Worried about calorie intake... please advise

aimladuke

I am a 24 y/o female I currently weigh 158. I am looking to lose roughly 10- 15 lbs. in the next few months. I am aiming for 1.5 lbs a week. According to MFP I should be consuming 1300 calories. I really feel like this is more then enough food, and I rarely feel hungry, but I am terrified of the ominous "starvation mode" I keep reading about. My main goal is to be a healthier version of myself (if that makes any sense) not to "starve the pounds off. I do try to up the calories to 1400-1500 on the days I workout. I have been on MFP for a month and have been very happy with my results so far. I just would like confirmation that I am not hurting myself. I am hoping that MFP wouldn't have reccomended a calorie goal that is unhealthy. Please help!!!

kgeyser

For 10-15 lbs your goal should be more of a 1/2 lb per week goal. The less you have to lose, the less of a deficit you can carry because there just isn't a large enough range of calories to play around with.

Rayman79

The bottom line is if you genuinely have enough energy to get through the day and fuel your workouts you are fine. The starvation mode (as it is portrayed to be around here) is a myth. If you are eating at a low-moderate deficit and getting a range of nutriant dense foods you will be fine.

You should be aiming for a small weight loss as you do not have a lot to lose, but everyone is different. Some can tolerate a greater deficit than others. Just make sure you are doing some kind of resistance training as this is hugely beneficial in retaining your muscle while in a caloric deficit. This makes sure you don't just lose 'weight', but that you lose fat.

trickduffin

Here's a great article on this:

http://www.aworkoutroutine.com/starvation-mode/

The rest of his site is great as well!

Good Luck!