Under 1000 calories?
dibbenandrew1325
Posts: 6 Member
Hello guys I've recently started eating lower calorie foods and smaller portions and I've noticed that I'm only grossing about 800 a day but I don't feel hungry or any malnourishment I worked off about 750 calories? So I'm not sure what to do
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Replies
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Eat more.25
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Eat a lot more. Your body is being fueled on 50 calories (if accurate), which is extremely dangerous. Malnourishment doesn’t happen in one day, but your body still needs calories.16
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Log more accurately and more honestly.16
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You won't feel malnourished until you are malnourished. If you can't eat more by volume, eat higher calorie foods.11
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TeacupsAndToning wrote: »
OP is male, FYI4 -
TeacupsAndToning wrote: »
OP is male, FYI
And hopefully about 6-7 years old - because no teenage or adult male anywhere of any size is getting adequate nutrition and fuel from 800 calories per day.12 -
You’re dramatically undereating. You’re setting yourself up for malnutrition and loss of muscle mass. Men need a minimum of 1500 net calories per day.6
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OP, I'm gonna assume part of the problem is a logging issue, because my 70 yr old 5' tall mom would be starving on 800 calories. Another factor could also be that your body is adjusting to the diet change and will balance out shortly, but that still shouldn't have you eating so few calories.
Get a food scale and spend at least a couple of weeks weighing everything. And make sure you are logging everything: whole food, packaged food, beverages, condiments, cooking oils, everything. Also double check that you are using correct entries in the database, many were entered incorrectly by other users.
If after you go through this exercise you are still logging 800 cals and not hungry, see a doctor. The only reason a grown man could be unable to eat more than 800 cals is a serious medical problem. You should be eating at least 1500. Please take care of yourself.11 -
Hi! I'm a 73yo woman, 157cms tall, and experiencing exactly the same problem. Right now it's probably not such an issue, but once I start dance training again (i.e. as from Sunday) and start doing cardio, etc at gym, it will! (And it's not that I'm logging incorrectly; I'm logging everything!)
Can anyone suggest things that could be added to increase the calorie intake but not increase carbs, fat or protein?
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snowraven1 wrote: »Hi! I'm a 73yo woman, 157cms tall, and experiencing exactly the same problem. Right now it's probably not such an issue, but once I start dance training again (i.e. as from Sunday) and start doing cardio, etc at gym, it will! (And it's not that I'm logging incorrectly; I'm logging everything!)
Can anyone suggest things that could be added to increase the calorie intake but not increase carbs, fat or protein?
That's impossible. Carbs, fat and protein are the macronutrients which comprise all foods. If it has none of those three things (e.g., water), it has no calories.17 -
@snowraven1 why would you want to increase calorie intake but not carbs fat or protein? Calories are made from those 3 things. Adding calories is fairly straight forward: add oils, nut butters, nuts, dried fruit to your diet. These are calorie dense and you get a lot of calories for not much volume.6
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snowraven1 wrote: »Hi! I'm a 73yo woman, 157cms tall, and experiencing exactly the same problem. Right now it's probably not such an issue, but once I start dance training again (i.e. as from Sunday) and start doing cardio, etc at gym, it will! (And it's not that I'm logging incorrectly; I'm logging everything!)
Can anyone suggest things that could be added to increase the calorie intake but not increase carbs, fat or protein?
That's impossible. Carbs, fat and protein are the macronutrients which comprise all foods. If it has none of those three things (e.g., water), it has no calories.
Well, there is one way: Everclear.
Kidding aside, @snowraven1. Protein, fat, and carbs (and alcohol) are what gives food the calories. You can't increase calories without increasing these. You don't need to be afraid of eating extra fat, protein, or carbs. In fact, if you're under eating you probably NEED more of these macronutrients. I would suggest focusing on foods that have more protein (possibly a few more grams of carbs too) to support your dance training.
To original poster, as a man you need much more than that, at least twice as much if you're losing faster than what is sustainable loss. If you aren't losing too fast you are likely eating more than you think, but if you are losing fast then you need to do something about it.
If you are overweight you likely know how to overeat, so use these skills to introduce larger portions and/or reintroducing some of your old higher calorie foods into your diet. Not doing something about it would result in greater muscle loss and may affect your hormonal functions, not to mention greater risk of developing gallstones. You may feel good now, but by the time you feel bad it would be too late. Treating malnourishment, hormones, or gallstones is a long and unpleasant process. Regaining some of the muscle lost may take years. Do something about it and don't let it get to that just because you feel fine now.5 -
snowraven1 wrote: »Hi! I'm a 73yo woman, 157cms tall, and experiencing exactly the same problem. Right now it's probably not such an issue, but once I start dance training again (i.e. as from Sunday) and start doing cardio, etc at gym, it will! (And it's not that I'm logging incorrectly; I'm logging everything!)
Can anyone suggest things that could be added to increase the calorie intake but not increase carbs, fat or protein?
That's impossible. Carbs, fat and protein are the macronutrients which comprise all foods. If it has none of those three things (e.g., water), it has no calories.
Alcohol
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moosmum1972 wrote: »Alatariel75 wrote: »snowraven1 wrote: »Hi! I'm a 73yo woman, 157cms tall, and experiencing exactly the same problem. Right now it's probably not such an issue, but once I start dance training again (i.e. as from Sunday) and start doing cardio, etc at gym, it will! (And it's not that I'm logging incorrectly; I'm logging everything!)
Can anyone suggest things that could be added to increase the calorie intake but not increase carbs, fat or protein?
That's impossible. Carbs, fat and protein are the macronutrients which comprise all foods. If it has none of those three things (e.g., water), it has no calories.
Alcohol
Carbs?
Only if it's not pure4 -
JeromeBarry1 wrote: »Log more accurately and more honestly.
Why do you assume they're not logging correctly?3 -
purpleannex wrote: »JeromeBarry1 wrote: »Log more accurately and more honestly.
Why do you assume they're not logging correctly?
Because it's very very common. MFP database is user generated, so you will find a lot of inaccurate entries. Even some "confirmed" entries can be inaccurate. It's a learning process and the price you have to pay for such a vast database. There is also the fact that many people who are new to dieting would go by piece or cup instead of weight. This can be inaccurate. If you log "one avocado" the variation in size can produce a difference of more than 100 calories, now multiply that by several foods logged inaccurately. And then there are these random things like eating just a little bit of this or a bite of that which add up, and some people who don't log fruits and vegetables...etc.
The "growing pains" of calorie counting on MFP is something most of us had to deal with at some point, so that's usually one of the first assumptions. That's why under eating is better gauged using weight loss over time, at least at first. If you're averaging a loss of more than 1% of your current weight per week beyond the first week where most of the water weight occurs, you are likely undereating (I personally think 0.75% is a better maximum number to aim for but 1% seems to be more commonly circulated).9 -
amusedmonkey wrote: »purpleannex wrote: »JeromeBarry1 wrote: »Log more accurately and more honestly.
Why do you assume they're not logging correctly?
...but if you're only eating small amounts there's less chance of error in calorie counting than if you're eating a lot. If you're claiming 800 calories it would be difficult to be out by even 50%, not counting the exercise calories, and 1200 kcals would still be a low figure.
My original comment was intended to question why it was thought that the op might be mis counting, as if its somehow impossible to eat a small number of calories per day, when clearly it isnt.2 -
moosmum1972 wrote: »Alatariel75 wrote: »snowraven1 wrote: »Hi! I'm a 73yo woman, 157cms tall, and experiencing exactly the same problem. Right now it's probably not such an issue, but once I start dance training again (i.e. as from Sunday) and start doing cardio, etc at gym, it will! (And it's not that I'm logging incorrectly; I'm logging everything!)
Can anyone suggest things that could be added to increase the calorie intake but not increase carbs, fat or protein?
That's impossible. Carbs, fat and protein are the macronutrients which comprise all foods. If it has none of those three things (e.g., water), it has no calories.
Alcohol
Carbs?
Not as long as she's willing to chug pure ethyl alcohol.
I wasn't gonna go there and muddy up the waters, but alcohol is a separate macronutrient all it's own. 7 calories per gram. Only problem is that ethyl alcohol is 100% metabolized/oxidized and eliminated from the body - it's the one macronutrient which has a 0% storage potential in the body. So while it would technically increase your calorie intake, it would have zero impact upon CICO because it can't be stored like the other macronutrients can.
It also wouldn't be a very wise idea in the first place to consume enough pure ethyl alcohol to have any significant effect upon calorie intake. A little goes a long way (in other effects upon the body).6 -
amusedmonkey wrote: »(I personally think 0.75% is a better maximum number to aim for but 1% seems to be more commonly circulated).
well, I will chime in and say that while 1% or even slightly faster may be perfectly fine for a morbidly obese individual, a person closer to the normal range may benefit by not exceeding the 0.5% to 1% range
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amusedmonkey wrote: »(I personally think 0.75% is a better maximum number to aim for but 1% seems to be more commonly circulated).
well, I will chime in and say that while 1% or even slightly faster may be perfectly fine for a morbidly obese individual, a person closer to the normal range may benefit by not exceeding the 0.5% to 1% range
Possibly, but judging by my own experience, when I was around 300 pounds I had a maintenance of about 2500 calories, and I'm average height, a shorter woman may have even less. Losing 3 lbs a week would have meant going for a net of 1000 calories, and given how inactive I was back then, that would have been too low. I think the 1% is the average cut off to what would be considered a very low calorie diet, at least for women, but would still be lower than what is recommended.0 -
amusedmonkey wrote: »amusedmonkey wrote: »(I personally think 0.75% is a better maximum number to aim for but 1% seems to be more commonly circulated).
well, I will chime in and say that while 1% or even slightly faster may be perfectly fine for a morbidly obese individual, a person closer to the normal range may benefit by not exceeding the 0.5% to 1% range
Possibly, but judging by my own experience, when I was around 300 pounds I had a maintenance of about 2500 calories, and I'm average height, a shorter woman may have even less. Losing 3 lbs a week would have meant going for a net of 1000 calories, and given how inactive I was back then, that would have been too low. I think the 1% is the average cut off to what would be considered a very low calorie diet, at least for women, but would still be lower than what is recommended.
Ahh, I guess in talking about maximum rates I forgot to mention the other part of the equation: .... and in any case deficits that do not exceed 20% of TDEE (up to 25% while obese).
So it is a double limit. Both the deficit target and the overall rate as a double check.
There you go. Problem solved
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Are you being serious?
I recently had to do a very short term VLCD before surgery. It came out at net 400 calories or 800 eaten.
I couldn't get anywhere near a healthy amount of fat or protein.
Your body will be eating its own muscle if you continue to eat this way.
Look at your protein and fat goals and make sure you hit or exceed them.3 -
purpleannex wrote: »amusedmonkey wrote: »purpleannex wrote: »JeromeBarry1 wrote: »Log more accurately and more honestly.
Why do you assume they're not logging correctly?
...but if you're only eating small amounts there's less chance of error in calorie counting than if you're eating a lot. If you're claiming 800 calories it would be difficult to be out by even 50%, not counting the exercise calories, and 1200 kcals would still be a low figure.
My original comment was intended to question why it was thought that the op might be mis counting, as if its somehow impossible to eat a small number of calories per day, when clearly it isnt.
Because if he truly was grossing 800 calories and then burning 750 calories through exercise, he would resemble the walking dead and would be absolutely ravenous, have no energy and just generally feel like *kitten*!
Op has no doubt only been eating like this for a very short amount of time, it will catch up with him soon in one way or another and then cue crash and burn
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I have read that is is common to not feel hungry while eating a very low calorie diet. This doesn’t mean it is healthy, however, and MFP will ban you if you promote it.3
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snowraven1 wrote: »Hi! I'm a 73yo woman, 157cms tall, and experiencing exactly the same problem. Right now it's probably not such an issue, but once I start dance training again (i.e. as from Sunday) and start doing cardio, etc at gym, it will! (And it's not that I'm logging incorrectly; I'm logging everything!)
Can anyone suggest things that could be added to increase the calorie intake but not increase carbs, fat or protein?
If your appetite doesn't kick in when you up your activity, I'd check with a doctor.
Why do you not want to increase fat, carbs, or protein? If it's because you are at your numbers (grams), and your calorie goal is significantly higher, there's a problem with the entries used. If it's because you are at your numbers (percentages), remember that they ALWAYS add up to 100, and you should not look at percentages until the end of the day (I think never, personally, and would always go by grams, and probably not worry about anything but protein, the other two will take care of themselves).
I dislike the fact that MFP's red color makes it seem like exceeding any macros is bad -- it's not. So long as you aren't way undereating protein or fat, macros don't matter much for weight loss or maintenance (for muscle gain and specifically for muscle maintenance for women as we get older, I think protein can be very important, though).1 -
And hopefully about 6-7 years old - because no teenage or adult male anywhere of any size is getting adequate nutrition and fuel from 800 calories per day.
I agree. I would be so tired and miserable with no energy to do anything. He has got to be hungry!1 -
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MistressSara wrote: »If OP is willing to increase calories but has been unable because he’s been eating only vlc foods there is a list around here somewhere of ides of foods to eat. That nice woman wearing the hat in her profile used to post it sometimes. Anyone know what/who I’m talking about? She often bumps useful threads... ugh. I’m drawing a blank.
@dianathegeek ?2 -
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