Reaching your daily calories

ladyhawk00

Wow this got a little out of control, lol. I do very much appreciate the advice on both sides of the fence, and I'm sure your advice will help many people who are more extreme than I am who relate to the title of my post and read through all this information.

For more reference, I only work 3 days a week, so I'm not *starving myself* most of the time, and like I said, I have only submitted for the day under 1200 cals a couple times. I have FANTASTIC eating habits (now, not so much before) so I am getting balanced nutrition and more than enough water. I exercise between 60 and 150 mins a day 4-5 days a week, cardio and strength training.

I was simply curious if it is absolutely necessary to break that 1200 ceiling EVERY day, or if a couple short days is really that detrimental. I still have 94 lbs to go, so it's not like I can't get a little more energy from somewhere within ;-)

Haha don't worry, I was simply explaining my responses, based on the info we had at the time (which were partly for general info). In your subsequent post, you explained quite a bit more. An occasional day under is not a big deal; it's when it becomes the norm that it's a problem. And, as someone with a lot to lose, you can probably withstand a little higher deficit than someone closer to a healthy BMI.

As I said, it's not so much about really forcing yourself to eat a lot more, it's more about planning and choosing the right foods for your schedule. So on days you work, you might try to add in some nutrient dense stuff to help make sure cals don't get too low. I would still try to ensure staying above 1200 on those days, even if you can't quite get to goal. The issue with getting too low often isn't as much about simple energy (as you said, with large amounts of fat stores, that isn't a huge problem), but more about actual macro/micros and getting proper levels of them - even with a pretty clean diet, it's hard to get as much your body needs when under 1200. So, in general, if you try to keep it above that, and aim for your cal goal as much as possible, shouldn't run into trouble. Congrats on getting started!

mnsmith83

That makes perfect sense! I will try to plan ahead a little better so I don't have to rely on the scant bit of healthy food we have at work to get me through the day! Thank you!