Why eating too little calories is a bad idea.....

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  • s_rivera_92
    s_rivera_92 Posts: 92 Member
    Was eating 1200 for about a week. Maintained weight for 3 days. Bumped it up to 1550. Consistently loosing .4lbs each day since (on off days from the gym).
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    janejellyroll wrote: »
    EmilyEnough wrote: »
    ellie7187 wrote: »
    I'm voting for this to be stickied as well. Great info!!!

    Sort of in line with this, something I've always wondered because it's been preached in various diets and programs I've tried (or friends have tried)...is "starvation mode" a real thing? Meaning you eat so few calories (or your calorie deficit is so massive) that your body hangs on to weight and fat instead of shedding it?

    I'm not not really asking for myself as I make sure to eat almost all the calories I'm allotted daily (I love food! Haha) but I've always been curious and never found a definitive yes or no on the web.

    I am 5'3" and through a medically founded weight loss company did a 6 mos long diet of 800 cals a day but OVER 125gms of protein, for a consistent loss of 2lbs a week with no additional exercise.

    When I eat the recommended 1200 to get my "loss to post to the feed" I sit at the same weight unless I workout. Not all of us want to workout. Ive done my fair share. macro based weight loss works for me.... 125 gms of protein in a day is SO MUCH nutrition.. i am STUFFED and dont desire more but my calorie load is too low for mfp standards. For ladies 4"10'-5" 2', I don't like this. They have a broad standard in place that Does work for many, even most. But not for all.

    Be sure to eat. Food drives metabolism. 💓

    125 grams of protein is a lot of *protein*. Without knowing exactly what you're eating, it's not at all clear that represents "SO MUCH nutrition." Our bodies need protein, but we need other things too.

    Yes, this.
  • alteredsteve175
    alteredsteve175 Posts: 2,725 Member
    Bump!
  • dpearson1957
    dpearson1957 Posts: 5 Member
    how can you lose the weight when you arnt able to exercise? I stay under 1200 calories a day but my weight is up and down. Any suggestions I need help?
  • alteredsteve175
    alteredsteve175 Posts: 2,725 Member
    Bumpers!
  • Cielworks
    Cielworks Posts: 2 Member
    I didn't read everyone's responses, so I apologize if my answer is redundant. Consuming too few calories tells your body to conserve, meaning you might be lowering your metabolism. When you start eating "normally" again, you will gain weight eating less. So, no, not a good idea.

    Eat enough to lose about a pound a week. This makes your transformation easier, and it won't be such a shock on your system. Plus, the first 20% of calories goes to feed the brain. You don't want to starve your brain.

    Remember, food is good. Calories are good. Most of our energy comes ideally from carbs. As for workouts, it's a given that it must be part of your program. Build muscle, burn more calories while doing cardio. Weights and cardio provide different benefits to your body - both essential. Conscious breathing and stretching are also highly beneficial.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    Bump :innocent:
  • alteredsteve175
    alteredsteve175 Posts: 2,725 Member
    Bumpity bump bump!
  • alteredsteve175
    alteredsteve175 Posts: 2,725 Member
    Bumpers!
  • Antiopelle
    Antiopelle Posts: 1,184 Member
    Love this thread, thank you !
  • Lady_Cy
    Lady_Cy Posts: 2 Member
    Hello, I am new to MFP and I have a question and maybe it's been answered, I'm not sure I did not read every post, Apologies. Since being on MFP I have gained an understanding of the type of food to eat with all the breakdowns. I was a binge eater, my job is demanding so lunch sometimes is not an option, so I would grab something quick and filling (honeybun, burger, french fries and/or coffee) and keep it moving. Once I got home I would order out maybe have a glass of wine and that was 5 days a week. Now I have cut out the wine, cut out ordering out and terrible quick food and I have been packing "quick" lunches and prepping dinner. What I have found is that I am averaging 650 to 850 calories a day and 850 is rare, I never reach 1000 calories. I am not hungry and now I don't even have to eat that much and I am full. My wieght is on a steady decline and I feel amazing. Am I supposed to force myself to eat to get the calories? I'm 5'2, 185.4
  • L1zardQueen
    L1zardQueen Posts: 8,753 Member
    Lady_Cy wrote: »
    Hello, I am new to MFP and I have a question and maybe it's been answered, I'm not sure I did not read every post, Apologies. Since being on MFP I have gained an understanding of the type of food to eat with all the breakdowns. I was a binge eater, my job is demanding so lunch sometimes is not an option, so I would grab something quick and filling (honeybun, burger, french fries and/or coffee) and keep it moving. Once I got home I would order out maybe have a glass of wine and that was 5 days a week. Now I have cut out the wine, cut out ordering out and terrible quick food and I have been packing "quick" lunches and prepping dinner. What I have found is that I am averaging 650 to 850 calories a day and 850 is rare, I never reach 1000 calories. I am not hungry and now I don't even have to eat that much and I am full. My wieght is on a steady decline and I feel amazing. Am I supposed to force myself to eat to get the calories? I'm 5'2, 185.4

    What they said^^^ and get a food scale to weigh everything you eat. It’s eye opening.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,223 Member
    Lady_Cy wrote: »
    Hello, I am new to MFP and I have a question and maybe it's been answered, I'm not sure I did not read every post, Apologies. Since being on MFP I have gained an understanding of the type of food to eat with all the breakdowns. I was a binge eater, my job is demanding so lunch sometimes is not an option, so I would grab something quick and filling (honeybun, burger, french fries and/or coffee) and keep it moving. Once I got home I would order out maybe have a glass of wine and that was 5 days a week. Now I have cut out the wine, cut out ordering out and terrible quick food and I have been packing "quick" lunches and prepping dinner. What I have found is that I am averaging 650 to 850 calories a day and 850 is rare, I never reach 1000 calories. I am not hungry and now I don't even have to eat that much and I am full. My wieght is on a steady decline and I feel amazing. Am I supposed to force myself to eat to get the calories? I'm 5'2, 185.4

    If the 850 is accurate, that's too low, let alone 650.

    I started out losing weight at about your weight (183), but a little bit taller (5'5"). For a short time, I ate too little (lost too fast). I felt great, not hungry . . . until suddenly, I didn't. I hit a wall. Even though I corrected quickly, it took multiple weeks to recover normal strength and energy. I was lucky there were no worse health consequences (other than maybe a little hair thinning a few weeks later).

    In my case, it happened to me by accident: I was eating 1200 calories, *plus* all my carefully-estimated exercise calories, the amount MFP suggested for me for a sensible loss rate based on accurate settings I put in. Turns out that I need mysteriously more calories than MFP estimates, a rare thing, but it can happen.

    How much health risk do you like, in return for faster weight loss? That's the key question.
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 14,252 Member
    Spotted please try to increase even more. If you do the math you can tell that you can add calories. What your noticed in terms of appetite is fairly common
  • xxzenabxx
    xxzenabxx Posts: 935 Member
    Spotteddingo wrote: »
    Hi,
    Thanks for this thread.
    I have been under eating off and on for many years and recently went back into that mindset in March. It made no sense to me that I could be an endurance athlete and continue to gain weight.

    I am very accurate with my measuring and diligent with my logging.

    My weight loss slowed down in March and I looked back at my numbers and noticed a dip in my calorie consumption. 800-1100/day was very common during that time (679 the lowest). Last week I made a promise to myself that I would not go below 1200/ day. I noticed that I was rarely hungry, before, but now that I am eating between 1200-1400, I am getting hungry.

    This is not something I do intentionally to lose quickly. I think it is an ED that I have chosen to ignore or deny, until now. My mom died of bulimia nervosa. She was 46 and weighed 78#. I am working on this daily and these threads have been very educational and a good dose of therapy. My anxiety surrounding eating more calories is subsiding.

    I am a work in progress and grateful for the knowledge and support here.

    I’ve had an ED and many of them are actually genetic so you might be onto something there.
    Sometimes when you undereat for so long, your body lowers its metabolism and it thinks it’s starving so it stops sending out hunger signals in order to survive. This happens to a lot of eating disorder patients and I’ve experienced it and seen it with my own eyes. Pleeeaaase eat more. I used to eat under 1200 calories and do excessive exercise and I ended up gaining more weight. I’m now 160-165lbs when I used to be 120-130 lbs so I’ve gained weight. Of course a lot of that is also muscle but basically undereating really slowed down my metabolism. Now I eat 2100 calories a day and I’m slowly losing weight. I would suggest a reverse diet to avoid refeeding syndrome. Good luck ❤️
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 14,252 Member
    Spotted: weight TREND not daily weight ups and downs.

    Theory of reverse diet is add Cal's a chunk at a time (example +200, +200, then +100) for 1 week intervals per increase till continuous week over week trends indicate steady gain at which point you reduce cals to balance at max intake without gain

    This then allows you to lose from a higher start.

    Once the brain chemicals and pathways have well oiled grooves possibility of Ed recurrence is higher and any deficit can trigger it. With larger deficits being even more likely trigger :(
  • xxzenabxx
    xxzenabxx Posts: 935 Member
    Spotteddingo wrote: »
    Thanks @PAV8888 I appreciate you.
    When I started on MFP in January, It gave me a calorie goal of 1530. I am no longer swimming long distance so my cardio is kinda out the window currently. @xxzenabxx
    How do I figure out what the sweet spot is? I think I have already started a reverse diet... Although I had to look that up! ;))
    What is really emotional for me just now is that I did not realize that I was going in this direction but I guess I never really learned how to eat properly. At 55, better late then never!

    Thank you for your help.

    You can just use an online calculator and aim to reverse diet up to the maintenance calories and see how you feel? It’s tricky because my TDEE fluctuates so sometimes it’s 2300 and sometimes it’s up to 2700 so you just have to find an average.

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