Afraid I'm eating too much?

ambetts98

hi, I've been tracking what I eat for almost two and a half months now. My beginning goal was and still current goal is to gain lean muscle and lose body fat but maintain a healthy weight. I didn't need to lose weight. I just wanted more muscle, less fat. However I've lost 8 pounds. I'm now underweight for my age and height. I Was only eating close to 1200 calories (sometimes under) when I should've been eating at least about 1550/1600 after calculating my BMR. Now I know why I was always tired, because I wasn't eating enough. But I thought I was. I have lost some fat and gained muscle by eating less carbs/ fat and more protein. but my ribs show quite prominently now and it scares me a little. I never wanted to lose weight. Now I'm trying to eat up to 1500 calories so I won't lose any more weight. I had no trouble today since I was really hungry. But I'm afraid I'm eating too much since i had gotten so used to eating 1200 calories. But 1500 isn't even a lot of calories? I shouldn't be afraid I'm eating too much but I am. Is anyone else going through something like this or is it uncommon?

arditarose

You need to eat more. Eat your TDEE. You didn't gain muscle eating 1200 or less.

What are your stats?

LaurenAOK

Right, to maintain your weight and do a body recomp, you need to eat your TDEE. Not your BMR. 1200 is definitely too low, as you've already discovered. It sounds like you are venturing into unhealthy territory.

Put your stats and activity level into this calculator and it can tell you your TDEE. That is about how much you need to eat to maintain. Then if after a couple weeks you gained or lost weight you can adjust your calories down or up accordingly.
http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

You definitely shouldn't feel concerned about eating more. Obviously you need to eat more in order to reach your goals! If you are really struggling you could try a "reverse diet" which is where you add 100 calories into your goal every week until you reach your TDEE level. So for example this week you eat 1300 cals/day, next week 1400, so on. A gradual increase like that can be helpful.

LivingtheLeanDream

You need to eat more, increase your cals by a few hundred calories a day...enjoy those extra calories, they will fuel your body.

sijomial

These two statements really don't support each other....

"Afraid I'm eating too much?"

"However I've lost 8 pounds. I'm now underweight for my age and height."

Keep slowly increasing your calories and enjoy your food.
Please forget trying to calculate things, your weight loss is plainly telling you that you are undereating.

nxd10

Like Sijomial said. Your body knows what it needs. You're burning muscle. That includes heart muscle.

ndj1979

get a food scale, weigh everything, and eat more food.