Is it ok to be under your calories?

mrsvampette

I;m sure this has been asked before but I have no clue what the answer is or where to find it. As of right now i have 900 more calories to consume but I'm full so is this ok to be under calories? Or should I try to meet my calorie goal each day? Any answers would help and thank you in advance everyone!!!!

kitkatamii

You should try and reach your calorie goal because the calorie goal on here is already lower then what you should be eating normally. What you want to avoid is depriving yourself of food and sending your body into starvation mode where it will store fat quicker because it thinks it needs to in order to run properly.

gdc1979

its ok to be under, but not by 900 cals. not eating enough calories will in time cause your body to start using lean muscle as an energy source and preserving its fat stores. you will lose weight but its the wrong type of weight. you will lose energy and can quite quickly lose motivation.

the calories given are a recommended amount so you can reach your goal weight safely, try to eat close to the calories, spread over your daily meals. i have smaller (3 to 500 calorie meals for breakfast and lunch which allows me a larger evening meal).

hope this helps

brittanyjeanxo

Oh gosh, begin rants about starvation mode! :laugh: Welcome to the site, first of all. Good for you for making a change. Second off, if it's not an every day thing, or even a most days thing, I think you'll be fine, though I am no expert. The reason I say you should stay close to or at goal is because I've been eating >1600 calories, normally. MFP has me at 2110 with a 1 pound loss a week. I haven't been losing, though, I've been maintaining my weight. The scale would not budge for a good month. After asking around, doing some research, etc, I decided I need to be eating way closer to my goal. So for the past week I've started doing so, and three pounds have melted off so far. A lot of people (including me, before!) think that fewer calories = more fat lost. While to a certain degree this is true, if you eat TOO few, your body basically holds on to the fat instead of losing it. You won't necessarily gain, you just won't lose, either. If you're truly full for the night, don't worry about it. If you have room later, have something small but packed with fiber or protein, like oatmeal. It will give you a few more calories, so you won't find yourself worrying about it. I hope I helped in some way. :flowerforyou:

mrsvampette

Oh ok. So I should try to eat more tonight? Not unhealthy things just more so I can reach my calories? I'm so new at this and I feel like an idiot for not knowing lolz.

jb100908

Generally speaking, your calorie goal is based on the amount of weight you want to lose and you need a minimum of that number for your body to function without going into fat-storing, or starvation mode.

For the average person NOT trying to lose weight, 1600-2000 calories a day are recommended. That's in order to maintain their current weight.

My calorie goal, for example, is currently set at 1200. That's to lose about a pound per week. I will admit that sometimes I find it difficult to hit my goal, especially on days that I exercise more, because I don't consume a high number of calories anyway. BUT, it's important to try to eat *at least* that many, otherwise your body is likely to start storing fat because it doesn't think it's getting enough fuel to allow you to lose anything.

If you were maybe 10-30 calories under, I wouldn't worry too much about it (as long as it's not every day), but being 900 calories under is a HUGE number and I think that would be very detrimental to your progress.

mrsvampette

Trust me I'm not starving myself. I know that hurts you more than helps. I just don't eat much. Please don't think I'm starving myself because I don't approve of that in any way. And i think thats why I haven't been losing before joining this site because I watched what I ate too carefully.

brittanyjeanxo

Also, it may help if you set you diary so at least your friends can see it. I may be able to offer a little better advice if I could, but no pressure to!

mrsvampette

Oh I didn't know it was set to private. I'll go change it now.

kitkatamii

We aren't saying that you are starving yourself honey. It's just starvation mode is something that happens usually if you don't eat at least 1200 a day. It is just when the body thinks it needs to hold onto its fat because it doesn't think it's going to get enough fuel to help it run. Just keep working at balancing your eating habits and after a while of planning it gets easier to reach your goal every day. (=

mrsvampette

I believe it will get easier! I just told my fiance that my first day was a bit of a bust but i'm gonna keep on truckin and get the hang of it and lose the weight!!!! I just wanna say that all of y'all are so nice and understanding and I really appreciate it!!!

AllanMisner

Don't feel obligated to get to those calories right now, but 900 below is a lot. I'd pick up a few hundred calories with something with a good bit of protein and fat. IMO, it is more important to get to the goal levels for those two than for the carbs. I'd also probably take a multi-vitamin with that food just to make sure I'm getting those.

ETA: I focus on me weekly totals more than my daily totals. I'll be under some days, over others.

meggonkgonk

Generally you should try to meet your calorie goal. But that's really only a general rule. Just like you can parse out one day's overage into a small additional deficit, you can take one day's vast overage and split it up. As a runner who often does long distances, there are somedays where I burn 900 calories. And workouts like that tend to make me not want to eat. So I eat a bit more the day before I have that kind of workout, and more the day after.

It's really all about balance and common sense. Just don't make a huge deficit a regular habit, and you'll be ok.

MaximalLife

I;m sure this has been asked before but I have no clue what the answer is or where to find it. As of right now i have 900 more calories to consume but I'm full so is this ok to be under calories? Or should I try to meet my calorie goal each day? Any answers would help and thank you in advance everyone!!!!

It's NOT OK - not unless you want to totally sabotage your efforts.
A small variance is no biggie - something like 200 calories.

It's different for each person, but you are advised here to reach your goals, eating back your exercise calories.
Simply stated MFP has already figured out your total calories you need to eat per day to lose 1lb etc. a week. That's WITHOUT exercise. You'll notice that when you actually add exercise in, the calorie limit goes up. Why? Because it's telling you to eat your exercise calories. Large deficits aren't really good to do because while you will lose weight, what kind of weight will it be? In many cases you'll lose lean muscle tissue which LOWERS your metabolic rate even more. Then you have to eat even less to compensate for less of a calorie burn to continue to lose the same amount of weight each week.
Be efficient. Exercise hard and eat back the calories. The hard exercise will RAISE your metabolic rate and burn more fat at rest.

trbinado

You'll definitely want an actual meal to get to the 900 calories and if you're down 900 calories b/c of exercise please be sure to have some protein SOON after your workout and you may find coconut water helpful as it helps to replenish many of the nutrients you lost through exercise, especially potassium which is extremely important.

That said, if you're ever just short a 100 - 200 calories at the end of the day I like to have a fiber bar b/c they help you get those last few calories in and they... ...how shall we say... ... wipe the slate clean for the next morning.

cmriverside

There is a good explanation here: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/390234-does-starvation-mode-exist-and-what-is-it


Plan ahead tomorrow so you don't get caught so short on your calories.

mollymoo89

Make sure you are meeting your NET CALORIE goal. On days you exercise, your food calories will be higher if you eat your exercise calories (I recommend you do).

Some healthy options with "relatively" high calories are apples and peanut butter and almonds. Hope this helps!

dolfn1972

Im no doctor...but heres my thoughts on this. Being under calories on occasion is ok..if your not hungry dont eat just to eat. I dont know about you...but I would eat for boredom..or because other people were or because someone told me I should. It lead to alot of my weight gain. Soooo, if you are under calories on occasiion...ok....but not all the time. ...or even more than once or twice a week. Your body needs the energy and food is the fuel for that energy. But that is up to you..and if nothing else...i would call your doctor and ask them

myukniewicz

Eat at least 1200 calories and don't feel obligated to eat back all your exercise calories.
If your not hungry but have to get some calories in to hit 1200, try high caloric (healthy) items like nuts, avocados or peanut butter.

♥melissa

Saffyra

I found at first it was really hard to get all my calories in. But as I became accustomed to eating differently, it became much easier to reach my calorie goals.
And once I added exercise in then it became MUCH easier because I was hungrier.

Being under every once in awhile won't kill you. However if it is a continual thing you will find yourself become lethargic, tired and/or grouchy. Then you know you need to really make yourself eat.

You are being proactive about it and thats good!

I had to eat some high calorie foods like nuts, peanut butter, avocados and hummus to reach my goals at first. Maybe you could add some of that kind of thing in

brittanyjeanxo

Okay, took a look at your diary You ate pretty well for the most part today, so good for you. You did eat a little low though. Try eating a yogurt or two more, if you have more of those!

mrsvampette

Oh I do have more of those! They are delicious!!! A pleasure I don't have to be guilty about lolz. I would recommend lite n fit yogurt to anyone. And sprite zero which tastes surprisingly like normal sprite. I'll try to start eating more tomorrow.

bigjeffyc105_deleted

I too find myself staying under what allowes by alot so I guess I will try to get as close as possible., but I also find myself being in a negative in the protien area.. any suggestions? Does it matter?

Thanks !

xtinalovexo

No! Of course not!!! I suggest you drink up! :drinker:

petreebird

Another good option for a few extra calories and it's good for you is to get some protein powder and use it within 30 minutes of exercising. You can usually mix it with milk or water. The powders help to replenish the muscles after a good workout.

bigjeffyc105_deleted

Not sure if that drink up was for me,, but it works.. lol

susanb573

I see a lot of people saying that you will go into starvation mode and lose lean muscle. Is this true if you continue to do muscle buidling exercise and cardio though? I'm not sure?

Leigh98

I have this problem as well so thanks for the thread, it may help me as well! :-) I seem to end up about 150-200 shy most days, I am not tired or hungry, it's darn bizarre actually!!

I am adding in a full exercise schedule next week, so hopefully that will make me hungrier! I don't want to set myself back but have a hard time with eating, even healthy, just to fill calories... As a serious e
Emotional over eater it feels, wrong somehow...

TracyP111

In the past, I've tried to cut calories to the extreme thinking I would lose weight more quickly. Unfortunately, I've ended up stagnating at the same weight. When I would load up on calories the next day, I would actually see a weight loss. I wouldn't go too extreme on calories deficits. I try to get within 50 of my goal either direction. If I don't see the scale move, I might actually add a little bit extra to jump start my metabolism again. It does help. Good luck.