Not eating enough?

darrensurrey

I've never ever kept a food diary before. I just assumed I was eating too much and went on a low carb diet. Then I decided to reduce my calorie intake a little once I had plateaued (after about 2 weeks!).

Having recording two days' worth of food on MFP, it appears I'm eating way under what I should be. (Look at my diary on my profile.)

So, today I'm going to have an "eat anything I fancy day" and see how much I do really eat. I can always cycle it off tomorrow.

CoderGal

It's hard to know if you're eating to much or little unless we know a little more about you like how tall you are and how much you weigh.

First you should figure out your BMR by going to Tools>BMR and hit "Calculate". This is how many calories your organs need to live lying down without moving. NEVER go below this number.

Find out your TDEE. You can do this by visiting here: http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/tdee-calculator.html This is around how much you burn a day. Try to eat around that. Remember, all of these calculations including the calories in each food is an estimate, nothing is written in stone so there is some wiggle room.

Personally, I'm sedentary. I eat at my TDEE (1640) and eat back my exercise calories and I'm still loosing weight. I've lost 26 pounds so far and I'm 5'7 and 123 pounds (not like I can loose much more). This is technically my maintenance number but I'm still loosing about a pound a week. Goodluck!

darrensurrey

Thanks. I thought my profile was completely open for anyone to view anything about me that I've input. Can you confirm?

darrensurrey

My TDEE is 2595. :laugh:

Yesterday I barely managed 1300. I'm going to disappear. My BMR is 1,603 calories/day.

CoderGal

Thanks. I thought my profile was completely open for anyone to view anything about me that I've input. Can you confirm?

Confirmed, but I don't see your height and weight isn't listed.

My TDEE is 2595. :laugh:

Yesterday I barely managed 1300. I'm going to disappear. My BMR is 1,603 calories/day.

You were definitely not eating enough :P At another 100 calories (1200 calories) this site warns you that you're not eating enough. Unfortunately they don't incorporate the age height and weight of everyone into that, just a magical 1200 number. Goodluck!

darrensurrey

Thanks. I thought my profile was completely open for anyone to view anything about me that I've input. Can you confirm?

Confirmed, but I don't see your height and weight isn't listed.

My TDEE is 2595. :laugh:

Yesterday I barely managed 1300. I'm going to disappear. My BMR is 1,603 calories/day.

You were definitely not eating enough :P At another 100 calories (1200 calories) this site warns you that you're not eating enough. Unfortunately they don't incorporate the age height and weight of everyone into that, just a magical 1200 number. Goodluck!

Thanks. 5'7, 165.3 pounds (approx! I entered it in rough kg and flipped it to pounds). Yes, it was warning me so I started eating crap towards the end of the day. :-D

TBH I didn't realise I wasn't eating enough.

And now I've reset my target etc:
Totals 1,723
Your Daily Goal 1,909
Remaining 186

I might have some kiwi fruit and a spoon of peanut butter later, I guess! Oddly, I find it really easy to eat under 1200 for a day, silly as it is. I thought I was eating nearer to 3000. Today is an "eat anything I want" day just to see how much my part-junk food, part-healthy food adds up to.

darrensurrey

About 500 calories short today so going to eat about 25 Cadbury's Santas Festive Friends Chocolate Biscuits. :laugh:

Axels91

i am definitely undereating, you dont want to do that. i am already losing endurance at the gym and its only my 2nd day.

im upping my cals and filling up on protein rich meals.

darrensurrey

Yeah, I know what you mean. I'm going to be eating more nuts and peanut butter if I find I'm short. Seems to contain lots of calories plus good fat.

andrearae00

I just started this MFP and knew I would be under eating and sure nough just after today where I purposely tried to eat enough I was almost 900 calories under! I know now that I can allow myself the chocolate and ice cream I crave just not sure if that will make the results I want take longer?

kurenaikumo

For me personally, I don't care what it says at the end of the day- I refuse to simply shovel food of any sort in if I'm not hungry. My body will tell me if it needs to eat (believe me, and LOUDLY, too LOL), and I won't deny either!

If I can be so bold, I can see hints of the "Super Size Me" mentality among many of the posts on this site in general. I've never been a big eater, just a correct portion size of pure crap eater.