What can I eat for energy that doesn’t have a lot of calories

Happygirl95148

I have been eating healthy for the last week but I feel like I need more energy???

usmcmp

How many calories are you eating? How active are you? How much are you exercising? How tall are you and how much do you weigh?

Having low energy could mean that your calories are too low or that you need more carbs. Having low energy may also just be part of the adjustment process (it is for me).

FlyingMolly

We need way more information. What are your goals, and what are you eating now? Are you trying to follow a specific plan? Making your diary public would help a lot.

lorrpb

Calories =energy

Happygirl95148

I think is just me adjusting to eating healthy I’m not hungry or nothing been eating 1200 calories a day and I walk for 30 minutes usually

usmcmp

pattybarragan95148 wrote: »

I think is just me adjusting to eating healthy I’m not hungry or nothing been eating 1200 calories a day and I walk for 30 minutes usually

When I started out MFP gave me 1200 calories. It took me a long time to realize that it was too low. Even though I had 50 pounds to lose 1200 calories (2 pounds per week) was just too much of a deficit. If you find that you aren't able to stick to that you might want to consider changing your rate of loss to one pound per week.

FlyingMolly

How did you arrive at that number? 1200 is basically rock bottom; your body is probably trying to conserve energy by making you feel sluggish.

Happygirl95148

I’m 5’4 196 pounds I do between 30 to 50 min cardio every day

Happygirl95148

I put that I wanted to 40 pounds I think that’s why it only gave me those calories

curvygirl512

Perhaps you just need more sleep. I started tracking my sleep hours and I can't believe how little I sleep. There is always so much to do and of course my family waits until I'm in bed with the lights out for whatever they need for the next morning. But prioritizing sleep has helped with more energy, and especially, I don't get the munchies as much as I used to. Sooooo, sleeping more has helped me to consume fewer calories, and have more energy. I hope your find what works for you.

ETA: I''m also 5'4" and needing to lose about 40 #. I set my goals to lose 1/2 #/week, and I got set at 1560 cal/day. If my goal were 1# loss/week, I'd only get 1170 calories/day. 170 is too few.

FlyingMolly

It bases its recommendation on your age, height, activity level, and current weight, then subtracts calories from that based on how much you tell it you want to lose per week. If that number is lower than 1200 it will just tell you 1200, because there aren't a lot of people who can eat less than that safely (older, shorter, basically sedentary women). Plus it's really hard to get all the nutrients a body needs into 1200 calories!

For you, then, it's pretty likely that you could still lose weight eating more, and you'd have more energy if you did. Why not try 1300 or 1350 and see if it helps? You'll have a little more wiggle room. It might slow down your weight loss a little, but not more than feeling tired all the time is likely to do.

Happygirl95148

Yeah I usually go to sleep late

Marilyn0924

OP, are you eating back some of those exercise calories? With 50 to lose, I'd set the loss goal to 1lb /week. You'll feel less sluggish and you'll better nourish yourself.

Happygirl95148

Thank you for all the help I’m new here and I don’t know a lot of stuff

MichelleSilverleaf

My guess is perhaps too low a deficit. Are you set to lose 1lb a week or 2?

Happygirl95148

2

karahm78

Even changing to 1.5 pounds per week should give you a few more calories... I had mine set there until I had 25 pounds to go at which time I lowered to 1 pound per week. Once I have 10 pounds or so left I’ll drop it to 0.5 per week.

Slow and steady wins the race

MichelleSilverleaf

2 is definitely too much. Try 1.5 like karahm suggested, or even drop down to 1lb. You don't have enough weight to lose to do 2lbs a week.

PAV8888

Hello OP: are you eating only 1200 Calories or are you recording any exercise that is not part of your daily living and eating back the calories. You mentioned that you walk 30 minutes and you do 30 to 50 minutes of cardio. Are you doing one or both?

IN ANY CASE, it really doesn't matter. 2lbs a week is at the absolute limit of speed that a sub 200lb person *should *be losing at (it would exceed what many consider a safe 1% of body weight a week)

Depending on how active you are it may also be creating too large of a deficit. There is nothing wrong with aiming for 1.5 or even 1lb a week.

It is NOT MFP that is giving you 1200 calories to eat. Your decision to ask for a 2lb a week rate of loss is what is giving you that number. And you can always adjust that decision.

Lack of energy = no good. Because it leads to you doing less (moving less), thus burning less, thus losing less weight unless you eat even less. Not a great cycle to be in.

rheddmobile

Upping your calories can help. You should definitely be eating back a portion of your exercise calories.

You can also tweak your macros and timing to see if a different way of eating works better for you. For example, if your blood sugar is low after working out, it will make you tired and cranky, and a few quick carbs at the right moment will bring it back up. I usually have fruit with Greek yogurt. Supposedly researchers found that chocolate milk was an ideal recovery drink. Or on the other hand if you are having trouble finding enough energy to work out, have a small snack first.

Different people find different foods satiating, so there's no one right solution.

sijomial

pattybarragan95148 wrote: »

I’m 5’4 196 pounds I do between 30 to 50 min cardio every day

Do you know you should be eating to compensate for that exercise as your (already aggressive) daily goal is plus exercise calories?