please explain the problem with low calories...

1PatientBear

Well..I'll just give my input even thought I'm sure it won't be held up as much as everyone elses;

I have an eating disorder. I have to go to the doctor twice a week to watch my blood pressure, that runs around 70/50 because if it gets lower than that, something could go wrong with my heart and I could die. My pulse is also extremely low. My oxygen saturation is low. My body temperature runs around 96 (where a normal body temp is 98.6). I have to regularly get blood test to check and make sure that there is no damage to my kidneys or liver and a slew of other things (There is an order for blood work sitting right beside me right now, the orders on it are TSH, CBC, CMP (chem 14), ESR (Sed Rate), A1C) because what I have done to my body. How did I get said eating disorder? Eating less than 1000 calories a day. Dropping weight quickly. Deciding since I was dropping weight so quickly I would drop down more and more and more. Now my teeth are falling out, my hair is coming out in handfuls, and there is something wrong with my kidneys.

But good luck with your "healthy" low calorie diet.

Thank you for sharing that. You need to post that as its own topic as a warning for all the people here on their "healthy" low calorie diets. Best of luck to you!!

mallen404

I am 5 foot 7.. and weight around 158

my BMR is 1500.. so 1000 is not enough food to support daily function. The reason you probably don't feel hungry is because you have been doing it for so long.

I eat at least 1500 or more when I exercise. Sometimes up to 2000-2200.

diannethegeek

Well..I'll just give my input even thought I'm sure it won't be held up as much as everyone elses;

I have an eating disorder. I have to go to the doctor twice a week to watch my blood pressure, that runs around 70/50 because if it gets lower than that, something could go wrong with my heart and I could die. My pulse is also extremely low. My oxygen saturation is low. My body temperature runs around 96 (where a normal body temp is 98.6). I have to regularly get blood test to check and make sure that there is no damage to my kidneys or liver and a slew of other things (There is an order for blood work sitting right beside me right now, the orders on it are TSH, CBC, CMP (chem 14), ESR (Sed Rate), A1C) because what I have done to my body. How did I get said eating disorder? Eating less than 1000 calories a day. Dropping weight quickly. Deciding since I was dropping weight so quickly I would drop down more and more and more. Now my teeth are falling out, my hair is coming out in handfuls, and there is something wrong with my kidneys.

But good luck with your "healthy" low calorie diet.

I am so sorry that you have to go through all of that and I wish you the best of luck moving forward. Thank you for sharing your experiences, though. Hopefully they'll have some impact on those looking to eat so little.

ChrisM8971

There is so much information in this thread and am posting as much to keep tabs on it as for anything else. I would ask one thing though:

Most BMR calculators set the calories between 1800 and 1900 but MFP sets my goal at less than 1700. I am set at sedentary because I am in a car all week or if not I am driving a computer for work.

I eat back my exercise calories because the exercise that I am doing is out of the ordinary for my past life. So why am I set so far below BMR and should I be concerned about loss of muscle mass?

Achaila

Also, trust and believe me when I say this; your body will get used to running on little to nothing. Just because you don't feel hungry does not mean that you're not doing damage to your body. If I want to, I can go days without food and feel fine. Have tons of energy, sleep well, and be in no pain. Because of that its a slippery slope. When I was at my lowest weight (73 pounds and I am 5'8") I was never hungry. Food had no appeal to me. I could sit there and be surrounded by delicious things that smelled and looked amazing to everyone else, and my attitude was basically "eh."

abickford82

Under 1000 -- you're setting yourself up for an eating disorder. In 2011 when I found MFP, I ate 1200-700 calories a day. Dropped 25lbs. in 6 weeks. Awesome, huh? Not really. I gained 32lbs. back, and it's taken me 9 months just to take 20lbs. of it off, and realizing I had a serious problem. You can't possibly get all your macros, nutrients, and vitamins on such low calories. Plus, don't you want to be active? Go on a long hike, run some miles, or lift heavy? I know I do, and that a healthy, active lifestyle is better to me than just being skinny.

ChrisM8971

Well..I'll just give my input even thought I'm sure it won't be held up as much as everyone elses;

I have an eating disorder. I have to go to the doctor twice a week to watch my blood pressure, that runs around 70/50 because if it gets lower than that, something could go wrong with my heart and I could die. My pulse is also extremely low. My oxygen saturation is low. My body temperature runs around 96 (where a normal body temp is 98.6). I have to regularly get blood test to check and make sure that there is no damage to my kidneys or liver and a slew of other things (There is an order for blood work sitting right beside me right now, the orders on it are TSH, CBC, CMP (chem 14), ESR (Sed Rate), A1C) because what I have done to my body. How did I get said eating disorder? Eating less than 1000 calories a day. Dropping weight quickly. Deciding since I was dropping weight so quickly I would drop down more and more and more. Now my teeth are falling out, my hair is coming out in handfuls, and there is something wrong with my kidneys.

But good luck with your "healthy" low calorie diet.

This has also got to be one of the bravest posts I have seen. Thank you for sharing and I do hope everything goes well for you for the future

deksgrl

I don't pay much attention to the number. I eat now WHEN I am hungry and I rarely come near the 1000 mark much LESS the 1200 or above. I am still losing, my trainer and Dr aren't upset, soooooooooooooooooo..It is a number

You are 55 years old and so would have a lower metabolism than the OP, AND you have 80 pounds to lose still. You can't compare yourself to the OP.

jjinteso

OP: Please read this post. This happened to me several weeks ago!

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1096845-eating-back-exercise-calories

Tropical_Turtle

I don't pay much attention to the number. I eat now WHEN I am hungry and I rarely come near the 1000 mark much LESS the 1200 or above. I am still losing, my trainer and Dr aren't upset, soooooooooooooooooo..It is a number

However, are both your doctor and trainer extensively educated in NUTRITION??? Odds are DOUBT it.

MadeLyndoNolan

WOW just WOW! I'm serious when I say, that I'm kind of shocked and freaked out! I'm such a big Google researcher and I've never even thought of researching it. I just thought that I"m eating all day and making good choices (eating grapes right now) and thought and didn't really think about what I could be doing to my body. Now I feel like an idiot lol I guess it just feels scary to eat high calories and I thought well, if I just get to my weight, then I can worry about upping the calories. I'm going to increase my calories and I think if I work out regularly, I'll feel better about it.

Thank you for scaring me, I'm serious, that is what it takes with me. I appreciate everyone's input and sharing their personal story. I'm going to go back and read it all again. I just need to figure out how many calories are right for me. I guess I can finally add that peanut butter to my celery I was scared about! haha

TeaBea

There is so much information in this thread and am posting as much to keep tabs on it as for anything else. I would ask one thing though:

Most BMR calculators set the calories between 1800 and 1900 but MFP sets my goal at less than 1700. I am set at sedentary because I am in a car all week or if not I am driving a computer for work.

I eat back my exercise calories because the exercise that I am doing is out of the ordinary for my past life. So why am I set so far below BMR and should I be concerned about loss of muscle mass?

MFP gave you your daily goal based (in part) upon "I want to lose xx pounds per week" .... the minimum MFP will go for women is 1200.

If you plug in a smaller weekly goal, MFP will give you a higher number ..... here's a list of moderate goals. Try updating your goals & see what MFP gives you .... I bet it's closer.

Pounds per week
75+ lbs to lose 2 lb range
Between 40 - 75 lbs to lose 1.5 lb range
Between 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lb range
Between 15-25 lbs to lose 1 -.50 lb range
Less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs range

Are you losing weight too quickly? Do you feel run down & tired? Healthy weight loss should not make you tired.

JustAnotherGirlSuzanne

Our stats are super similar. I'm 5'7", 161 lbs and am eating 1500-1600 calories a day. I also eat back most of my exercise calories and I'm still losing weight.

Please listen to what the people here are saying. If not you'll end up gaining a lot back once you hit your goal and go back to maintenance calories since your metabolism will be underworked and used to a very low calorie diet.

ETA: *corrected spelling

deksgrl

WOW just WOW! I'm serious when I say, that I'm kind of shocked and freaked out! I'm such a big Google researcher and I've never even thought of researching it. I just thought that I"m eating all day and making good choices (eating grapes right now) and thought and didn't really think about what I could be doing to my body. Now I feel like an idiot lol I guess it just feels scary to eat high calories and I thought well, if I just get to my weight, then I can worry about upping the calories. I'm going to increase my calories and I think if I work out regularly, I'll feel better about it.

Thank you for scaring me, I'm serious, that is what it takes with me. I appreciate everyone's input and sharing their personal story. I'm going to go back and read it all again. I just need to figure out how many calories are right for me. I guess I can finally add that peanut butter to my celery I was scared about! haha

Set MFP to lose 1 pound per week and eat back exercise calories.

Or, figure out your TDEE - 20% (total daily energy expenditure).

A properly set MFP goal + exercise cals should be somewhere in the same vicinity as a properly set TDEE - % goal.

The benefit of using the TDEE -% method is you will be eating about the same number of calories every day, instead of it being varied based on if you exercised that day or not. I prefer that method.

ChrisM8971

There is so much information in this thread and am posting as much to keep tabs on it as for anything else. I would ask one thing though:

Most BMR calculators set the calories between 1800 and 1900 but MFP sets my goal at less than 1700. I am set at sedentary because I am in a car all week or if not I am driving a computer for work.

I eat back my exercise calories because the exercise that I am doing is out of the ordinary for my past life. So why am I set so far below BMR and should I be concerned about loss of muscle mass?

MFP gave you your daily goal based (in part) upon "I want to lose xx pounds per week" .... the minimum MFP will go for women is 1200.

If you plug in a smaller weekly goal, MFP will give you a higher number ..... here's a list of moderate goals. Try updating your goals & see what MFP gives you .... I bet it's closer.

Pounds per week
75+ lbs to lose 2 lb range
Between 40 - 75 lbs to lose 1.5 lb range
Between 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lb range
Between 15-25 lbs to lose 1 -.50 lb range
Less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs range

Are you losing weight too quickly? Do you feel run down & tired? Healthy weight loss should not make you tired.

I set for 1.5 lb loss because I had about 56 lb to lose. I tend to lose in the 4 to 5 lb range per week until last week when I stayed the same. If this week is big then will increase my calories and increase the protein ratio as well because it is very low compared to recommendations on other sites

And thank you so much for the information

EvyMetal

I have been at 1200 calories a day since I started MFP in January of this year - total loss to date is 73.5 lbs. I eat very well and do not feel hungry because I make sure to eat whole foods, not processed, and keep my nutrition balanced. Two key factors for me were cutting sugar out of my diet and greatly reducing sodium. Walking is my main source of exercise - most days I walk at least 60 minutes - on occasion I use some of those extra calories I earned but not often. Every person is different so there is no one answer to this question. Each person has to find what works for them.

deksgrl

I have been at 1200 calories a day since I started MFP in January of this year - total loss to date is 73.5 lbs. I eat very well and do not feel hungry because I make sure to eat whole foods, not processed, and keep my nutrition balanced. Two key factors for me were cutting sugar out of my diet and greatly reducing sodium. Walking is my main source of exercise - most days I walk at least 60 minutes - on occasion I use some of those extra calories I earned but not often. Every person is different so there is no one answer to this question. Each person has to find what works for them.

Again, you are much older than the OP and had a lot more weight to lose. 1200 calories can be appropriate for some people, but not the majority.

kikidee12

Well..I'll just give my input even thought I'm sure it won't be held up as much as everyone elses;

I have an eating disorder. I have to go to the doctor twice a week to watch my blood pressure, that runs around 70/50 because if it gets lower than that, something could go wrong with my heart and I could die. My pulse is also extremely low. My oxygen saturation is low. My body temperature runs around 96 (where a normal body temp is 98.6). I have to regularly get blood test to check and make sure that there is no damage to my kidneys or liver and a slew of other things (There is an order for blood work sitting right beside me right now, the orders on it are TSH, CBC, CMP (chem 14), ESR (Sed Rate), A1C) because what I have done to my body. How did I get said eating disorder? Eating less than 1000 calories a day. Dropping weight quickly. Deciding since I was dropping weight so quickly I would drop down more and more and more. Now my teeth are falling out, my hair is coming out in handfuls, and there is something wrong with my kidneys.

But good luck with your "healthy" low calorie diet.

I am so sorry that you have to go through all of that and I wish you the best of luck moving forward. Thank you for sharing your experiences, though. Hopefully they'll have some impact on those looking to eat so little.

^^ What she said!:flowerforyou:

LiminalAscendance

I have been at 1200 calories a day since I started MFP in January of this year - total loss to date is 73.5 lbs. I eat very well and do not feel hungry because I make sure to eat whole foods, not processed, and keep my nutrition balanced. Two key factors for me were cutting sugar out of my diet and greatly reducing sodium. Walking is my main source of exercise - most days I walk at least 60 minutes - on occasion I use some of those extra calories I earned but not often. Every person is different so there is no one answer to this question. Each person has to find what works for them.

Now you did it.

In before someone tells you that your body ate all your vital organs without you noticing it.

DaddieCat

OP:
You are getting a crap ton of awesome information. I hope you listen to it.

^^^This please!

jo3ster7

Do not follow the bmr calculator out there, there are calories for someone who barelly breath, like coma, follow what MyFitnessPal says about your calorie intake, split the proteins, carbs and fats in 40/40/20 percent of your totally calorie intake, do excersice, DO NOT LOWER your calorie intake more than 500 of your daily needs, that its going to slower your metabolism and loosing weigh its going to be harder, avoid high glycemic index foods, eat well, not trash, read advices from some webpages like women's health, men's health, etc, its going to give you some information.

PikaKnight

WOW just WOW! I'm serious when I say, that I'm kind of shocked and freaked out! I'm such a big Google researcher and I've never even thought of researching it. I just thought that I"m eating all day and making good choices (eating grapes right now) and thought and didn't really think about what I could be doing to my body. Now I feel like an idiot lol I guess it just feels scary to eat high calories and I thought well, if I just get to my weight, then I can worry about upping the calories. I'm going to increase my calories and I think if I work out regularly, I'll feel better about it.

Thank you for scaring me, I'm serious, that is what it takes with me. I appreciate everyone's input and sharing their personal story. I'm going to go back and read it all again. I just need to figure out how many calories are right for me. I guess I can finally add that peanut butter to my celery I was scared about! haha

I just want to quote and Hi5 the OP here. It's sadly a rarity that an OP asks a question they actually want answers to (not blind support) and listens to all the great advice that makes the other headaches worthwhile :bigsmile:

Best of luck OP and look forward to hearing your success story!!!!

seltzermint555

Adherence
Nutrient intake
Metabolic damage
Muscle loss
Food is yummy

That pretty much sums it up.

I'd also like to add that hunger isn't a reliable indicator of whether you are eating enough. Anorexics often don't experience hunger and they can literally be starving. Hormones can affect hunger signals and eating too low can affect hormones. Some people who are overweight report constant hunger and they do not need more food.

This is all true! I think I don't have a great "hunger receptor" or something...seriously. My entire life I've really not felt hungry that often but then not "super full" all that often either. As a result, I usually just followed others' example of when to eat and how much to eat and what to eat. Sounds crazy but it's true.

I obviously ate too much because I've been at 300 lb in the past...but when I was dieting my way down to 262 (now at 223) I think I made a lot of errors by having 2,700 cal days followed by 800 cal days. I really tried to do the whole "eat when you're hungry" thing and I was never REALLY hungry...MFP has helped me so much at getting the RIGHT amounts.

MB_Positif

WOW just WOW! I'm serious when I say, that I'm kind of shocked and freaked out! I'm such a big Google researcher and I've never even thought of researching it. I just thought that I"m eating all day and making good choices (eating grapes right now) and thought and didn't really think about what I could be doing to my body. Now I feel like an idiot lol I guess it just feels scary to eat high calories and I thought well, if I just get to my weight, then I can worry about upping the calories. I'm going to increase my calories and I think if I work out regularly, I'll feel better about it.

Thank you for scaring me, I'm serious, that is what it takes with me. I appreciate everyone's input and sharing their personal story. I'm going to go back and read it all again. I just need to figure out how many calories are right for me. I guess I can finally add that peanut butter to my celery I was scared about! haha

I just want to quote and Hi5 the OP here. It's sadly a rarity that an OP asks a question they actually want answers to (not blind support) and listens to all the great advice that makes the other headaches worthwhile :bigsmile:

Best of luck OP and look forward to hearing your success story!!!!

This, all of this.

DaddieCat

Well..I'll just give my input even thought I'm sure it won't be held up as much as everyone elses;

I have an eating disorder. I have to go to the doctor twice a week to watch my blood pressure, that runs around 70/50 because if it gets lower than that, something could go wrong with my heart and I could die. My pulse is also extremely low. My oxygen saturation is low. My body temperature runs around 96 (where a normal body temp is 98.6). I have to regularly get blood test to check and make sure that there is no damage to my kidneys or liver and a slew of other things (There is an order for blood work sitting right beside me right now, the orders on it are TSH, CBC, CMP (chem 14), ESR (Sed Rate), A1C) because what I have done to my body. How did I get said eating disorder? Eating less than 1000 calories a day. Dropping weight quickly. Deciding since I was dropping weight so quickly I would drop down more and more and more. Now my teeth are falling out, my hair is coming out in handfuls, and there is something wrong with my kidneys.

But good luck with your "healthy" low calorie diet.

I just want to again thank this poster for telling her story and her bravery. I again encourage the repost of this as it's own topic so that it might be available to others outside of this thread. I've been a lurker and periodic commenter on mfp for a bit now and this is the most telling read I've seen of ED and it's effects. I have seen many, and I do mean many pro-ana or pro-ED posts and while I know many will not listen or simply won't want to, I think that this kind of personal experience needs to be made available to the general populace so that they may make better decisions and know the effects of bad decisions.

Thank you for your heart felt response to OP and good luck, be strong, and see recovery as you seem to be on a very firm road there.

EvyMetal

I have been at 1200 calories a day since I started MFP in January of this year - total loss to date is 73.5 lbs. I eat very well and do not feel hungry because I make sure to eat whole foods, not processed, and keep my nutrition balanced. Two key factors for me were cutting sugar out of my diet and greatly reducing sodium. Walking is my main source of exercise - most days I walk at least 60 minutes - on occasion I use some of those extra calories I earned but not often. Every person is different so there is no one answer to this question. Each person has to find what works for them.

Again, you are much older than the OP and had a lot more weight to lose. 1200 calories can be appropriate for some people, but not the majority.

Which is why I said "Every person is different so there is no one answer to this question. Each person has to find what works for them"

Ninkyou

Here's reason's why cutting to 1000 calories isn't beneficial to ANYONE:

1. The recommended minimum for a woman is 1200 calories, 1800 for males. There's a reason for this. Your body needs more than 1000 calories to sustain itself. Yes, you could technically survive on 1000 calories or less, but you’d be extremely malnourished, weak, and sickly.

2. When you drop your calorie intake that low, your body immediately slows everything down to conserve energy and protect vital organ functions. So even if you are able to drop a few pounds quickly at first, your weight loss will soon stall. Plus, as soon as you go back to a normal calorie intake, you’ll start GAINING weight because now your metabolism is slower than it was before so you can’t eat as many calories and maintain your weight.

3. By cutting so low, you're setting yourself up for a binge-fest. You’ll feel irritable, stressed, fatigued, and deprived, which immediately makes you start craving food, and guess what happens? BINGE. And then where will you be? Right back to square one or maybe even -2.


In short, eat more to weigh less.

rhye

OP: I'm honestly more alarmed by the fact that you're "afraid" of peanut butter or of calories than by how many you are eating. This is not a healthy attitude about food. Are you eating so few because you are afraid of the food causing weight gain? That is disordered eating. Food is vital to life and it's not healthy to fear it.

jofjltncb6

WOW just WOW! I'm serious when I say, that I'm kind of shocked and freaked out! I'm such a big Google researcher and I've never even thought of researching it. I just thought that I"m eating all day and making good choices (eating grapes right now) and thought and didn't really think about what I could be doing to my body. Now I feel like an idiot lol I guess it just feels scary to eat high calories and I thought well, if I just get to my weight, then I can worry about upping the calories. I'm going to increase my calories and I think if I work out regularly, I'll feel better about it.

Thank you for scaring me, I'm serious, that is what it takes with me. I appreciate everyone's input and sharing their personal story. I'm going to go back and read it all again. I just need to figure out how many calories are right for me. I guess I can finally add that peanut butter to my celery I was scared about! haha

In...

...for awesome, straightforward, no-nonsense responses and an OP with a willingness to hear them out.

This thread has slightly restored my hope for humanity.

Best of luck to everyone who is personally fighting this problem and those willing to share to help others.

:flowerforyou:

beachlover317

IN because I have never seen a low calorie thread take such a turn. Bravo to the OP for having an open mind and thanks so much to Achaila for sharing your story. I wish you the best in your recovery.