Coming in Under

ARiddleForTwo

I have been consistently coming in (pretty drastically) under my calorie budget (1200) each day. I'm not doing it on purpose, I'm just eating very healthy, with smaller portions and exercising a lot. I'm not restricting myself in an unhealthy way.

I can understand maintaining enough calories to keep my energy and nutrients up but I dont want to eat when I'm not hungry just to meet my limit, that seems counteractive to me.

any advice? or people in similar situations?

melaniecheeks

It's OK once or twice, but not every day.

Is it really that difficult to eat 1200 calories? 300 each for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks, roughly. A slice of toast with peanut butter and a glass of milk or fruit juice can help if you're a few hundred short.

yesthistime

Are you just not eating all of your exercise calories back, or are you not eating your baseline 1200 calories either?

ARiddleForTwo

ill usually eat about 900 regularly, and thats with a medium breakfast, full lunch and small dinner, then work off about 400 working out

yesthistime

ill usually eat about 900 regularly, and thats with a medium breakfast, full lunch and small dinner, then work off about 400 working out

Oh, then that's probably a no-no. I would add some healthy calories (nuts, nut butters, dairy, lean meat, protein bar or shake) to your daily intake to at least net 1200 calories per day.

islandjumper

Try throwing in a couple snacks. Peanut butter is great...avocados, nuts of any sort really.
I started out having the same problem, and I still usually come in a bit shy but not like it was even a month ago, it's a matter of training yourself to eat more calories every day.

helenc1984

That's very bad what you're doing - and if you aren't hungry enough to eat 1200 calories in the first place then that means your body has got used to being in starvation mode -in this place it will eat away at muscle and store body fat which is completely counteractive to your goals and to your physical exercise. you won't have enough energy to complete the exercise at a high enough intensity in a fast enough time to really benefit from doing it, regardless of whatever calories it says are ticking away on the screen.
you need to eat 5 times a day - not just breakfast, lunch and dinner but a mid morning and mid afternoon snack as well. also, if you're not eating 1200 calories or more you will not be eating enough to get in the correct proteins, minerals and vitamins.
Good luck hun!

Pebble321

While I don't think there is anything magic about 1200 cals a day (the usual recommendation for women), I think that coming in around 900 every day is a very low number of calories and you are going to risk not getting enough nutrition to stay healthy.

Start planning your meals ahead of time and you will find its easy to get up to at least 1200 (you could probably be eating much more!) by adding in a few extras like full fat yoghurt, olive oil dressing, avocado, nuts, peanut butter, bananas, rice etc.

Personally I'm not a great fan of "listen to your body, eat when you're hungry". I've been doing that for 43 years and I've been overweight, unfit and unhealthy for most of that time. Now I make sure that I eat around my calorie allowance every day (no problems being a bit over or under) and I've lost weight and have never been happier or healthier. I eat regular meals and snacks even if I'm not super hungry and it works very well for me.