Under-eating - do you comment or not?

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Replies

  • Yes2HealthyAriel
    Yes2HealthyAriel Posts: 453 Member
    I eat very low calories but it isnt because I do it on purpose or am trying to starve myself. I am just not that hungry. I have tried for the last week to eat more but gave up when I made myself sick with stomach pains. Plain and simple you should not eat if you are not hungry. Also it isnt technically considered starvation mode unless you are eating less than 50% of your daily requirement. On average I eat 1000-1100. So that is not bad at all.

    People are always saying that you will lose muscle but that is only true if you are thinner. You will lose fat and not muscle if you are obese, according to studies. It is also known that it is difficult for a body to go into starvation mode unless your body is close to 5% body fat for men and 10% body fat for women. I dont buy into the whole starvation mode BS. Here are some good sights that explain that it is nothing more than a myth.

    http://fattyfightsback.blogspot.com/2009/03/mtyhbusters-starvation-mode.html
    http://caloriecount.about.com/forums/weight-loss/truth-starvation-mode
    http://fitnessblackbook.com/main/starvation-mode-why-you-probably-never-need-to-worry-about-it/
  • bazfitness
    bazfitness Posts: 275 Member
    @bazaar82 and @mkambalimath Your cases of course are perfectly understandable. I realise anybody commenting on your food intake would be annoying for you for that reason and they certainly shouldn't do so if they knew your condition. Thanks for pointing that out. Guess there's defo a need to be at least weary about commenting.
  • AmyM713
    AmyM713 Posts: 594 Member
    I wait and see if its a habit, if it is I make a small comment that I've noticed and hope everything is okay, some comment back some don't some delete me. Either way it straightens itself out, I don't want habitually low calorie eaters as friends, I'm here making a life change and I along with anyone else I know isn't going to be able to maintain a lifestyle of under 1200 calories.
  • kimnsc
    kimnsc Posts: 560 Member
    No I don't. They can read like we can and find the information. If they ask for advice or opinion then that's different.

    Same here.
  • Linda_Darlene
    Linda_Darlene Posts: 453 Member
    No one has the job of food police. I wouldn't run around with the intent of being the diary monitor. But If I was doing seriously something that would hurt me in the long run, I would hope that someone would bring it to my attention. So If I happen to notice a bad trend going on with someone I see regularly, I will find find a way to slide a comment in. Maybe say things along the line of: "I'd be falling down from exhaustion if I exercised that much on so very little food. Fuel in, energy out and all that jive. Geez, aren't you starving?" Then it is likely okay to ask if they know what their BMR and TDEE is with out offending them.

    There is also the 'blunt' approach, which is a lot more fun for you, but less appreciated and excepted by the others and may get you deleted! :bigsmile:
  • blonde71
    blonde71 Posts: 955 Member
    I see a few people that are eating ~1200 calories and they don't have much to lose. I don't support it but I'm not their mother either. They can read the information that's out there regarding eating and building muscle. If it really becomes a bother to me, I just delete them. Plain and simple.
  • foreveryounique
    foreveryounique Posts: 12 Member
    Some of us...especially us noobs don't really know any better. I just started last Wednesday and I was by both MFP and a nutritionist that I should stick to 1200. I admit, I have gone under, not massively under, but it wasn't like I told myself, hey, let's under eat today.
  • longtemps
    longtemps Posts: 2
    glad someone saw and spoke up, thanks
  • LennyInFlorida
    LennyInFlorida Posts: 202
    I will tell them a few times what they are doing is wrong and if they don't take the advice I defriend them.

    You are who you hang out with and I don't want to hang with unhealthy people.
  • bazaar1982
    bazaar1982 Posts: 159 Member
    @bazaar82 and @mkambalimath Your cases of course are perfectly understandable. I realise anybody commenting on your food intake would be annoying for you for that reason and they certainly shouldn't do so if they knew your condition. Thanks for pointing that out. Guess there's defo a need to be at least weary about commenting.

    I think that's all we are saying- u don't know people's situations, so perhaps a simple 'is there a reason your low on cals' would suffice? I have no issues with people asking, it's more the ones that challenge you straight up (luckily none of my friends do). There the same issue on the boards - people instantly shout starvation mode, emwl etc - and don't know the background, there's evidence of it on this thread. I can't imagine it's all that helpful to be told your wrong if you do have a disorder - in fact it's probably worse.
  • roachhaley
    roachhaley Posts: 978 Member
    No, not unless they ask for advice. It's not my job to police their eating. It's their body.

    I do think it's funny that people get yelled at for not eating enough, but when someone is over their calories significantly for days on end people just say " great job, you needed a treat week!" ._.
  • JesterMFP
    JesterMFP Posts: 3,596 Member
    No, not unless they ask for advice. It's not my job to police their eating. It's their body.

    I do think it's funny that people get yelled at for not eating enough, but when someone is over their calories significantly for days on end people just say " great job, you needed a treat week!" ._.

    I've seen plenty of people criticised for going over their goals, or not eating "clean" enough.
  • roachhaley
    roachhaley Posts: 978 Member
    I will tell them a few times what they are doing is wrong and if they don't take the advice I defriend them.

    You are who you hang out with and I don't want to hang with unhealthy people.

    No, you are who you are. Not who you are around.
  • ToriKern
    ToriKern Posts: 15 Member
    Totally agree! You have to fuel the body!!!
  • Prahasaurus
    Prahasaurus Posts: 1,381 Member
    hey if people want to screw their bodies up by eating grossly under what they should be who am I to judge or say anything? I'm worried about ME....that's all!

    Inspiring.

    --Prahasaurus
  • mstorvik
    mstorvik Posts: 356 Member
    Agreed!!
  • karabasik
    karabasik Posts: 62 Member
    You are all correct ; however , some people have different journey . After my bariatrkc surgery ( LapBand), I am supposed to eat between 700 and 900 Cal. I am under my surgeon and nutritionist supervision . I eat balanced meals, all necessary vitamins and supplements. Just a week ago, my nutritionist suppested to up my Cal intake to 1000 ( I am 1 lb away from my goal). I feel great, energized, I exercise daily . But again , remember that I am different than majority people on this site. I am just trying to explain than donor rush to judge .
    Thank you and good luck on your journey !
  • Scoobies100
    Scoobies100 Posts: 82
    I think it's up to them what they do. I don't comment because we don't know the reasoning behind it. Sometimes I don't meet my 1,200 because I am too busy to log everything and estimate the cals using quick tools. I also find that days when I exercise a lot I don't eat them all back as I am not hungry. Other times I might not be feeling that great. I don't think it is fair to comment unless you know why.

    Having said that I deleted someone off here once who was constantly eating about 600 calories a day (without exercise - with it was about 300) I just couldn't watch them destroy themselves.
  • gusgrace06
    gusgrace06 Posts: 27
    If I see that people are eating less than 1000 calories in a day I do comment, some of them like myself might have been busy and didn't eat. Some might not have realized how horrible it is for them to do that. I average between 1300 and 1500, but I'm also a big girl. I don't delete them who knows they might need help.
  • charanne52
    charanne52 Posts: 88 Member
    I really don't like to comment unless someone specifically asks my advice. The main reason I am here is to get myself healthy and if I can help and encourage others along the way so much the better. That being said, I don't want to be distracted from what I'm doing by worrying about what someone else is not doing so I prefer my circle of friends to be similar to myself in terms of our goals and how we go about attaining them.
  • LeilaFace
    LeilaFace Posts: 390 Member
    Two of my very very close friends on here are under eaters. I can't delete them because I love them too much... both are short girls - probably 5'2" or 5'4" at max, they try to tell me smaller girls need to eat less. They eat usually 600-900 calories a day... which to me is kind of scary.

    One has serious food allergies and there's only so many foods she can eat like potatoes, veggies, avocado, turkey and chicken ... It's hard to say EAT MORE when you can only eat so much of the same thing. She says she feels fine and is not tired.

    The other says when she eats more than 1000 calories a day she feels gross I try to tell her it's because she conditioned her body to that but her husband butt in that his sister is a nutritionist and said that some people can live off an 800 calorie diet ... Which I suppose you can but what goes in needs to COUNT... Most of what she logs seems to be junk food ...

    So there's nothing for me to do but throw my hands up in the air and hope they figure it out themselves. When they log over 1000 calories, I comment. When they don't, I don't.

    http://leilaface.blogspot.com/2012/06/weight-loss-i.html
  • EmCarroll1990
    EmCarroll1990 Posts: 2,832 Member
    didn't comment, just deleted off my friends list.
    There's been a couple like that and it's not up to me to judge as our goals were obviously very different. So with one click of the button, away they were........

    This.
  • inktink
    inktink Posts: 135 Member
    Two of my very very close friends on here are under eaters. I can't delete them because I love them too much... both are short girls - probably 5'2" or 5'4" at max, they try to tell me smaller girls need to eat less. They eat usually 600-900 calories a day... which to me is kind of scary.

    One has serious food allergies and there's only so many foods she can eat like potatoes, veggies, avocado, turkey and chicken ... It's hard to say EAT MORE when you can only eat so much of the same thing. She says she feels fine and is not tired.

    The other says when she eats more than 1000 calories a day she feels gross I try to tell her it's because she conditioned her body to that but her husband butt in that his sister is a nutritionist and said that some people can live off an 800 calorie diet ... Which I suppose you can but what goes in needs to COUNT... Most of what she logs seems to be junk food ...

    So there's nothing for me to do but throw my hands up in the air and hope they figure it out themselves. When they log over 1000 calories, I comment. When they don't, I don't.

    http://leilaface.blogspot.com/2012/06/weight-loss-i.html

    I'm 5'3 and I net roughly 1850 when I'm not pregnant.. Those poor girls need to eat.
  • kitka82
    kitka82 Posts: 350 Member
    You asked the question: to comment, or not to comment?

    But I think that an even bigger question is--if you DO comment, what will that comment BE?

    Will you simply ask about their diet out of curiosity? Or will you simply tell them they are not eating enough?

    Where will the comments end?

    If someone is meeting their caloric needs, but only eating Twinkies, would you comment?

    If a person is consistently exceeding their calories, would you comment?

    Also, what if their macronutrients are off, and they are eating like, 80% carbs, 15% fat, and 5% protein or something like that?

    These are the questions we are faced with..........................

    :)
  • WickedGarden
    WickedGarden Posts: 944 Member
    nope...

    I have some MFP friends that show up 'was under her calorie goal', one of them is basically my 'twin'. She is the same height, was roughly the same starting weight, and currently is at her goal weight (the weight I want to be at). I sent her a FR because her before/after pics are inspiring.

    When people hit a plateau, they want to try adjusting their diet a bit, so the calories will fluctuate. They have to do it for a month, or so to see if it works for them. We are not 'cookie cutter' people, different things work for different people. i like looking at different diaries and comparing how certain things work for all different kinds of people.

    of course I won't follow someone who is eating only 600 calories a day, but under a few hundred? ppffft.
  • xHelloQuincyx
    xHelloQuincyx Posts: 884 Member
    no. not only do i not comment, i just delete them. most times trying to explain to them about how much they need to eat before and the meaning of net etc. if they dont agree, then bye bye.
  • Serenstar75
    Serenstar75 Posts: 258 Member
    I eat very low calories but it isnt because I do it on purpose or am trying to starve myself. I am just not that hungry. I have tried for the last week to eat more but gave up when I made myself sick with stomach pains. Plain and simple you should not eat if you are not hungry. Also it isnt technically considered starvation mode unless you are eating less than 50% of your daily requirement. On average I eat 1000-1100. So that is not bad at all.

    People are always saying that you will lose muscle but that is only true if you are thinner. You will lose fat and not muscle if you are obese, according to studies. It is also known that it is difficult for a body to go into starvation mode unless your body is close to 5% body fat for men and 10% body fat for women. I dont buy into the whole starvation mode BS. Here are some good sights that explain that it is nothing more than a myth.

    http://fattyfightsback.blogspot.com/2009/03/mtyhbusters-starvation-mode.html
    http://caloriecount.about.com/forums/weight-loss/truth-starvation-mode
    http://fitnessblackbook.com/main/starvation-mode-why-you-probably-never-need-to-worry-about-it/

    I'll check those out. I'm so stressed and not eating as much and worse...Trying to force myself to eat more is MORE stress. And I stress-ercise :P I use it to get out tension, so I know I need calories. And uhg. I just could scream over trying to get all calories in a row along with all the other ducks in a row in my life.

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