How many calories should I be eating?

oscarsson

Just listen to your body! If you feel full and have enough energy, then of course you shouldn't up your calories. But if eating only 1000 calories makes you kind of weak then you could do what the others suggest and eat more calorie dense foods. Peanut butter is about 100 calories per TBSP. and will give you that energy boost!

I will try that thank you! I am perfectly fine at around 1000-1100 calories that's whats not making sense! I feel like I have more energy than when I was eating 2000+ calories of bad food!

RebeccaSarah16

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JesterMFP

Just listen to your body! If you feel full and have enough energy, then of course you shouldn't up your calories.

Really bad advice, sorry. It's very common for people who under-eat to not feel hunger, and it's very common for people who over-eat to feel hungry. "Listening to your body" doesn't tell you how much food you actually need.

OP - you're already a healthy weight. Any further fat loss is going to happen slowly. If you're currently losing 2 lbs a week (or were) then I hate to tell you, but that's very unlikely to be 2 lbs of fat a week. Be eating so low, you are risking losing lean mass (eg. muscle, and bone density). Your body just cannot let go of fat as quickly as someone who is obese. If you lose muscle mass, apart from the fact that's it's very unhealthy, you will likely end up unhappier with how you look. At this point, you're better off focusing on body composition than the number on the scale.

Hunger is a complicated thing, and not feeling hungry is not a good indication that you don't need more food. Drastically under-eating over time can screw up your hormones. If you can get more calories in, you'll probably find that your appetite returns. The easy way to do that is to aim for more calorie dense foods like avocados, nuts, seeds, cheese, eggs, oils, chocolate, peanut butter, protein shakes, full fat dairy etc. Stop eating anything labelled "diet" or "low fat".

Does anyone think I should put my calorie goal up? Also I've seen a lot of people say that they don't eat back their exercise calories but I think I have to? This is so confusing!

You've already been given a lot of good advice. Unfortunately you seem to be listening to the bits you want to hear. Set MFP to lose 0.5 lbs a week at the most, eat back at least most of your exercise calories. If you don't already, look into the option of strength training, which will make a much bigger difference to how your body looks than anything else.

deksgrl

Eating about 1000, net is about 500!

No good. Eat at least your BMR as suggested above.

Because you do not have a lot of weight to lose, you cannot drop to such low calorie levels without your body cannibalizing your muscle mass for energy. This is not a good thing, you want to preserve your muscles because they burn more calories, and because it is healthier long term to have good muscle mass.

RebeccaSarah16

Just listen to your body! If you feel full and have enough energy, then of course you shouldn't up your calories.

Really bad advice, sorry. It's very common for people who under-eat to not feel hunger, and it's very common for people who over-eat to feel hungry. "Listening to your body" doesn't tell you how much food you actually need.

OP - you're already a healthy weight. Any further fat loss is going to happen slowly. If you're currently losing 2 lbs a week (or were) then I hate to tell you, but that's very unlikely to be 2 lbs of fat a week. Be eating so low, you are risking losing lean mass (eg. muscle, and bone density). Your body just cannot let go of fat as quickly as someone who is obese. If you lose muscle mass, apart from the fact that's it's very unhealthy, you will likely end up unhappier with how you look. At this point, you're better off focusing on body composition than the number on the scale.

Hunger is a complicated thing, and not feeling hungry is not a good indication that you don't need more food. Drastically under-eating over time can screw up your hormones. If you can get more calories in, you'll probably find that your appetite returns. The easy way to do that is to aim for more calorie dense foods like avocados, nuts, seeds, cheese, eggs, oils, chocolate, peanut butter, protein shakes, full fat dairy etc. Stop eating anything labelled "diet" or "low fat".

Does anyone think I should put my calorie goal up? Also I've seen a lot of people say that they don't eat back their exercise calories but I think I have to? This is so confusing!

You've already been given a lot of good advice. Unfortunately you seem to be listening to the bits you want to hear. Set MFP to lose 0.5 lbs a week at the most, eat back at least most of your exercise calories. If you don't already, look into the option of strength training, which will make a much bigger difference to how your body looks than anything else.

Okay I ate around 1700 today and burned about 475! It was a bit harder in the morning but I didn't feel overly full. Thank you for all the advice!

RebeccaSarah16

Eating about 1000, net is about 500!

No good. Eat at least your BMR as suggested above.

Because you do not have a lot of weight to lose, you cannot drop to such low calorie levels without your body cannibalizing your muscle mass for energy. This is not a good thing, you want to preserve your muscles because they burn more calories, and because it is healthier long term to have good muscle mass.

Okay I've have upped my calories a lot today and I will continue to! Thank you for the advice!

ALittleBitLess1

Okay I ate around 1700 today and burned about 475! It was a bit harder in the morning but I didn't feel overly full. Thank you for all the advice!
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Well done you, that sounds just about right with a bit of wriggle room either way!!