Question re: daily kj allowance.

Sunshine6909

Today is my first day using MFP and I was wondering... When trying to lose weight do you need to use all your daily kj/cal allowance?

I still have 1300kj left.

tinkerbellang83

I am not used to KJ but think that's about 300 calories? One day on a rare occasion will be fine, but you should be aiming for your total calorie goal. Regularly eating below the allowance could cause health problems depending on your stats.

What is your overall KJ allowance and what are your stats - Height, Current Weight, Goal Weight, Age, Gender?

Sunshine6909

Hi. Google is great... my daily kj is 5648 = 1349 cals. So I still have 323 cals left.

I'm a 5.1 female age 45 currently weighing 90kg and would like to lose 8kg to start. (I figure smaller goals might be more encouraging then I set a new goal)

Nony_Mouse

Being that far under every now and again is okay, but you really should try to hit your allowance the majority of the time. For a start, it's very difficult to meet your nutritional requirements on less than 1200 cals (a little over 5000kj) a day. On top of that, consistently under eating can have some pretty dire health consequences. They may not be apparent in the short term, but eventually it will catch up to you. Please ignore the poster above who is starving herself himself.

Sunshine6909

Mmmm... very good points. I have a surgery coming up in 4 weeks so I am trying to look after myself. Guess I better find a snack.

tinkerbellang83

Sunshine6909 wrote: »

Hi. Google is great... my daily kj is 5648 = 1349 cals. So I still have 323 cals left.

I'm a 5.1 female age 45 currently weighing 90kg and would like to lose 8kg to start. (I figure smaller goals might be more encouraging then I set a new goal)

The minimum recommended by MyFitnessPal is 1200, this is so that you don't fall below guidelines for nutritional needs for a woman, you're quite short and slightly older so you may not feel as much of an impact hitting around 1000 (4200kj) calories.

However it's worth noting that if you're not getting adequate nutrition in the short term you risk brittle nails, hair loss/dry hair, sallow skin, lack of energy, lack of libido and you will lose lean muscle mass along with fat which is not an attractive look! In the long term, and this stuff isn't always apparent for years it can affect your immune system and damage your vital organs.

You will lose a 1lb per week on a 500 calorie deficit and you will lose it in a steady healthy manner, and it will be far easier to move into maintenance. There is no need to go to the extreme of under-eating mentioned above, if you find yourself struggling to meet your allowance, try including some calorie dense items into your diet by switching from a low fat version of something to a full fat such as milk or condiments or add a snack to your day.

Sunshine6909

Sunshine6909 wrote: »

if you find yourself struggling to meet your allowance, try including some calorie dense items into your diet by switching from a low fat version of something to a full fat such as milk or condiments or add a snack to your day.

Thanks. Adding calorie dense items as suggested sounds like it will help.

One thing I dislike about trying to lose weight is that I'm constantly thinking about food! :-)

tinkerbellang83

I am sure you will be fine once you get into the swing of things

NoelTheRed

Nony_Mouse wrote: »

Being that far under every now and again is okay, but you really should try to hit your allowance the majority of the time. For a start, it's very difficult to meet your nutritional requirements on less than 1200 cals (a little over 5000kj) a day. On top of that, consistently under eating can have some pretty dire health consequences. They may not be apparent in the short term, but eventually it will catch up to you. Please ignore the poster above who is starving herself.

*Him*self.

Starving? Miss, I'm in ketosis, there's a lot of fat to burn here at 3,500kcal/pound. A little study (keto, ketogains and psmf communities in reddit, plus appointments with registered dieticians) do wonders.

That's my point to OP: read. Study. Find out what works for you. Give different protocols a try. Lyle McDonald, Atkins, Dukan, Taubes, there's a lot of material online that goes above and beyond "ignore who disagrees with me". Learn all you can, drop what doesn't work and be happy. You can do it.

Nony_Mouse

Sunshine6909 wrote: »

Thanks. Adding calorie dense items as suggested sounds like it will help.

One thing I dislike about trying to lose weight is that I'm constantly thinking about food! :-)

Soon it will become second nature. You just need to form new habits and get an idea of the calories in different things so you can make sure your meeting your goals

If it helps, under eating initially is pretty common, because people tend to make sweeping changes to what they're eating and cut out a whole lot of higher calorie stuff they think they shouldn't be eating (tip, you can still eat it, so long as it fits your calorie goal ). Also, if you do have the odd day here and there where you're under, you can 'bank' those calories and use them later in the week. Think of it as a weekly calorie allowance, rather than daily, if it helps.

Sunshine6909

Thank you for your support. All comments are appreciated. :-)

Nony_Mouse

emanuelmoura wrote: »

Nony_Mouse wrote: »

Being that far under every now and again is okay, but you really should try to hit your allowance the majority of the time. For a start, it's very difficult to meet your nutritional requirements on less than 1200 cals (a little over 5000kj) a day. On top of that, consistently under eating can have some pretty dire health consequences. They may not be apparent in the short term, but eventually it will catch up to you. Please ignore the poster above who is starving herself.

*Him*self.

Starving? Miss, I'm in ketosis, there's a lot of fat to burn here at 3,500kcal/pound. A little study (keto, ketogains and psmf communities in reddit, plus appointments with registered dieticians) do wonders.

That's my point to OP: read. Study. Find out what works for you. Give different protocols a try. Lyle McDonald, Atkins, Dukan, Taubes, there's a lot of material online that goes above and beyond "ignore who disagrees with me". Learn all you can, drop what doesn't work and be happy. You can do it.

https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/eating-disorders/index.shtml#part_145414

Thinning of the bones (osteopenia or osteoporosis)
Mild anemia and muscle wasting and weakness
Brittle hair and nails
Dry and yellowish skin
Growth of fine hair all over the body (lanugo)
Severe constipation
Low blood pressure, slowed breathing and pulse
Damage to the structure and function of the heart
Brain damage
Multiorgan failure
Drop in internal body temperature, causing a person to feel cold all the time
Lethargy, sluggishness, or feeling tired all the time
Infertility

I stand by what I said. 1500 cals per day is the minimum recommended for a male. I assumed you were female because you said your calorie goal was 1200. MFP shouldn't even be allowing that for a male. You yourself said you are an irresponsible dieter, and advising other people to follow suit is even more irresponsible. If you want to destroy your own health, have at it. Being in ketosis isn't going to save you from the list above, no matter how much weight you have to lose.

NoelTheRed

I'm seriously amazed. Are you really really implying that whoever at any time decides to go under the magic number of 1200/1500kcal/day (and yeah, MFP allowed me to set it to 1200) is necessarily anorexic and, therefore, automatically going to suffer a scary list of symptoms, including, but not limited to, multiple organ failure, of which not even ketosis can't save him/her?

Pray tell me. My TDEE (says calculator) is 1500. My minimum intake (says you) is 1500. It's necessary (says thermodynamics) to eat below TDEE to lose weight. Is my weight, under penalty of brain damage, unchangeable?

tinkerbellang83

If your TDEE is 1500 as a male, how do you have so much weight to lose that you need to be on a maximum deficit? That puts you in a healthy to underweight BMI range from what I can tell unless you are 3 feet tall?

Nony_Mouse

emanuelmoura wrote: »

I'm seriously amazed. Are you really really implying that whoever at any time decides to go under the magic number of 1200/1500kcal/day (and yeah, MFP allowed me to set it to 1200) is necessarily anorexic and, therefore, automatically going to suffer a scary list of symptoms, including, but not limited to, multiple organ failure, of which not even ketosis can't save him/her?

Pray tell me. My TDEE (says calculator) is 1500. My minimum intake (says you) is 1500. It's necessary (says thermodynamics) to eat below TDEE to lose weight. Is my weight, under penalty of brain damage, unchangeable?

I said quite clearly to the OP that occasionally being under one's calorie goal is fine. But yes, continued, constant (your word) under eating will eventually result in scary symptoms.

Also questioning your TDEE calculation. You would need to be older, very short and quite probably (depending on just how old and how short) not even overweight to have a TDEE that low as a male.

sijomial

emanuelmoura wrote: »

I'm seriously amazed. Are you really really implying that whoever at any time decides to go under the magic number of 1200/1500kcal/day (and yeah, MFP allowed me to set it to 1200) is necessarily anorexic and, therefore, automatically going to suffer a scary list of symptoms, including, but not limited to, multiple organ failure, of which not even ketosis can't save him/her?

Pray tell me. My TDEE (says calculator) is 1500. My minimum intake (says you) is 1500. It's necessary (says thermodynamics) to eat below TDEE to lose weight. Is my weight, under penalty of brain damage, unchangeable?

A male having a TDEE of 1500 would have to be short, already pretty light and sedentary - I plugged in 5' tall, weighing 130lbs and got 1515 cals.

My TDEE as an average height, average weight 57 year old comes to 2459.

lemurcat12

sijomial wrote: »

emanuelmoura wrote: »

I'm seriously amazed. Are you really really implying that whoever at any time decides to go under the magic number of 1200/1500kcal/day (and yeah, MFP allowed me to set it to 1200) is necessarily anorexic and, therefore, automatically going to suffer a scary list of symptoms, including, but not limited to, multiple organ failure, of which not even ketosis can't save him/her?

Pray tell me. My TDEE (says calculator) is 1500. My minimum intake (says you) is 1500. It's necessary (says thermodynamics) to eat below TDEE to lose weight. Is my weight, under penalty of brain damage, unchangeable?

A male having a TDEE of 1500 would have to be short, already pretty light and sedentary - I plugged in 5' tall, weighing 130lbs and got 1515 cals.

My TDEE as an average height, average weight 57 year old comes to 2459.

Yes -- my TDEE as a 5'3 (i.e., kind of short), 47 year old woman of 125 would be 1550 or so if I were sedentary.

Since I'm not, I've generally lost around 1500-1600, higher at one point.

Lyle McDonald's PSMF can work for some, but there are specific recommendations about how to do it (limited periods with refeeds), and it requires more than just eating low, so recommending such a thing in a general thread or as a basis to just ignore the calorie goal and undereat strikes me as, indeed, not good advice for a poster who is not asking about the PSMF.

nutmegoreo

Sunshine6909 wrote: »

Mmmm... very good points. I have a surgery coming up in 4 weeks so I am trying to look after myself. Guess I better find a snack.

Not sure what type of surgery (and I'm not asking), but one of the main causes of post-operative complications comes from poor nutritional status. Perhaps in the next four weeks, aim for a slower loss (.5-1lb/week) and make sure you are getting enough protein (MFP tends to be a bit low for protein goal) to help with recovery. Eat at maintenance during the weeks following the surgery, and then go back to losing after that. My thoughts about it, take it or leave it.

Sunshine6909

nutmegoreo wrote: »

Not sure what type of surgery (and I'm not asking), but one of the main causes of post-operative complications comes from poor nutritional status.

Thanks, I will keep that in mind. At the moment I am tired all the time which I hpoe will change after the surgery. I'm currently taking Iron pills & Vit D prescribed by my doctor as my iron was low & vit D level below normal but not deficient. - What can I say... things can only get better. :-)