Am I eating enough??

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fancyface1955
fancyface1955 Posts: 90 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I'm tryin to work off my holiday weight and lose 10-12 pounds. I've been weighing and measuring my food and logging it on MFP. I seem to be staying under 1000 calories, but I'm not starving. I dont eat back my work out calories either. I work out 2-3xa week and i eat healthy. I'm not sure if thisis ok or if I need to be eating more. I've been told that calorie deficit is ok when you're trying to lose weight, but i've also been told about your body going into starvation mode and holding on to what is there. Can anyone offer some guidance and direction? Thanks.

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  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,013 Member
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    Starvation mode isn't a thing in the short term. But undereating is not healthy. You should be eating all the calories MFP gives you. Double check the entries you are using in the database - avoid using generic or recipe style entries you didn't create yourself. If you just started, some people find their appetite takes some time to catch up with their new eating style, but that doesn't mean undereating is okay. Your body needs fuel! Good luck
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
    edited January 2018
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    There is such a thing as not eating enough. If your calorie intake is too low you won't be able to meet your nutritional needs (macro and micro). This will leave you malnourished and over time can cause hair loss, brittle nails, ect.

    To large of a deficit will have you losing more muscle mass than you would if you kept your deficit at a reasonable level. This can lead to you having a higher than normal BF% even at a healthy BMI (aka skinny fat.... I'm an example of that...BMI is normal, but BF% estimate is 33% which is considered over fat or obese depending on chart)

    Also if you have to large of a deficit you could end up with fatigue, headaches, and possibly end up over-eating.

    Granted all of this takes time and the occasional low day won't matter in the bigger picture. Doing it regularly isn't healthy though.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
    edited January 2018
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    Starvation mode isn’t a thing, but you know what is? Muscle loss. Hair loss. Extreme fatigue. Loss of period. Organ malfunctions. And those can all happen from eating below 1000 calories for a sustained amount of time.

    You don’t have much to lose, so you should only be working with enough of a deficit to lose half a pound a week. Remember that your body needs fuel.

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