Am i suppose to eat exactly 1300 calories a day?

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AwareFront
AwareFront Posts: 12
in Health and Weight Loss
because usually i eat about 800 a day and im not sure if it'll work because im trying to lose 2 lbs a week, plus when i add more foods, it sometimes shows a negative red number under fats or like sugar because i go over the limit by a little, should i be concerned about this or what?. any tips would be amazing!

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  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,488 Member
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    You don't necessarily have to eat EXACTLY 1300 - but definitely need a lot more than 800. How are you even functioning with no little nutrients?! Unless you're very overweight 2 lbs a week isn't realistic.
  • nxd10
    nxd10 Posts: 4,570 Member
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    No. You DO want to average that over the course of a week. The easiest way to see that is to use your phone app, which has a nice line indicating what your goal is and where you weekly average is compared to that. If you don't use the phone app, just keep it in mind.
  • twixlepennie
    twixlepennie Posts: 1,074 Member
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    It averages out over a week's time. You do not want to be eating ridiculously low amounts like 800 calories a day though-that's just going to lead to all kinds of bad.
  • Ninkyou
    Ninkyou Posts: 6,666 Member
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    1. Make sure you're actually recording your food correctly (kitchen scale). Often people underestimate their portions.

    2. If you are eating only 800 calories a day, stop doing that. There is already a deficit built into your calorie amount, and eating drastically under can cause non-sustainable weight loss, malnutrition, and loss of muscle mass. You may read about people who lose on that amount safely, but this is usually for the very obese who are following a nutritionally calculated diet and receiving regular medical oversight.

    3. I don't know how much weight you have to lose, but if it's less than 75 or so pounds, adjust your expectations. Also, you are a guy, and 1300 calories is probably still too little for you to be eating.

    4. macronutrients (fat, protein, carbs) are a guideline, not a requirement. You need fat to absorb nutrients and to live. You could eat 1300 calories a day in sticks of butter and still lose weight (note: this is not recommended for other reasons).

    5. The sugar amount is off anyway, because it is based on the USDA's recommendation for added sugar but all sugars are added into the column. That said, sugar doesn't make you fat either. You could eat 1300 calories worth of white table sugar and again, lose weight (note: like the butter thing, this is a bad idea). If you don't have a medical reason to control your sugar, don't worry about it.

    +1

    It doesn't have to be exact, but you should aim to be as close to your goal as possible.

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