IS IT BAD? IF i intake less then my goal Calories?

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Mas_Anwar
Mas_Anwar Posts: 8 Member
edited November 2016 in Health and Weight Loss
My taget goal Cals are 1650 to loose my target weight, if i intake say 1200 and at the end of the day I feel perfectly fine even after a gym session which may include 60min cardio (body pump or Body Combat) is this a bad thing? i mean is it harmfull to me? i make sure i keep hydrated though out. thanks
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  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    net or gross?
  • Chadxx
    Chadxx Posts: 1,199 Member
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    Imo, the lower you go with calories, the more of a premium you should place on nutrition. Also, there is a correlation between what a reasonable calorie deficit is and how much body fat you have. I wouldn't worry too much about a few calories one day but I wouldn't recommend rushing things either.
  • brdnw
    brdnw Posts: 565 Member
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    I lost 90lbs while lifting, doing cardio and eating healthy. I had many days that my net calories were in the negative. It's fine. You're overweight, you clearly have fat reserves to burn those calories. Don't worry about going low on a given day.
  • NewGemini130
    NewGemini130 Posts: 219 Member
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    1200 a day for a man is NOT a VLCD. It is the minimum according to NIH (National Institutes for Health in US) as well as for MFP. For a woman it is 1,000 (this is an update from previous recommendation). Not saying it is right in his case but 1200 it is not considered a VLCD.
  • NewGemini130
    NewGemini130 Posts: 219 Member
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    Agree
  • CattOfTheGarage
    CattOfTheGarage Posts: 2,745 Member
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    Well, what do you know, they have changed it. So as a NET intake for OP it would no longer be actually against the recommendations. That means he would have to eat back those workout calories - 1200 total while working out would be far too low.

    To clarify, iI didn't flag OP - I flagged one user who recommended going as low as 900 calories, and proudly showed a Fitbit output reading NEGATIVE 2000cal with only one meal left to eat (was that meal 3000cal?) and another user who actually recommended negative net calories as a valid weight loss strategy. I'm not quibbling over 200cal here.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
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    OP as others have said, eating such low calories, especially for an active male, can have negative effects. I mentioned above: fatigue, loss of lean body mass, hair loss, libido loss, etc. I read in your profile that you are caring for a special needs son - that must be very challenging, and I commend you for your efforts to be the healthiest you possible for your son. That includes making sure you have enough energy to take care of him, which is why eating enough is very important, even when not always hungry. An occasional day under goal isn't a big deal, but your goal seems pretty low to begin with, so I'd be careful about doing that too often.

    Here's a link to a great thread with some suggestions on ways to get those calories up, even if you aren't too hungry.

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10142490/a-list-of-calorie-dense-foods/p1

    Good luck!
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,096 Member
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    Re OP's question - no I dont think it matters if you SOMETIMES eat 450 below your allowance - ie eat 1200 when your allowance is 1650.

    as long as this evens out with other days when you eat more and your average allowance is round about where it should be for the week - say, a couple of hundred calories either side as a weekly count.
  • SusanMFindlay
    SusanMFindlay Posts: 1,804 Member
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    Mas_Anwar wrote: »
    My taget goal Cals are 1650 to loose my target weight, if i intake say 1200 and at the end of the day I feel perfectly fine even after a gym session which may include 60min cardio (body pump or Body Combat) is this a bad thing? i mean is it harmfull to me? i make sure i keep hydrated though out. thanks

    If it happens once or twice and is counteracted by a few days on which you eat more than your target, it's no problem at all. What matters is your *average* calorie intake over the course of the week.

    If you do this every day, it's a bad idea. Your body can only extract a certain amount of energy from each pound of fat. After that, it starts cannibalizing other body tissues (like muscle) that you don't want to lose. Also, you would likely find it difficult to get adequate nutrition eating 1200 cals every day (remembering that larger people need more protein, fat and micronutrients than smaller people).
  • DebSozo
    DebSozo Posts: 2,578 Member
    edited November 2016
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    Mas_Anwar wrote: »
    My taget goal Cals are 1650 to loose my target weight, if i intake say 1200 and at the end of the day I feel perfectly fine even after a gym session which may include 60min cardio (body pump or Body Combat) is this a bad thing? i mean is it harmfull to me? i make sure i keep hydrated though out. thanks

    If it happens once or twice and is counteracted by a few days on which you eat more than your target, it's no problem at all. What matters is your *average* calorie intake over the course of the week.

    If you do this every day, it's a bad idea. Your body can only extract a certain amount of energy from each pound of fat. After that, it starts cannibalizing other body tissues (like muscle) that you don't want to lose. Also, you would likely find it difficult to get adequate nutrition eating 1200 cals every day (remembering that larger people need more protein, fat and micronutrients than smaller people).
    ^ It is great to look at it this way. When I first started counting calories I stressed out when I went over a certain number and tried to stay "under" a certain amount of calories per day. But actually averaging out calories by the week helps one to budget and compensate by cutting back on some days previous to or immediately after to make up for a meal that was or is expected to be a little too high.

  • CattOfTheGarage
    CattOfTheGarage Posts: 2,745 Member
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    Yes, true, average over a few days is what matters - being under goal on a specific day is no big deal as long as you over goal on other days.

    PERSISTENT undereating is a problem, though.