Am I unknowingly starving myself? :(

believetoachieve

Let me just start out by saying that I am NOT (not, not, not) trying to starve myself or do anything even remotely unhealthy. I'm very aware that eating too-few calories will slow the metabolism!! And that's precisely where my problem is...

I'm not sure if I'm accidentally starving myself, or doing the "right thing". How can you tell where that thin line is between "doing well" on your diet, and overboard into starvation? MFP gave me a guideline of 1200 calories, and I've been following that. [For relevance-sake, I'm 22, female, 5'4, 168-170lbs, and moderately active.] I'm often hungry. I'd say about 50% of the time, I have hunger pangs, and every night I go to bed with a rumbly tummy... it's been about a week now. I THOUGHT it might've all been in my head, and I needed some time for my stomach to simply adjust to a healthier amount of food (smaller!). But now I'm having second thoughts!! I work out about 3-4 times a week at the gym, for about an hour each time doing both cardio and strength training (as outlined by my trainer). I log my exercise, but not on MFP because I do not eat my exercise calories (I want to lose it, not add it right back!).

All thoughts are welcome... I have a sinking feeling I might be overdoing it with the dieting aspect, but I'm not sure! I DON'T want to starve myself. Help pleeeeease!!! :flowerforyou:

leanmass24

As long as you set up the account with to reflect a moderately active life style and are eating back your workout calories you should be fine. You can always change your goal to lose 1lb a week which is recommneded anyway and it should give you more calories.

jmo325

You need to log your exercise and eat 1/2 to 2/3 of your exercise calories because your body needs 1200 net calories a day to function or you will put your body into starvation mode. It happened to me, but when i started eating my exercise calories, i started losing again!

samrockrocks

it definitely sounds to me like you are not eating enough. you SHOULD be eating back the calories you burn exercising. If you eat a total of 1200 calories and don't exercise for the day, GREAT! You stuck to the goal. But if you eat 1200 calories for the day and exercise 500 of them away, then your body only has 700 to function on. NOT GOOD!

MFP originally gave me 1200 calories too, and I ate back my exercise calories. I still felt too hungry at night- like couldn't sleep hungry. So I gave myself another 100 calories and it's working for me!

natalie1872

I have read a heap of info on this subject and the bottom line is for long term effective weight loo you need to eat your BMR. and some at least of your exercise calories.
I will cut and paste the item from another post...not my words.

Short answer: Try Searching this topic, as it has been discussed ad nausea here on the site.

Longer (but not nearly long enough) answer:
Your body requires a certain number of calories in order for you to simply exist. In order for you eyes to blink, your heart to keep beating, your hair to keep growing, your organs to keep functioning, you have to feed it a certain number of calories. This number is caleld your BMR. (Use the tool on this site to check your BMR...) For example, my BMR is about 1490 calories. So say Ilay in bed allllll day, motionless. I would require 1490 calories just to keep my body alive.
The second I get out of bed, walk across the room, open the door to the bathroom, brush my teeth, pee, weigh myself, turn on the hot water,and hop in the shower...I have burned calories. Minimal...but still enough to start cutting into the 1490 my body needs in order to fuel its most basic functions.
So if I eat my BMR of 1490 a day, I am only giving my body enough to do its basic functions.
MFP gave me a number of calories based on my desire to lose 2 lbs a week. At my height and current weight, losing 2 lbs per week is not reasonable, but the lowest MFP will set someone's calories is 1200 (For many good reasons). 1200 is sort of an arbtrary number at this point but no one should really eat LESS than 1200, and there are likely very few people who could eat 1200 calories for the rest of their lives and maintain weight or stay satisfied. (opinion...sorry) I lost 20+ lbs eating 1200 cals a day. But the second I started eating "normal" again, I gained all 20+ lbs back, PLUS MORE. It might "work" in the short term, but for many here, 1200 calories isn’t the lifestyle change needed to STAY healthy and thin.

OK, back to the exercise thing. If I eat my 1500 (1490) cals today, my body will already be at a deficit for weight loss since I got out of bed, functioned, walked, lifted my toddler countless times, etc. So if I were to workout and burn 500 calories this afternoon, my body would be at an even greater deficit, and risk pushing my body to panic. Once your body panics and your metabolism worries that you are not feeding it enough, you will start to store fat at a faster rate. Your body and metabolism will try to hang onto any extra store of fat in preparation for an upcoming "famine".

Another way to look at it: If you eat 1200 calories and then exercise 500 calories away, you are only holding onto 700 calories for your body to draw from for energy, organ function, eye blinking, etc etc. Its just not enough for your body to exist on without causing long term troubles.

It took me a looooong time to "get" this. I still have to consciously remind myself to eat my calories in order to lose weight. It seems counter-intuitive...but it WORKS. When I eat my BMR and at LEAST half my exercise calories, I lose weight. When I only eat 1200 calories, I am miserable, hungry, and i might lose some weight initially...but i gain it alllll back with a few extra for fluffiness.

Bottom line: eat more, lose more.
BMR + exercise calories = success
(i eat at least half of my exercise calories)

Hope that helped!

HealthyishWithMaggieG

Eat your exercise calories! Yes, you're starving yourself. Your body needs fuel for all the exercise you're doing. Now, everyone on MFP seems to have a different opinion about how many exercise calories to eat (none, half, all, etc). I usually look at it this way... I eat as many of them as my body wants that day. If I'm hungry, I'll eat extra. If I'm not very hungry, I'll stay closer to my base (1200). Usually, I tend to use my exercise calories for something a little bit "naughty" like some chocolate or ice cream... a treat to go along with my usual "good" foods.

Weazol

Like everyone else has stated you need to eat your workout calories
If you eat 1200 calories in a day and then you work out and burn 600 you have then only consumed 600 calories for that day when you need 1200.

1200 calories is what everybody needs at least. Any less then that you will starve.

jessieinblue

Echoing what others have said: you need to eat back your exercise calories. 1200 should be your final amount, after subtracting calories burned.

believetoachieve

Thanks everyone

I changed my "goals" a little, and gave myself 1350 calories instead of the 1200 that was previously set. But I don't think I'm going to eat my exercise calories. I don't really understand - if I'm working hard at the gym to create a deficit of calories, why in the world would I want to come home and eat them right back?! (I do understand about net-calories though). It just doesn't make sense to me that I'd work it off, only to eat it right back :ohwell:

Can anyone help me out with that? I'm sooo confused!

doramouse

If you are eating 1200 or 1350 calories per day and you don't exercise then that is great. Those are the calories the MFP put you at to lose 1/2 lb, 1 lb or how ever many pounds per week you have it set at. It already accounts for a calorie reduction to equal a pound a week. So if you stayed w/in those calories you should lose each week.

If you are exercising everyday - then you are burning even MORE calories - which sounds good I know but if you burn 500 and eat 1200 then you are really only getting 700 calories per day. That is not enough to exist on -no long term anyway.

SO - you should enter your exercise calories -and eat at least half of them.

It works for all of us on here that do this.

deandp371

If you're a bit hungry, you are "burning lean" and that will be fine over time. Keeping track of the numbers is a good thing - and you are right to go by what your body is telling you too!

sarahTV

What I think you're missing with the exercise calories is this:

If you look at your goal page, it clearly states how many calories a day you should consume to maintain a healthy weight for your height/age. Then they subtract the amount you need to lose weight, this is where that 1200 calorie number comes in. This is the bare minimum amount of calories it takes to sustain your body each day.

NOW, when you exercise and burn calories, let's say for arguments sake that you burn 200, if you still only EAT 1200 calories, you've burned 200 of those making your total 1000...which puts your body into starvation mode. You are literally hurting yourself by eating too little. When you log your exercise into your account, it helps you adjust how many calories you eat to maintain that 1200 goal. While you are eating more, it's really for your health, you are not eating back all the weight you've worked off.

It's also important to note that when you starve yourself, your body burns your muscle for calories and stores your fat...so you're really shooting yourself in the foot.

Mindful_Trent

Thanks everyone

I changed my "goals" a little, and gave myself 1350 calories instead of the 1200 that was previously set. But I don't think I'm going to eat my exercise calories. I don't really understand - if I'm working hard at the gym to create a deficit of calories, why in the world would I want to come home and eat them right back?! (I do understand about net-calories though). It just doesn't make sense to me that I'd work it off, only to eat it right back :ohwell:

Can anyone help me out with that? I'm sooo confused!

MFP gives you a calorie deficit before any exercise is considered. Basically, MFP assumes that you're NOT going to exercise and tells you how much to eat to lose weight without it. So, when you exercise, you increase your deficit above and beyond what you set as your goal. Now, this isn't *always* a bad thing - obese individuals can afford to have higher calorie deficits and still be okay, but the less you have to lose, the less your body tolerates a high deficit. You'll know your total deficit by taking whatever you have left at the end of the day and adding it (or subtracting it if you went over) to you planned deficit that MFP gives you on your goal page. So, if you normally have a 750 cal deficit planned per your goal page, and you have 500 calories left, then you'll end up with a total deficit of 1250 calories! That may be too much for your body to handle on a regular basis. (A high deficit once in awhile is not a big deal.) Unfortunately there's no clear-cut guideline for what the highest safe deficit is for an individual - it will depend on how much they have to lose, their individual metabolism/body (which you can't quanitfy easily), as well as other things.

Jlcory

From a bunch of research I've done, when you start exercising you're primarily pulling glycogen (energy) from your liver and muscles. Once you're warmed up about 20% of the calories you burn come from fat.

Based on this I figure that you need to eat most of your exercising calories back (MINIMUM 80%) because your body needs to refill the glycogen stores in your muscle and liver.

So let's say you burn 200 calories on the treadmill. That means you should at least eat an additional 160 calories.

believetoachieve

Thank you everyone, again. I've read and appreciate all your comments.

So, would it be right to assume that more workouts = more weight lost, as long as I'm getting my appropriate net calories? The reason I'm concerned is that I had a rough goal of 1.5 - 2lbs a week, and MFP is only giving me 1.4lbs a week at a net calorie goal of 1200. So I guess I assumed that if I worked out I'd be able to increase that a little. How do I get myself to at least 1.5lbs a week? What will be the result if I keep working out (and start eating the appropriate calories) ? Weight loss?

ladyhawk00

Here are some good, thorough explanations of this topic (I know it's been said, but sometimes it takes saying it 20 different ways before the light goes on lol)

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/3047-700-calories-a-day-and-not-losing

Please...pleeeeeease....read them!!!!

jennylynn84

Thank you everyone, again. I've read and appreciate all your comments.

So, would it be right to assume that more workouts = more weight lost, as long as I'm getting my appropriate net calories? The reason I'm concerned is that I had a rough goal of 1.5 - 2lbs a week, and MFP is only giving me 1.4lbs a week at a net calorie goal of 1200. So I guess I assumed that if I worked out I'd be able to increase that a little. How do I get myself to at least 1.5lbs a week? What will be the result if I keep working out (and start eating the appropriate calories) ? Weight loss?

You won't/shouldn't.

The closer you are to your goal, and it sounds like you must be, the slower loss will be. That is because your body can sustain less of a calorie deficit. You're not able to live off the fat of the land as much, so to speak. That's a GOOD thing.

MFP cuts you off at 1200. That's as low as it will let you go because that is the accepted minimum in the medical world for how much you should eat to maintain health. In fact, some nutritionists say unless you're eating a very conscious diet you can't get all your nutrients unless you're at 1300.

Don't worry though, you might lose weight a little faster once you're feeding your body enough - this has often been the case with me.

Mindful_Trent

Thank you everyone, again. I've read and appreciate all your comments.

So, would it be right to assume that more workouts = more weight lost, as long as I'm getting my appropriate net calories? The reason I'm concerned is that I had a rough goal of 1.5 - 2lbs a week, and MFP is only giving me 1.4lbs a week at a net calorie goal of 1200. So I guess I assumed that if I worked out I'd be able to increase that a little. How do I get myself to at least 1.5lbs a week? What will be the result if I keep working out (and start eating the appropriate calories) ? Weight loss?

Honestly, with only 35 pounds to lose, you're not likely going to be able to maintain a 2 lb loss per week for very long, at least not in a way that is good for you. The less you have to lose, the lower deficit your body can handle. Going to too high of a deficit will only backfire and lower your metabolism if you do it long enough. I think 1.4 lbs/week seems pretty reasonable. Don't worry about eating *all* your exercise calories, but aim to eat a good bit of them most of the time and you should be okay. And you may find that your body will surprise you and you'll end up losing more than you "should" based on your calories in/calories out.