Calorie Intake

wazoot

I have been using MFP for about a week or two... I have been dieting and exercising before i started using it, and now that I started using it, it keeps telling me my calorie intake is too low pretty much every day... I eat about 4 times a day with about 200-300 calories per meal. I am always full and don't feel a need to eat anymore, but it says I should be eating at least 1200 calories per day. Any advice or suggestions for me?

lmpresnell

Hey.
Question: what is MFP?

tHANKS

elis_mama

Hey.
Question: what is MFP?

tHANKS

short for "myfitnesspal"

itsuki

When I first started and I wasn't hitting my daily goals, peanut butter was a life-saver for me. It's got good calories and good fat, grab some apple slices or carrots and dip it in, and viola! You've hit 1200.

sugarbeans

The recommended calorie intake for a female is at least 1200 calories a day to be able to function normally, for males it is higher.

I would start by increasing your caloric intake, even when you feel full. This website (My Fitness pal= MFP) is not a diet but a lifestyle change and it is used to help you see where you need to improve that lifestyle whether it is to gain or lose weight.
If you continue to eat less than the minimum amount required to be healthy you will eventually go into starvation mode and your metabolism will be thrown off balance.

Hope this helps

wazoot

Thanks for the responses, but I guess what I was trying to ask is, if I'm not hungry, wouldn't I avoid going into starvation mode?

IvoryParchment

Your logs show you are under your goals for protein almost every day. I suspect you're deficient in a lot of nutrients, but I haven't done the math.

Don't worry about the calories until you make sure you have met your most basic nutritional requirements. Calories are to fuel your body's chemical reactions, and if don't have the necessary raw materials, those reactions can't be accomplished.

1200 isn't a magic number of calories. Different size people are undernourished at different calorie levels. The 1200 calorie number comes from the fact that it is difficult to obtain all the necessary nutrients on a diet with fewer than 1200 calories unless you're a pretty knowledgeable nutritionist. Some people on medically supervised diets get less in emergency situations, but it requires skill to do it safely.