Not eating enough?
amiewilder
Posts: 9 Member
Do any of you get the red letters saying you didn't eat enough when you finish your food diary for the day? I have hypothyroidism so I can't eat as much as a "normal" person without gaining and I can't eat another bite for the day. But I hate those red lettered words screaming at me that I am not eating enough. Not everyone is the same. I like this site and am glad I can keep track of what I am eating, but I don't like that.
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Replies
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If you get this message, you are not eating the minimum healthy requirement. You can eat less than normal without going below the minimum requirement. The only time I got the message is when I register the diary at the middle of the day (<1000 calories).4
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amiewilder wrote: »Do any of you get the red letters saying you didn't eat enough when you finish your food diary for the day? I have hypothyroidism so I can't eat as much as a "normal" person without gaining and I can't eat another bite for the day. But I hate those red lettered words screaming at me that I am not eating enough. Not everyone is the same. I like this site and am glad I can keep track of what I am eating, but I don't like that.
What are your stats and how much are you eating?
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More importantly: how are you tracking your food intake? With a food scale, cups and spoons or guessing?
Sorry, but you can't blame your thyroid. It's been proven to slow down your metabolic rate by up to 4%. Say your BMI is 1600 calories per day before you became hyper. Then it might be down to 1536 now/ That's close to nothing. One reason for gaining weight is moving less (including fidgetting) because you don't feel well. Or eating more because being hypo can make you hungry. Or storing more water weight.14 -
amiewilder wrote: »Do any of you get the red letters saying you didn't eat enough when you finish your food diary for the day? I have hypothyroidism so I can't eat as much as a "normal" person without gaining and I can't eat another bite for the day. But I hate those red lettered words screaming at me that I am not eating enough. Not everyone is the same. I like this site and am glad I can keep track of what I am eating, but I don't like that.
Uncontrolled hypothyroid has marginal effects on BMR -- only 5-10 percent ish. Controlled, well-medicated hypo has no effects, and we can lose just the same as expected as other people with normal thyroid function.
And if you're *not* well controlled, you need to work with your doctor to get that improved -- because uncontrolled can *also* lead to water retention and other more serious issues like depression, constipation, suicidality, cognitive function disruptions, and hair loss. But you first need to rule out other errors with your logging in the absence of those symptoms.
Are you weighing and tracking everything that you eat? Logging errors are much more relevant than blaming your thyroid.8 -
If you feel like you have to starve yourself to lose any weight then you really need to consult with your doctor. MFP only “yells” at you if you are under 1000. You should be eating a minimum of 1200 to get all your basic nutrition.6
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TavistockToad wrote: »amiewilder wrote: »Do any of you get the red letters saying you didn't eat enough when you finish your food diary for the day? I have hypothyroidism so I can't eat as much as a "normal" person without gaining and I can't eat another bite for the day. But I hate those red lettered words screaming at me that I am not eating enough. Not everyone is the same. I like this site and am glad I can keep track of what I am eating, but I don't like that.
What are your stats and how much are you eating?
This^^3 -
I've been hypothyroid for decades. Controlled with meds. I don't find I have to under-eat. I would suggest talking to a good endocrinologist. It should only make a difference of less than 100 calories EVEN IF you weren't taking meds. 1200 is even too low for most people to be able to get sufficient nutrition. Under that and you really risk health problems.
How tall are you?
How much weight do you need to lose to get into a healthy BMI range?
How long have you been logging food, and are you using a food scale? If not, it's likely you're eating more than you think anyway.6 -
Those warnings are there for a reason. Yes, people are different, and all of us have days where we may eat very little, but for the vast majority of people, regularly under-eating is going to negatively affect their health. As has been said, you have to fall below 1000 to see that message, and no one should regularly be eating less than that unless their diet is being managed by their doctor.
As has been mentioned, a failure to lose weight at generally accepted calorie levels can usually be attributed to logging inaccuracies or other factors. Also, if a person is so short, sedentary, and/or relatively small to begin with so as to require such a low calorie allowance, any weight loss is going to be very slow and easily masked by water weight fluctuations when talking about anything less than several months time. If your thyroid is being treated, stick to 1200 meticulously logged calories (with the use of a food scale) for 3 months, and if you still don't see results, talk to your doctor. If you are finding you are "too full", try sneaking some smaller amounts of calorie dense foods (cooking oil, peanut butter, nuts, full-fat dairy, avocado) into your day.5 -
amiewilder wrote: »Do any of you get the red letters saying you didn't eat enough when you finish your food diary for the day? I have hypothyroidism so I can't eat as much as a "normal" person without gaining and I can't eat another bite for the day. But I hate those red lettered words screaming at me that I am not eating enough. Not everyone is the same. I like this site and am glad I can keep track of what I am eating, but I don't like that.
You're going to get that if your net calories are 1,000 or less. MFP doesn't support VLCDs and it's also there to thwart the myriad of people who use this site who have EDs and "get off" on seeing really low calorie numbers.7 -
amiewilder wrote: »Do any of you get the red letters saying you didn't eat enough when you finish your food diary for the day? I have hypothyroidism so I can't eat as much as a "normal" person without gaining and I can't eat another bite for the day. But I hate those red lettered words screaming at me that I am not eating enough. Not everyone is the same. I like this site and am glad I can keep track of what I am eating, but I don't like that.
If you have been consistently eating 1000 calories or less for the last 28 days and you haven't lost 8 pounds or so, you are eating more than you think.
There are logging errors that people commonly make that we might be able to spot if you change your Diary Sharing settings to Public: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings9 -
cmriverside wrote: »I've been hypothyroid for decades. Controlled with meds. I don't find I have to under-eat. I would suggest talking to a good endocrinologist. It should only make a difference of less than 100 calories EVEN IF you weren't taking meds. 1200 is even too low for most people to be able to get sufficient nutrition. Under that and you really risk health problems.
How tall are you?
How much weight do you need to lose to get into a healthy BMI range?
How long have you been logging food, and are you using a food scale? If not, it's likely you're eating more than you think anyway.
I took Synthroid for a couple years and it did nothing. My Dr kept upping the dosage and it still didn't help. So I stopped taking it and actually started to feel better.
I am 4'11" and need to lose 80lbs. I eat low carb/low calorie because it is the only thing that works with the weight loss. Now I do not get the message everyday, just a couple times. Most days I eat around 1200 calories and 20 grams of carbs.3 -
amiewilder wrote: »cmriverside wrote: »I've been hypothyroid for decades. Controlled with meds. I don't find I have to under-eat. I would suggest talking to a good endocrinologist. It should only make a difference of less than 100 calories EVEN IF you weren't taking meds. 1200 is even too low for most people to be able to get sufficient nutrition. Under that and you really risk health problems.
How tall are you?
How much weight do you need to lose to get into a healthy BMI range?
How long have you been logging food, and are you using a food scale? If not, it's likely you're eating more than you think anyway.
I took Synthroid for a couple years and it did nothing. My Dr kept upping the dosage and it still didn't help. So I stopped taking it and actually started to feel better.
I am 4'11" and need to lose 80lbs. I eat low carb/low calorie because it is the only thing that works with the weight loss. Now I do not get the message everyday, just a couple times. Most days I eat around 1200 calories and 20 grams of carbs.
Go back to your doctor or find a better endocrinologist. Stopping your meds is not the answer. Uncontrolled hypo brings on massive water weight, which could be the problem you're seeing.7 -
amiewilder wrote: »cmriverside wrote: »I've been hypothyroid for decades. Controlled with meds. I don't find I have to under-eat. I would suggest talking to a good endocrinologist. It should only make a difference of less than 100 calories EVEN IF you weren't taking meds. 1200 is even too low for most people to be able to get sufficient nutrition. Under that and you really risk health problems.
How tall are you?
How much weight do you need to lose to get into a healthy BMI range?
How long have you been logging food, and are you using a food scale? If not, it's likely you're eating more than you think anyway.
I took Synthroid for a couple years and it did nothing. My Dr kept upping the dosage and it still didn't help. So I stopped taking it and actually started to feel better.
I am 4'11" and need to lose 80lbs. I eat low carb/low calorie because it is the only thing that works with the weight loss. Now I do not get the message everyday, just a couple times. Most days I eat around 1200 calories and 20 grams of carbs.
What does 'did not help' mean? Did you ever see an endocrinologist that has a good knowledge on a variety of symptoms? Did you ever have additional investigations done? If your thyroid doesn't produce enough hormone then you need them from outside. If something else is going on then levothyroxine might actually be contraindicated until the other issue is under control. If your thyroid is so messed up that it can't convert T4 to T3 (ever had fT3 checked?) then you need other medication.7 -
Why can’t you eat that much with hypothyroidism? My doctor has never told me that?1
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amiewilder wrote: »
I am 4'11" and need to lose 80lbs. I eat low carb/low calorie because it is the only thing that works with the weight loss. Now I do not get the message everyday, just a couple times. Most days I eat around 1200 calories and 20 grams of carbs.
I get that message occasionally, when I know I've eaten enough and I don't have extra carbs to consume. I call it intermittent fasting (IF), since that's popular now, and I don't worry about it. If I ate less than 1000 calories every day, I would be concerned, but a couple of times a week isn't enough to stress over. The pounds are coming off, and I feel good.3 -
I think the attorneys for the site require that a warning is posted so that don't get in trouble.3
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FarmerCarla wrote: »amiewilder wrote: »
I am 4'11" and need to lose 80lbs. I eat low carb/low calorie because it is the only thing that works with the weight loss. Now I do not get the message everyday, just a couple times. Most days I eat around 1200 calories and 20 grams of carbs.
I get that message occasionally, when I know I've eaten enough and I don't have extra carbs to consume. I call it intermittent fasting (IF), since that's popular now, and I don't worry about it. If I ate less than 1000 calories every day, I would be concerned, but a couple of times a week isn't enough to stress over. The pounds are coming off, and I feel good.
IF involves either eating all of your assigned calories for the day during a small window of the day, or eating all of your assigned calories for the week, with some days having very few (often as little as 600) and some days eating maintenance level or above. Are you eating enough calories on the other days so that your weekly deficit stays the same? If not, you are just under-eating. Hunger signals are not a reliable sign that you are fueling your body properly. If "the pounds are coming off" at a greater rate than your current body mass can support, you will eventually feel the negative effects and by then, it will take a long time to reverse.
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10569458/why-eating-too-little-calories-is-a-bad-idea/p1
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Lolalikeslolagets wrote: »Why can’t you eat that much with hypothyroidism? My doctor has never told me that?
Untreated hypothyroidism can make it difficult to lose weight. For those whose hypothyroidism is properly treated, it shouldn't make a difference.1 -
I’ve gotten that message before and I scan everything. I ended up supplementing my foods with a super greens powder that I can add to water (I’m drinking water anyways but this powder adds lots of great nutrients and about 30 calories per serving) and often add an extra protein shake to my day (I usually have 1-2 shakes without the additional shake).
I’m eating 6 meals throughout the day. I usually go over my allotted vitamin/iron/protein recommendations. I never met even half of my cholesterol and sugar allotments. And I come about 5g to hitting my carbohydrate allotment and am close to hitting my fats everyday. I kept the recommended macro amounts offered by MyFitness Pal.
If you need more calories you can also use more condiments in your food. Great way to slide the calories in throughout the day.1
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