Feel guilty for eating :S

Sofithomas

Hi everyone! Basically I'm trying my hardest to eat 'more' - it sounds crazy but having posted here its what I've been recommended to do, so I'm trying my best!

Normally I feelmost comfortable at around 700-900 cals per day, working out 6-7 times a week intensely...I don't feel at all that sluggish and can manage fine, but often peope have said it will stall my fat loss? Therefore I have started to increase my calorific intake, for example to 1200-1300. Today I had 1300 and I feel really full and as if I've done something really bad, thought kept all my foods natural, healthy and delicious (i.e. small piece of cheese, prawns, nuts, some more fruit, oats - and definitely 1300 - I log every calorie without fail, and always measure my food); I just don't want to put on weight as I've worked so hard, you see! :P I eat very small portions so literally today I have eaten about ten times, and they normally say 5-6 at most :S

My question is is that is this a significant amount to create a large enough deficit...I know people say with exercise one must eat more, but I always though you couldn't outrain a bad diet...

Thanks so much

thefuzz1290

700-900 calories a day is too little, especially if you're working out 6-7 days a week!

Sofithomas

I know, its really bad, but the thing is I never felt hungry at all/tired so it felt fine! So I'm trying really hard to up it for my own health. Part of the problem also comes from my upbringing, my family are very much 'eat 3 meals/no snacks' kind of family so my mum especially tends to reprimand me or tease me if I eat a snack or two here and there! I guess I've just been used to not eating much?

EngiAli

I am going to make a few assumptions to make a point. Given you are a model, I am going to say you are 5'9" and 135 lbs and 18 years old. With these stats, your body would burn 1450 calories a day simply existing (use the BMR calculator on this website to calculate your actual number). Netted 1200 calories a day (by eating back you exercise Calories), you would lose 1lb per week, with is the most you should lose given that you are already quite slim. It is unlikely at your current size that you would lose more then 1lb per week, and 0.5lbs would be more likely.

Assuming your intense workouts burn 700 calories per day, you are only giving your body, organs, brain, skin 0-200 calories a day to work with, meaning your body is in starvation mode, you are very likely burning lean muscle mass and damaging your organs by doing this on a long term basis.

If your BMR is 1450, and you burn 700 calories from exercise and the minimum cals you should net is 1200 - then I would say you could safely eat 1900 calories a day and lose 1 lb per week. Up your calories gradually, add in some healthy high calorie foods (think oils, homeade salad dressings, avacado, meat, eggs, nuts, nut butter, full fat dairy, calorie dense breads). Perhaps even cut back on your exercise for a bit. Stay away from low cal low fat "diet" food. You may gain a few pounds at first as your body adjusts to being fed and comes out of starvation. I would also recommend seeing a doctor for some routine bloodwork.