I was unintentionally undereating...

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jiggywiggly1
jiggywiggly1 Posts: 1 Member
edited October 2023 in Health and Weight Loss
Hey everyone!
I just wanted to share how in an attempt to lose weight quickly and tone up, I was undereating A LOT. My normal, not-on-a-diet calorie intake is around 2,000 give or take. But I was eating 1,200 calories for a week (net calories), and being super active (I worked out every day of the past week for at LEAST 30 minutes per day-except the last day which was only 10 minutes). Because of this, in even just a week, I started to see some results (not a lot, but noticeable for me) and then I realized something was wrong because most do not see results for 5-8 weeks. And then I was doing my research and realized that I was undereating for my weight, height, age, and normal eating patterns. So I just changed my calorie goals (net) to 1,700 and decided to eat 3 big, nutritious meals and very limited snacks throughout the day. Before I was eating 2 very small meals and still only 2 snacks a day. However, I will still be eating some sugar (not too much) because I want this to be long-term and not gain this all back so I want my body to still be more used to sugar. This has already been a hard journey and it has only been one week (which I am basically starting over, but being more healthy this time).
If you have any advice for me, please please please enlighten me with it because I need some more help.
Thanks for reading,
~Izzy
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Replies

  • snowflake954
    snowflake954 Posts: 8,399 Member
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    For good advice you'll need to give your stats--height, current weight, sex, etc.... Then, what daily calorie goal did MFP give you?

    Many people want to lose weight fast, but there can be serious consequences. Good for you that you stopped. Living a long healthy life should be the goal. That means creating good habits to see you through the long run.

    As soon as you give your stats people will chime in with advice. Good luck with your goals.
  • ddsb1111
    ddsb1111 Posts: 825 Member
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    My advice, read the stickies at the top. They’re helpful in ways you can’t imagine.
  • tomcustombuilder
    tomcustombuilder Posts: 1,775 Member
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    Your first week will be mostly water loss.
  • loulee997
    loulee997 Posts: 273 Member
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    jiggywiggly1 wrote: »
    Hey everyone!
    I just wanted to share how in an attempt to lose weight quickly and tone up, I was undereating A LOT. My normal, not-on-a-diet calorie intake is around 2,000 give or take. But I was eating 1,200 calories for a week (net calories), and being super active (I worked out every day of the past week for at LEAST 30 minutes per day-except the last day which was only 10 minutes). Because of this, in even just a week, I started to see some results (not a lot, but noticeable for me) and then I realized something was wrong because most do not see results for 5-8 weeks. And then I was doing my research and realized that I was undereating for my weight, height, age, and normal eating patterns. So I just changed my calorie goals (net) to 1,700 and decided to eat 3 big, nutritious meals and very limited snacks throughout the day. Before I was eating 2 very small meals and still only 2 snacks a day. However, I will still be eating some sugar (not too much) because I want this to be long-term and not gain this all back so I want my body to still be more used to sugar. This has already been a hard journey and it has only been one week (which I am basically starting over, but being more healthy this time).
    If you have any advice for me, please please please enlighten me with it because I need some more help.
    Thanks for reading,
    ~Izzy

    I moved mine from 1200 to 1600 calories. I'm mildly active. I still have to fight not undereating now that I cut my favorite junk food. I just have no control with chips--so I just had to stop eating them. I've been bouncing around eating 1200 calories a day--but I'm trying to keep it at 1600 for a sustained weight loss. I want to lose slow and steady.

    You may still be too low in calories. But bodies are different.

    The mistake I made --and a lot of people make---is you think your diet/activity stay static. They do not. Every three months, you should shake it up. If you don't, your body will adapt to the new normal. Some people solve this by eating 2000 calories one day, then 1,500 for the next 2 days. Keep your body guessing. If you do a lot of cardio, switch to strengthening for a few weeks, then you can go back to cardio. If you love weights, then do rotate the body section you work on. Just keep your body guessing.

    This three months 1,700 calories may be perfect. Reevaluate in 3 months. Do you need more or less calories? Do you need more protein? Do you need more rest days? Every three months--reevaluate and make changes.

    Oh and don't give all your favorite foods. It's okay to eat your favorite every once in a while. Yeah, I let myself have a small bag of chips ONLY when I am visiting my mother. It is never in my house and I only go down there about once every 2 months.

    For that amount of working out, you may still stall at 1700 calories. Getting stuck at one weight point is normal. You can sometimes wait it out. Sometimes you have to change exercise or diet again. Sometimes more, sometimes less of both.


    Good luck
  • tomcustombuilder
    tomcustombuilder Posts: 1,775 Member
    edited October 2023
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    Hmmmm
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,033 Member
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    The mistake I made --and a lot of people make---is you think your diet/activity stay static. They do not. Every three months, you should shake it up. If you don't, your body will adapt to the new normal. Some people solve this by eating 2000 calories one day, then 1,500 for the next 2 days. Keep your body guessing. If you do a lot of cardio, switch to strengthening for a few weeks, then you can go back to cardio. If you love weights, then do rotate the body section you work on. Just keep your body guessing.


    There is no need to do this.

    If you want variety in your work outs or activities or anything - because you get bored and like variety - that's fine

    If you like routine and doing same thing long term that's fine too

    all that is just a personal preference thing - not a keep your body guessing thing

  • loulee997
    loulee997 Posts: 273 Member
    edited October 2023
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    REPLY

    I hit plateaus. I'm not zigzagging. I see it as eating in a more natural way. I'm not making drastic changes. I'm doing little tweaks to keep my weight loss steady.

    After a few months, I would stop losing weight. I wouldn't gain. I'm still in my calorie deficit. It would frustrate me so. I find making minor changes every few months, keeps the weight loss steady. It can be as simple as changing my exercise routine or adjusting my calories up or down by 100 calories.

    Not everyone loses weight the same way. It is very frustrating when I am staying in my calorie range, but the weight stops coming off. Then people tell me I must be counting my calories wrong or not counting everything. It can make you feel like you are failing--especially when everyone tells you how 'easy' it is.

    For many people, a steady calorie deficit works.     But it doesn't work for everyone A three-month check to see if I'm still getting value for my work--is a small thing for me to do. If it is still working, no changes. If my weight loss has stalled or my life changes, I can actually take the time to decide what changes make sense.

    Everyone's journey is different. It's why weight loss isn't a one-approach problem. Try, tweak, try again. It works for me.

  • loulee997
    loulee997 Posts: 273 Member
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    paperpudding wrote: »
    The mistake I made --and a lot of people make---is you think your diet/activity stay static. They do not. Every three months, you should shake it up. If you don't, your body will adapt to the new normal. Some people solve this by eating 2000 calories one day, then 1,500 for the next 2 days. Keep your body guessing. If you do a lot of cardio, switch to strengthening for a few weeks, then you can go back to cardio. If you love weights, then do rotate the body section you work on. Just keep your body guessing.


    There is no need to do this.

    If you want variety in your work outs or activities or anything - because you get bored and like variety - that's fine

    If you like routine and doing same thing long term that's fine too

    all that is just a personal preference thing - not a keep-your body-guessing thing

    If the routine is working, great. It works for a lot of people.

    My body gets stuck about every 15 pounds. I stop losing. I then make a few minor tweaks. I re-examine if my activity has increased or if I'm stressed at work. I try adding more fiber or less sugar. Sometimes, I just take the calories up or down by 100 calories.

    These plateaus have sabotaged me so many times. I get frustrated at these 'stuck' points. So now, I build a 'recheck' every three months. If everything is fine, then I won't change anything. If I've stopped losing or my life has had major changes, I adapt the plan.

    It's what works for me. I was just sharing how I make it work.

    As I said, everyone's journey is different.     You have to find what works for you.

    This is working for me. I'm losing steadily and I am not feeling deprived.

  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,033 Member
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    If what you are doing works for you, that's great.

    Your first post wasn't presented as 'this is my personal preference that works for me' - I doubt anyone would have an issue with that.

    But you presented it as having universal application - you should do this and people make the mistake of not doing this.

    That is what we are disputing.
  • AndyMcCall
    AndyMcCall Posts: 3 Member
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    > I hit plateaus.

    As far as I understand, there's no such thing as a "plateau's - and by that I mean metabolic plateau's. Sure, your weight loss may stall, but that's because you're probably not in a calorific deficit.

    Your metabolism doesn't slow down or anything like that, it's just you're probably eating a tiny bit more without realising it and moving a tiny bit less without realising it - this could be anything from not moving around the house as much, getting the lift once a day when you had made a decisions to always use the stairs, or even stopping bouncing your leg while in a meeting etc. All of these things are added to your basal metabolic rate, and if that total not in a deficit you won't lose weight.

    On 1200 calories a day you were almost certainly tired even if you didn't realise it and you probably started to subconsciously conserve energy by not moving as much. So despite being on a such a low calorie intake you still weren't in deficit because you adjusted your movement and activities. Adding more calories will give you more energy and you'll feel more like taking the lift etc.

    Happy to be pointed to some science behind plateau's though - my understanding is that all the starvation mode, plateau talk and stuff like that is just pseudo science and in all but very few cases dieting is just a simple case of burning more calories than you consume.

    Glad you've got it sorted though!
  • sollyn23l2
    sollyn23l2 Posts: 1,649 Member
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    loulee997 wrote: »
    REPLY

    I hit plateaus. I'm not zigzagging. I see it as eating in a more natural way. I'm not making drastic changes. I'm doing little tweaks to keep my weight loss steady.

    After a few months, I would stop losing weight. I wouldn't gain. I'm still in my calorie deficit. It would frustrate me so. I find making minor changes every few months, keeps the weight loss steady. It can be as simple as changing my exercise routine or adjusting my calories up or down by 100 calories.

    Not everyone loses weight the same way. It is very frustrating when I am staying in my calorie range, but the weight stops coming off. Then people tell me I must be counting my calories wrong or not counting everything. It can make you feel like you are failing--especially when everyone tells you how 'easy' it is.

    For many people, a steady calorie deficit works.     But it doesn't work for everyone A three-month check to see if I'm still getting value for my work--is a small thing for me to do. If it is still working, no changes. If my weight loss has stalled or my life changes, I can actually take the time to decide what changes make sense.

    Everyone's journey is different. It's why weight loss isn't a one-approach problem. Try, tweak, try again. It works for me.

    That makes sense, and yes, reassessing every few months/15 or so pounds makes complete sense. As weight goes down, generally so do calorie needs. As activity goes up, so do calories. I think some people responded in the way they did because you presented it a bit differently in your first post... possibly just miscommunication/misunderstanding.
  • loulee997
    loulee997 Posts: 273 Member
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    sollyn23l2 wrote: »
    loulee997 wrote: »
    REPLY

    I hit plateaus. I'm not zigzagging. I see it as eating in a more natural way. I'm not making drastic changes. I'm doing little tweaks to keep my weight loss steady.

    After a few months, I would stop losing weight. I wouldn't gain. I'm still in my calorie deficit. It would frustrate me so. I find making minor changes every few months, keeps the weight loss steady. It can be as simple as changing my exercise routine or adjusting my calories up or down by 100 calories.

    Not everyone loses weight the same way. It is very frustrating when I am staying in my calorie range, but the weight stops coming off. Then people tell me I must be counting my calories wrong or not counting everything. It can make you feel like you are failing--especially when everyone tells you how 'easy' it is.

    For many people, a steady calorie deficit works.     But it doesn't work for everyone A three-month check to see if I'm still getting value for my work--is a small thing for me to do. If it is still working, no changes. If my weight loss has stalled or my life changes, I can actually take the time to decide what changes make sense.

    Everyone's journey is different. It's why weight loss isn't a one-approach problem. Try, tweak, try again. It works for me.

    That makes sense, and yes, reassessing every few months/15 or so pounds makes complete sense. As weight goes down, generally so do calorie needs. As activity goes up, so do calories. I think some people responded in the way they did because you presented it a bit differently in your first post... possibly just miscommunication/misunderstanding.
    sollyn23l2 wrote: »
    loulee997 wrote: »
    REPLY

    I hit plateaus. I'm not zigzagging. I see it as eating in a more natural way. I'm not making drastic changes. I'm doing little tweaks to keep my weight loss steady.

    After a few months, I would stop losing weight. I wouldn't gain. I'm still in my calorie deficit. It would frustrate me so. I find making minor changes every few months, keeps the weight loss steady. It can be as simple as changing my exercise routine or adjusting my calories up or down by 100 calories.

    Not everyone loses weight the same way. It is very frustrating when I am staying in my calorie range, but the weight stops coming off. Then people tell me I must be counting my calories wrong or not counting everything. It can make you feel like you are failing--especially when everyone tells you how 'easy' it is.

    For many people, a steady calorie deficit works.     But it doesn't work for everyone A three-month check to see if I'm still getting value for my work--is a small thing for me to do. If it is still working, no changes. If my weight loss has stalled or my life changes, I can actually take the time to decide what changes make sense.

    Everyone's journey is different. It's why weight loss isn't a one-approach problem. Try, tweak, try again. It works for me.

    That makes sense, and yes, reassessing every few months/15 or so pounds makes complete sense. As weight goes down, generally so do calorie needs. As activity goes up, so do calories. I think some people responded in the way they did because you presented it a bit differently in your first post... possibly just miscommunication/misunderstanding.

    I don't always word things well. It makes perfect sense in my head. :smiley: I didn't mean it the way people read it---which is probably me not putting in all the subtext in my head. I was trying to make it concise and I over edited it.

    I do think a 3 month check-in with your progress is a great idea for most people. It doesn't mean throwing out what you are doing, it's just checking in to make sure you are still on track.

    So---I still recommend checking in with yourself. People lose weight or move to a more sedentary job, but don't think to tweak the plan. I just made reviewing my plan mandatory. Everybody's life has changes.

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