Eating Inconsistent Calorie Amounts: Good, Bad, or Neutral?
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bjkoziara
Posts: 158 Member
Hi everyone. For some background because I know that can be helpful: I'm 26. Currently 343 lbs, started 2 weeks ago at 350. Work an office job. Started using MFP to help improve my relationship with food by planning my meals for the day so I know what I'm going to have and when. So far it's been very successful in keeping me from snacking/binging because I know I'm going to have X food in X amount of time.
I'm not necessarily trying to be overly focused on calories or weight loss - I am trying to have a better relationship with food and with myself by practicing more mindfulness when I eat.
That being said - MFP recommends 2100 calories per day in order for me to lose weight. However, now that I'm being more conscious of my choices and eating more well-rounded (and also not binging all my calories in one go on anything) I find that 2100 calories is hard to hit. I've been ranging from 1300 to 2000 (and when it's higher it's usually because I've had wine 🤷♀️). I think on average it's maybe 1500 calories.
Are there any ill effects that I am not aware of on eating inconsisten calories amounts or could I be eating too few calories? I feel quite satisfied by the end of the day, but I'd hate to be doing more harm than good and not realize. Any advice appreciated.
I'm not necessarily trying to be overly focused on calories or weight loss - I am trying to have a better relationship with food and with myself by practicing more mindfulness when I eat.
That being said - MFP recommends 2100 calories per day in order for me to lose weight. However, now that I'm being more conscious of my choices and eating more well-rounded (and also not binging all my calories in one go on anything) I find that 2100 calories is hard to hit. I've been ranging from 1300 to 2000 (and when it's higher it's usually because I've had wine 🤷♀️). I think on average it's maybe 1500 calories.
Are there any ill effects that I am not aware of on eating inconsisten calories amounts or could I be eating too few calories? I feel quite satisfied by the end of the day, but I'd hate to be doing more harm than good and not realize. Any advice appreciated.
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Replies
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What rate of loss did you select for your how much you want to lose each week? Was it the maximum 2 pounds?
It doesn't seem like you are inconsistent as much as you are consistently under your goal. Normally, we generally warn against losing weight too fast as there can be negative health effects to too rapid weight loss for most people, however a lot of body's ability to handle aggressive deficits has to do with how much a person has to lose. The more you have to lose, the more comfortable your body feels with burning fat to meet your energy needs. So I think in your case, as you are still at the beginning stages of your journey with a lot to lose, you are probably fine eating less than your recommended goal.4 -
Yep, you should probably eat more. Your larger body requires more fuel to sustain itself. Undereating may not have obvious effects at first since you have stores to draw from, but over time you are likely to have side effects such as hair loss and lose muscle along with fat. Slow and steady wins the race. Also, undereating sets you up to lose it and binge later.3
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Oh - one caveat - many times when people have trouble hitting their calories it’s because they are logging incorrectly. Weigh your portions at least until you learn exactly what an official portion looks like.5
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What rate of loss did you select for your how much you want to lose each week? Was it the maximum 2 pounds?
It doesn't seem like you are inconsistent as much as you are consistently under your goal. Normally, we generally warn against losing weight too fast as there can be negative health effects to too rapid weight loss for most people, however a lot of body's ability to handle aggressive deficits has to do with how much a person has to lose. The more you have to lose, the more comfortable your body feels with burning fat to meet your energy needs. So I think in your case, as you are still at the beginning stages of your journey with a lot to lose, you are probably fine eating less than your recommended goal.
I selected 1.5 pounds. Thank you for the advice. I don't want to build habits now that aren't sustainable or unhealthy, ya know? If I did need to eat more calories I could probably start adding a few more calorie dense foods to my day I suppose.
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rheddmobile wrote: »Yep, you should probably eat more. Your larger body requires more fuel to sustain itself. Undereating may not have obvious effects at first since you have stores to draw from, but over time you are likely to have side effects such as hair loss and lose muscle along with fat. Slow and steady wins the race. Also, undereating sets you up to lose it and binge later.
Thank you. Someone above explained that the issue wasn't with inconsistency so much as too few calories. I will reach for more calorie dense things throughout my day.
To your comment about weighing food - I do actually do that. This is not my first go with losing weight so I'm fortunate enough to have picked up some good advice along the way. The reasons I stopped before were due to unhealthy obsessions and a disordered relationship with food. Luckily I have worked/am working on that and I feel much better about it now so far.5 -
What rate of loss did you select for your how much you want to lose each week? Was it the maximum 2 pounds?
It doesn't seem like you are inconsistent as much as you are consistently under your goal. Normally, we generally warn against losing weight too fast as there can be negative health effects to too rapid weight loss for most people, however a lot of body's ability to handle aggressive deficits has to do with how much a person has to lose. The more you have to lose, the more comfortable your body feels with burning fat to meet your energy needs. So I think in your case, as you are still at the beginning stages of your journey with a lot to lose, you are probably fine eating less than your recommended goal.
I selected 1.5 pounds. Thank you for the advice. I don't want to build habits now that aren't sustainable or unhealthy, ya know? If I did need to eat more calories I could probably start adding a few more calorie dense foods to my day I suppose.
If you selected 1.5 pounds then you are even safer at your lower level, because your 2 pound a week goal would be 1850, which is close to where you are.
I think you are good to want to build sustainable habits. As long as you are feeling satiated on your current diet, I think you are doing so.8 -
Sounds like you have a good attitude going in! Best of luck to you.
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If you selected 1.5 pounds then you are even safer at your lower level, because your 2 pound a week goal would be 1850, which is close to where you are.
I think you are good to want to build sustainable habits. As long as you are feeling satiated on your current diet, I think you are doing so.
Oh, good to know! Thank you. I will still try to get a bit more in on my lower days though
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rheddmobile wrote: »Sounds like you have a good attitude going in! Best of luck to you.
Thanks you! I'm really trying.3 -
You are not going to mess up your metabolism or lose your hair averaging 1500 calories per day... really. That's a lot of food. That's actually my recommended calorie budget at my healthy ideal weight.
I think it's fine to be inconsistent with calories from day to day and very normal. A range is normal.
The food databases and calories allotted by the tracker are just guesstimates anyway. The tracker doesn't really know exactly how much energy you've expended today, but your body does. Likewise, the entries for food are just estimated averages even if you weigh everything accurately. That particular apple may not have precisely the amount of calories as the database claims. These are all just rough guidelines. Obviously they are guidelines that are working for you, though. Weighing is definitely a convenient way to track (I do it myself), but if you're losing the way you want - if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
It sounds as though so far, you can safely let your appetite be your guide. Eat high quality food so you get the proper nutrients. If you feel hungry, eat more but make it count nutritionally. If you feel satisfied, don't try to make yourself eat more. That kind of thinking ("clean your plate because children are starving in X") got a lot of us in trouble. Things should settle out on their own for you. As your weight comes down, you are going to need less food anyway. You just won't need as much adjustment as others might.12 -
The general rule of thumb is no more than 2 pounds per week. That rule doesn't apply to you as much because you can safely afford to lose a little faster if you want. When I was at your weight I was losing 2.5-2.75 pounds per week.
Like you I am also an inconsistent eater. I manage myself with a 7 day average because I routinely have low days and high days. I tried an experiment for a week of forcing myself to eat the same calories each day and I absolutely hated it. It wasn't natural for me. Occasionally I do have to choose some higher calorie food on an odd day to bring my average up but that is never a hardship
. 3 -
The general rule of thumb is no more than 2 pounds per week. That rule doesn't apply to you as much because you can safely afford to lose a little faster if you want. When I was at your weight I was losing 2.5-2.75 pounds per week.
Like you I am also an inconsistent eater. I manage myself with a 7 day average because I routinely have low days and high days. I tried an experiment for a week of forcing myself to eat the same calories each day and I absolutely hated it. It wasn't natural for me. Occasionally I do have to choose some higher calorie food on an odd day to bring my average up but that is never a hardship .
Thank you! Also as someone pointed out above as I lose weight my calorie goal will lower anyway. I am really trying not to concern myself that much with calories so much as content and how it makes me feel. Like today I realized that the reason I'm feeling so icky in the morning is because of the oatmeal. I love oatmeal, but it doesn't make me feel good, so I am going to switch to something less carb heavy and try to start the day off with more protein and healthy fats.
I've always been taught that a high fat diet is bad, but I've started to notice I have fewer stomach problems and more energy when I eat higher fats and fewer carbs. 2 -
You are doing it exactly right. Don’t change a thing. Eat over 1200 and under 2100. And don’t eat things that make you feel icky.
Once you get the calories dialed in, then move on to macros. Great job, and I’m proud of you for wanting to take it slow.3 -
You are doing it exactly right. Don’t change a thing. Eat over 1200 and under 2100. And don’t eat things that make you feel icky.
Once you get the calories dialed in, then move on to macros. Great job, and I’m proud of you for wanting to take it slow.
Thank you! That's very kind of you to say 0 -
The general rule of thumb is no more than 2 pounds per week. That rule doesn't apply to you as much because you can safely afford to lose a little faster if you want. When I was at your weight I was losing 2.5-2.75 pounds per week.
Like you I am also an inconsistent eater. I manage myself with a 7 day average because I routinely have low days and high days. I tried an experiment for a week of forcing myself to eat the same calories each day and I absolutely hated it. It wasn't natural for me. Occasionally I do have to choose some higher calorie food on an odd day to bring my average up but that is never a hardship .
Thank you! Also as someone pointed out above as I lose weight my calorie goal will lower anyway. I am really trying not to concern myself that much with calories so much as content and how it makes me feel. Like today I realized that the reason I'm feeling so icky in the morning is because of the oatmeal. I love oatmeal, but it doesn't make me feel good, so I am going to switch to something less carb heavy and try to start the day off with more protein and healthy fats.
I've always been taught that a high fat diet is bad, but I've started to notice I have fewer stomach problems and more energy when I eat higher fats and fewer carbs.
We need a certain amount of fat for our bodies to function well, and some of the past low fat advocates didn't really recognize that. It can be useful to think about getting relatively more monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, and not overdoing saturated fats (basically, getting a good bit of fats from nuts, seeds, avocados, olive oil, and that sort of thing), and to get some Omega-3 fats to balance Omega-6 fats, but those are things we can work on gradually. For many of us, the highest health payoff is simply from weight loss. Nutrition is important, but humans are surprisingly adaptive omnivores, so we can mostly take a little time to figure out nutritional improvements, as long as we keep remodeling things in a positive direction.1 -
The general rule of thumb is no more than 2 pounds per week. That rule doesn't apply to you as much because you can safely afford to lose a little faster if you want. When I was at your weight I was losing 2.5-2.75 pounds per week.
Like you I am also an inconsistent eater. I manage myself with a 7 day average because I routinely have low days and high days. I tried an experiment for a week of forcing myself to eat the same calories each day and I absolutely hated it. It wasn't natural for me. Occasionally I do have to choose some higher calorie food on an odd day to bring my average up but that is never a hardship .
Thank you! Also as someone pointed out above as I lose weight my calorie goal will lower anyway. I am really trying not to concern myself that much with calories so much as content and how it makes me feel. Like today I realized that the reason I'm feeling so icky in the morning is because of the oatmeal. I love oatmeal, but it doesn't make me feel good, so I am going to switch to something less carb heavy and try to start the day off with more protein and healthy fats.
I've always been taught that a high fat diet is bad, but I've started to notice I have fewer stomach problems and more energy when I eat higher fats and fewer carbs.
Really though, you do want to be somewhat knowledgeable with calorie amount - and how to handle that in a non-stressed way. Not concerned perhaps - but noteable.
Because down the road it will matter much more in order to reach goal.
With 750 deficit - MFP is estimating your daily burn at about 2900 then. And if you selected Sedentary, may not even be sedentary so burning more.
So remember to be willing to go up higher if willing to go down lower.
Don't want to get into the habit of perhaps constantly eating on average at 50% of what your body is burning - if you were to be hitting say 1400 constantly on average.
And of course with MFP method, you burn more in exercise you eat that back to keep the same deficit - so literally could be eating more than that.4 -
The general rule of thumb is no more than 2 pounds per week. That rule doesn't apply to you as much because you can safely afford to lose a little faster if you want. When I was at your weight I was losing 2.5-2.75 pounds per week.
Like you I am also an inconsistent eater. I manage myself with a 7 day average because I routinely have low days and high days. I tried an experiment for a week of forcing myself to eat the same calories each day and I absolutely hated it. It wasn't natural for me. Occasionally I do have to choose some higher calorie food on an odd day to bring my average up but that is never a hardship .
Thank you! Also as someone pointed out above as I lose weight my calorie goal will lower anyway. I am really trying not to concern myself that much with calories so much as content and how it makes me feel. Like today I realized that the reason I'm feeling so icky in the morning is because of the oatmeal. I love oatmeal, but it doesn't make me feel good, so I am going to switch to something less carb heavy and try to start the day off with more protein and healthy fats.
I've always been taught that a high fat diet is bad, but I've started to notice I have fewer stomach problems and more energy when I eat higher fats and fewer carbs.
I don't eat breakfast because if I don't watch my macros like a hawk I will go through reactive hypoglycemia which is no fun. I eat a fairly high protein diet with moderate fat and carbs.
It is very smart to put how you feel as your first priority. Figuring yourself out is key to being happy. Too many people put weight loss first and they end up miserable and failing... I know.... I used to do that all the time.
Your calorie goal will definitely shrink. It happens fairly gradually so even though mine has decreased a significant amount I haven't really noticed it that much.0 -
The general rule of thumb is no more than 2 pounds per week. That rule doesn't apply to you as much because you can safely afford to lose a little faster if you want. When I was at your weight I was losing 2.5-2.75 pounds per week.
Like you I am also an inconsistent eater. I manage myself with a 7 day average because I routinely have low days and high days. I tried an experiment for a week of forcing myself to eat the same calories each day and I absolutely hated it. It wasn't natural for me. Occasionally I do have to choose some higher calorie food on an odd day to bring my average up but that is never a hardship .
Thank you! Also as someone pointed out above as I lose weight my calorie goal will lower anyway. I am really trying not to concern myself that much with calories so much as content and how it makes me feel. Like today I realized that the reason I'm feeling so icky in the morning is because of the oatmeal. I love oatmeal, but it doesn't make me feel good, so I am going to switch to something less carb heavy and try to start the day off with more protein and healthy fats.
I've always been taught that a high fat diet is bad, but I've started to notice I have fewer stomach problems and more energy when I eat higher fats and fewer carbs.
We need a certain amount of fat for our bodies to function well, and some of the past low fat advocates didn't really recognize that. It can be useful to think about getting relatively more monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, and not overdoing saturated fats (basically, getting a good bit of fats from nuts, seeds, avocados, olive oil, and that sort of thing), and to get some Omega-3 fats to balance Omega-6 fats, but those are things we can work on gradually. For many of us, the highest health payoff is simply from weight loss. Nutrition is important, but humans are surprisingly adaptive omnivores, so we can mostly take a little time to figure out nutritional improvements, as long as we keep remodeling things in a positive direction.
Very good point! I've found it's surprisingly easy to get lots of poly/mono and haven't had really any saturated in the last week - not really intentionally. Weight loss is definitely needed for me, but I have a very unhealthy relationship with food. Therapy in combination with listening to my body have been very helpful so far in working towards getting healthier physically and mentally 3 -
The general rule of thumb is no more than 2 pounds per week. That rule doesn't apply to you as much because you can safely afford to lose a little faster if you want. When I was at your weight I was losing 2.5-2.75 pounds per week.
Like you I am also an inconsistent eater. I manage myself with a 7 day average because I routinely have low days and high days. I tried an experiment for a week of forcing myself to eat the same calories each day and I absolutely hated it. It wasn't natural for me. Occasionally I do have to choose some higher calorie food on an odd day to bring my average up but that is never a hardship .
Thank you! Also as someone pointed out above as I lose weight my calorie goal will lower anyway. I am really trying not to concern myself that much with calories so much as content and how it makes me feel. Like today I realized that the reason I'm feeling so icky in the morning is because of the oatmeal. I love oatmeal, but it doesn't make me feel good, so I am going to switch to something less carb heavy and try to start the day off with more protein and healthy fats.
I've always been taught that a high fat diet is bad, but I've started to notice I have fewer stomach problems and more energy when I eat higher fats and fewer carbs.
I don't eat breakfast because if I don't watch my macros like a hawk I will go through reactive hypoglycemia which is no fun. I eat a fairly high protein diet with moderate fat and carbs.
It is very smart to put how you feel as your first priority. Figuring yourself out is key to being happy. Too many people put weight loss first and they end up miserable and failing... I know.... I used to do that all the time.
Your calorie goal will definitely shrink. It happens fairly gradually so even though mine has decreased a significant amount I haven't really noticed it that much.
!!! I have never met someone else that struggles with reactive hypoglycemia! If I have carbs/sugar in the morning I have to balance it with lots of fats/fiber/protein, etc. I wish I could be one of those people who has a lovely fruit smoothie for breakfast but that will never happen if I wish to remain upright and conscious lol Do you still struggle with it? I do from time to time still. It's a fairly recent diagnosis.1 -
The general rule of thumb is no more than 2 pounds per week. That rule doesn't apply to you as much because you can safely afford to lose a little faster if you want. When I was at your weight I was losing 2.5-2.75 pounds per week.
Like you I am also an inconsistent eater. I manage myself with a 7 day average because I routinely have low days and high days. I tried an experiment for a week of forcing myself to eat the same calories each day and I absolutely hated it. It wasn't natural for me. Occasionally I do have to choose some higher calorie food on an odd day to bring my average up but that is never a hardship .
Thank you! Also as someone pointed out above as I lose weight my calorie goal will lower anyway. I am really trying not to concern myself that much with calories so much as content and how it makes me feel. Like today I realized that the reason I'm feeling so icky in the morning is because of the oatmeal. I love oatmeal, but it doesn't make me feel good, so I am going to switch to something less carb heavy and try to start the day off with more protein and healthy fats.
I've always been taught that a high fat diet is bad, but I've started to notice I have fewer stomach problems and more energy when I eat higher fats and fewer carbs.
I don't eat breakfast because if I don't watch my macros like a hawk I will go through reactive hypoglycemia which is no fun. I eat a fairly high protein diet with moderate fat and carbs.
It is very smart to put how you feel as your first priority. Figuring yourself out is key to being happy. Too many people put weight loss first and they end up miserable and failing... I know.... I used to do that all the time.
Your calorie goal will definitely shrink. It happens fairly gradually so even though mine has decreased a significant amount I haven't really noticed it that much.
!!! I have never met someone else that struggles with reactive hypoglycemia! If I have carbs/sugar in the morning I have to balance it with lots of fats/fiber/protein, etc. I wish I could be one of those people who has a lovely fruit smoothie for breakfast but that will never happen if I wish to remain upright and conscious lol Do you still struggle with it? I do from time to time still. It's a fairly recent diagnosis.
I was diagnosed about 10 years ago and I screwed up and had a bagel about 18 months ago and my BS plunged so it was still a problem then. I have no idea if losing weight has helped because it makes me feel so badly I don't like risking it.
I have found that I don't struggle as much for lunch and later. Through experimentation I have found that I do quite well losing weight, maintaining an even BS, and staying satisfied with eating 1 gram of protein for every 2 grams of carbs. In the morning time it would probably need to be 2 protein for 1 carb but I am not going to try and figure that out right now because I have been skipping breakfast for more than 20 years and I am usually comfortable doing it.
Most days my net carbs are 85ish eating this way. I also try to keep my fiber high. For added consistency I do take supplemented fiber (Benefiber and Metamucil) but I lay off on days where I see my fiber will be high just through food.1
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