Is eating 1300 calories safe?

timmyemofurry

Today I ate 1300 calories. I am 5'3 and around 190 lbs and I feel full, but I just want to make sure my calorie intake today is safe and won't hurt me.

spiriteagle99

Are you male or female? Men should generally eat a minimum of 1500 calories and women a minimum of 1200. On the other hand, either way, one day under your calorie goal is not going to do any harm. You may just end up extra hungry tomorrow, which can make it harder to stay focused on weight loss.

timmyemofurry

I'm female, but thank you!

natasor1

I ve seen the picture of hadsa tribe in Africa, splitting 1 grilled sparow bird for 6 people, men. And it was not dangerous. They eat this style all the time and looked very healthy

lisachmitchell

I try to eat less than 1200. Or I start to gain weight. 5’1” and 52 years old...

AnnPT77

One day at a lower than usual calorie intake is no big deal. (Correspondingly, one occasional day at higher than calorie goal is also no big deal: It'll balance out.)

Health risk enters the picture if one eats way under a sensible calorie level on a persistent basis, and loses weight too fast. Fast weight loss is a physical stressor, and potentially creates those increased health risks.

What calorie level is risky depends on all the same variables that go into figuring out a calorie goal, plus a few: It starts with age, weight, height, activity level, and so forth; but what is "too fast" can also depend on starting health status, how much weight one has left to lose, how many other sources of stress are in one's life (physical *and* psychological) and more.

Appetite may not be a reliable guide to whether one is under-eating. Particularly among people who shift from a low-satiation way of eating to a more satiating one (like more protein, more veggies/grains so more fiber, etc.), it's possible to feel full at a calorie level well below actual needs (for a while, anyway). Further, many of us who've been overweight end up having somewhat messed-up hunger/appetite signaling (again, for a while, anyway).

So, fast loss is an early sign of persistent undereating; later warning signs can include otherwise-unexplained weakness or fatigue; after a longer period, things like hair loss, brittle nails, etc., can enter the picture.

IMO, the goal isn't to eat as little as we can stand to eat, in order to lose weight as fast as possible. The goal is to find an (average) calorie level where weight loss happens in a sustainable way, balanced with good nutrition, good energy level, positive mood, etc.

globalc00

To answer your question of if 1300 calories is safe, I would need to know what makes up your 1300 calories and what safe means to you. If safe = healthy, then 1300 calories of sugar would not be safe. If your 1300 calories consist of all the recomended macronutrients/micronutrietns/vitamins recommendation per day for you, then yes it is safe.

B_Plus_Effort

so we know you are female and overweight, not being rude just eyeballing so yes you can eat less than 1,300 calories (assuming healthy otherwise) I'm 6' and was 202 and would eat less than 1,200 and My Fitness Pal would complain I am not eating enough yet I was full, rested, and energetic

Also keep in mind you are cutting calories during your weight loss period and not forever, I know the latest buzz word is not a diet but a "life style" blah blah blah but face it let's be realistic, you will loose the weight and then you will maintain

if you don't know anything about Macros (pronounced: protein, fat, and carbs) ha ha then learn a bit about them because all calories were not created equal, two twin 5' 3" girls (see what I did there) can eat 1,300 calories and one will be slim the other one fat provided their Macros are off

[this is just an EXAMPLE please don't crucify me for it]

Girl 1 Eats / Day = 200 calories from protein, 200 calories from carbs, 800 calories from fat

Girl 2 Eats / Day = 400 calories from protein, 400 calories from carbs, 400 calories from fat

I recently learned a few rules of thumb worth sharing, try to keep your Carbs under 150 grams (not calories) per day (we as Americans (United Statesians) can consume 3 times that in a day, not good)

Pay attention to your protein intake and keep it high, word on the street is protein is harder to digest than carbs/fats so it makes the body work for it, resulting in feeling full longer plus other benefits

hope this help, I know it's a lot to gnaw on

kimny72

timmyemofurry wrote: »

Today I ate 1300 calories. I am 5'3 and around 190 lbs and I feel full, but I just want to make sure my calorie intake today is safe and won't hurt me.

One day eating under your goal is no big deal. Undereating consistently is not safe. What constitutes unsafe would depend on how much of a deficit you are in and how fast you are losing weight.

PaintedPlay

If you feel good, satisfied , and it doesn’t cause a dramatic drop in energy you should be fine. Just watch your energy levels and pay attention to your health.

One of the difficult things with a low cal diet is consuming enough essential vitamins and minerals. First thing to suffer if these levels are low is energy the second is the ability to quick overcome small colds.

If you begin to have these problems just check with your GP and let them know your Concerns

Courtscan2

natasor1 wrote: »

I ve seen the picture of hadsa tribe in Africa, splitting 1 grilled sparow bird for 6 people, men. And it was not dangerous. They eat this style all the time and looked very healthy

I'm so confused by this response. Is it meant to be a joke? If so, I don't get it? If not a joke, then.....what? What does this have to do with anything? I have so many questions.

glassyo

lemongirlbc wrote: »

natasor1 wrote: »

I ve seen the picture of hadsa tribe in Africa, splitting 1 grilled sparow bird for 6 people, men. And it was not dangerous. They eat this style all the time and looked very healthy

I'm so confused by this response. Is it meant to be a joke? If so, I don't get it? If not a joke, then.....what? What does this have to do with anything? I have so many questions.

What they're saying is they didn't give a damn that it was unhealthy for the bird! 😀

Dogmom1978

OP, don’t listen to the absurd advice about lowering carbs or eating as little as humanly possible. You have some good advice on this thread and then some nonsense that should be tossed in the trash where it belongs. 😜

lgfrie

Start at the beginning. Your TDEE at that weight and height is around 1850 calories (depends on your age and activity level). Go to tdeecalculator.net and enter some more info to get a more precise #.

The 1300 you're eating is above the 1200 minimum that's kind of taken hold as conventional wisdom for diet safety, and will yield you around a pound per week of weight loss, based on your TDEE. So, nothing inherently "unsafe" about the 1300 and the rate of weight loss should be reasonable.

But there's also the issue of sustainability. 1300 is not a lot of food. For many people it can be very hard to keep up a diet over time at that calorie level. So, what's safe and works great for you for a week or two or three may contain the seeds of diet destruction later on, when you get tired of depriving yourself.

If you're just starting this project, I'd recommend trying 1500 for a couple weeks, see where it gets you and how you feel, and then fine tune from there.

It is very common to feel full on very little food at the beginning of a diet. So many people have come through here with the same exact observation and feeling - they start a diet, find it incredibly and surprisingly easy to eat their 1200 or 1500 or 1700 calories, and feel so full they can hardly eat more, etc.

That does not last forever.

In my case, I had NO, as in ZERO, appetite the first 6 or 7 weeks of my diet, which started in May 2019. I felt like I could just eat zero calories LOL The 1600 I was eating seemed like twice as much food as I needed. And then one day around two months later I was ravenously, dementedly hungry, all at once. It was like my initial high motivation to lose weight had been masking an underlying craving, and as soon as the initial motivation slipped a little, intense cravings for food just attacked my every brain cell. That did cause me to binge, which I eventually regrouped from. And that is the cycle that many experience: "wow, I'm not hungry!" -> "I am going to eat every cheesesteak, pizza and candy bar I can fit in my stomach" -> "Oh man, I better increase my cals, I'm not getting enough food".

You are better off starting higher than 1300. 1300 is on the cusp of punitive dieting and will eventually feel truly punitive, which is best avoided.

springlering62

@B_Plus_Effort

In the immortal words of my daddy, you are as full of *kitten* as a Christmas turkey.

I hope the OP notices the number of disagrees. Perhaps you and the other woman could share a sparrow.

deputy_randolph

One day of eating 1300 calories won't hurt you....just like one day of eating 3300 calories won't hurt you.

Behavior becomes problematic when not-so-great behaviors become habitual.

kshama2001

natasor1 wrote: »

I ve seen the picture of hadsa tribe in Africa, splitting 1 grilled sparow bird for 6 people, men. And it was not dangerous. They eat this style all the time and looked very healthy

Seems like you mistook "eating while foraging" or something else with the total diet.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hadza_people#Subsistence

Hadza men usually forage individually, and during the course of the day usually feed themselves while foraging, and also bring home some honey, fruit, or wild game when available. Women forage in larger parties, and usually bring home berries, baobab fruit,[38] and tubers, depending on availability. Men and women also forage cooperatively for honey and fruit, and at least one adult male will usually accompany a group of foraging women. During the wet season, the diet is composed mostly of honey, some fruit, tubers, and occasional meat. The contribution of meat to the diet increases in the dry season, when game become concentrated around sources of water. During this time, men often hunt in pairs, and spend entire nights lying in wait by waterholes, hoping to shoot animals that approach for a night-time drink, with bows and arrows treated with poison.[39] The poison is made of the branches of the shrub Adenium coetaneum.[40] The Hadza are highly skilled, selective, and opportunistic foragers, and adjust their diet according to season and circumstance. Depending on local availability, some groups might rely more heavily on tubers, others on berries, others on meat. This variability is the result of their opportunism and adjustment to prevailing conditions.

...Women's foraging technology includes the digging stick, grass baskets for carrying berries, large fabric or skin pouches for carrying items, knives, shoes, other clothing, and various small items held in a pouch around the neck. Men carry axes, bows, poisoned and non-poisoned arrows, knives, small honey pots, fire drills, shoes and apparel, and various small items.

While men specialize in procuring meat, honey, and baobab fruit, women specialize in tubers, berries, and greens. This division of labor is rather apparent, but women will occasionally gather a small animal or egg, or gather honey, and men will occasionally bring a tuber or some berries back to camp.