Some help with diet/nutrition/exercise please?

Effief21

I know I will probably sound stupid to some people, but I've joined MyFitnessPal so I can improve my diet and keep track of my progress. So I'd just like some advice if it's ok WITHOUT abuse and people telling me how stupid I am.

So basically I don't eat much at all, I rarely go above 800 calories per day. I am 5ft 1 and 111lbs. And never been above a size 8. I have quite a nice body but I originally joined MFP because I wanted to lose body fat (I'm skinny but very untoned aka 'skinny-fat')

I recently found out what BMR means, and mine is 1200 ish. I found out that eating below this puts the body into starvation mode which means that the body eats away its own muscle and stores fat - making the 'skinny-fat' person. And it is very unhealthy.

Can someone tell me if this is true, and also, if I am always eating 800 calories or less, if I start eating 1200 calories per day, will I gain weight? If I exercise, do I need to eat more calories than my BMR and only exercise to burn off the extra? Will this tone? It's all confusing to me, I'm smart but not in this health & fitness stuff :P

Please don't reply with abuse as to how unhealthy I am - I know that now! Hence why I'd like some advice.

Thanks for any help.

Ilovedrinkingtea

Hi OP, I think that the best thing to do is talk to a doctor about your diet and consult with them, there may be personal circumstances that we do not know about. Generally people should aim for 1,200cals per day, but this is not true for everyone. It is important to make sure your body is getting what it needs.

LeanMeanFitnessMachine

1200 seems really low for a BMR, but probably because you're so much shorter than me (I'm 5'5 with a BMR of 1890). As for knowing what/how many calories to intake: concentrate on hitting your net calories. For example if you eat 800 calories and burn 300 in exercise, you only netted 500 calories for the day - definitely not healthy. Eat back those calories (300) so that you reach at least 800 a day.

Also, what is your diary set to? Like is it "1 lbs lost per week "or is it set to "maintaining weight"? Because I looked on your profile and I noticed in your about me section that you don't necessarily want to lose weight, just get more fit (yes, I creeped lol). So if you don't already, I'd suggest setting it to "maitenance" and just focus on cardio, strength training, and eating as clean and unproccessed as possible.

Any more questions, let me know :-) I love talking health and nutrition.

Larius

You are confused about BMR. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basal_metabolic_rate

You want to know how many Calories to eat to stay the same size in a healthy way, which some call TDEE (total daily energy expenditure).

I use http://calorieneedscalculator.com/ which gives very similar results to MFP. MFP will calculate your calories for you, if you set up your goals correctly and honestly.

Effief21

I've read up a bit about BMR and TDEE, my BMR is 1206 nd my TDEE is 1583, so the difference is 377...

EricMurano

It's not so much 'starvation mode' (SM). SM happens after prolonged malnourishment.

What most people here mean when the say that term is that the body deals with the low calorie intake by eating up its own muscle, bone and organs so that it doesn't need so much energy to live.

This means that your required calorie intake is low now so any slip up in diet means fat it put on quicker than someone with more muscle, bone or organ tissue (lean body tissue, LBT).

If you truly are eating below maintenance I'd suggest eating more and doing some form of strength training to build that LBT. Start with callisthenics (body weight exercises like push ups etc) and maybe progress from there. Build LBT, eat more.

I would suggest that you get yout BMR tested. Find a clinic that does it. They basically put you on a bed and put a big plastic sheet with a breathing bubble on it over your head. You rest/sleep/don't move for 45 minutes and they measure the CO2 from your breath. They do some math and determine your BMR. Once you have that (it'll be really accurate) you can figure out how many calories you should be eating to stay healthy