FEAR!

Summarain

:ohwell: Hello Everyone, I am new to this. I am working out every day. About 4 days out of the week I go to the gym for about 45 minutes and the other 3 days I do a 20 min. pilates work out. I'm supposed to consume like 1200 calories/day but I usually dont end up eating that much. I'm afraid that I'm starving myself, but I'm also afraid that if I eat more then I wont lose the weight that I need to quick enough. My goal is to lose 35lbs by June 1st.

Here is my daily routine

Breakfast Options (1 a day) - Yogurt (80 cal)
Special K Cereal (160 cal)
Oatmeal (200 cal)
Snack (2 a day)- Apple (100 cal---i think?)
Yogurt (80 cal)
Special K Bar (90 cal)
Lunch Options- Subway Turkey Sub (400 cal)
Chicken Breast Salad (350 cal)
Home Made Turkey Sandwich (350 cal)
Dinner Options- Special K Cereal
Chicken Breast and Rice (400 cal)
Shrimp and pasta (400 cal)

I dont want to eat more things just to get to 1200 calories/day because I feel like I wont lose enough weight.

Any ideas? Am I doing this the wrong way?:sad:

Summarain

:ohwell: Hello Everyone, I am new to this. I am working out every day. About 4 days out of the week I go to the gym for about 45 minutes and the other 3 days I do a 20 min. pilates work out. I'm supposed to consume like 1200 calories/day but I usually dont end up eating that much. I'm afraid that I'm starving myself, but I'm also afraid that if I eat more then I wont lose the weight that I need to quick enough. My goal is to lose 35lbs by June 1st.

Here is my daily routine

Breakfast Options (1 a day) - Yogurt (80 cal)
Special K Cereal (160 cal)
Oatmeal (200 cal)
Snack (2 a day)- Apple (100 cal---i think?)
Yogurt (80 cal)
Special K Bar (90 cal)
Lunch Options- Subway Turkey Sub (400 cal)
Chicken Breast Salad (350 cal)
Home Made Turkey Sandwich (350 cal)
Dinner Options- Special K Cereal
Chicken Breast and Rice (400 cal)
Shrimp and pasta (400 cal)

I dont want to eat more things just to get to 1200 calories/day because I feel like I wont lose enough weight.

Any ideas? Am I doing this the wrong way?:sad:

LuckyLeprechaun

eat your exercise calories! You couldn't drive across the country without refilling your tank, your body cannot do all that exercise without any fuel. You can leave some of them on the table, but try to eat most of those calories so that your body will "trust" that it's alright to let go of the fat stores. otherwise it thinks- OMG I had to do all that work and I got no fuel... better lock down all available calories into reserves. then you're defeating yourself.

ChubbyBunny

You HAVE to eat what your body needs or it will be counterproductive... undereating is just as big of a problem as over eating.

Looking at your "diet" it looks suspiciously like the Special K program (which I won't even get started on). If you don't want more meals then you need to be eating more nutrient dense foods.
Also, I didn't see anywhere that you were eating back in some of your exercise calories (which you need to eat at least some of those). You need to provide your body with the fuel it needs to function, not what YOU think it needs but actually what it does need.

Schaff

I agree with LuckyLeprechaun. You will find that if you don't eat your exercise calories, your weight loss will slow and could stop. I've seen it happen myself. Most people think that you have to workout constantly and eat as little as possible to survive. But that's just it, you are BARELY surviving that way! The trick is to find the right balance, which the calorie counter does for you! Envision yourself at your goal weight on or before your goal date. What are you going to do then? Do you think you can maintain the diet you set out? Probably not. Choose a diet that you can sustain, then you will not only lose the weight but keep it off.


Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Free Calorie Counter

dietgirl12

hi. I recently started with a personal trainer and my opinon is I think u definitely need to eat more and better snacks that contain more protein. special k bars have lots of sugar and are not filling. I recommend addinf a tbsp of peanut butter to your apple and powercrunch bars sold at gnc and vitamin shoppe.yummy and low in sugar. he recommends three meals about 300 cal each and 2-3 snacks a day about 100 to 200 calories each.hope that helps

heather0mc

you MUST eat enough to keep your metabolism going. if you dont your body will go into starvation mode and you will not loose weight. eating a good balance, stating within your allotted caolories, and drinking TONS of water will be the best way.
i can understand what you are thinking. late last year i tried eating yogurt for breakfast, soup and salad for lunch, cheese and almonds for a snack, and cereal with a banana for dinner. i worked out 4 times a week, 30 minutes a day, and only lost 3.5 pounds in 6 weeks.
with the (amazing) MFP site, i have been eating tons of veggies among other healthy choices, have energy, have to pee every hour, and log every bit of food i take in. guess what? in less than a week i have already lost 4 pounds - although i am not going to track it until i weigh in next month, just in case.
bottom line - eat! especially with all that working out. if you dont, you are just wasting your time. good luck!

Camay

:huh: Ok, I think I've been confused. I understand about needing to eat to refuel and anything less than 1000? calories/day puts the body into starvation mode.
But if it's suggested that I consume 1200 calories/day and I'm allotted additional calories from exercise, I'm supposed to replenish those too? I though you're supposed to burn more calories than you eat to lose weight. I thought if you keep yourself even then you're maintaing your weight, not losing.
I'm wrong?

iluvbread

One question about your food intake....a turkey sub from Subway is 400 calories?? I think it is 280 what are you putting on it? I eat them a couple tims a week and want to be sure I am counting it right.

ChubbyBunny

:huh: Ok, I think I've been confused. I understand about needing to eat to refuel and anything less than 1000? calories/day puts the body into starvation mode.
But if it's suggested that I consume 1200 calories/day and I'm allotted additional calories from exercise, I'm supposed to replenish those too? I though you're supposed to burn more calories than you eat to lose weight. I thought if you keep yourself even then you're maintaing your weight, not losing.
I'm wrong?

This is a WONDERFUL link about this topic.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo

The thing is... MFP already makes a deficiet to lose a HEALTHY amount of weight. It does not automatically assume you will work out (it's just going off your daily lifestyle)...therefore any additional calories burned during exercise need to be figured in.

KatWood

At 1200 calories a day you should already be losing weight. In fact depending on your current weight and how active you are in your everyday life 1200 may mean you are starving yourself even without doing any exercise.

If I don't want to lose weight or exercise I should eat approx 1800 calories per day (I am 187lbs). Since I want to lose 1 lb/wk MFP has me set at approx 1400 cals/day. When I exercise I burn about 500 calories which I add back in so on days when I work out I eat 1900 calories.

Not eating your exercise calories can result in your body going into starvation mode and hitting a plateau. In worst cases, it can result in weight gain once you start eating the true number of calories your body needs.

My advice, eat and enjoy those exercise calories!

gabi_ele

There are a few posts that the " Newbies " should read. One of them is talking about eating an average of 700 calories a day and being overweigt. It really opened my eyes and made me rethink my approach to weightloss. The problem with dieting is not that you can't loose weight, the problem is that you are not able to sustain it for a long time and you start jo- joing your way up., because once you loose weight and starve yourself for a while your body will devoure every calorie and hold on to every morsel you eat...yoll gain very quickly and then think you have to starve again... I have been on a few diets LOL.....
Now I eat healthy, watch my portions and exercise. It is comming off slowly but I can live with it and don't " FEEL" like I am on a diet. I have more energie and can keep up with people 10 years younger then me:bigsmile: I'll try to copy the threads for you. Good luck
Fri 08/29/08 02:18 PMhttp://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/6556-the-answers-to-the-questions

~~~~~~~~~
Banks two threads "Newbies" and "Newbies 2nd edition"
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/post/new/9614-newbies-please-read-me

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10665-newbies-please-read-me-2nd-edition
~~~~~~~~~
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/6832-eating-all-of-your-calories-bmr

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

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/8977-your-body-s-thoughts-on-calories

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/9433-expectations

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/777-why-is-starvation-mode-so-bad
~~~~~~~~~~
......and if you still can't sleep:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/8199-off-to-a-slow-start-actually-still-at-starting-gate

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/6737-true-confessions-from-a-slow-learner

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/9007-bmr-ma-because-of-the-answers-to-the-questions

Summarain

Okay! I appreciate the responses. I have lost 7lbs since I have been doing the routine I stated above...is that just a fluke? Am I going to hit a wall soon if I dont get on my 1200 cal/day routine? And when I exercise I guess this means if I burn like lets say 400 calories then that means I need to consume 1600 calories/day?

It just seems like a lot of calories to consume when you want to lose weight!

Fitness_Chick

Okay! I appreciate the responses. I have lost 7lbs since I have been doing the routine I stated above...is that just a fluke? Am I going to hit a wall soon if I dont get on my 1200 cal/day routine? And when I exercise I guess this means if I burn like lets say 400 calories then that means I need to consume 1600 calories/day?

It just seems like a lot of calories to consume when you want to lose weight!

What does MFP set your cals at?

cmriverside

Okay! I appreciate the responses. I have lost 7lbs since I have been doing the routine I stated above...is that just a fluke? Am I going to hit a wall soon if I dont get on my 1200 cal/day routine? And when I exercise I guess this means if I burn like lets say 400 calories then that means I need to consume 1600 calories/day?

It just seems like a lot of calories to consume when you want to lose weight!

Welcome! :flowerforyou: And great question. We all go HUH?? when we realize what we have been doing wrong all these years. Take it from all of us who have been successful (look af Fitness_Chick in the previous post - she lost 198 lbs already!) And the story is the same for all successful weight losers here.

Yes! Eat those extra 400 calories.
If you just began your weight-loss journey it is very common to lose 7-10 pounds on your first couple weeks. But THEN your body realizes you are not going to feed it (fuel it) and it will begin to hold on to calories to survive. You are starving yourself. Plus you are going to start to feel bad - dizzy - fatigued - irritable. You don't go into "Starvation Mode" immediately (like in one week) but you are jeapardizing your health doing what you have been doing.

Please go to those links above and read them all. They are grouped together in one spot on this thread:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/23912-links-in-mfp-you-want-to-read-again-and-again

It is at the top when you click the "General Diet and Weight Loss Help" tab.

~Cheryl

ChubbyBunny

Maybe you are eating too little.
MFP set me at 1200 and it was a pain for me. I didn't lose weight until I UPPED my calories to 1500 (I know it seems weird).
A few years back I literally starved myself for 3 months (EXTREME low calorie diet and HIGH exercise) and only lost 10lbs... gained it right back as soon as I quit.

Do it the healthy way... trust me.

AugustBaby1973

One comment I HAVEN'T seen is....how much do you weigh at this time, and how tall are you? From what my physican told me, the larger you are at the time you start losing weight the more you'll lose initially---case in point...The Biggest Loser. Notice how the bigger people lose more weight in the first few weeks, and then start to cut back in say week 4 or 5?

Same thing for you! If you're slender already, and you're trying to lose 35 pounds by June, then you need to multiply 3500 x 35, which equals 122,500 calories you need to burn off! Since you have to eat to live, you need to figure how much exercise you're doing daily and how much is actually burned off, and then take into account what calories you eat daily. 122,500 - the burned off calories + the calories you've taken in = the total weight you'll lose. You have roughly 33 weeks to lose the weight, so per week you need to have burned off 3700+ calories per week, or roughly 1.08 lbs to lose per week to meet your goal.

You can do it, girl!!!

***AND IF IT'S ANY CONSOLATION, I HAVE 245,000 CALORIES TO BURN BY JUNE, OR LOSE 2.13 LBS PER WEEK!!!****

cmriverside

I'm afraid that I'm starving myself, but I'm also afraid that if I eat more then I wont lose the weight that I need to quick enough. My goal is to lose 35lbs by June 1st.

OH! I forgot to say in my last post.......your goal is totally do-able. You will have no problem losing weight. I don't know what your BMI is, or what your recommended weight is for your height and body frame, but you will be able to get into your weight range with no problem. If you eat!

:happy: Such good news, right?