Am I eating enough?

I've always struggled with eating correctly during my eating journey. I've recently learned that the reason as to why I hadn't seen as much progress is due to me not eating enough. However, it's hard for me to gauge how much I really should be eating.

Background: I am a 5 Foot, 23-year-old girl. I work at an office so I am pretty much sedentary, except for the hour and a half that I spend at the gym. I mostly weight lift or HIIT. I also sometimes tag on an hour and a half of yoga 3 times a week. I try to go to the gym about 6 times a week if not 7.

Please let me know your best advice.

TIA!!!

Replies

hydechildcare

Put your info and MFP calculator and go from there. That is what I did and I am down almost 17 pounds. You do need to reset as you lose. I didn't realize till 15 pounds down that I needed to reset it. When I did I went down about 100 calories to eat. It a great starting point and you can mess around with how many you need. I try to eat a lot of vegetables and lean proteins so I can normally stay in the 1300-1500 range. I did recently add some starchy carbs back to my diet and it can put me up to 1600. MFP calculator is the best place to start.

janejellyroll

Not eating enough will not cause lack of progress, but it can cause other issues.

What is your current calorie goal and what do you mean by not seeing much progress? You're losing slower than you expected?

malibu927

How much are you eating a day and how are you determining those calories?

SezxyStef

dimroses wrote: »

I've always struggled with eating correctly during my eating journey. I've recently learned that the reason as to why I hadn't seen as much progress is due to me not eating enough. However, it's hard for me to gauge how much I really should be eating.

Background: I am a 5 Foot, 23-year-old girl. I work at an office so I am pretty much sedentary, except for the hour and a half that I spend at the gym. I mostly weight lift or HIIT. I also sometimes tag on an hour and a half of yoga 3 times a week. I try to go to the gym about 6 times a week if not 7.

Please let me know your best advice.

TIA!!!

not eating enough will not cause you to not see weight loss progress...

try2again

Enter your stats on MFP, and choose an *appropriate* weekly goal (2lbs/week is really only for those who are very overweight). This post is helpful in explaining how MFP is set up, how activity level & calorie burns will effect your calorie allowance, and why it's inadvisable to undereat.

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10569458/why-eating-too-little-calories-is-a-bad-idea/p1

If the issue is that you are not seeing progress, that simply means you are taking in too many calories for your current activity level. Accuracy is the key. Make sure you have entered your stats correctly, that you are weighing your food and choosing reliable database entries, and that you don't overestimate calories earned through exercise. If you are using the MFP database to calculate calorie burns, it's better not to eat back more than 50% of those and adjust accordingly based on your progress.

Muscleflex79

as others have said - not eating enough is not the problem (in terms of weight loss at least)...but for anyone to help - we need to know how much are you eating and are you weighing everything you consume?

aeloine

Wait... are you trying to gain/bulk or lose?

dimroses

Whenever research what my caloric needs SHOULD BE, it says that I should eat around 1100 to 1200 calories. I am guessing due to my height. However, with my work out schedule (6 days), I was wondering if I should perhaps be eating more.

BusyRaeNOTBusty

dimroses wrote: »

Whenever research what my caloric needs SHOULD BE, it says that I should eat around 1100 to 1200 calories. I am guessing due to my height. However, with my work out schedule (6 days), I was wondering if I should perhaps be eating more.

If you enter a half pound a weekend into MFP, and then enter your exercise and eat the extra calories, I bet it'd be a LOT more than 1200.

macgurlnet

BusyRaeNOTBusty wrote: »

dimroses wrote: »

Whenever research what my caloric needs SHOULD BE, it says that I should eat around 1100 to 1200 calories. I am guessing due to my height. However, with my work out schedule (6 days), I was wondering if I should perhaps be eating more.

If you enter a half pound a weekend into MFP, and then enter your exercise and eat the extra calories, I bet it'd be a LOT more than 1200.

Not if she's short, not too overweight and has her activty level as sedentary.

I think I get 1260 calories for 0.5lb/week loss. I'm 5 feet tall, 120 pounds and get close to 1200 for Sedentary. I try to get plenty of walking in so I can eat more since 1200 isn't fun.

~Lyssa

SezxyStef

macgurlnet wrote: »

BusyRaeNOTBusty wrote: »

dimroses wrote: »

Whenever research what my caloric needs SHOULD BE, it says that I should eat around 1100 to 1200 calories. I am guessing due to my height. However, with my work out schedule (6 days), I was wondering if I should perhaps be eating more.

If you enter a half pound a weekend into MFP, and then enter your exercise and eat the extra calories, I bet it'd be a LOT more than 1200.

Not if she's short, not too overweight and has her activty level as sedentary.

I think I get 1260 calories for 0.5lb/week loss. I'm 5 feet tall, 120 pounds and get close to 1200 for Sedentary. I try to get plenty of walking in so I can eat more since 1200 isn't fun.

~Lyssa

but if you exercise you get to net 1260...not gross.

So if you burn 250 calories exercising that is more food to eat...

macgurlnet

SezxyStef wrote: »

macgurlnet wrote: »

BusyRaeNOTBusty wrote: »

dimroses wrote: »

Whenever research what my caloric needs SHOULD BE, it says that I should eat around 1100 to 1200 calories. I am guessing due to my height. However, with my work out schedule (6 days), I was wondering if I should perhaps be eating more.

If you enter a half pound a weekend into MFP, and then enter your exercise and eat the extra calories, I bet it'd be a LOT more than 1200.

Not if she's short, not too overweight and has her activty level as sedentary.

I think I get 1260 calories for 0.5lb/week loss. I'm 5 feet tall, 120 pounds and get close to 1200 for Sedentary. I try to get plenty of walking in so I can eat more since 1200 isn't fun.

~Lyssa

but if you exercise you get to net 1260...not gross.

So if you burn 250 calories exercising that is more food to eat...

Yes - skipped over that bit. Thanks for catching it.

~Lyssa

try2again

dimroses wrote: »

Whenever research what my caloric needs SHOULD BE, it says that I should eat around 1100 to 1200 calories. I am guessing due to my height. However, with my work out schedule (6 days), I was wondering if I should perhaps be eating more.

If you use MFP as designed, set at an appropriate rate of loss, and log any purposeful exercise outside of your normal daily activity level (which sounds like sedentary), it will give you additional calories to fuel the extra activity. Many people find fitness trackers a good way to track any additional burn as well.

However... you are saying you aren't seeing any progress eating 1100-1200 calories while exercising and not eating back any exercise calories, right? So that just means you are not accurately tracking your calorie intake, not that you need to eat more. That's not judgment or criticism. Tracking calories accurately is a skill that requires education and practice like any other. If you haven't already, you may want to check out the stickied posts at the top of the Getting Started and General Diet and Weight Loss forums.

dimroses

Thank You Guys! I enjoy all your tips. Just so you know, I have seen lean progress, but I can't seem to get the muscle definition I need. That's why I feel like I am not eating enough.

Muscleflex79

dimroses wrote: »

Thank You Guys! I enjoy all your tips. Just so you know, I have seen lean progress, but I can't seem to get the muscle definition I need. That's why I feel like I am not eating enough.

you never did answer if you are trying to lose fat or bulk or what?

try2again

dimroses wrote: »

Thank You Guys! I enjoy all your tips. Just so you know, I have seen lean progress, but I can't seem to get the muscle definition I need. That's why I feel like I am not eating enough.

This might be helpful- from a very knowledgeable MFP member (hope you're not one of the people that hate links):
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1161603/so-you-want-a-nice-stomach/p1

psuLemon

dimroses wrote: »

Thank You Guys! I enjoy all your tips. Just so you know, I have seen lean progress, but I can't seem to get the muscle definition I need. That's why I feel like I am not eating enough.

If you aren't getting definition, it's because your body fat isn't low enough, and it's possible you dont' have enough muscle. But if you are eating 1100 calories and that active in the gym, it's not doing you any favors.

dimroses

I'm trying to lose fat whilst building lean muscle.

sky_northern

dimroses wrote: »

I'm trying to lose fat whilst building lean muscle.

It takes work for women to build muscle and you generally can't do it if you are eating with a calorie deficit.
You can try to recomp - although it is a slow process. General idea is you plug your info in the MFP for maintenance, eat that many calories and lift heavy. You need patience.

psuLemon

How about we start simple, what is your weight, how many calories are you actually eating (not just what you should be based on research), how much protein are you consuming and more detail on your actual workout schedule, with more details on your liftikg routine?

If you answer that, we can provide greater feedback.

Sunnybrooke99

I’m not sure what sort of muscle definition you are looking for, but I’m an exotic dancer, and even the some of the leanest, most fit, girls in their early twenties don’t show a lot of muscle definition. Honestly, that’s considered a sign of youth at work. The younger girls have a softer look. I’m 36 and I strive to eat enough healthy fats to keep some plumpness, without being over weight. In a lot of movies and stuff, the actresses are older than the parts they are playing, and there’s a lot of photoshopping in magazines. If your weight and BMI are healthy, try not to worry about the appearance of your muscle definition.

psuLemon

Sunnybrooke99 wrote: »

I’m not sure what sort of muscle definition you are looking for, but I’m an exotic dancer, and even the some of the leanest, most fit, girls in their early twenties don’t show a lot of muscle definition. Honestly, that’s considered a sign of youth at work. The younger girls have a softer look. I’m 36 and I strive to eat enough healthy fats to keep some plumpness, without being over weight. In a lot of movies and stuff, the actresses are older than the parts they are playing, and there’s a lot of photoshopping in magazines. If your weight and BMI are healthy, try not to worry about the appearance of your muscle definition.

I dont agree with you. If your goal is a lean and defined body, you should strive for it. And i suspect most of your dancer friends arent putting in the work to become lean, defined and fit. For some people, it does require bulking if they have low lean body mass. For others, its just getting lean enough, which most women arent sub 20% body fat.

Sunnybrooke99

Just depends on the sort of lean look she is going for. If she wants more bulk, that’s different, but I rarely see the same sort of “definition” (like actual muscle separations) in the younger girls, eventho some of them are very strong and fit. I’m not saying they aren’t shapely and lean.

psuLemon

Sunnybrooke99 wrote: »

Just depends on the sort of lean look she is going for. If she wants more bulk, that’s different, but I rarely see the same sort of “definition” (like actual muscle separations) in the younger girls, eventho some of them are very strong and fit. I’m not saying they aren’t shapely and lean.

Again, thats largely because young girls believe in many fitness myths and stay out of the part of the gym that is most important (weight room). Go to any commercial gym and look at how many women are lifting heavy weights (in my gym, its the same 3 women and only 1 is lean enough)

And dont get me wrong, many of them will be fit for their sport and lean but not have the lean body mass and leaness that would provide a defined body.

The one nice thing is tides are changing and more women are lifting which is great. Go into the body building section and you will notice a huge difference between the people in the general parts of the forum and a more specialized part of the forum.

dimroses

I generally eat about 1200 calories a day, as per MFP's suggestion.
Carbs 170~200 grams
Protein: ~85 - 95
Fats: ~28

However my workouts are usually of about an 1.5 hr 6 days a week. A mix between HIIT and Strength so I usually range about 500 CALS.

Should I be eating those 500calories?

SezxyStef

dimroses wrote: »

I generally eat about 1200 calories a day, as per MFP's suggestion.
Carbs 170~200 grams
Protein: ~85 - 95
Fats: ~28

However my workouts are usually of about an 1.5 hr 6 days a week. A mix between HIIT and Strength so I usually range about 500 CALS.

Should I be eating those 500calories?

Well you aren't losing weight logging the 1200 so adding in more probably won't help...

and I say this because you should be losing on 1200-500 which is 700....so chances are you are eating more than you think and just not logging accurately.

Esp if you are exercising that much.

psuLemon

dimroses wrote: »

I generally eat about 1200 calories a day, as per MFP's suggestion.
Carbs 170~200 grams
Protein: ~85 - 95
Fats: ~28

However my workouts are usually of about an 1.5 hr 6 days a week. A mix between HIIT and Strength so I usually range about 500 CALS.

Should I be eating those 500calories?

First, that amount of fat is really low. I'd sacrifice some carbs for more fats. Second, I'd consider setting your account to maintain for a week and coming back with a smaller deficit. But no one should be aiming for 1200 calories who is working out as much as you.