Am I going to lose weight eating like this?

Mr_Knight

...but mfp has 1200 as a minimum for a reason, as it's unlikely you'll get enough nutrition in less than that.

That's not correct, and there have been numerous posts showing it is perfectly feasible for folks to meet macro and micro requirements on less than 1200.

The reason MFP has a lower bound is for litigation-prevention reasons - they don't want to get sued when someone invariably does something crazy-stupid - it has nothing to do with "health".

I'd do that, too, if I were MFP.

PtheronJr

You're not used to eating food that isn't full of empty calories, that's essentially food that will moderately fill you up, but has a crapton of "useless" calories that don't give you enough benefit for their volume.
The food you're eating now will fill you up, but it's less calories, so you'll lose weight, that's the long and short of it.

Think of it logistically, fill up a bowl with bacon, then fill up another an equal sized bowl with lettuce, say both bowls hold about 4 cups, that bacon, as you probably know, has WAY more calories in it than lettuce, but just because the bacon has more calories doesn't mean that it's going to fill you up more. The bacon could have over a 1000 calories, yet the equivalent portion of lettuce could only hover around 300. They will both fill you up equally, as a 4 cup meal would (disregarding any chemical changes in the stomach for this example), but their composition is entirely different.
When you first start trying to eat to lose weight, and adjust your diet to eat more cleanly, it's hard to make that connection with what you're eating, we identify the feeling of being full with the feeling of being fat and gaining weight, because stuffing ourselves with unclean, heavy calorie food is how we tend to get fat in the first place. It's just a correlation that your mind has built up, and it makes you unsure when it comes to eating normally.

You WANT to feel full, because that means you ate a satisfying meal that will likely keep you from having your stomach grumbling, the difference is, when you're changing your diet to lose weight, you're getting full on foods that take less calories. Too many people assume altering your diet for weight loss means being perpetually hungry. That's not a sign of weight loss, that's a sign of not having found a diet plan that works for you.

Foodorlife

You're not used to eating food that isn't full of empty calories, that's essentially food that will moderately fill you up, but has a crapton of "useless" calories that don't give you enough benefit for their volume.
The food you're eating now will fill you up, but it's less calories, so you'll lose weight, that's the long and short of it.

Think of it logistically, fill up a bowl with bacon, then fill up another an equal sized bowl with lettuce, say both bowls hold about 4 cups, that bacon, as you probably know, has WAY more calories in it than lettuce, but just because the bacon has more calories doesn't mean that it's going to fill you up more. The bacon could have over a 1000 calories, yet the equivalent portion of lettuce could only hover around 300. They will both fill you up equally, as a 4 cup meal would (disregarding any chemical changes in the stomach for this example), but their composition is entirely different.
When you first start trying to eat to lose weight, and adjust your diet to eat more cleanly, it's hard to make that connection with what you're eating, we identify the feeling of being full with the feeling of being fat and gaining weight, because stuffing ourselves with unclean, heavy calorie food is how we tend to get fat in the first place. It's just a correlation that your mind has built up, and it makes you unsure when it comes to eating normally.

You WANT to feel full, because that means you ate a satisfying meal that will likely keep you from having your stomach grumbling, the difference is, when you're changing your diet to lose weight, you're getting full on foods that take less calories. Too many people assume altering your diet for weight loss means being perpetually hungry. That's not a sign of weight loss, that's a sign of not having found a diet plan that works for you.

Thank you for such informative post!

qtgonewild

no dinner ?

Foodorlife

no dinner ?

Yes-dinner lol
Just put into different section.

davert123

If you want to know if you are eating enought read this link and all the links from it and then all the links from them. Seriously it will take you 3 or 4 hours perhaps but you will understand how to shape the rest of your life.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

PS its the same one someone posted earlier but it does have most of the answers you will need.

you are not eating enough to sustain you, if you cant eat any more I'm surprised you have had to come here in the first place ;-) Seriously if you don't eat enough you are going to damage both your body and your metabolism and you will end up flaking out before you know it.

good luck to you. MFP works for me because of the people who I and around with here and for people like the guys who made this link to share their knowledge. If you are looking for 'friends' here feel free to add me and we can cheer each other on.

Foodorlife

I've added 1 more egg and popcorn. I'm in 1200-1300...well will be later on.

davert123

...but mfp has 1200 as a minimum for a reason, as it's unlikely you'll get enough nutrition in less than that.

That's not correct, and there have been numerous posts showing it is perfectly feasible for folks to meet macro and micro requirements on less than 1200.

The reason MFP has a lower bound is for litigation-prevention reasons - they don't want to get sued when someone invariably does something crazy-stupid - it has nothing to do with "health".

I'd do that, too, if I were MFP.

This all depends on your body mass and the correct assessment of your body composition. I don't think MFP have done this for litigation purposes, the guys have done it because they don't want their great tool to be used to inflict self harm. I'm weighing in at 220 at the moment and I don't think I could hit my macros with 1200 calories. I need 640 for protein alone and my body needs some fat which is essential for normal operation so I guess I could go on a zero carb diet at a 1000. This would make me feel crap all day and would severely limit my ability to exercise. I would also almost definitely go into starvation mode which would drop my BMR by a couple/few hundred calories a day and my body would start to convert (What little) muscle I have into glucose to feed me which in turn will reduce my BMR further.

For me I want to do this sensibly so that it gives me good results over a prolong period of time. The best way I know (and many others who are more knowledgeable than me agree) is to take it easy and eat more not less and make sure I hit my macros without frigging them to match what I am doing :-)

Foodorlife

Nevermind...
mom made crepes with farmers cheese...I had one.