Guys I need some advice

michirawrness

I just started my weight loss journey about three or four weeks ago and I’m doing 1800 cal with leaving at least 500 cal left over. I workout sometimes 35 minutes to an hour a day and is it normal to like have no energy because I’m struggling not having energy and I don’t know if it’s because I’m like starting this and it’s fresh. if you guys can give me some tips or advice Something to help out I’d appreciate it or just to tell me that it’s totally normal.

AnnPT77

Are you saying that your goal is 1800, but you're eating only 1300? If so, that can be part of the problem. Being weak or fatigued for no other obvious reason can be caused by under-eating. If there's less than ideal nutrition, that can also contribute. (If calories are truly too low, there's literally no way to get adequate nutrition, even if the macro percents are fine.)

Also, is the 35-60 minutes of daily exercise a new routine for you? A large increase in exercise all at once is likely to cause fatigue. On top of that, over-exercising is counter-productive for either weight loss or fitness improvement. It can hinder weight loss because fatigue means we drag through the day, burning fewer calories than expected doing daily life stuff, effectively wiping out some of the exercise calories. It's not ideal for fitness improvement because recovery - the time between workouts - is where the magic happens, our bodies rebuilding better than before.

When adding exercise, it can be more productive to start out slowly, then gradually add more duration, intensity, frequency or additional types of exercise as the initial exercise becomes easier.

I'm sure you've thought about whether sleep quality/quantity can be improved, since that's an obvious factor. Sometimes a sleep schedule that was adequate before becomes not quite enough once we add the stress of a calorie cut or new exercise. Those are both stressful to the body - obviously we hope they're good stress that will trigger improvement in the long term, but in the short term they increase our total stress load.

Without more information, it's hard to say what's going on for you. The above are some of the general common things that can happen, though.

I hope you're able to improve the situation - wishing you the best!

michirawrness

yeah only 1300, and I honestly started off slow with exercising till i got to doing 30 mins to a hour, and then ive been walking too. I feel like im eating enough tho I eat three meals A day, and i got 1800 because i was told to use A chart to see based off my weight how many calories to do and thats what it said. I really appreciate the reply

AnnPT77

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/comment/48578578#Comment_48578578

If the 1800 calories should be weight loss calories for you, I'd strongly suggest eating the whole 1800 for at least 4-6 weeks or one full menstrual cycle, which should be enough time to see how much you actually do lose on average weekly at that calorie level.

Eating fewer calories would be expected to cause faster weight loss, but faster weight loss isn't necessarily better weight loss: It can be health-threatening weight loss, more miserable weight loss, or weight loss a person can't stick with long enough to lose the total amount of weight all the way to goal.

A slower but more achievable and healthier loss rate can potentially get a person to goal weight in less calendar time than a lower calorie approach that causes bouts of deprivation-triggered over-eating, breaks in the action, or even giving up altogether because it's just too hard.

I accidentally under-ate at first because MFP significantly under-estimates my calorie needs, which is rare but possible. I wasn't hungry, was hitting my macro percents, felt good . . . until suddenly, I didn't. I got weak and fatigued. Even though I corrected - ate more - as soon as I realized, it took multiple weeks to recover normal strength and energy. No one needs that.

I was lucky: Other than maybe a little hair breakage/thinning a few weeks down the road, there weren't worse consequences. I went on to lose all the way from obese to healthy weight in less than a year on higher calories, stayed healthy, and have been at a healthy weight for 9+ years since.

I think there's a high probability that your loss of energy is caused by eating too little. If so, that's a warning sign that your current path is too extreme. Your body needs a certain amount of energy to get through the day, and food calories are that energy.

Please be careful. I'd love to see you succeed, get all the way to goal weight and stay there. The quality of life improvement is worth the effort, IME.

michirawrness

okay i am going to take your advice and start eating the whole 1800 and just see. I really appreciate your advice. 😊