Am I not eating enough for weight loss? Or is that even possible??

madisonwood19

Hello all! I'm going to be as specific with myself as I can in hopes of getting across exactly what I'm doing and where I'm going wrong with trying to lose weight, so please bear with me!

So I am a 23 year old female. I'm 5 feet 7 inches tall. I weigh 177 pounds, but I carry most of it in my legs/hips/butt. I guess some would say I carry my weight well.

I'm a student/artist so I don't get much exercise in my daily routine other than walking to class, so I'm mostly at a desk working. However, I am training to be able to run for an hour straight, and right now I can run 35 minutes straight at 5 mph (on a treadmill) about three times per week. On top of that I do some simple strength training like squats, sit-ups, bicep curls, inner thigh lifts, etc. several times a week. Nothing too heavy.

For about a month now, I've been eating on average 1600 calories per day, whether I go for a run or not. Sometimes it goes up to 1800 but then I'll try to compensate by eating 1400 the next day. But it's always around 1600 on average. I own a food scale, and I'm always extremely specific with the number of calories. And if I eat something that I don't know the calories, I always aim high.

So basically, I'm not really seeing any results. Ever since the beginning of the summer, my weight has been fluctuating between 176 and 180, but it doesn't appear that I'm losing weight. And with running 35 minutes 3 times a week, and only eating 1600 calories, this seems impossible.

So my question is: am I not eating enough?? I know a lot of people say if you eat too little, your metabolism goes all whacky and you don't lose weight. But then there's other people who say that's complete bs and as long as calories expended outnumbers calories consumed, you should be losing weight, period. And my other question: what would you say is my exercise intensity level? Light, moderate, heavy?

All I know is that whatever I'm doing isn't working, but I just don't know whether I should be eating more or less. Any feedback would be HUGELY appreciated. This is frustrating me to all end. Sorry for the long post, but I'm desperate here! Haha. Thanks again!

cmriverside

If you are truly weighing and measuring your food, and really eating 1600-1800 (1800 on exercise days) you should be losing. That sounds just about perfect, number-wise.

If there is any un-logged food - tighten that up.

If you open your food diary we may be able to spot problems. Go to FOOD>Settings, scroll to the bottom and choose "Public."

Buckeye19XX

Have you calculated your BMR using another outside source? You are probably roughly burning 350 calories from running, meaning your body is running on 1250 calories on average. I've read that eating too little makes your body think it is starving so it holds onto everything it gets, making it harder to lose weight. You should have lost some weight before this happens however. I'm interested in seeing what others think about this.

ccrdragon

If not eating enough makes your weight-loss stall out and causes your body to hold onto calories, how can issues like anorexia exist?

MegaMooseEsq

NinjaT4202 wrote: »

Have you calculated your BMR using another outside source? You are probably roughly burning 350 calories from running, meaning your body is running on 1250 calories on average. I've read that eating too little makes your body think it is starving so it holds onto everything it gets, making it harder to lose weight. You should have lost some weight before this happens however. I'm interested in seeing what others think about this.

What you read was wrong. The body does not "hold onto weight" when it gets too few calories over an extended period of time. The body consumes itself and dies when it gets too few calories over an extended period of time.

toxikon

NinjaT4202 wrote: »

I've read that eating too little makes your body think it is starving so it holds onto everything it gets, making it harder to lose weight.

This is actually a common myth called "starvation mode"!

Here is a good overview, in case you're interested: https://examine.com/nutrition/how-do-i-stay-out-of-starvation-mode/

HeidiCooksSupper

NinjaT4202 wrote: »

... I've read that eating too little makes your body think it is starving so it holds onto everything it gets, making it harder to lose weight. ...

This isn't true. There's no such thing as "starvation mode" as the term is bandied about in weight loss stuff online. If you consistently eat at a calorie deficit, you will lose weight.

jasummers76

Not eating enough does affect your metabolism but not as drastically as some say. I have read and confirmed with both my Doctor and registered dietician that it will slow by 5 to 10 percent depending a lot on genetics. Check your numbers again. I always log only half of my workouts or exercises and do not eat back kcals. But this is what works for my body. No one here will be able to give you precise information, helpful sure. But for most of us it is trial and error.

toxikon

I checked your stats in my favourite TDEE calc, and I'm getting 1900 for your Sedentary TDEE. So on non-active days, you would need to eat 1900 calories to maintain your current weight.

So taking any exercise out of the equation, you'd need to eat 1400 calories a day to lose one pound a week.

If you're regularly eating closer to 1800, that's not a whole lot of wiggle room. A few inaccurate database entries, a forgotten tablespoon of peanut butter, etc... that could push you right up to maintenance.

If you open up your Diary we may be able to have a better guess on why you're stalling out.

Keep in mind that weight fluctuations are normal too.

madisonwood19

Thanks so much for your feedback, guys!

I opened my food diary. I feel so exposed! :O Haha

I am always super accurate when making food at home. However, you can only be so accurate when eating at a restaurant, or when someone else is cooking for you! I think it's very possible that even if I was over estimating those numbers, it still wasn't enough.

I'll definitely try dropping to 1400-1500 calories, though, and see what that does. Does that seem like a low number? Not just for me, but in general? It seems low to me, but I don't really know. I want to make sure I'm eating enough. And will that give me a lot of room for when I plateau and need to decrease my calories again? Sorry for all the questions! Thank you again!

MegaMooseEsq

madisonwood19 wrote: »

Thanks so much for your feedback, guys!

I opened my food diary. I feel so exposed! :O Haha

I am always super accurate when making food at home. However, you can only be so accurate when eating at a restaurant, or when someone else is cooking for you! I think it's very possible that even if I was over estimating those numbers, it still wasn't enough.

I'll definitely try dropping to 1400-1500 calories, though, and see what that does. Does that seem like a low number? Not just for me, but in general? It seems low to me, but I don't really know. I want to make sure I'm eating enough. And will that give me a lot of room for when I plateau and need to decrease my calories again? Sorry for all the questions! Thank you again!

It really depends. I am fine on about 1500 calories, but I'm also 5 inches shorter than you, and I spent a lot of time figuring out meal timing and nutrient balance to make sure I feel full throughout the day. The only way to know is to experiment, give it time, and see what happens. Good luck!

RAinWA

Looking at your diary you have a lot of tbsp, pieces, cups, etc. You really need to weigh all solids, including pre-packaged items. What I think is 2 tbsp of peanut butter is a whole lot more than 2 tbsp.

Try tightening up your logging and see if that doesn't help.

madisonwood19

MegaMooseEsq wrote: »

It really depends. I am fine on about 1500 calories, but I'm also 5 inches shorter than you, and I spent a lot of time figuring out meal timing and nutrient balance to make sure I feel full throughout the day. The only way to know is to experiment, give it time, and see what happens. Good luck!

Yeah, I'll definitely do some trial and error to figure this thing out! Thanks!

janejellyroll

madisonwood19 wrote: »

Thanks so much for your feedback, guys!

I opened my food diary. I feel so exposed! :O Haha

I am always super accurate when making food at home. However, you can only be so accurate when eating at a restaurant, or when someone else is cooking for you! I think it's very possible that even if I was over estimating those numbers, it still wasn't enough.

I'll definitely try dropping to 1400-1500 calories, though, and see what that does. Does that seem like a low number? Not just for me, but in general? It seems low to me, but I don't really know. I want to make sure I'm eating enough. And will that give me a lot of room for when I plateau and need to decrease my calories again? Sorry for all the questions! Thank you again!

If you aren't already weighing solid foods, I would get a scale and start there.

You do have a lot of entries that seem to be estimates (probably when you're eating out). The issue with things like "Homemade Peach Cobbler 1.5 cups" is that you never really know if the person who created the entry made theirs the same way the one you are eating is prepared. It could have been 318 calories, but it could have been much more. If this is happening just sometimes, accurate logging in other places can overcome it. The issue is that you seem to be using a lot of entries that are just estimates and it could be that you're eating much more than you think. The packaged foods you log (protein bars, Lunchables, etc) could also weigh more than what is listed on the package.

This doesn't mean you have to stop eating out or eating foods that others prepare forever, but it is worth considering if you want to cut back temporarily while you determine what is a deficit for you.

cjsacto

I'm the same height/weight as you (but much older) and I'm eating 1500 calories. I'm losing about .5 every 5 days. Not setting any records but seeing progress. You are getting more exercise than me, I'd think 1600 calories would give you steady progress.

madisonwood19

RAinWA wrote: »

Looking at your diary you have a lot of tbsp, pieces, cups, etc. You really need to weigh all solids, including pre-packaged items. What I think is 2 tbsp of peanut butter is a whole lot more than 2 tbsp.

Try tightening up your logging and see if that doesn't help.

janejellyroll wrote: »

madisonwood19 wrote: »

Thanks so much for your feedback, guys!

I opened my food diary. I feel so exposed! :O Haha

I am always super accurate when making food at home. However, you can only be so accurate when eating at a restaurant, or when someone else is cooking for you! I think it's very possible that even if I was over estimating those numbers, it still wasn't enough.

I'll definitely try dropping to 1400-1500 calories, though, and see what that does. Does that seem like a low number? Not just for me, but in general? It seems low to me, but I don't really know. I want to make sure I'm eating enough. And will that give me a lot of room for when I plateau and need to decrease my calories again? Sorry for all the questions! Thank you again!

If you aren't already weighing solid foods, I would get a scale and start there.

You do have a lot of entries that seem to be estimates (probably when you're eating out). The issue with things like "Homemade Peach Cobbler 1.5 cups" is that you never really know if the person who created the entry made theirs the same way the one you are eating is prepared. It could have been 318 calories, but it could have been much more. If this is happening just sometimes, accurate logging in other places can overcome it. The issue is that you seem to be using a lot of entries that are just estimates and it could be that you're eating much more than you think. The packaged foods you log (protein bars, Lunchables, etc) could also weigh more than what is listed on the package.

This doesn't mean you have to stop eating out or eating foods that others prepare forever, but it is worth considering if you want to cut back temporarily while you determine what is a deficit for you.

Yeah, I definitely hear what you guys are saying. I do have a food scale and weigh pretty much everything (for example, 2 tbsps of peanut butter is 33 grams, and I always measure stuff like that). But I haven't thought of weighing things like protein bars, etc. I'll definitely start doing that! I consider myself pretty accurate, but of course, when eating things like cobbler where you have no idea how it was made, you can only get so close.

But I'm going to experiment for awhile and get as accurate as possible and see what changes need to be made from there. Thank you!!

cmriverside

Good deal, we're getting somewhere.

I am 5'7" and 140. The last 25 pounds I lost at 1500 plus exercise calories. I weighed and measured 13 out of 14 meals per week. That means I prepared all my own food. I allowed one meal a week from a restaurant or at someone else's house. It took me nine months to lose 20 pounds. For reference, I'm in my sixties and retired and I live in a tiny low-maintenance condo. I walk 3-5 times a week for 45 minutes.

Thing is, we all have slightly different rates of energy expenditure based on our daily activity, (job/school/kids) and based on our purposeful exercise. You may lose at 1700. Only way to know is to be accurate.

Myamya123

Im 5'8 and loose on 1500 cals and am pretty sedentary at 136lbs. So you should be loosing at that amount of cals....

fitoverfortymom

I'm 42, 5'6" and weigh 161 (as of this morning, but it fluctuates). I'm set to lose .5 per week with 1560 calories and that's pretty accurate, or a little more with exercise. I run 3x per week between 3-5 miles.