not eating enough

sunshinegirl2012

anyone struggle with this? I've lost a lot of weight since august and although I aim to eat 1200 a day I can't seem to make that minimum...esp since I'm allergic to wheat/dairy, so that's out of the diet! this past week I struggled to even make 1000 calories a day, and if I do make it up to 1200+ I start to feel really sick. bah! advice?

stats
5'5, 19, cw 134, gw 118-124

theroadto100

I have the same problem... I just cannot get myself to eat that much food. And some days I'll feel like I ate so much, and I'll look at my diary, and I've only had a few hundred calories. So I'm interested in what people have to say.

lifeismoto

I am usually way under on my calorie intake...people will often suggest to eat more calorie dense foods most common being peanut butter, but to tell you the truth...if I am not hungry, sore, or out of energy...i do not eat all I "should" just my thoughts though...i listen to my body not a computer lol

servilia

See a doctor I mean, it's not normal to actually feel "sick" if you eat 1200.

chicklidell

I wish I could help, but I don't honestly understand this...if you're eating the suggested 5-6 meals a day, including a protein source at each meal, you would be getting your calories in....what are you taking in each day? I would really like to help, but you give little insight to your eating behaviour. FYI, i'm a dietitician and can honestly help you.

Kymmu

I'm always getting friendly advice to eat more, but I feel terrible when I do. So I listen to my body too.

chicklidell

I am usually way under on my calorie intake...people will often suggest to eat more calorie dense foods most common being peanut butter, but to tell you the truth...if I am not hungry, sore, or out of energy...i do not eat all I "should" just my thoughts though...i listen to my body not a computer lol

Your body can be giving you the wrong signals, you have to condition it to be healthy. No different then you train a puppy, you train your body, getting rid of old habits and replacing with new ones. It's like breaking the habit of eating frequent meals, your body needs to adapt to this, it takes time,

servilia

Beans, lentils, avocados, nuts. ... really it's not hard to eat 1200, unless you have a physical problem with your GI tract (other than the dairy/wheat problem) or a mental block as a result of disordered eating issues. So please see a doctor. Good luck!

adjones5

I am usually way under on my calorie intake...people will often suggest to eat more calorie dense foods most common being peanut butter, but to tell you the truth...if I am not hungry, sore, or out of energy...i do not eat all I "should" just my thoughts though...i listen to my body not a computer lol

Your body can be giving you the wrong signals, you have to condition it to be healthy. No different then you train a puppy, you train your body, getting rid of old habits and replacing with new ones. It's like breaking the habit of eating frequent meals, your body needs to adapt to this, it takes time,

Your body may need to adapt to eating this much. I went for a while of eating 1200 calories a day and burning at least 600 a day...so netting less than 600 calories a day. When I joined MFP I could not for the life of me eat 1200 calories everyday. I had to work up to it.

gj4man

In terms of food, a cup of long grain brown rice is 216 calories on here - have one with your main meal. Nuts seem to be a favourite on here for easy calories without too much bad stuff too.

If you're struggling to eat enough portion wise, try eating more smaller meals rather than fewer larger ones.

I'm personally considering spending this week's calorie deficit on a couple of glasses of wine tonight, but that seems to be just playing with the graphs, rather than actually eating a healthy diet!

MaynardLD50

Chicklidell hit it perfectly, what are your eating habits? I suffered from a similar problem and hit a plateau at 205Lbs. How did I break it? Ate 800 more calories than I had been and all the sudden I got insanely hungry, fat began shrinking, and back on the road I was. Don't get stuck into a meal frequency worry also, it's about calories not how often you're eating. So, if you only have time for 3 meals a day you'll need to plan accordingly and eat pretty heavy calorie meals, which is why they recommend breaking it up into 5 or 6 meals a day. 1200 Calories or less for a woman a day is very dangerous though and any real weight loss your seeing is probably lean body mass muscle, which is VERY bad. Brown rice, red potatoes, eggs, Daiya cheese, sataan, avocados, peanut butter, all of these are complex carbohydrates that are calorie rich and I promise your body is BEGGING for them right now which you're confusing with a sick feeling. Don't listen to mainstream, carbs are not the devil.

Boostsmum

Can I ask why you are tracking calories if you struggle to eat 1200 a day? Are you trying to lose weight? I just imagine that if I was eating less than 1200 calories a day I wouldn't even be usin MFP as I wouldn't have weight to lose............. Or have I missed something??

I am new to this so i could be totally off track????

For a food lover like myelf, being required to eat more would not be much of a dilemna I can tell you!

chicklidell

Can I ask why you are tracking calories if you struggle to eat 1200 a day? Are you trying to lose weight? I just imagine that if I was eating less than 1200 calories a day I wouldn't even be usin MFP as I wouldn't have weight to lose............. Or have I missed something??

I am new to this so i could be totally off track????

For a food lover like myelf, being required to eat more would not be much of a dilemna I can tell you!

This is actually a huge problem. I myself don't understand the mentality of 1200 being the magical # for weight loss.... that being said, the problem lies with an inactive metabolism, when your body isn't getting the fuel it needs to run it simply slows down, which means each calorie it takes in it stores.....the weight loss slows down, because the metabolism is running on empty...even with exercise, you actually exacerbate the problem. Have to change the mindset, which is very hard to do.

snookumss

Seriously, if I only at 1k calories a day I guarantee 100% of those calories in my diet would be PROTEIN. I focus on it. I eat a ton of it. I doubt that anybody only eating 1200 a day is worried about the macros as much, but I sure would want to see it. Maybe a doctor wants to see what they've been eating?

theroadto100

Can I ask why you are tracking calories if you struggle to eat 1200 a day? Are you trying to lose weight? I just imagine that if I was eating less than 1200 calories a day I wouldn't even be usin MFP as I wouldn't have weight to lose............. Or have I missed something??

I am new to this so i could be totally off track????

For a food lover like myelf, being required to eat more would not be much of a dilemna I can tell you!

Well I eat less than 1200 a day and I'm losing nothing. Sometimes I even gain a bit. I'm using this site in an attempt to lose weight by overcoming an eating disorder. And to do that, I need to eat more. So I'm trying to force myself to reach at LEAST 1200 calories. That's just my side though! Obviously everyone's here for different reasons

evepoyepo

I have the same problem with trying to reach calorie intake. As several people have mentioned, you have to recondition your body. My problem stems from childhood abuse. My parents kept me on the brink of starvation. It has taken me years to convince my body that it is okay to eat. To answer the question of why tracking calories even when not meeting calorie intake: I don't know the situation of the original poster, but for me, it's a way to make sure I eat what I'm supposed to.

amonkey9

Thank you it's nice to know I'm not the only one. There are some users who would criticize me for it and were just plain rude, like I was purposefully starving myself

chicklidell

Thank you it's nice to know I'm not the only one. There are some users who would criticize me for it and were just plain rude, like I was purposefully starving myself

I hope my comments, didn't offend anyone

Boostsmum

Oh, that makes sense to track calories to try and work up to eating a healthy amount.
Good luck with the journey - I guess we have in common that we are trying to get healthy!!! Hope we all achieve what we need to

KPORLANDO

I found that I'm averaging about 1200-1300 calories a day, but I found that eating 4-5 small meals a day is really helping me lose weight. A typical day for me would be:

Breakfast: 1 fried egg, 2 strips of turkey bacon

Lunch: Salad: 1 grilled lemon chicken cutlet-diced, romaine or iceberg lettuce, 1 plum tomato, 1/4 cup of cucumber, 4-5 baby carrots, 1/4 cup diced bell peppers, and vinegrette dressing.

Supper: 1 andouille sausage link, 1/4 cup onion, 1/4 cup celery, 1/4 cup bell pepper....sauteed in olive oil

Dinner: broccoli, carrots, zuchinni, yellow squash, onion, garlic pepper - stir fried with olive oil

For snacks: cubed pineapple, strawberry, pear, clementines or tangelos, cashews, or beef jerky (not all together...one or two of them each day) in moderate/small servings. (For example...3 pineapple cubes and 3-5 strawberries, or 1 clementine and 1/2 serving of cashews.

I'm eating roughly every 3 to 3.5 hours. Shockingly, I'm really almost never hungry, and I've dropped over 6 pounds in my first week. Granted I know this rate won't keep up, and I don't want it to...that wouldn't be healthy. But I'm eating quite a lot, and feeling way better in a short amount of time. I lost 35 pounds last year before losing my willpower (depression kicked in and I gained 15 pounds back). Am already down over 6 pounds since Jan.1...and am determined to drop below 200 pounds this year.

sunshinegirl2012

eating habits for a typical day...
breakfast: greek yogurt w fruit, or a bowl of oatmeal with 1-2 tsp jam or peanut butter just something before a workout
lunch: usually salad, bell peppers, a cup of low cal soup, maybe with chicken once in a while
snacks: piece of fruit or veggies
dinner: varies...a smoothie, oatmeal, chicken with salad, etc. nothing huge. if i'm hungry late at night I'll eat oatmeal but that's not too typical. I try and keep as much of a raw foods diet as possible except when I need to add in protein. also lots of tea, water, and sometimes black coffee. weekends I'll allow a splurge food, like a cup of ice cream or something

amonkey9

Thank you it's nice to know I'm not the only one. There are some users who would criticize me for it and were just plain rude, like I was purposefully starving myself

I hope my comments, didn't offend anyone

No, actually saying that you are a dietician made me feel a lot better

BertaKae

I have been having the same problem. Part of my problem originates from a hectic schedule and not being used to the idea of having to schedule eating.

As far as Celiacs and Lactose intolerance, there are good cereals you can have for breakfast that contain no wheat. The Corn and Rice Chex cereals are now bragging that they're gluten free. Most cereals are tasty dry or you can get lactose free milk. They can be sweetened with fresh fruit.

There are also a lot of sprouted grain breads available that are quite good. Those can be used for toast in the morning or sandwiches for lunch and not aggravate the Celiacs.

I'm thinking of reversing my meals, sort of. Since the weight loss program I am on wants no fruit or starchy carbs within 6 hours of bedtime, I am thinking of having things like stirfry with rice or spaghetti at lunchtime. That would help get the number of carbs in that I should have and still stay within my time guidelines.

Maybe planning - getting more organized - would help. Carrying my snacks with me when I go out the door. Making myself stop and eat by the clock for awhile until I get used to the routine? :ohwell:

My trainer told me the reason they want me to eat 1200 calories each day is to keep my body from going into starvation or famine mode and start storing food again. By being consistent, the storing part goes away.

I know I'm rambling, but maybe my rambling gave you some ideas, too.

amonkey9

My trainer told me the reason they want me to eat 1200 calories each day is to keep my body from going into starvation or famine mode and start storing food again. By being consistent, the storing part goes away.

But what if you consistently eat, say 800, calories. Wouldn't that be the same because I mean it's still consistent so my body knows when I'm getting food

chicklidell

My trainer told me the reason they want me to eat 1200 calories each day is to keep my body from going into starvation or famine mode and start storing food again. By being consistent, the storing part goes away.

But what if you consistently eat, say 800, calories. Wouldn't that be the same because I mean it's still consistent so my body knows when I'm getting food

No it's not. Have you even bothered to see what your body is burning as energy to simply survive, without the add on of exercise or actually moving your body from point A to point B.....once you see that number you'll see why 800 calories is not sustainable.

shine_

I know exactly what you mean. I really struggle to eat 1200 calories in a day! I feel really full at 600-800 and I'm logging my food on here not to keep it down, but to work out a way that I am comfortable with to up my calorie intake (and still lose weight of course, that's why I am here too). I understand why I shouldn't eat less than 1200, but it's easier said than done. With having PCOS I've been advised in the past that calories are really off when it comes to a way for me to measure how well I am eating, and that is still stuck at the back of my mind when I eat I suppose. It's a mental thing and something that takes time to work on.

Pete1471

This is actually a huge problem. I myself don't understand the mentality of 1200 being the magical # for weight loss.... that being said, the problem lies with an inactive metabolism, when your body isn't getting the fuel it needs to run it simply slows down, which means each calorie it takes in it stores.....the weight loss slows down, because the metabolism is running on empty...even with exercise, you actually exacerbate the problem. Have to change the mindset, which is very hard to do.

I was told that the metabolism starts kicking in properly at around 1200-1500 calories. So what happens is I eat 800 calories and exercise. I will burn calories whilst exercising but not as many as if I had easyen above 1200. Think of it aspedalling a bicycle with the break slightly on. You will move and you will get there, but you are doing twice as much work and using twice as much effort to achieve the same result. Take the break off (1200) and things are easier and run smoother.

Of course the actual figure of 1200 will vary slightly because everyone are different heights, weights, physical condition etc.