calorie goals (arg!). That's why I was asking how vital it is to hit the calorie goals. Agree with your comment about "starvation phase" though. I am certainly NOT starving myself and am eating healthy/organic/full meals. This is my first week, hopefully will see some progress in the next two weeks. Turning older is NO BUENO!

TeaBea

With 5 pounds to go, weekly losses will be in the neighborhood of 1/2 pound a week. A high sodium day can mess with the scale. So be patient before saying it doesn't work. You'll get there!

NoIdea101NoIdea

First, are you measuring all your foods with a food scale? You cannot be sure just how many calories you are eating unless you are doing this-even the packets can be very misleading on this.

Also, you say that this is your first week; have patience. Especially seeing as you only have 5lbs to come off, it won't be fast. You may only notice a .5lb loss a week, some weeks nothing. I personally will lose a couple of pounds one week, then maintain for another couple, then lose a couple the next week, even though I don't do anything differently during this time, but weight loss isn't linear and you need to be prepared for that!

strong_curves

These threads might be able to help you. But really it just boils down to consistency, accuracy and patience:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/737101/relatively-light-people-trying-to-get-leaner/p1

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/113609/relatively-light-people-trying-to-get-leaner/p1

ninareinert1

Thank you everyone so much for taking time out of your day to post on my discussion. You are all VERY nice people and I hope you have a wonderful, healthy week. Good weight loss karma to you!

Strong Curves, thanks for the two links. They were great! My favorite quotes were: "Being light yet looking for better leanness can be a ****ty place to be" and "Evolutionarily speaking, unfortunately, our bodies don't want to be lean. Especially female bodies. It opposes survival from long ago." Haha! So true...so true.

I'm going to keep it up. The documentation is really helping (trial mix is HOW MANY calories? Good grief!). Hopefully, in the next few months I will be able to fit back in to the 80% of my pants that aren't real "button-able" right now. They are hanging in my closet like little fabric reminders of my glory days. ( ;

Liftng4Lis

If you're eating between 1200-1500 calories, you're fine.