ON EATING PAST YOUR "1200"

bruthacuervo

I know this is such a hot button topic, but i do just want clarification on one thing, one of the arguments i hear for eating back excercise calories is "your not getting enough nutrients...."

question, im at the half way point of my day, and have only calculated lunch and breakfast and one snack (check my foord diary for specifics)

i still have 450 or so calories left to 1200, and i plan to hit gym later...

currently im at

105% Vitamin A
211% vitamin C
40% calcium
77% iron
24 Protien now (i will specifically do a muscle milk light after gym- i do try and get my Protien in red gym days)
639 sodium
941 potassium (realizing im not even caluclating the no sodium/pottassium based salt i cook with.. oops)


These numbers to ME seem not bad for a DAILY total let alone a half day total.

this is kind of a daily thing for me (Anaheim Peppers folks.. look up the nutritional value in them... Vitamin A and C monsters, and low calorie to boot--- not to mention cheap cheap cheap)

so my question is, if im not hungry... hitting these level of RDA's--- what harm do you think im doing myself, if any if i continue to not net 1200 per day?

keiraev

Are you a male in which case you are starving yourself on 1200 and should be eating at least 1800 a day to lose weight!

fteale

Mostly just not getting in enough basic calories to function long term. Nutrients are well and good, but your body also just needs fuel.

deksgrl

1,200 may be too few calories in general.... It is probably way below your basic metobolic rate (BMR which is the amount of calories that you would need if you were in a coma and did not move at all)

So in your case, if 1,200 is below your BMR then you are burning even more and not eating those calories, your body doesn't have enough fuel.

littlemili

I usually get all my vits and minerals on a 700 calorie day (I have an eating disorder before the lectures start). Here's what happens to my body in spite of getting my RDAs and hitting 50:25:25 (carbs:protein:fat) every day:

Hair falling out
Dry skin
Heart problems
Poor circulation
Muscle wasting and weakness
Anxiety
Depression
Incredible tiredness
And frequent hospitalisation.

But you can try it if you like.

jlr_12

Are you a male in which case you are starving yourself on 1200 and should be eating at least 1800 a day to lose weight!

Agreed. If you are quite short, you may not need 1800, but 1200 is DEFINITELY too low. And as someone else said, it's not just about the nutrients in the food you're eating, it's about the amount of calories too. Calories are fuel, without enough fuel your body will crash...if you do this often, your metabolism will slow down and you will stop losing weight. If you insist on eating 1200 cals a day, then you absolutely need to eat your exercise calories. Let's say you burn 500 cals at the gym and eat 1200...that's only 700 calories to sustain your bodily functions. It is widely accepted that it is not healthy for a person to consistantly net under 1200 calories a day.

jlr_12

I usually get all my vits and minerals on a 700 calorie day (I have an eating disorder before the lectures start). Here's what happens to my body in spite of getting my RDAs and hitting 50:25:25 (carbs:protein:fat) every day:

Hair falling out
Dry skin
Heart problems
Poor circulation
Muscle wasting and weakness
Anxiety
Depression
Incredible tiredness
And frequent hospitalisation.

But you can try it if you like.

Thank you for this. I think more people on this site need to be made aware of the dangers of not feeding their bodies enough.

BoxingChick

I agree with all these answers and just want to add that you will have a really hard time to build and maintain muscle at 1200 cal per day!

twirwin

The 1200 calories a day is for the ladies.

deksgrl

The 1200 calories a day is for the ladies.

It's not even for all ladies. Everybody's specific caloric needs are different.