We are pleased to announce that on March 4, 2025, an updated Rich Text Editor will be introduced in the MyFitnessPal Community. To learn more about the upcoming changes, please click here. We look forward to sharing this new feature with you!
Cannot complete diary w/ less than 1200 cal. consumed?
dennisl31789
Posts: 10 Member
I started eating lesser portions of foods. Not just that, I eat more natural foods like salads, greens, etc. Somehow, I cannot complete my diary where I record the foods I ate. It said that I need more than 1000 calories to consume and I assumed that they against eat less diet. So I stopped posting diary and go along with what I’m doing next to workouts. Now I lost 3lbs. In few weeks, however I don’t know if I ‘m doing right or wrong. What’s your thoughts?
3
Replies
-
eat more7
-
myfitnesspal has stopped projecting your weight loss if you eat under 1000 calories because it is dangerous for your body to do so and they did not want to encourage that behavior, if i remember correctly.
the safest way to lose weight is to eat at least 1,000 - 1,200 calories per day.8 -
Wait, why?
1 -
timidunicorn wrote: »myfitnesspal has stopped projecting your weight loss if you eat under 1000 calories because it is dangerous for your body to do so and they did not want to encourage that behavior, if i remember correctly.
the safest way to lose weight is to eat at least 1,000 - 1,200 calories per day.
The OP is male. 1200 is where the warning comes up for men, and he should be eating 1500 calories minimum, and likely more than that. Even for most women 1200 is too low.10 -
I assume you're male based on your profile picture. You need to eat a minimum of net 1500 calories per day. If you're exercising, then you need to eat back exercise calories to make sure you aren't eating too little. 1000 calories per day is far too low for anyone, especially for men.4
-
dennisl31789 wrote: »Wait, why?
Unless you are under doctor supervision, it's a very dangerous thing to do. You could end up with gallstones, a higher increase of dealing with osteoporosis since the nutirtional imbalance will lead to leaching of calcium from your bones, or/and painful inflammation of the joints caused by high uric acid since you aren't taking in proper amounts of nutrition (vitamins, protein, etc). And these are just some examples. There are more possible issues from deficiencies that I encourage you to look up.
By restricting your calories so low, even though you will lose weight you are also losing a lot of muscle which if you reach your goal your body composition isn't going to be what you were hoping for. Taking it slower, eating a good amount of protein, etc helps lessen the amount of muscle you lose.
There are more risks but hopefully this gets the point across.
It's great you're eating more vegetables and such, but trying to label food bad, good, clean or not is not always the best method mentally. Food is food. Yes, some food is more calorie dense or more nutritionally dense but it's food.
If you're having a hard time meeting your calorie intake (which for a male should be at minimum 1500), then consider aiming for more calorie dense foods to help you reach your goals. Could be a serving or two of ice cream, peanut butter toast, a protein shake, some olive oil or pesto with pasta, etc. Basically, don't be so strict with yourself if the current "diet plan" you are on is going to end up with you malnourished or basically yo-yo dieting.9 -
This content has been removed.
-
dennisl31789 wrote: »I started eating lesser portions of foods. Not just that, I eat more natural foods like salads, greens, etc. Somehow, I cannot complete my diary where I record the foods I ate. It said that I need more than 1000 calories to consume and I assumed that they against eat less diet. So I stopped posting diary and go along with what I’m doing next to workouts. Now I lost 3lbs. In few weeks, however I don’t know if I ‘m doing right or wrong. What’s your thoughts?
If you've lost 3 lbs in "a few weeks" you are almost definitely eating more than you think. Under 1000 calories is not enough fuel for an under 5 foot elderly woman, you would be starving if you were really eating that little.
Check out the "Most Helpful Posts" thread stickied at the top of the forum. Especially this one:
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1234699/logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide/p1
Logging is a skill you have to learn, so take some time to get it right so you can have a better handle on your numbers. Good luck!5 -
timidunicorn wrote: »myfitnesspal has stopped projecting your weight loss if you eat under 1000 calories because it is dangerous for your body to do so and they did not want to encourage that behavior, if i remember correctly.
the safest way to lose weight is to eat at least 1,000 - 1,200 calories per day.
OP is a male...1200 calories per day for a male is VLCD and should only be done under medical supervision. 1500 for a male is the bare minimum if sedentary. Most males can lose pretty easily on 2000-2300 calories per day.1 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »timidunicorn wrote: »myfitnesspal has stopped projecting your weight loss if you eat under 1000 calories because it is dangerous for your body to do so and they did not want to encourage that behavior, if i remember correctly.
the safest way to lose weight is to eat at least 1,000 - 1,200 calories per day.
OP is a male...1200 calories per day for a male is VLCD and should only be done under medical supervision. 1500 for a male is the bare minimum if sedentary. Most males can lose pretty easily on 2000-2300 calories per day.
Oh to be male.12 -
dennisl31789 wrote: »I started eating lesser portions of foods. Not just that, I eat more natural foods like salads, greens, etc. Somehow, I cannot complete my diary where I record the foods I ate. It said that I need more than 1000 calories to consume and I assumed that they against eat less diet. So I stopped posting diary and go along with what I’m doing next to workouts. Now I lost 3lbs. In few weeks, however I don’t know if I ‘m doing right or wrong. What’s your thoughts?
Good work getting started, portion control and generally better food choices are both good places to start. However, you definitely need to eat more than 1000 cal/day. It's common for people to think "if eating X calories is good for weight loss, than surely eating less than X will be better/make me lose weight faster!", I know I tried to only eat 1200 when I first started too and it's just not sustainable.
If you've not already done so, go through the guided setup putting in your current stats to get your calories/macro goals. Treat these as targets as much as limits; get close to, but don't exceed your calorie goal. Pick your loss rate/deficit such that you target to lose 1% of your total body weight per week as this is typically recognized as a healthy/sustainable loss rate.
Or, from another thread about loss rates:
If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal
If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal
If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lb/week is ideal
If you have 15-25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lb/week is ideal
If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lb/week is ideal
Feel free to message me or add me if you want some help or have other questions and good luck!
1 -
InForBacon wrote: »cwolfman13 wrote: »timidunicorn wrote: »myfitnesspal has stopped projecting your weight loss if you eat under 1000 calories because it is dangerous for your body to do so and they did not want to encourage that behavior, if i remember correctly.
the safest way to lose weight is to eat at least 1,000 - 1,200 calories per day.
OP is a male...1200 calories per day for a male is VLCD and should only be done under medical supervision. 1500 for a male is the bare minimum if sedentary. Most males can lose pretty easily on 2000-2300 calories per day.
Oh to be male.
You'd think...but it's all relative...2 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »InForBacon wrote: »cwolfman13 wrote: »timidunicorn wrote: »myfitnesspal has stopped projecting your weight loss if you eat under 1000 calories because it is dangerous for your body to do so and they did not want to encourage that behavior, if i remember correctly.
the safest way to lose weight is to eat at least 1,000 - 1,200 calories per day.
OP is a male...1200 calories per day for a male is VLCD and should only be done under medical supervision. 1500 for a male is the bare minimum if sedentary. Most males can lose pretty easily on 2000-2300 calories per day.
Oh to be male.
You'd think...but it's all relative...
Strictly for purposes of being able to more easily define my arms and eat moar food.4 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »InForBacon wrote: »cwolfman13 wrote: »timidunicorn wrote: »myfitnesspal has stopped projecting your weight loss if you eat under 1000 calories because it is dangerous for your body to do so and they did not want to encourage that behavior, if i remember correctly.
the safest way to lose weight is to eat at least 1,000 - 1,200 calories per day.
OP is a male...1200 calories per day for a male is VLCD and should only be done under medical supervision. 1500 for a male is the bare minimum if sedentary. Most males can lose pretty easily on 2000-2300 calories per day.
Oh to be male.
You'd think...but it's all relative...
Seconded. If I end up divorced it will be due to my borderline obsessive use of the food scale.4 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »InForBacon wrote: »cwolfman13 wrote: »timidunicorn wrote: »myfitnesspal has stopped projecting your weight loss if you eat under 1000 calories because it is dangerous for your body to do so and they did not want to encourage that behavior, if i remember correctly.
the safest way to lose weight is to eat at least 1,000 - 1,200 calories per day.
OP is a male...1200 calories per day for a male is VLCD and should only be done under medical supervision. 1500 for a male is the bare minimum if sedentary. Most males can lose pretty easily on 2000-2300 calories per day.
Oh to be male.
You'd think...but it's all relative...
Seconded. If I end up divorced it will be due to my borderline obsessive use of the food scale.
Can you imagine the divorce proceedings?1 -
InForBacon wrote: »cwolfman13 wrote: »InForBacon wrote: »cwolfman13 wrote: »timidunicorn wrote: »myfitnesspal has stopped projecting your weight loss if you eat under 1000 calories because it is dangerous for your body to do so and they did not want to encourage that behavior, if i remember correctly.
the safest way to lose weight is to eat at least 1,000 - 1,200 calories per day.
OP is a male...1200 calories per day for a male is VLCD and should only be done under medical supervision. 1500 for a male is the bare minimum if sedentary. Most males can lose pretty easily on 2000-2300 calories per day.
Oh to be male.
You'd think...but it's all relative...
Seconded. If I end up divorced it will be due to my borderline obsessive use of the food scale.
Can you imagine the divorce proceedings?
You mean the face on the clerk typing in the reason for divorce? Or the wife trying to claim the food scale in the division of property just to mess with him?4 -
PikaJoyJoy wrote: »InForBacon wrote: »cwolfman13 wrote: »InForBacon wrote: »cwolfman13 wrote: »timidunicorn wrote: »myfitnesspal has stopped projecting your weight loss if you eat under 1000 calories because it is dangerous for your body to do so and they did not want to encourage that behavior, if i remember correctly.
the safest way to lose weight is to eat at least 1,000 - 1,200 calories per day.
OP is a male...1200 calories per day for a male is VLCD and should only be done under medical supervision. 1500 for a male is the bare minimum if sedentary. Most males can lose pretty easily on 2000-2300 calories per day.
Oh to be male.
You'd think...but it's all relative...
Seconded. If I end up divorced it will be due to my borderline obsessive use of the food scale.
Can you imagine the divorce proceedings?
You mean the face on the clerk typing in the reason for divorce? Or the wife trying to claim the food scale in the division of property just to mess with him?
Yes2 -
dennisl31789 wrote: »Wait, why?
Your body needs a minimum amount of calories for energy to function, and a minimum amount of nutrition for health. As a rough starting point (for safety and probably liability), MFP has set minimum calorie intakes for men and women - MFP won't recommend lower numbers regardless of how you setup your profile, nor will it allow you to complete your diary unless you hit that number.
1 -
PikaJoyJoy wrote: »InForBacon wrote: »cwolfman13 wrote: »InForBacon wrote: »cwolfman13 wrote: »timidunicorn wrote: »myfitnesspal has stopped projecting your weight loss if you eat under 1000 calories because it is dangerous for your body to do so and they did not want to encourage that behavior, if i remember correctly.
the safest way to lose weight is to eat at least 1,000 - 1,200 calories per day.
OP is a male...1200 calories per day for a male is VLCD and should only be done under medical supervision. 1500 for a male is the bare minimum if sedentary. Most males can lose pretty easily on 2000-2300 calories per day.
Oh to be male.
You'd think...but it's all relative...
Seconded. If I end up divorced it will be due to my borderline obsessive use of the food scale.
Can you imagine the divorce proceedings?
You mean the face on the clerk typing in the reason for divorce? Or the wife trying to claim the food scale in the division of property just to mess with him?
She gets the scale, OP gets the battery4 -
RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »PikaJoyJoy wrote: »InForBacon wrote: »cwolfman13 wrote: »InForBacon wrote: »cwolfman13 wrote: »timidunicorn wrote: »myfitnesspal has stopped projecting your weight loss if you eat under 1000 calories because it is dangerous for your body to do so and they did not want to encourage that behavior, if i remember correctly.
the safest way to lose weight is to eat at least 1,000 - 1,200 calories per day.
OP is a male...1200 calories per day for a male is VLCD and should only be done under medical supervision. 1500 for a male is the bare minimum if sedentary. Most males can lose pretty easily on 2000-2300 calories per day.
Oh to be male.
You'd think...but it's all relative...
Seconded. If I end up divorced it will be due to my borderline obsessive use of the food scale.
Can you imagine the divorce proceedings?
You mean the face on the clerk typing in the reason for divorce? Or the wife trying to claim the food scale in the division of property just to mess with him?
She gets the scale, OP gets the battery
6 -
dennisl31789 wrote: »Wait, why?
Because you're a full-grown man not even eating enough for an 8-year old child.4
This discussion has been closed.
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 391.4K Introduce Yourself
- 43.4K Getting Started
- 260.4K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.6K Food and Nutrition
- 47.5K Recipes
- 232.3K Fitness and Exercise
- 388 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.4K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 153.1K Motivation and Support
- 8.1K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.4K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.2K MyFitnessPal Information
- 22 News and Announcements
- 917 Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.3K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions