What to do when...

bright_and_shiny

I'm very new to all of this - I've never kept track of how many calories I'm eating before. At the moment, I've got a very hectic lifestyle, and I find that I'm undereating to the target of 1200 cals that MFP has set for me (I'm working longish hours during the day and then am on call in the evenings, and if I'm called I have to drop everything (it was twice last night, both times in the middle of heating up my dinner - finally had it at 11pm) and it can be a few hours before I get back, so I often just don't have time to eat).

I don't want to debate the 1200 calorie target (I understand that this is a controversial issue, but I need some time to get my head around it), but wanted experts' advice as to whether I should eat for the sake of making the 1200 minimum, late in the evening (after 10pm), even if I'm not feeling hungry? I don't want to end up in starvation mode, but it seems counterintuitive to eat just to make the numbers. Is a day here or there below 1200 going to mess up my metabolism, even if it's not a pattern?
I'm not doing any exercise per se at the moment (due to the schedule and a rotten cold), though I'm on my feet a lot during the day.

My diary is open to friends, so add me if you want to take a look. I'm already aware of some of my bigger mistakes (like missing breakfast!) and am working on things, but appreciate any advice. :flowerforyou:

Thanks!
Shiny

JesterMFP

A day here or there eating under your calorie goal is not going to mess up your metabolism. Consistently eating at a very large calorie deficit may have a negative effect on your metabolism.

You will get lots of different views on this. A lot of people say "listen to your body", and "don't eat if you're not hungry". Sounds good, but for me personally, this doesn't work. If I listened to my body, I'd either massively overeat or massively undereat. The more I eat, it seems the hungrier I get, whereas when I undereat for a few days I find that my appetite reduces so that I don't want to eat any more.

Just try to remember that your body needs a certain amount of energy. Reduce your intake, and it will get some of that energy from your fat stores (yay!) But, your metabolism will slow down to adapt to the lower intake. The bigger the calorie deficit, the more your metabolism will adapt. You will lose some muscle mass - this is likely whenever you lose weight, but you can try to minimise how much muscle is lost.

So for me personally - I have the odd day when I don't meet my calorie target. I usually make up for it on other days. I try not to let it happen too often though and if it does start to happen often - yes, I eat for the sake of making up the calories. I know my body will appreciate it!

One last thing - I don't know what you've set your activity level as with MFP, but if you're on your feet all day then you're not sedentary.