Honestly, is eating too few calories such a bad thing?

Options
cprys8942
cprys8942 Posts: 123 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So I woke up a little late this morning and didn't have time to eat. I only ate dinner and at about 600 calories I honestly feel full. I plan on eating a Nutra Grain bar in a little while but is going under my calorie goal really so bad? I don't eat like this every day but I also don't always try to eat 1200 calories. Sometimes I do take in less than that. I honestly can't believe that if i'm at least taking in some calories and exercising that it won't help me lose weight. I've heard it all before that if I don't eat enough I could actually gain weight...but after a month of not eating fast food and junk food, only drinking water and trying to stay healthy...idk if I can believe that. any opinions or experiences?
«13

Replies

  • jennor8or
    jennor8or Posts: 204 Member
    Options
    short and sweet... yes. eat 1200 calories.
  • HMonsterX
    HMonsterX Posts: 3,000 Member
    Options
    Going under occasionally wont hurt at all, in the same way going slightly over occasionally wont hurt at all.

    As for doing it regularly, you asked for experience...

    My BMR was 2200, and i was regularly eating 11-1200, with 5-600 calories burned a day. It worked for a while, then i went 2 weeks with no loss. My nutritionist advised me to try eating 2000 for a few days. I thought "huh...eat more, to lose weight...that's odd", but i did it.

    And lost 3lbs in the next 2 days.

    But, everyone is different ofc. :)
  • lipglossjunky73
    lipglossjunky73 Posts: 497 Member
    Options
    One day once in a while eating fewer calories won't kill you. Just like going over one day here and there won't. But in order to keep from yo yoing, you want to keep up a certain number of calories a day.
  • carolinedb
    carolinedb Posts: 236 Member
    Options
    Eating under occasionally isn't going to hurt you--things happen. But regularly eating under 1200 NET calories will destroy your metabolism.
  • jellybaby84
    jellybaby84 Posts: 583 Member
    Options
    Nah, you'll be ok. You slept late so you used fewer today anyway.
  • sarah44254
    sarah44254 Posts: 3,078 Member
    Options
    I ate next to nothing for many years. Had no money.

    I found some reliable money, started eating food. Got fat. Quickly.

    Now, eating too little does NOT help me lose weight. My body simply thinks I am poor again and expects that there is no food to eat, so it is hanging on desperately in hopes that I find food.

    That is why eating MORE will help me lose more. It is a true concept for me, at least. I can assume it works for a majority of other people out there, too.

    **edit
    to eat less than recommended sometimes is ok. Sometimes you sleep in or you are sick or whatever happens. Try your best not to make it a habit. Food is not an enemy here. Embrace food and what it does for your body, use it as your nutrition but not as your best friend. :)
  • foremant86
    foremant86 Posts: 1,115 Member
    Options
    Yes if you eat less than 1200 calories everyday it's going to eventually take a toll on your body.


    When the body doesn't get enough fuel it starts shutting down....starve your body and it's going to stop pumping an adequate amount of blood to those organs of yours..ya know the ones that keep you living.
  • hbrittingham
    hbrittingham Posts: 2,518 Member
    Options
    Eating that far under regularly is just setting yourself up to fail. If you want to be on a diet and just lose weight, go for it. If you want to successfully change the way you are living your life and want to keep the weight off, you need to eat the calories that MFP allots for you. It's up to you how you want to live your life. I know how I want to live mine.
  • AnnaPixie
    AnnaPixie Posts: 7,439 Member
    Options
    It's no big deal for a day or two, even a bit longer. But you always have to bear in mind the following for long term health:

    Are you getting enough nutrition for proper bodily function? If not, your health will deteriorate over time - skin eruptions, hair loss, nail weakness, immune deficiency.............etc etc

    Your body eventually adapts to whatever you give it. So if you feed it 600 cals per day, that's what it will grow to expect. So as soon as you eat more/normall again? You'll gain the weight back. This is why crash diets are just yo-yo!

    Your body also will not let go of fat if it thinks it doesnt know where its next meal is coming from. It's a survival thing.

    So basically, for LONG TERM weight loss and good health, its a bad idea.

    Good luck :flowerforyou:
  • Artemis_Acorn
    Artemis_Acorn Posts: 836 Member
    Options
    Calories aren't the only nutrients your body needs. If you regularly get less than 1200 calories, where are your vitamins and minerals coming from? I'll tell you where. Your body will cannibalize itself to find what it needs to function. Calcium? Plenty of that in your bones and teeth. Protein? Let's just eat away at some of the muscle or organs - got to function. Your hair follicles are performing a non-essential function - lets just turn them off to divert the precious resources to keeping you alive. Who cares if your hair falls out? Your immune system will be compromised, your skin will lack luster, your eyesight could be impaired... malnourishment is nothing to flirt with. In the end, you may wind up skinny, but you will also wind up sickly and damaged with messed up metabolism, whacked out hormones and no energy.

    Do yourself a favor - eat your calorie allowance, and feed yourself with real, nutritious food - limit the junk. There isn't room for it in 1200 calories.
  • dlkangels4
    dlkangels4 Posts: 16
    Options
    Honestly I dont think doing that after 4 weeks of eating the right amount of calories is going to be a problem this time, or maybe even the next couple of times. The thing is, like anything we do, it can become a habit. If you see that it's not hurting your weight loss you may just fall into a pattern which will eventually effect your metabolism and start enterferring with your weight loss ! So, just be careful with that aspect of it !
  • ambermichon
    ambermichon Posts: 404 Member
    Options
    once in a while is ok however doing this consistently will yield loss at first and then stop
  • skinnyinnotime
    skinnyinnotime Posts: 4,141 Member
    Options
    Calories aren't the only nutrients your body needs. If you regularly get less than 1200 calories, where are your vitamins and minerals coming from? I'll tell you where. Your body will cannibalize itself to find what it needs to function. Calcium? Plenty of that in your bones and teeth. Protein? Let's just eat away at some of the muscle or organs - got to function. Your hair follicles are performing a non-essential function - lets just turn them off to divert the precious resources to keeping you alive. Who cares if your hair falls out? Your immune system will be compromised, your skin will lack luster, your eyesight could be impaired... malnourishment is nothing to flirt with. In the end, you may wind up skinny, but you will also wind up sickly and damaged with messed up metabolism, whacked out hormones and no energy.

    Do yourself a favor - eat your calorie allowance, and feed yourself with real, nutritious food - limit the junk. There isn't room for it in 1200 calories.

    Absolutely.
  • Mslilah
    Mslilah Posts: 5 Member
    Options
    Eating less and excercise will NOT make you gain weight.....its not possible thats all a MYTH and when they say if you eat less it will effect your metabolism....IT WILL NOT........I did the master cleanse for 7 days a year ago and im still maintaing the weight, if anything it BOOSTED my metabolism.....a human being do not have to eat 3-6 meals a day. I never eat breakfast and lunch, all i eat is dinner and an evening snack and excersise thats all my body needs AND im building muscle....
  • Mslilah
    Mslilah Posts: 5 Member
    Options
    Just keep this saying in mind.........EAT TO LIVE, DON'T LIVE TO EAT.....thats why there's so much obesity in the USA...
  • veganbaum
    veganbaum Posts: 1,865 Member
    Options
    I don't know about the gaining weight part, but I can tell you that for the past year I was unknowingly undereating (around 900 calories a day) and I have just over twenty pounds to lose. Those pounds didn't budge. More so than weight loss, you should be concerned about the nutrition you are getting - the nutrients to fuel your basic bodily functions - your heart, your brain, your liver, your kidneys - and the nutrients and fuel needed to fuel your exercise. Doesn't matter if you lose weight if your health is shot due to malnourishment.
  • cprys8942
    cprys8942 Posts: 123 Member
    Options
    Wow thank you everyone. Obviously I'm not going to do this every day, sometimes I just feel full enough to where I don't have to eat 1200 calories...and then if I eat more when I'm already full I feel bloated and disgusting. Also, I used to never eat breakfast during a diet...but somewhere along the way people started telling that it'll get my metabolism going in the morning so it'll be working all day. The only thing is that whenever I eat breakfast I'm so hungry all day and I tend to over eat at dinner. The way my schedule works in college, I only have time to eat about 2 meals a day. I know I should be eating more but there's really no way around it. Any suggestions?
  • Artemis_Acorn
    Artemis_Acorn Posts: 836 Member
    Options
    Eat a breakfast that is high in protein and has some fiber - it will stick with you longer
  • hbrittingham
    hbrittingham Posts: 2,518 Member
    Options
    I don't mean to sound harsh, but in order to get overweight enough where you need to lose weight, you had to be eating over 1200 calories a day. Way more. I hear it a lot here from people "I just can't eat 1200 calories a day or I'm just stuffed". That may be true of someone who is pretty much at their goal weight, but I have a hard time believing that from who is overweight.

    I have been on this journey for a year now. I have never had a problem hitting my calories, yet I have lost weight. I'm only 20 lbs from goal and still have no problems hitting the 1500+ calories I'm allotted. I don't want to starve myself, been there done that and failed after a few months of keeping the weight off.

    Rather than starve yourself to get to the end of the race and then go off the diet, just to gain all over again, look at the big picture.
  • TenderBranson
    TenderBranson Posts: 114 Member
    Options
    I don't mean to sound harsh, but in order to get overweight enough where you need to lose weight, you had to be eating over 1200 calories a day. Way more. I hear it a lot here from people "I just can't eat 1200 calories a day or I'm just stuffed". That may be true of someone who is pretty much at their goal weight, but I have a hard time believing that from who is overweight.

    I have been on this journey for a year now. I have never had a problem hitting my calories, yet I have lost weight. I'm only 20 lbs from goal and still have no problems hitting the 1500+ calories I'm allotted. I don't want to starve myself, been there done that and failed after a few months of keeping the weight off.

    Rather than starve yourself to get to the end of the race and then go off the diet, just to gain all over again, look at the big picture.

    This.

    & if you really have a problem, try eating more Calorie dense foods.

Categories