Confused! Am I good with 1200 cal/day & getting the starvati

Jtttusher

Muscle does not weigh more than fat.....a pound is a pound! But.....one pound of muscle takes up less space than one pound of fat.

erickirb

Muscle does not weigh more than fat.....a pound is a pound! But.....one pound of muscle takes up less space than one pound of fat.

when did anyone say that 1lb of muscle weighs more than 1 lb of fat. When someone says "muscle weighs more then fat" they are implying by volume muscle weighs more then fat, since volume is implied there is no reason to state it.

nutrientnatalie

You should figure out your BMR. Mine for example is 1,978, but when you subtract 500 (which is what you do if you're trying to lose weight, so if I wanted to maintain my weight I could eat 2,000 a day) then I'm at 1,978. So you should figure out your BMR first, you then have to multiply your BMR by the Harris-Benedict equation (I'm pretty sure that's what it's called) with how active you are. You could be putting yourself in starvation mode by eating 1,200 and that's not even counting the exercise you're doing! Like for me, I eat 1,450 a day just to keep my body running, but if I work out and burn 500 then my net would be less than 1,000, so I'd need to eat 1,950 instead for the day. Good luck!

ems1583

Thank you all for the replies, really appreciate it!

I weighed in today, I only lost 1.6 lbs..happy but not that much coz I "starved" myself to maintain 1200 cal/day (lesser at times when I exercise coz I dont it eat back) to lose 2 lbs/week but I didn't. And this week I tried to do my exercise everyday. Last week was much better 1380/day & every other day exercise and I lost 4 lbs. For the past 6 days I was really starving. I thought it would pay off but it didn't

I'm gonna up my cal (right now I'm eating tortillas with cheese dip lol) I set it for 1 lb/week its giving me 1480 cal/day, if 1.5 lbs/week its 1230, still low. I don't know the BMR thing but I'm gonna check it.

So do I really have to eat back my exercise calories? I'm planning to do Insanity starting Monday.

sleepytexan

Here's one of my old posts from a similar topic:

OK. I'm gonna give this a shot. I am an avid lifelong athlete. I have never been overweight, however, I used to eat too few calories (without knowing it), and a couple years ago, I actually GAINED weight bc of having slowed my metabolism to the point that every little extra treat I ate caused a weight gain, even though overall my calories were too low. THIS DOES HAPPEN.

It is also the reason so many fat people stay fat. They restrict their calories so low, slow their metabolisms, binge (even a little), gain weight, restrict more . . . . and so on and so on. But they are still fat.

It is also the reason most people can't lose that last 10-20 lbs. For real.

1. MFP has a deficit built in. Let's say you're trying to lose 1 lb/ week. That is a 500/day deficit from your BMR (the amount of calories your body needs to complete basic functions.

2. You exercise and burn 500 calories. Now you are at a 1000 deficit. If you eat back those 500 exercise calories, you refuel your body and you still have a 500 deficit for that 1 lb loss. If you DON'T eat back those calories, you have too little fuel. This is bad. This is too much of a deficit for basic functions. If you do this for a long time, you will STOP LOSING WEIGHT. Why? bc your metabolism will slow down -- it's like a brownout--not quite enough electricity to make the whole city (your body) run, so it has to slow down some things. You will probably start being tired a lot, your skin and hair might start to look worse, and you might even gain weight. But you might NOT be hungry -- your body is getting used to fewer calories. That's bad.


That's when you start to gain weight. Let's say you're running along, eating 1200 calories a day, and exercising 400 calories a day, so net is 800. You're losing, you think this is great. You keep doing it, but after a while you stop losing. hmmmmm. One weekend you go out to a special event and have a slice of pizza and a beer. 1 slice of pizza and 1 beer. So you ate maybe 2000 calories that day and exercised off 400, so net 1600. BOOM! You gain 3 lbs! What?!

Next, you freak out and restrict yourself down to 1000 calories a day and work out extra hard, burning 500 calories. Great, netting 500 now. You don't lose any weight, but you sure feel tired. Better get some red bull.

Are you getting the picture?

EDIT: When you work out, you need fuel. Food is fuel. If you don't eat back those exercise calories, you will not only have a big calorie deficit, you will have an ENERGY deficit. Remember, the calorie deficit for weight loss is built in when you use MFP. Exercising basically earns you more calories because you must refuel.
--

There are many people who will tell you not to eat exercise calories. Before you take their advice, you might want to see whether they are at goal, have EVER been at goal, or have ever been able to maintain at goal. If anyone says to you 'THE LAST TIME I LOST WEIGHT", just stop listening right there.

Ask some athletes whether or not they replenish their bodies with food equal to the calories they burn. Ask people who are fit and have achieved and maintained a healthy weight for some years. Don't ask people who count walking across a parking lot as exercise.

Here's an interesting case study about how to stay fat while consuming only 700 calories a day. Take a moment, you'll be glad you did:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/3047-700-calories-a-day-and-not-losing

blessings.

whoafitspo

So do I really have to eat back my exercise calories? I'm planning to do Insanity starting Monday.

If you're doing Insanity, definitely. You should eat at least some of your exercise calories.

It's impossible to lose 2lbs/week in a healthy manner at your weight. And if you do, you're most likely losing muscle-- and you want to be losing fat.

You need food to FUEL YOUR BODY, especially if you're exercising regularly. Your BMR is the amount of calories you'd burn IF YOU'RE IN A COMA-- so, really, you should eat even more.

You have to be patient, and you have to be realistic. Like others have said, if you don't eat your BMR (and if you eat below 1200), yeah you can lose weight. But it'll eventually stagnate. And the weight loss will probably be muscle, so it's in a sense counterproductive.