Eating too few calories?

ashiet

Good evening! I just completed my food tracking for the day and got the message that I am not eating the recommended amount of calories to keep my body from going into starvation mode. MFP doesnt want me (or anyone for that matter) to eat less than 1200 calories a day. If i ate 1200 calories a day I would not lose any weight as my BMR is slightly over that. I try to exercise when I can, but given the busy lifestyle I dont always get to as much as I would like. Anyone else have a similar issue? I am 5'1" and about 122 lbs. Thanks!

DKev

I'm no expert, but from what I understand, your BMR is the calories your body needs to function if you lay in bed all day. So that being said....You need to eat 1200 calories at least. A few spoonfuls of peanut butter or a handful of nuts will do the job.

Jenscan

BMR is actually the caloric value required to keep your body functions moving if you were in a coma - no activity at all. You will lose weight if you are eating/burning off 500 calories/day (or 3500/week) below your resting metabolic rate, which is higher than BMR.

SheilaSisco

I'm only 4'11" and I've done research... when I hit my goal of 115 and go into maintenance my calories for maintenance are a little over 1500. BMR is what you burn doing NOTHING (like laying in bed doing absolutely nothing all day long)... you have to fuel for that AND daily activities like standing, walking, talking, laughing, crying, etc. I'm sure if you figured maintenance for your current weight it would be around 1600 or so, so 1200 WOULD lose you weight. I'm not sure why you'd want to though... 122 is a very healthy weight for your height... but it's your body. Just PLEASE make sure you're eating above 1200 net... I hate to see people get sick because they don't (and believe me, I've seen bad things happen to ppl who don't...)

ashiet

see thats the thing, my RMB is only 1,383 calories per day. So 500 below that would be less than 900 calories/day.....

ashiet

Sheila - you make a good point though about daily activities needing to be fueled as well. ANd you are right, 122 is within the healthy range, but it is on the higher end. My goal is around 116 or so. Thanks all for your replies!

psuLemon

The one thing you are forgetting to add in is your total daily energy expenditure. You can't just back off 500 calories from your BMR. If you live a sedentary life, you have to multiply that number by 1.2 and then since you are close to a good weight back off 250 calories. It puts you at 1200 calories. If you exercise or ahve a job where you are on your feet, that multiplier gets larger. 1.375 is moderate (generally exercising 3-5 days a week), 1.55 if ou exercise 5-6 days a week and 1.75 if you are insane and workout 2 hours a day for 5-6 days a week.

srp2011

I'm in a similar boat as you, so I did a little research on where the 1200 calories/day figure came from (BTW, this is only for women, it is 1800 for men, so PLEASE do not tell men they need to eat 1200 cal/day and they will be fine - I see that all the time and it is a real pet peeve). The 1200 cal/day figure is generally recommended by many nutritionists and doctors as the minimum that "most" women need to avoid starvation mode. It is based in part on figuring the BMR of a woman of average height, and activity level, and extrapolating from there. They have to pick some number to recommend. However, there is absolutely NO scientific evidence to back up this number - it is simply expert opinion which is one of the lower levels of scientific evidence, which doesn't discount it, but it doesn't carry as much weight as results gather from prospectively planned clinical trials. So while this number is a good guideline, and MFP uses it to avoid legal liability I'm sure, it can and should be adjusted for each individual. Shorter women may not need quite as much, taller women need more, and very active individuals need a higher amount.

I'm 5'0", and I find around 1100 cal/day works well for me (and I make sure the foods I eat are very healthy so I probably get more nutritional value than many people who are eating more calories). I eat a little more on days when I run. If I followed MFP guidelines and ate all of my exercise calories, I would lose approximately 0.3 pounds per week, which just isn't very satisfying...

psuLemon

I'm in a similar boat as you, so I did a little research on where the 1200 calories/day figure came from (BTW, this is only for women, it is 1800 for men, so PLEASE do not tell men they need to eat 1200 cal/day and they will be fine - I see that all the time and it is a real pet peeve). The 1200 cal/day figure is generally recommended by many nutritionists and doctors as the minimum that "most" women need to avoid starvation mode. It is based in part on figuring the BMR of a woman of average height, and activity level, and extrapolating from there. They have to pick some number to recommend. However, there is absolutely NO scientific evidence to back up this number - it is simply expert opinion which is one of the lower levels of scientific evidence, which doesn't discount it, but it doesn't carry as much weight as results gather from prospectively planned clinical trials. So while this number is a good guideline, and MFP uses it to avoid legal liability I'm sure, it can and should be adjusted for each individual. Shorter women may not need quite as much, taller women need more, and very active individuals need a higher amount.

I'm 5'0", and I find around 1100 cal/day works well for me (and I make sure the foods I eat are very healthy so I probably get more nutritional value than many people who are eating more calories). I eat a little more on days when I run. If I followed MFP guidelines and ate all of my exercise calories, I would lose approximately 0.3 pounds per week, which just isn't very satisfying...

Well there are ways to speed up your weightloss a lot of times, but you just have to figure out if you are truely eating enough. This is why there is a fight between eating back your exercise calories which is essential if you follow MFP. The majority of the time, people aren't eating enough to lose weight or at least from all the people I have helped so far.