Too few calories? Really?!?

sarahgh

Ok, so we all know that if we cut our calories too far then our bodies will go into "starvation mode" and we will stop losing weight, right? I mean, I read this everywhere. But what I wanna know is, does anyone here have any actual PERSONAL EXPERIENCE with this phenomenon? Any one ACTUALLY jump start weight loss by increasing calories? And if so how did you structure the increase?

I feel like my body has NO interest in me losing the last 15 pounds. It's driving me a little nuts, and increasing my calories seems SOOOO counter intuitive. Anyone?

Mommyto3inAz

I am curious to see everyone's response as well.

bunnysone

Hey Sarah,

I have never gone into this mode - my body will not function on less than 1700 odd calories a day!!

But im happy to try and help you off your plateau! I only have 5 pounds to go after losing around 2 pounds this week by switching up what im doing.

I tried to see your diary to help but it isnt open - give me a shout if you want me to see if I can help x

sarah44254

For the month of March, I ate 1200 calories every day. I also ate back all my earned exercise calories.

This was too few calories for me. How do I know? Because I lost 0 lbs in the entire month.

I increased my calorie intake to 1530 for the month of April. I continued to eat back my exercise calories. I even allowed myself to go over calories by 50-150 each day if I felt really hungry. During that month I lost 4 lbs

It DOES help most people to eat enough to fuel their body. Play around with it, see what works for you.

Edit: There was no structure for me. I set my activity level to active instead of sedentary, and it gave me the goal of 1530 instead of 1200. That day I ate more. The following days I ate more, and more, and more.

RDH0513

My advice for a plateau is to eat more calories or a meal you wouldn't normally eat. You may also need to adjust your macro nutrient ratios. For instance, if you are eating 1200 calories of straight carbs/fat, you won't lost as much weight as you could with lowering the carbs and fat, and upping the protein. Never do high carbs and high fat at the same time!

curvycreation

I've read somewhere that 1 pound of fat on our bodies is equal to 3500 calories. Therefore, to lose a pound, you will need to burn 3500 calories. You can do this by cutting 500 calories a day for 7 days or of course, increasing your calorie burn. In general, women burn 1200 calories a day. You need 1200 cals for your body to function. So if you want to lose at least a pound a week, eat 1200 calories and burn 500 in exercise a day.

rakelros

I increased my calorie intake from 1200 to 1500 after I was stuck on a plateou for a month.
I started losing weight immediately, and have lost 6 pounds since then. (3 weeks ago actually).

If you don´t lose weight at all, you can at least try to eat variably, a bit more one day, and a bit less the next.
When I exercise heavily, I eat up to 2000 calories per day, actually have trouble with ingesting that much food in a day.

So yes, upping my calorie intake (along with upping my protein intake, I always go overboard on that now, as I was losing a lot of muscle mass before), worked like a charm for losing more weight.

HartJames

Yup worked for me! I was eating 1200 and bumped up to 1450 and started dropping a week later.

Crystal_Rudolph

So what do you do if you can't even make the minium 1200 calories, let alone the excercise calories. I try to eat, but lately before I even reach the 1200 calorie limit I am too full! I mean full to the point of feeling sick!

Mindful_Trent

I highly recommend you check this post out: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/49690-the-banks-plan
As you only have 15 pounds to lose, you'd fall into Phase 3.

Here's a well-respected user's personal story on "starvation mode": http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/175241-a-personal-view-on-exercise-cals-and-underfeeding?hl=personal+story+starvation

And here's an excellent post from today on how "starvation mode" really works - it's the facts, minus the "hype" and "scare tactics" that some posts have: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/230930-starvation-mode-how-it-works

rakelros

I had problems too with upping my calorie intake. before I started MFP I was actually eating about 6-800 calories per day.
I started planning my days ahead, picking out the foods that would give me the most calories without being too heavy for the stomach, that way I could transition to eating more every day.

thkelly

In general, women burn 1200 calories a day.

please don't post information like this. this is completely false. every person is different. there's no "general" number

froglegjack

I had problems too with upping my calorie intake. before I started MFP I was actually eating about 6-800 calories per day.
I started planning my days ahead, picking out the foods that would give me the most calories without being too heavy for the stomach, that way I could transition to eating more every day.



I did too, then I added protein shakes and nuts....both higher in calories and with good fat.

sorry don't know how to do the quote thing

PrincessBTits

It's called calorie cycling or the "every other day" diet. Google it. Your metabolism (supposedly) plateaus at a certain point because it gets used to routine and the same amount of calories/exercise. Eating more/less, burning more/less keeps it guessing, so to speak.

HartJames

If that's the case you are eating too many low cal foods and maybe need to switch out to sone very healthy high cal items. A lg. sweet potato for instance is 300 cals, smoothies can be as many cals as you need them to be and still only fill a glass. Ezekial sprouted grain bread is super healthy and has twice the cals of bread I used to eat. A large egg is 70 cals. So a 2 egg omlette with cheese and toast could be 450 cals, a smoothies at lunch could be 300 and dinner of 4 oz. Chicken and sweet potatoe could be 450 cals. That is not a lot of food and I just pulled those random things off the top of my head!

Mandakat17

bump

ladydove5

I was at a standstill and didn't seem able to get my pounds to drop. I was eating less than 1200 calories a day! When I upped my calories to between 1200 and 1300 ( thats considering exercise) wow! I started seeing my weight drop a pound or two at a time here recently...so it working for me so far!! I really didn't expect it ....I was wrong.

erinhale

If you're at a plateau, you may have lost all of the weight you will given the number of calories you're eating each day and the time you spend exercising. At this point, you need to ask yourself if you're satisfied with your current weight or if you want to lose more, in which case you'll need to adjust your weight-loss program. If you're committed to losing more weight, try these tips for getting past the plateau:

• Reassess your habits. Look back at your food and activity records. Make sure you haven't loosened the rules, letting yourself get by with larger portions or less exercise.

• Cut calories. Reduce your daily calorie intake by 200 calories — provided this doesn't put you below 1,200 calories. Fewer than 1,200 calories a day may not be enough to keep you from feeling hungry all of the time, which increases your risk of overeating.

• Rev up your workout. Increase the amount of time you exercise by an additional 15 to 30 minutes. You might also try increasing the intensity of your exercise, if you feel that's possible. Additional exercise will cause you to burn more calories.

• Pack more activity into your day. Think outside the gym. Increase your general physical activity throughout the day by walking more and using your car less, or try doing more yardwork or vigorous spring cleaning.

• Make sure you replacing what you are burning. Wearing a heart rate monitor can give you a more accurate view on how many calories you are burning in a workout session. Your body needs the extra calories through out the day. You must eat more to lose more. If your body is in a negative caloric state, it will not burn fat.
Don't let a weight-loss plateau lead to an avalanche.

If your efforts to get past a weight-loss plateau aren't working, talk with your doctor or a dietitian about other tactics you can try. You may also want to revisit your weight-loss goal. Maybe the weight you're striving for is unrealistic for you. If you've improved your diet and increased your exercise, you've already improved your health even without further weight loss. For those who are overweight or obese, even modest weight loss improves chronic health conditions related to being overweight.

Whatever you do, don't revert back to your old eating and exercise habits. That may cause you to regain the weight that you've already lost.

Try the following:

Is it a plateau? – A plateau is 1-2 weeks, not 1-2 days! When was the last time the scale moved? Are you really facing a weight loss plateau?
Follow your plan – Be sure you are following your weight loss program eating guidelines each day and are not inadvertently eating non-approved foods or too much of the higher-carbohydrate foods.

Too many carbs? – Reduce the total carbohydrates in your plan. For example, if your weight loss program includes a lot of vegetables, choose the lower carbohydrate vegetables for a week or two. Also, consider your choice of condiments. For example, are you adding high-carbohydrate salad dressing to your salads? Follow the Golden Rule of carbs, a 4:1 ratio.

Do not skip meals – Skipping meals can cause your metabolism to slow down and cause you to lose weight more slowly. If anything, you should consider eating smaller amounts more frequently, 5-6 times per day.
The little things – Do you add a lot of cream in your coffee? If so, try a creamer with less fat. Do you chew gum or eat mints? These can add a surprising amount of sugar throughout the day, depending on your choice of gum or mints. Record everything that touches your mouth. EVERYTHING has calories in it, record it.

Women – If you are female, are you on your menstrual cycle? This can certainly cause a temporary slow-down of your weight loss.

Water – Do you drink enough water? A minimum of 64-ounces per day is recommended. More is usually better!

Near your goal weight? – Are you nearing your goal weight? If so, you can expect the rate of weight loss to slow down. Be patient and persistent.

Exercise – Are you exercising? If not, start – but slowly. If you are already exercising, try adding a few more minutes (or more) of daily exercise. Make sure you are changing your routine every 4-6 weeks and challenging your body to do more reps, more weight, and more time. On the other hand, it is possible to be getting too much exercise to where your body is fatigued. Maybe you need to back off a little. It may also help to change the type of exercise you do for a while. For example, if you always run on the treadmill, try using a stationary bike instead for a couple of weeks.

Stress – Have you been under more stress lately than normal? Additional stress can cause your body to change and slow your weight loss. It can also cause you to behave differently. For example, when you are stressed and tired, you may grab some fast food on your way home from work, then feel guilty about your food choice.

Illness – Have you been sick lately? Even having a cold, for example, can cause your body to lose weight less efficiently as you fight the cold symptoms. Focus on getting healthy again and then resume your regular program.

Rest – Are you getting enough sleep? Most of us don’t but this is one of the most important things we can do for ourselves. A lack of sleep can wear your body down and affect your weight loss efforts.

curvycreation

Hey! I'm no expert. I was just stating what I read. According to the site I read, 1200 is safe to assume on average/in general. Of course everyone is different. This goes without saying.

mfreeby

I am right there with you. I want to lose another 15 pounds and I can't get the scale to budge. When I asked for help, everyone said eat more so I'm trying to meet a 1200 net. However, I am also trying to focus on healthy foods and so it can be tough when I'm eating A LOT but the cals aren't there because it's lots of veg and lean meat. I'm struggling a lot with this. I will definitely up my cals (even considering alternating 1400 net and 1200 net days) and just hope for the best!!!! AHHHH!!!! Good luck.

Superdupermom

I have had a problem eating all my regular calories lets not even talk about the exercise calories! and I have been losing weight galore! i have not gone into starvation mode. take vitamins. light exercise. eat right. eat light. and you will lose!

rulaborelli

I was eating my 1200 calories, excercising, and eating back most of thosse calories without much weight loss (1 pound every 2-3 weeks!) for several months. So I figured that for me, 1200 was too high, and I started eating 100-200 less per day, with high protein and low fat and carbs, and weight is coming off much easier now. I did do a protein shake cleanse (shakes, lean protein and veggies for one week), for a few days that helped jump start my diet and now that I see some results, I feel like I can keep doing it. Due to surgery and illness, I have not been to the gym in over a month

Losingitin2011

I have been adding shakes into my daily routine to get some easier to process calories in my system. It seems to help me a lot, and luckily my milk allergy is calming down so I can get away with it. I am going to start adding protein shakes into the mix as well. I noticed when I was only on 1200 cal a day not only was I not losing weight, but I was hungry and cranky all the time. Kick it up to 1400-1600 and I felt much better and dropped a bunch of weight pretty quickly.

Keep in mind that everyone is different, and it's best to just try things for a week or 2 and see if it makes a difference. If you gain back a pound or 2, then readjust and don't sweat it! :flowerforyou:

CynthiasChoice

Yes - it worked for me. Last September, I didn't loose any weight at all. I was keeping my calorie intake around 1600, if I remember right. After the advise of a friend to "eat more for a few days" I did just that. I didn't count calories, just ate my fill of healthy foods for three days. Then I started tracking calories again, but ate closer to 1750 a day. It worked! I began loosing a pound a week again.

Lately, I've tried the "zig-zag" method, but it's too new to know if it works, and I'm honestly not really doing it right. Trying to do it did get me loosing again after a plateau in March, though.

My friend, who is 5'6" and 160 lbs recently had her BMI professionally done. Turns out she has lots of muscle mass, and it was recommended that she eat 2000 cals a day to loose a pound a week. Previously, she had been on a 1200 cal diet for months and doing lots of exercise and the weight just wouldn't budge. I hope the 2000 cals a day works for her!

makena78

I am dealing with trying to eat enough calories. Last month I was trying to eat less calories to lose weight now I'm trying to eat enough. I'm not hungry, I ate a big lunch and now it's 8pm. still not hungry and I don't want to eat dinner at 9pm. I know about the starvation mode my body will do and I'm not sure how to force food into me when not hungry. This is such a frustrating process to lose weight. I didn't think I would ever have to force myself to eat more. But, I think I might have to try.

Cait_Sidhe

Just this past month I've been plateau-ing. I kept fluctuating 2-3 pounds. Then the other day I started reading this website and learned about eating your workout calories back and starvation mode. Since then, I've been making sure to meet my 1200 calorie goal, making sure I wasn't under (I've been under a lot previously, didn't know it was counterproductive) and eating my workout calories. Just in the past few days of eating more, I've lost 3 pounds and they've stayed off.

Autumn1206

Well, I started using MFP about a month ago, and I lost about 6 pounds then last week, I came in well under my calories every day (enough that I got the message almost every day last week), increased my cardio and circuit training, and I only lost 0.2 pounds. Now, I don't know if that means I went into starvation mode, or if my body is just adjusting to the change in routine, but I am going to try and make darn sure I don't get the message anymore this week after today.

My net numbers after exercise were about 1000 every day and MFP said that was too low. During the preceding three weeks, I hit about 1200-1300 calories net per day and I lost weight every week - 4 lbs the first week, .8 the next and 1.0 the third. So I am not as experienced as a lot of you, but that has been my experience. I think this starvation mode theory has some legs.

Good Health to You

alglines

Your post helps answer the question I had today. I'm thinking that my calorie goal is too low. I'm on my 8th day and have come in just under 1200 all but one day, and that one was 200 over. I know there's that danger of starvation mode but I figured since I'm so sedentary I'd be okay (weighed in this morning and have lost an ounce). I woke up unbelievably cranky and weepy today (partly PMS, I think) and didn't feel better until about now at the 746 calorie point. There are still 10 hours left in my day (and I'm still hungry), so I think I'm going to have to go significantly past 1200 today.

I haven't done any exercising yet (sad with a gym in my building) but I was almost worried to because I knew it would make me hungrier and probably send me over my limit. I think what I'm reading is that if I work out I can eat back those calories I burn, so I feel like I should run upstairs and kick my own butt, then come back down here and go to town on some healthy calories until I'm full.

How did you settle on your revised calorie count? My metabolism has always been high so I think that my gut (pun intended) is right about needing more than the standard 1200.

AlsDonkBoxSquat

Ok, so we all know that if we cut our calories too far then our bodies will go into "starvation mode" and we will stop losing weight, right? I mean, I read this everywhere. But what I wanna know is, does anyone here have any actual PERSONAL EXPERIENCE with this phenomenon? Any one ACTUALLY jump start weight loss by increasing calories? And if so how did you structure the increase?

I feel like my body has NO interest in me losing the last 15 pounds. It's driving me a little nuts, and increasing my calories seems SOOOO counter intuitive. Anyone?

My mom struggles with losing weight and has for many years. When we logged her for a trial week to see what was going on she was at 900 calories per day (there abouts). As soon as we upped her to 1200 calories she dropped 5 pounds in a month. She gained a little first because her body was used to having to store, but then after a week or 2 her body readjusted and was ready to lose. So I think she went up 2 then down 7 or something like that.

MaraDiaz

Recent experience (may or may not be relevant): I was losing weight steadily for six or seven weeks, then I had a few days where I didn't eat all my exercise calories and the scale stuck. It stuck for two weeks and then some. I got so upset on Saturday I bought a chocolate cake and some cashews from the grocery store and pigged out on Saturday (you can see my diary, it's open). I didn't exercise for two days, either. I just sulked and drank coffee and sat at my computer yesterday. Then I had a big dinner (100 calories over my daily goal all total).

Today I got on the scale expecting disaster and instead I dropped two pounds.


Past experience: After I had my son I dropped weight by starvation and diet pills. When I got into the 130s and then 120s, it required extreme starvation to move the scale. I'm talking 500-ish calories a day even though I worked out regularly and worked a very active warehouse job. I was starving myself to death and the pounds eventually did come off, but it certainly wasn't at a normal rate. Of course as soon as I stopped starving myself I put it all back on and then some.

fakeplastictree

Yep, yep. It's a little scary at first but it works. I was at 1200 for awhile and quit losing. but I finally went up to 1400 and have been losing every since.