Not enough Calories?

peterpandabear06

I just recently joined this site in hopes, not necessarily to lose any weight, but to eat healthier.
I have a question though, if anyone has an answer or any advice, it would be much appreciated!!
What happens if you do not take in enough calories that your body supposedly 'needs?'
Whenever I calculate my BMR on ANY site, it says I need around 1440, but I normally eat around 980-1000 calories daily.

This site claims that my body will go into 'starvation mode' and it will be harder to lose weight?
I'm not concerned much about weight loss, but is this damaging to my body?

peterpandabear06

I just recently joined this site in hopes, not necessarily to lose any weight, but to eat healthier.
I have a question though, if anyone has an answer or any advice, it would be much appreciated!!
What happens if you do not take in enough calories that your body supposedly 'needs?'
Whenever I calculate my BMR on ANY site, it says I need around 1440, but I normally eat around 980-1000 calories daily.

This site claims that my body will go into 'starvation mode' and it will be harder to lose weight?
I'm not concerned much about weight loss, but is this damaging to my body?

Dave198lbs

your body will start to eat itself..really.. first you lose muscle tissue and you will look like a starving little waif.then your organs get holes eaten into them....your bones will break easier and it isnt too much fun

jaimeeh

I think you are eating enough. I have read on a few sites that for the average female 1200 calories is fine and if you are eating around 1000 i doubt that you will have any medical conditions from not eating enough. I say if your not full then why eat more?

mgullette

Hey Panda Bear,

In one word, EAT! 900 calories is not enough to sustain anyone! Under 1100-1200 net calories a day will send your body into starvation mode, slowing your metabolism and therefore making it less efficient. Also, Dave is right. The first thing to go will be your lean muscle mass. And that's NEVER a good thing. Muscle burns more calories, and the goal is to rev up the metabolism and make your body as efficient as possible. There are ways to sneak in extra calories if you're having trouble eating that much though. A tablespoon of olive oil added to some food, protein shakes, peanut butter (watch the fat and sugar though!), almonds or any kind of nuts are all good ways to sneak in extra calories. Try eating more for breakfast too, and you'll feel stable throughout the day. Hope this helps! Michelle

xrunner100x

It reallly depends on how much you weigh, I'm not on here to lose weight either just to maintain and stay healthy and I eat 1000 calories a day.
i think you should be fine(:

tazzy

eventually your body will slow down its metabolism and start conserving fat around your belly to protect your organs etc this is because of excess cortisone. Girls should NEVER eat less than 1200 (unless following a docs program with is closely supervised) Boys never less than 1600. The person who say they are maintaning and eating 1000 cals a day you are making a mistake and will pay for this in the long term you should have no deficit if you are trying to maintain and this certainly isnt going to make you healthy average female to maintain should be eating 2000 cals please there are lots of posts in here and info on the web go do your research and educate yourselves. AND EAT!!!!!

I have been there done that and still trying to sort my metabolism out which involves eating a couple hundred cals more than normal to make my body realise that it is getting fed plenty of food and it isnt going to be starved again.

SHBoss1673

Looking at your profile panda, and how much you are trying to lose, 1000 calories isn't even close to what you need daily. At this point you probably don't feel hungry eating that much but I'll tell you what is most likely going on in your body (besides what Dave and Tazzy already mentioned). After increasing your calories for a few weeks, your body will start to expect more, and that's a good thing. Try adding about 50 to 100 calories every 3 or 4 days until you reach what you need. Ramp up slowly. I know this all sounds counterintuitive, but it's not.

If your BMR is 1440 and you are trying to lose that last 10 lbs or less, then the MINIMUM you should be at is your BMR.

Remember, BMR isn't your maintenance calories (RMR or Resting Metabolic Rate), BMR is what your body needs, at a minimum, just to function if you were in a coma-like state.
So to be eating under that the following things are probably happening.
1) your metabolism has slowed down, making it harder to burn fat.
2) your body is canabalizing muscle because muscle actively burns calories even at rest, and if you aren't getting enough, the body is going to reduce the passive calorie burn.
3) Some of the "less vital" organs are slowing down. This is bad, this can cause permanent medical problems later in life, as once an organ shuts down, it may never start back up correctly again.
4) any muscle building activity you perform is basically futile, you won't be able to build significant muscle until, or unless, you come close to your maintenance calories. And you know those women at the beach with the great legs, abs, and muscle definition? The ones all the girls hate but secretly want to copy? That won't happen until you feed your body.

Here is a post I wrote a long time ago on what the body's metabolic process does. Please read it, I know it's long and difficult to follow sometimes, but it's important to know how our bodies react to caloric deficits.

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

Best of luck to you Dear.

-Banks