Eating below my calorie goal

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cindymandel
cindymandel Posts: 4
in Food and Nutrition
I am eating way below my calorie goal. I am getting all my nutrients each day in the foods I chose to eat (and multi-vitamins). Should I be eating even when I'm not hungry? I started my program February 2nd and have lost 10 lbs. so far.

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  • Helloitsdan
    Helloitsdan Posts: 5,564 Member
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    How tall are you and how much are you eating daily?
  • babipari
    babipari Posts: 18
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    I've also been eating way below my calorie goal. I don't know if it's a good or bad thing either lol.
    I'd never eat if i wasn't hungry. I only started yesterday :smile:
  • Helloitsdan
    Helloitsdan Posts: 5,564 Member
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    Chances are if you dont eat the right amount of calories and Macros daily, youll lose weight for a while.
    Some of it will be fat but 20-50% of it could be lean mass.
  • Swissmiss
    Swissmiss Posts: 8,754 Member
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    Good question. What IF we are just not hungry???
  • shivaslives
    shivaslives Posts: 279 Member
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    When most people set their goals on MFP, it provides a daily calorie deficit. Eating below that deficit leads to a greater gap between your intake and your burn and your body will go into "starvation" mode if the gap is too great. As a result, your metabolism will slow down and you will lose weight more slowly or your weight loss may stop entirely. My advice from personal experience is eat all of your calories including those you earn from exercise. It really works.

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    Advice is worth exactly what you pay for it!
  • Helloitsdan
    Helloitsdan Posts: 5,564 Member
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    Good question. What IF we are just not hungry???

    Sometimes thats hormonal.

    From what i've researched when people just arent hungry it has a few reasons.
    The main one is the lack of a hormone called Ghrelin.
    You can fix this by eating the right amount of calories daily or having set feeding times daily.

    Chances are if you had some type of eating disorder in the past, you could have screwed with your hormones and this was the effect.

    Cardio has been known to fix the "i'm just not hungry" issue.

    Swiss, you have lost a lot of weight!
    When was the last maintenance cycle?
    Maybe eat at maintenance for 2 weeks to rev up the apatite!

    When most people set their goals on MFP, it provides a daily calorie deficit. Eating below that deficit leads to a greater gap between your intake and your burn and your body will go into "starvation" mode if the gap is too great. As a result, your metabolism will slow down and you will lose weight more slowly or your weight loss may stop entirely. My advice from personal experience is eat all of your calories including those you earn from exercise. It really works.

    Yes and no.

    The main issue my team has with MFP is it sets you at a deficit and you MUST work out to get the proper calories.
    This is convoluted thinking!
    You really should look at a diet as, setting a realistic daily intake if you work out or not.
    So lets say you are 5'5" like myself and have a moderately active lifestyle.
    Your TDEE is appx 2480 cals per day.
    Cut 20% that gives you appx 2k a day to eat.
    Your BMR is 1490 and anything under that effects lean mass integrity.

    That means I have to eat 1500 calories up to 2490 to lose weight.
    Anything below TDEE is weight loss!
    Period!
    You arent guaranteed a workout every day so why not fuel the body correctly then factor in a greater deficit by working out but staying above the BMR.

    Starvation mode kicks in after 32-36 hours of ZERO food.
    Lean mass can be effected after 16-18 hours of fasting but you really arent in bad shape till the 32-36 hour window.

    So eat right, create a deficit from a sustainable number, lose fat only.

    PM me if any of you need numbers and I can help.

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