too little calories ?? i dont get it

lisa4131

:ohwell: MFP has me set up for a 1200 calories a day intake ...ok fine , however on most days i dont eat all 1200 calories and MFP tells me to eat more after i complete my food diary for the day , for the most part i eat as healthy as i can...if i eat more than 1200 calories i often feel like im too full and i feel sick so most of the time i come in under my goal calories ...should i be worried that im not going to lose weight because im consuming less calories than suggested ????? am i right to feel like if im not hungry then why eat ? i try to stay active and i do eat i just come in under cals ....any suggestions as to what i should do ??????

trewgirl

I dont really have any advice or help but I am having the same exact problem and would also like an answer....

ski3r4life

Listen to your body... see what happens... and then adjust accordingly. There is no one cut and dry answer. I suggest reading the Q and A blog on the populat blog list because she talks about this and she has been there and done it!!

crashta

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/62929-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo

I read this last night and it makes a lot of sense to eat the net 1200 calories if you are tying to lose weight.

mishmash73

if you are eating 3 300 calories meals plus snacks, i don't see how you could be eating less than 1200 calories. you shouldn't be skipping meals. the other issues is that you are not entering all your foods. You need to eat about 1200 calories a day for your body to avoid going into starvation mode & hoarding all the calories ... which stops you from losing weight. you shouldn't feel sick if you are eating good healthy foods. it when i eat mac & cheese or fast food crap that i used to feel that sick full feeling,.

chach918

From what I understand, if you do not eat enough your body goes into starvation mode. Stores food as fat thinking it will not get any when it needs it. Try eating a few extra calories to get to the 1200. Good luck.

Isa25

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

^^Long but a good read.

ebkins7

Listen to your body... you can get the extra calories by simply adding an extra piece of fruit or veggie with each meal.

I'm not sure what your goals are but definately listen to your body and try to eat back any exercise calories. Try aiming for 1200 NET calories!

Hope this helps!

rodneyderrick

I suggest you get as close to the 1200 calories as possible. People that eat too few calories don't last long on any diet program, but the reason for the 1200 calorie limit is because people that stay on a low calorie diet for too long start to develop early signs of osteoporosis. In addition, your metabolism can come to a stand still, weight-loss will stop, and you'll stop logging your calories which will lead to you gaining back all your weight.

dawnyl25

had this problem when i first started. you need to get 1200 cals what i did was stared drinking a glass of juice it puts you right where you need to be without feeing really full from it. plus its easy cals to burn. hope this works for you!

lisa4131

i dont eat any where near 3300 cals a day i eat alot of veggies mostly raw fruit and lots of water i dont ever skip meals and i do light exercise i feel sick when i try to eat more because my body feels full so what should i do eat more and then get sick and puke ??? i get extra cals for excersing but never eat them back i just feel like im not hungry ...should i be worried or should i just force myself to eat more and i enter everything in MFP as soon as im done eating to so i never leave anything out ....thank for all ur help

randi50

add in some almonds or something to up your cals

fitniknik

I go with at least 1200 calories eaten after exercise has been factored in. I usually try to eat almost all of my calories. I have been losing weight rapidly. If your body is telling you that your not hungery you are probably already in starvation mode.

hpsnickers1

http://www.hussmanfitness.org/html/TPAdaptation.html

The law of unintended consequences

Your body is an amazing feedback system aimed at balance and survival. Humans are at the top of the food chain because they are able to adapt to their environment. Every action produces a reaction. Every change in its environment triggers a survival response. It's important to keep that in mind when you plan your fitness program. If you treat your body as an enemy to be conquered, you'll produce unintended results.

For example, if you severely cut off the supply of food to your body, it will defend itself by slowing down its metabolism to survive starvation. The body will shed muscle mass the same way that you would throw cargo from a plane that was low on fuel, and it will reduce its thyroid activity to conserve energy. The body will also actually defend its fat stores. In anorexia, muscle loss can be so profound that fat as a percentage of body weight actually rises. Extreme carbohydrate restriction also causes muscle loss, dehydration, and slower metabolism, which is why even successful Atkins dieters can have a significant rebound in weight after they stop the diet (don't worry – the advice on this site will prevent that from happening).

As another example, if you put your body under stress through overexertion and lack of sleep, it will respond by slowing down, reducing muscle growth, and increasing your appetite for junk food, carbohydrates and fat. If you feed your body excessive amounts of sugar and quickly digested carbohydrates, and it will shut off its ability to burn fat until those sugars are taken out of the bloodstream.

This website will show you how to work with your body to quickly produce the changes you want. In order to do that, you need to take actions that push your body to adapt – to build strength, burn fat, and increase fitness. You need a training program, not an exercise routine. You need a nutrition plan, not a diet. You need a challenge, not a few good habits you usually try to follow except when you don't.
Setting the right goal

John Dewey once said that a problem well-stated is half-solved. If you want to reach your goal, you have to define it correctly. See, a lot of people say “I want to lose weight.” Well, if losing weight is your goal, go on a no-carb diet. You'll lose a lot of weight – some of it will be fat, a lot of it will be water, and a dangerous amount will be muscle tissue. You'll lose weight quickly, but you'll slow your metabolism and gain fat more quickly once you go off the diet. Trust me on this. I've been there, done that.

The problem is that you've set the wrong goal. If you want to look better, have more energy and enjoy better health, the goal is not simply to “lose weight.” The goal is to improve your fitness level and body composition. That means losing fat, improving your aerobic capacity, training your strength and defending your muscle tissue. You can't do that with a no-carb diet. You will do it using the approach you'll learn on this website. Trust me on this one too. I know what it's like to feel fat, tired and helplessly out of shape. The whole point of this site is to help others avoid that, by sharing lessons that I had to learn the hard way.
Ready to change?

Right this minute, your body is the way it is because it has adapted to the lifestyle you've thrown at it, in an attempt to survive. Ever seen the directory at the mall with the little red arrow that says “you are here”? Well, fitness is the same way. You are here. You can't start anywhere else. So be kind to yourself. Don't beat yourself up. Don't worry about how much there is to do. Change your self-talk from “My body is my enemy” to “My body is my partner.” Accept where you are right now as the starting point, and start moving.

Changing your body requires more than just “going on a diet” for a few weeks. If you want to change your body, you have to make some changes to your lifestyle (which requires some discipline, but isn't as hard as it sounds). If you create the right environment, your body will adapt to it by becoming leaner, stronger, and more energetic. You can do this.

AND:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/209559-metabolic-damage-starvation-mode-article


Eating back your exercise calories and staying above 1200 NET is even more important when you are not that overweight or already at a healthy weight (fat reserves are low). The body doesn't want to give up the fat and will protect it while eating into your lean muscle mass and that muscle mass is what burns fat during rest, normal activity and sleeping.

Your body will adjust to the food. I went from drinking coffee all day and eating at night to eating at least 4 meals a day. It was hard at first but my body had adjusted and is loving me for it.

SaraTonin

Lisa, he meant three 300 calorie meals, not 3300 calories. Maybe you should try incorporating more snacks or protein shakes to help you meet calories.

Missjenn98

Add some healthy higher calorie snacks like peanut butter or almonds. After I exercise I usually eat 2 tablespoons of peanut butter and a banana, that adds around 200 more calories. Or an ounce or two of cheese, it has good fats and higher cals. Avocados also are high in calories but good for you.

TonyaJ83

i dont eat any where near 3300 cals a day i eat alot of veggies mostly raw fruit and lots of water i dont ever skip meals and i do light exercise i feel sick when i try to eat more because my body feels full so what should i do eat more and then get sick and puke ??? i get extra cals for excersing but never eat them back i just feel like im not hungry ...should i be worried or should i just force myself to eat more and i enter everything in MFP as soon as im done eating to so i never leave anything out ....thank for all ur help

That person was saying if you ate 3 meals and each meal was 300 calories each, plus snacks & drinks, you shouldn't have a problem getting to 1200 calories total. I think that's what they meant..........You should be eating every 2-3 hours. Have a healthy snack in between meals.

NoAdditives

You can't always trust your body. Over time it adjusts to the amount of food you eat. If you eat too much you'll be hungry all the time if you suddenly cut back. If you eat too little you'll feel too full when you try to eat more. Hunger signals are subjective.

When I first started with MFP I was eating 400-700 net calories a day. I hadn't lost weight in three months. I started eating more because I knew I had to, but it was hard. I added a little extra food to each meal and tried to work in some snacks. I didn't simply eat higher calorie foods because they are generally higher in fat. It only took about a week for me to be comfortable eating 1500 calories plus my exercise calories every day.

I retrained my body to want the appropriate amount of food. It took a little bit of work at first, I was daunted by the amount of calories I had to eat. But like I said, I adjusted quickly. Once I was eating enough I started losing weight immediately. It's been 5 months and I've lost 13.5 pounds.

Sasha_Bear

Somedays I have this same problem and I've noticed the weeks when I eat under my calories are the weeks I lose the least or no weight at all. So I would definitely suggest trying to get as close to 1200 as possible without getting sick, you can add a glass of milk or juice and that should help get you there.

lisa4131

my food diary is open someone look and tell me what else to add , maybe ur all right i need to eat more i just feel really full after i eat but thanks for all the help i appreciate it

TonyaJ83

I cannot see your diary.

PlanetVelma

i dont eat any where near 3300 cals a day i eat alot of veggies mostly raw fruit and lots of water i dont ever skip meals and i do light exercise i feel sick when i try to eat more because my body feels full so what should i do eat more and then get sick and puke ??? i get extra cals for excersing but never eat them back i just feel like im not hungry ...should i be worried or should i just force myself to eat more and i enter everything in MFP as soon as im done eating to so i never leave anything out ....thank for all ur help

I think the previous poster was trying to tell you this:

It's better to eat 5-6 small meals a day versus three 300 meals/day. Try having oatmeal w/ a tablespoon of peanut butter, or making yourself a protein shake after a work out.

lisa4131

ok its open to view now i made my food diary public

stplatt

Absolutely, YES, you should be worried about too few calories, in fact I have found that MFP tends to assign too few calories to begin with. Gonna try to be concise with my answer...but there is a lot to cover.

Each person has a Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR). This is the number of calories your body would need for bodily functions even if you were in a coma. Conventional wisdom says not to go below 20% ABOVE this number.

So what happens when you get too few calories??? If you consistently eat too few calories, your body figures out it needs to conserve energy so that it can exist on the few calories that it is getting. Since muscle burns a lot of calories, the most efficient way to do this is to get rid of some muscle so that it can exist on fewer calories. This slows your metablolism, which means that you won't lose weight as quickly.

Lets carry this on out. Let's suppose that you decide to lose weight this way and are successful. You have two options. Stay at the limited calories that you have lived on, or eat more. If you stay on at the same calorie intake, you will continue to lose weight and will fall below a healthy level. But if you increase your calories, you body is now not equipped to deal with all of those calories. It has slowed your metablolism to deal with decreased calories, so when you begin eating normally, it all turns to excess weight.

I hope this helps. If you want to know what your BMR, you can use this calculator http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/bmr/. You can also get a lot of good information from the Fat2Fit podcast at www. fat2fitradio.com.

suzycreamcheese

i think on your diet, youre going to mess up your metabolism unfortunately. You dont eat breakfast and then you barely eat lunch a lot of days. Did you used to before you started this, or is it recent? I know a lot of people cant face food first thing, but if youre not going to, then you should try to improve your lunch


I woul suggest at least putting some sugar/honey in your coffee instead of splenda in the morning if youre not going to eat, or try and train yourself to eat something small first thing. Maybe a fruit smoothie or a banana?

I think youd do better long term if it wasnt so restrictive. A lot of the food is ok, but theres no need for the quantities to be so small. On saturday all you had was a tin of soup at lunchtime - thats your entire food for the day. I struggle to believe thats because you were so full from a tin of soup that you couldnt eat the rest of the day.

lisa4131

i was sick saturday i was lucky to keep anything down .

LareishaH

I did the same thing when I first started MFP, and I lost a lot of weight. Suddenly I just hit a plateau. I could never get to 1200 calories because I was eating basically the same things every day. A combination of the following foods: eggs, fruit, broccoli, corn, cucumbers, bell peppers, baked chicken, baked tilapia, stir fry chicken, and steamed tilapia. So I was full, the weight was falling off, and I was getting my nutrients (or so I thought). Now I have switched things up a little bit. Now I try to cook a variety of dishes by looking at the recipe section and different websites (this really helps me increase my dinner and lunch calories). I was eating a 4oz piece of baked chicken with about 1 cup of steamed broccoli for dinner at around 200 calories. Now I eat something like broccoli and cheddar cheese stuffed chicken for around 300 calories. Not only is it more appetizing but it boosts your caloric intake without damaging your weight loss goal! Since my diary is public I must warn you that this last week of fast food is not reflective of what I just told you. If you look you're going to have to go back a week....lol. Either way GOOD LUCK!!!

ruststar

After looking at your diary there are a couple of things you could do to help meet your calorie goals - choose a different bread, one that has more calories per slice. I buy Franz Whole Wheat bread, which is 80 calories a slice (only 1 g. of sugar!), but the slices are not huge, so they shouldn't fill you up too much. Another thing to try is more calorie dense vegetables. Carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, snap peas, and bell peppers all have more nutrition (and more calories) then cucumbers which are mostly water. I keep a jar of olives in the fridge to help me get up to 1200 calories when I'm close and not very hungry - 2 are 15 calories, and even if I'm not all that hungry I can manage 4 or 5 olives. Since my overall salt intake is low i don't worry about the additional sodium.

lisa4131

i just made turkey tacos i put a bunch of veggies on the taco and it filled me right up i made 2 of them and i ate my calories for the day ..yes i still have some extra cals from working out today but looking up different recipes helped me and so did all of your comments i think this may be hard for me to do everyday but i do believe i can try to work on this especially if below 1200 is not good for you ...thanks everyone

cmstaley1

Try six 200 calorie "snacks/Meals" I find that like clockwork when I eat small meals every two hours I am hungry. The way it was explained to me once was eating a small meal is like throwing a couple sticks on a fire. It burns hot and very fast. If you eat a big meal its like throwing a log on the same fire it burns very slow. Essentially by eating small meals you are boosting your metabolisim. Good Luck! Hope that helps.

sdxicana

Another suggestion, is instead of trying to find items that are classified as "non-fat" or "low calorie" just look for stuff that is more natural with possibly higher calories. Many times things that are "non-fat" and such, have a lot more other processed junk that makes it not very good for your body to begin with. So say for example, instead of trying to find low calorie peanut butter, get just regular organic peanut butter with no additives, which will have higher calories and will help you increase your calorie intake and also be better for your body. Or like for whole wheat breads, look for breads that might have higher calories, but less stuff like sugar and high fructose corn syrup. For yogurt, maybe go with a regular greek yogurt instead of a yoplait fat free. Also, add items that are naturally high in calories. Add some avocado to a meal, sprinkle some olive oil over a salad, eat a handful of walnuts as a snack. These are all natural foods, will add calories, but have good fats in them. Just find ways to be creative to increase your calories, but not necessarily the amounts of food you actually consume so you don't feel completely stuffed.