Eating way below your calories ?
mc62412
Posts: 195 Member
I just really haven’t been hungry today. I ate well under my allotted calories today.
Does this happen to anyone else ?
Does this happen to anyone else ?
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Replies
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I’ll have low appetite days. Usually I will use it as an opportunity to have a calorie dense treat to meet my calorie goal, but sometimes I’ll just be under calories, as there will usually be a day where I have a higher appetite and eat more than my daily goal. It evens out. It’s only if it becomes a habit that you will want to make modifications to ensure you’re getting enough calories.3
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If your below the calories it doesn't track you, should I be bothered by this?0
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When I compete my food diary for the day and I am below the calories of 1120 ( by say 20 calories) for that day, it will read that it can't track your food diary and it will not give a 5 week view on how much you could weigh. Is anyone bothered by this or do you just ignore it.??0
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I'm more bothered that you're possibly under eating.8
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Samtyldesley58 wrote: »When I compete my food diary for the day and I am below the calories of 1120 ( by say 20 calories) for that day, it will read that it can't track your food diary and it will not give a 5 week view on how much you could weigh. Is anyone bothered by this or do you just ignore it.??
I ignore it1 -
How do you track your food?
Can you open your diary to let other members look at it in order to provide more accurate insight?5 -
The calorie target MFP gives you is already a substantial deficit from your maintenance calories. Consistently eating under your calorie target makes that deficit bigger which is often unhealthy. Your body needs calories (energy) for basic functions...substantially undercutting your calorie deficit is a good recipe for hair loss, brittle nails, loss of menstrual cycle and a whole host of issues long term.14 -
Go_Deskercise wrote: »
How do you track your food?
Can you open your diary to let other members look at it in order to provide more accurate insight?
I will make my diary open and thanks0 -
Thank you for your replies and help 😊👍0
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Samtyldesley58 wrote: »Go_Deskercise wrote: »
How do you track your food?
Can you open your diary to let other members look at it in order to provide more accurate insight?
I will make my diary open and thanks
I was more talking to the OP since they started this discussion but we can look at your diary too...
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Go_Deskercise wrote: »Samtyldesley58 wrote: »Go_Deskercise wrote: »
How do you track your food?
Can you open your diary to let other members look at it in order to provide more accurate insight?
I will make my diary open and thanks
I was more talking to the OP since they started this discussion but we can look at your diary too...
Lol. I’m still learning how to use this app so I’ll take a look at how to unlock it0 -
Occasionally. I was 500 under my goal on Saturday. I just weirdly wasn’t that hungry even though I ran 6 miles. Whatever, just like a day when I go over - I’m not going to worry about occasionally being under. I’m not going to eat just to eat.1
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@mc62412 Although I don't do it often, I occasionally eat below my calories number. I regularly check, via the app, how my average for the week is looking. Some days will be a little higher, some will be a little lower - I aim for my weekly average to be pretty much on target. If I'm under, I'll eat some calorie dense snacks like a handful of nuts or a mini babybel. Under-cutting your calories, over a long period, is really really not good for your health.
@Samtyldesley58 How have you managed to get your goal set to 1100? The minimum recommended calories, per day, for a female is 1200 - and that really only applies to short, sedentary females. If you go through the MFP set-up, the minimum it'll set you is 1200, no matter what rate loss rate you select. 1000 is heading in to anorexic territory which is why MFP won't let you close your diary for the day if your total calories are at or below that figure. Consistently under-eating is likely to lead to brittle nails, hair loss and muscle loss. In case that isn't clear, your heart is a muscle.6 -
Shortgirlrunning wrote: »Occasionally. I was 500 under my goal on Saturday. I just weirdly wasn’t that hungry even though I ran 6 miles. Whatever, just like a day when I go over - I’m not going to worry about occasionally being under. I’m not going to eat just to eat.
That works for some people, not for others. Although, most of those people it doesn't work for are looking to gain weight. Make sure you're not averaging too low, and you'll be fine. The problem comes when people listen to their appetite when it's low, but "fight through it" when it's high.2 -
It caught up with me, and quite abruptly. Suddenly, weak and fatigued. Took weeks to recover, even though I corrected quickly.
(I wouldn't have done it, had I known. Happened because MFP under-estimated my calorie needs rather dramatically . . . which is rare, but it can happen.
Yes, the point is to have a deficit. The point isn't necessarily to have the biggest possible deficit.
An occasional day under goal probably isn't a big deal; regularly a tiny number under (like 20 or 50) probably also not a big deal, especially if also a little over on some other days.
Persistently under-eating, when already targeting a substantial deficit? Yup, that can catch up with you. But you could get lucky, and it won't.
It's your bet on the odds that matters, and you can choose how much to hedge the bet. On the one side, potential (but not guaranteed) health risk, and higher risk of reaching the point where more over-goal days seem to just start happening, kicking off the yo-yo cycle. On the other side, maybe some frustration at losing more slowly.8 -
Hi,
I don’t think I understand about Net calories. Currently I’m on a 2000 calorie daily diet, macro nutrient dense, exercise four days a week weight training and cardio as well. Currently weigh 128lbs, height 5’ 6” female 43 yrs old and my net calories is approx 1250. Is that good or bad for net calories ?0 -
Hi,
I don’t think I understand about Net calories. Currently I’m on a 2000 calorie daily diet, macro nutrient dense, exercise four days a week weight training and cardio as well. Currently weigh 128lbs, height 5’ 6” female 43 yrs old and my net calories is approx 1250. Is that good or bad for net calories ?
In MFP-think, weight management is all about net calories. In simplest form, to maintain weight, we need to eat as many calories as we burn from all sources: Heartbeat/breathing/etc., daily life and job, exercise. To lose weight, eat a little less; to gain, eat a little more.
One needs enough gross calories to get adequate nutrition, and 2000 (at your size) should cover that pretty nicely, I would think. Some of the women with a low gross calorie level aren't really making it easy - maybe not even possible -even to get adequate nutrition. Need food to get nutrition, right?
Sometimes people imagine that if they hit their macro percents, even at tiny calories, they're getting good nutrition. That can be very incorrect. We need absolute-number minimums of certain nutrients.
However, even beyond nutrition, fast weight loss is not necessarily a great plan, and the less fat we have to lose, the more risk-aware it can be to do it slowly. (Sure, if someone is at a healthy weight with a couple of pounds to lose, doing that somewhat quickly over less than a month is probably not a huge physical stressor, but losing the last 10-20 at 2 pounds a week is probably unnecessarily risky for most people, not to mention probably unpleasant. A bigger deficit is a bigger physical stress, longer length of time at a deficit is also a bigger stress, and stress is a thing to be managed, y'know? )
If you're trying to lose weight, at your current weight**, half a pound a week would be a good loss rate target, especially if your fitness level is a priority (as it sounds like). But what really matters is how fast you actually lose, averaged over 4-6 weeks (comparing same point in two different menstrual cycles, if that's relevant for you). Calculators and fitness trackers are only giving you estimates.
At your current weight, though, if you're not trying to lose weight - since you're already at a healthy weight, BMI 20.7, which is pretty light already - then you want to be eating with net calories at your maintenance level, whatever that is.
** FWIW, I'm 5'5", currently 129-130, age 64. I'm lately losing a few vanity pounds in year 4+ of maintenance, doing exactly what I recommend above, half a pound or less per week. For me, based on long experience logging - I know that requires around 1850 net calories daily, which becomes something in the lower 2000s gross calories when I exercise. If I wanted to maintain again, I need to average something in the low 2000s net, i.e., so more like mid-2000s gross calories, depending on the day. Those won't be your numbers, because you're not me (I'd lose crazy-fast for my current weight at 1250 net, personally - you may or many not).
But that's the concept: Enough gross calories to get adequate nutrition, but also the right net calories for one's weight-managment goal. Sometimes, when we're offering advice to someone whose gross and net are both quite low, those issues become entwined.
Does that make sense?4 -
@Strudders67 I go on to the calorie button on home screen diary which brings up a different screen choose the macros tab and then change the calories down, it will alter your fat protein and carb as well, which you can alter by % or chose the next tab for grams. I have read somewhere that if you under eat on your calories your body is put into starvation mode and will not use of your fat but instead save it. I will try to find it again and send the link0
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This is the passage I was emailed from lifesum "4 things to avoid when losing weight"
Don't eat less than you need to get a stable weight loss curve. Risks are you'll just trigger your hunger so badly that once you treat yourself to something, you'll overeat like there is no tomorrow. Grehlin, also known as "the hunger hormone" will constantly work against weight loss to make sure the body doesn't starve, so by taking care of your hunger hormone, you're also paving your way to successful weight loss.0 -
I’ll keep an eye on it and try eating closer to the allotted calories. I’m not SUPER far from it. Maybe between 3 and 500 sometimes0
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Samtyldesley58 wrote: »@Strudders67 I go on to the calorie button on home screen diary which brings up a different screen choose the macros tab and then change the calories down, it will alter your fat protein and carb as well, which you can alter by % or chose the next tab for grams. I have read somewhere that if you under eat on your calories your body is put into starvation mode and will not use of your fat but instead save it. I will try to find it again and send the link
Starvation mode is a myth.Samtyldesley58 wrote: »This is the passage I was emailed from lifesum "4 things to avoid when losing weight"
Don't eat less than you need to get a stable weight loss curve. Risks are you'll just trigger your hunger so badly that once you treat yourself to something, you'll overeat like there is no tomorrow. Grehlin, also known as "the hunger hormone" will constantly work against weight loss to make sure the body doesn't starve, so by taking care of your hunger hormone, you're also paving your way to successful weight loss.
This is all good and the way to go!3 -
Shortgirlrunning wrote: »Occasionally. I was 500 under my goal on Saturday. I just weirdly wasn’t that hungry even though I ran 6 miles. Whatever, just like a day when I go over - I’m not going to worry about occasionally being under. I’m not going to eat just to eat.
Speaking as a endurance runner, some of us do have to sometimes "eat to just eat," especially if we find that long runs suppress our appetite. If I run more than 15+ miles, it's not at all unusual for me to not want any food for hours and hours, but I know that I need to eat something.
(I understand that this doesn't necessarily apply to OP, but wanted to advocate that it's okay -- even beneficial -- in some circumstances to "eat to just eat.")7 -
If you had to hunt for food which would give you the better chance of survival?
1) Immediately responding to low calorie days with feeling poorly?
2) Responding to low calorie days feeling energized and ready to hunt?
Your body is designed to shield you from temporary food shortages but it can only do so for a short amount of time. The length of time depends on activity and how long you have been losing.
When I first started losing I had a very high tolerance for low calorie days. Today my tolerance is minimal.
It is a lie that it is having no impact and if you continued to eat too little you would eventually run off a cliff. Like @AnnPT77 I have experienced this and it is NO fun.8 -
Mine also says it can't be tracked because I'm not at my 1200 calories for that day. If I'm at 1090 it won't track for the 5 weeks but at 1100 it will. This is my 3 meals today and still under 1100. This is a typical day for me. that is One pan french onion chicken for dinner.
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squeakylynn wrote: »Mine also says it can't be tracked because I'm not at my 1200 calories for that day. If I'm at 1090 it won't track for the 5 weeks but at 1100 it will. This is my 3 meals today and still under 1100. This is a typical day for me. that is One pan french onion chicken for dinner.
Since having lost 20 pounds my calories were adjusted. I started at 1880 allotted now it’s 1460 it’s easier to eat closer to the 1460 then it was the 1880 on some days. Yesterday though I only came in for the day at under 800 for the day. And I wasn’t hungry. I ate fruits and my dinner. And a good breakfast 🤷🏻♀️
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just_Tomek wrote: »squeakylynn wrote: »Mine also says it can't be tracked because I'm not at my 1200 calories for that day. If I'm at 1090 it won't track for the 5 weeks but at 1100 it will. This is my 3 meals today and still under 1100. This is a typical day for me. that is One pan french onion chicken for dinner.
Since having lost 20 pounds my calories were adjusted. I started at 1880 allotted now it’s 1460 it’s easier to eat closer to the 1460 then it was the 1880 on some days. Yesterday though I only came in for the day at under 800 for the day. And I wasn’t hungry. I ate fruits and my dinner. And a good breakfast 🤷🏻♀️
I was there once..... its a very very slippery slope. Trust me.
QFT, and endorsement.
Some few women do truly need to eat as little as 1200 calories in order to lose weight, even at a safe loss rate. Those women are much more rare than the number who think they need to do that, or are trying to do that.
A rare day under 1200 isn't normally life-threatening, but it shouldn't be a pattern for any typical woman.
https://www.aworkoutroutine.com/1200-calorie-diet/3 -
just_Tomek wrote: »squeakylynn wrote: »Mine also says it can't be tracked because I'm not at my 1200 calories for that day. If I'm at 1090 it won't track for the 5 weeks but at 1100 it will. This is my 3 meals today and still under 1100. This is a typical day for me. that is One pan french onion chicken for dinner.
This is really ALL that you eat in a day?!?!?!
If so here is how to easy add calories to your meals, without even being able to notice them added all while making food taste even better.
#1. Drizzle that fruit with honey. (100cal)
#2. Drizzle with good quality flavour packed oil. (100cal)
#3. Smear good amount of mayo (200cal)
Why are you eating so little??
Yup.
Also, while admitting that I'm terrible at eyeball-estimating meat (I'm vegetarian) so I could be wrong, I have difficulty believing that the food in those photos represents adequate protein for an adult woman. Nice veggie/fruit intake, compared to the average person, though. (Tomek, I know it's well below your usual ). 3
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