Eating less than goal calories

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Leanne3552000
Leanne3552000 Posts: 395 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm new to MFP and have been given a goal of 1200 calories a day. Does it matter if I eat less than this or is it only important for me not to eat more? Today I have eaten just over 1000 calories and it's 8pm should I try eat another 200 calories tonight?

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  • McKayMachina
    McKayMachina Posts: 2,670 Member
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    Search the forums. TONS of answers to this. Good luck.
  • TamiLinc
    TamiLinc Posts: 70 Member
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    Only my opinion... Are you hungry? if not.. there is no reason to eat. There is days where i only ate 900 and went to bed.
  • marianne_s
    marianne_s Posts: 986 Member
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    Please read the 'mfp basics' link in my signature.... it will give you a better understanding.
  • ljw556
    ljw556 Posts: 43 Member
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    You should definitely eat the full calorie quota you are given. This is the amout of calories that your body needs to function if you are laying down all day. If you eat fewer calories than this, your body will go into starvation mode and will store everything you eat so that you can survive - this will make you either gain or maintain your weight. It is important that you eat all your calories everyday and then if you exercise you should try to eat those calories back too - as this again, will cause you to have eaten less calories than your body needs just to lay down. This also makes the diet more manageable for you as it gives you more calories to play with without affecting your weight loss. Hope this helps! :-) Good luck!
  • talysshade
    talysshade Posts: 273 Member
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    You should definitely eat the full calorie quota you are given. This is the amout of calories that your body needs to function if you are laying down all day. If you eat fewer calories than this, your body will go into starvation mode and will store everything you eat so that you can survive - this will make you either gain or maintain your weight. It is important that you eat all your calories everyday and then if you exercise you should try to eat those calories back too - as this again, will cause you to have eaten less calories than your body needs just to lay down. This also makes the diet more manageable for you as it gives you more calories to play with without affecting your weight loss. Hope this helps! :-) Good luck!

    I fully agree with this, but I'd like to add that there may be some days that you go over by 100 or 200 calories, then you CAN make up for that by eating a bit less than your goal at a day before or after to even it out. After all your body doesn't calculate your weight by day. That being said, a goal of 1200 doesn't give much room to wiggle without exercise, because you hvae to eat at least 1200 calories a day to get all nutritients.. so try to always eat at least 1200, but you can stay under your goal a little bit (50-100) if you exercised.
  • suzycreamcheese
    suzycreamcheese Posts: 1,766 Member
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    i think its best to not under-eat, but i also dont think 1 or 200 calorie less as an occasional thing is going to hurt. If you werent logging calories then you wouldnt even know would you. Youd just be listening to your appetite.

    The starvation mode thing is one theory, and it doesnt happen overnight. Consistently eating under could eventually result in a slower metabolism as your body adjusts to a lower intake, but every now and again is not a big deal

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