Am I undereating?

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0mid0
0mid0 Posts: 11 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm currently 11stone 9lbs, 5.3 and 18 years old. I've been eating 1400 cals for just over a week and have been seeing good progress. However I'm worried I'm undereating and messing up my metabolism. Is this true? I don't feel hungry, except for 9 o'clock at night( and I feel it's pointless eating at that time if I'm going to bed anyway). I also exercise 5/6 times a week, burning around 300 calories. Should I up my daily intake?

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  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
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    1400 calories is fine and you aren't messing up your metabolism.
  • 0mid0
    0mid0 Posts: 11 Member
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    kommodevaran wrote: »
    1400 calories is fine and you aren't messing up your metabolism.
    Ok thanks. Also, is there a higher risk of me putting weight on quicker when I start maintaining because i'm eating so little calories currently?
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
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    You aren't eating too little. You are just eating less than you need to keep a stable weight. On purpose, to lose weight. Maintaining means you are getting in the amount of calories you need to keep a stable weight. So you can't go back to the way you ate before, then you'll regain - after you have reached your goal weight, you will have to eat less than before, but more than you are now.
  • Whitezombiegirl
    Whitezombiegirl Posts: 1,042 Member
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    If under eating messed up metabolisms the humam race would not exist today. We have evolved to cope easily with periods of feast and famine.
  • trigden1991
    trigden1991 Posts: 4,658 Member
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    Whitezombiegirl wrote: »
    If under eating messed up metabolisms the humam race would not exist today. We have evolved to cope easily with periods of feast and famine.

    Starvation mode does exist but not it requires actual startvation for prolonged periods of time. Not just eating in a deficit.
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
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    1400 sounds fine and no you are not messing with your metabolism or your maintenance calories - depending on your weekly loss your maintenance will be more than 1400 (I'm 5ft 2 and maintain on 2000 cals).
  • fat997
    fat997 Posts: 5 Member
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    you're not eating too little. Don't worry, man
  • uniquecopy
    uniquecopy Posts: 5 Member
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    I'm basically the same stats as you and I would go up 100 cals on the days you work out to land you in the 1200 zone. Still far below maintenance, but also allowing something (preferably protein) after those workouts.
  • SusanMFindlay
    SusanMFindlay Posts: 1,804 Member
    edited January 2017
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    kommodevaran wrote: »
    1400 calories is fine and you aren't messing up your metabolism.

    Agreed on the second part.

    Regarding the first, I think 1400 is actually too low given her age. Popped her stats into Scooby calculator. If she was totally sedentary, she'd maintain on 2000 cals/day. 18 year olds are typically not sedentary - plus she says she works out. So, she's likely running close to a 1000 calorie deficit daily. She's not large enough for that to be a good idea. IMO, she should raise the calories to 1700ish assuming logging is being done accurately.

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