What classifies as "too few calories" for weight loss?

2»

Replies

  • nickichambers
    nickichambers Posts: 11 Member
    To be honest, if I cut out fruit I would have almost nothing to eat. I already don't eat any bread or sweets or cereals- just eggs, beans, mushrooms, fish, quorn meat and plenty of leafy greens and tomatoes.

    I'm gonna keep it at 1200 for another two weeks and see if it makes any difference.

    On a side note- has anyone else one a low carb diet noticed lethergy? Today I genuienly feel like I could sleep all day: no energy and a serious desire to just lie down despite 7.5 hours sleep :grumble:
  • suziecue66
    suziecue66 Posts: 1,312 Member
    To be honest, if I cut out fruit I would have almost nothing to eat. I already don't eat any bread or sweets or cereals- just eggs, beans, mushrooms, fish, quorn meat and plenty of leafy greens and tomatoes.

    I'm gonna keep it at 1200 for another two weeks and see if it makes any difference.

    On a side note- has anyone else one a low carb diet noticed lethergy? Today I genuienly feel like I could sleep all day: no energy and a serious desire to just lie down despite 7.5 hours sleep :grumble:

    Yeh, low carb can make you feel lethargic until your body adapts. Some don't adapt and do better with more carbs.
    I wouldn't cut out fruit either.
  • cramernh
    cramernh Posts: 3,335 Member
    On a side note- has anyone else one a low carb diet noticed lethergy? Today I genuienly feel like I could sleep all day: no energy and a serious desire to just lie down despite 7.5 hours sleep :grumble:

    Im, for medical reasons, doing a low-carbohydrate intake. I didnt have any lethargy at all. It was the easiest transition for me where allergy tests also played a role in my being directed to LC. (cannot digest breads, flours, corn, rice, pasta, most fruits - so they are eliminated).

    But if you exercise like crazy and net an extremely low caloric intake, lethargy can definitely set in due to not enough calorie-intake.
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
    Low carb is GREAT if you have a medical condition that changes the way your body processes carbs or gluten.

    For the rest of the world, it's not necessary. I have breads, pasta, rice and potatoes all the time. I have my macros set to 50% carbs, 25% fat and 25% protein, but really, I just aim for at least 100g of protein and let the rest fall where they may.
  • suziecue66
    suziecue66 Posts: 1,312 Member
    Low carb is GREAT if you have a medical condition that changes the way your body processes carbs or gluten.

    For the rest of the world, it's not necessary. I have breads, pasta, rice and potatoes all the time. I have my macros set to 50% carbs, 25% fat and 25% protein, but really, I just aim for at least 100g of protein and let the rest fall where they may.

    I try to do the 100g protein too but with a low amount of calories that OP will be doing (to enable some more fat loss) her carbs will be lowish say about 100g also then the rest made up of fat. At maintenance can up the carbs as will have more calories to play with.
    100g carbs is still a good amount - you can eat quite a bit of veg and fruit. Also some days have your starchier veg or even porridge, rice.
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
    Low carb is GREAT if you have a medical condition that changes the way your body processes carbs or gluten.

    For the rest of the world, it's not necessary. I have breads, pasta, rice and potatoes all the time. I have my macros set to 50% carbs, 25% fat and 25% protein, but really, I just aim for at least 100g of protein and let the rest fall where they may.

    I try to do the 100g protein too but with a low amount of calories that OP will be doing (to enable some more fat loss) her carbs will be lowish say about 100g also then the rest made up of fat. At maintenance can up the carbs as will have more calories to play with.
    100g carbs is still a good amount - you can eat quite a bit of veg and fruit. Also some days have your starchier veg or even porridge, rice.

    But there's also no need for her calories to be that low. I had a lot more fat loss at a higher calorie (say 1500 plus exercise calories) than at 1200 or less.
  • suziecue66
    suziecue66 Posts: 1,312 Member
    Low carb is GREAT if you have a medical condition that changes the way your body processes carbs or gluten.

    For the rest of the world, it's not necessary. I have breads, pasta, rice and potatoes all the time. I have my macros set to 50% carbs, 25% fat and 25% protein, but really, I just aim for at least 100g of protein and let the rest fall where they may.

    I try to do the 100g protein too but with a low amount of calories that OP will be doing (to enable some more fat loss) her carbs will be lowish say about 100g also then the rest made up of fat. At maintenance can up the carbs as will have more calories to play with.
    100g carbs is still a good amount - you can eat quite a bit of veg and fruit. Also some days have your starchier veg or even porridge, rice.

    But there's also no need for her calories to be that low. I had a lot more fat loss at a higher calorie (say 1500 plus exercise calories) than at 1200 or less.

    Yeh but that's you. OP needs to determine what works best for her.
  • RuthieCass
    RuthieCass Posts: 247 Member
    To be honest, if I cut out fruit I would have almost nothing to eat. I already don't eat any bread or sweets or cereals- just eggs, beans, mushrooms, fish, quorn meat and plenty of leafy greens and tomatoes.

    I'm gonna keep it at 1200 for another two weeks and see if it makes any difference.

    On a side note- has anyone else one a low carb diet noticed lethergy? Today I genuienly feel like I could sleep all day: no energy and a serious desire to just lie down despite 7.5 hours sleep :grumble:

    Frankly, I have no idea why you want to go on such a restrictive diet (both in terms of calories and in terms of food selection). You don't feel well, you're tired, and you're stressed out. How much longer do you think you're going to last? What do you think will happen once you fall off the wagon or end this diet? Also, when you are stressed, your body tends to hold on to more weight. There's no need to do this kind of restriction.

    I have very similar stats as you: 5'6, 147, looking to lose maybe another 10 lbs. At this point, you kind of do have to accept that the rest of the weight will probably come off slowly. I tried 1200 for a little while (with "eating back" exercise calories), felt ok for the first couple weeks, and terrible after that. I do exercise more than you do, though. Now I am up to 1500 net calories and losing about half lb per week. So I think you can definitely get close to your goal with or without cutting your calories to 1200 (assuming you're able to eat only 1200 for that long).

    If you do really want to stay near 1200, I'd recommend that you take a vitamin supplement, and make sure that you eat enough protein. A good breakdown of your macros would be something like 120 g (39%) protein, 40 g (29%) fat, 100 g (32%) carbs which brings you to 1240 calories. Eating at least 100 g carbs will help you avoid ketosis, which many people cannot adopt to on low carb diets. On such a diet, you will probably not be able to do much cardio, but you should do some weight training to prevent muscle loss.

    Good luck and congrats on your upcoming wedding!
  • myfitnessnmhoy
    myfitnessnmhoy Posts: 2,105 Member
    Now, it doesnt take an accountant to work out that my TDEE (1778) and BMW (1446) are fairly close together. In fact if i eat 500 less than my TDEE we're on 1278- which I am constantly told is too few calories to lose weight.

    You stated earlier that you had 17 weeks to lose ten pounds-ish.

    If you carefully eat a total NET (eating back exercise calories, and with a reasonable balance of fats, carbs, and proteins) of about 1450 (right about your BMI), you will have a caloric deficit of 332 calories daily. If you sustain this very healthy plan for weight loss, you will lose an approximate average of 1 pound every 11 days. You have 119 days to lose your weight. In your 119 days, you should be able to lose somewhere in the vicinity of 10.8 pounds.

    It'll be a little close, but you should be able to come pretty darned close to losing your 10 pounds within the guidelines of this site and within your deadline.

    More importantly, you will be more likely to approach your goal more fit (because you can support better workouts for fitness), feeling better about life in general (because you aren't running a constant deep deficit) and healthier. If you're three pounds short of goal but feeling energetic and healthy, isn't that better than 2 pounds over goal and feeling like deep fried poo?

    The Scale Does Not Tell All.
  • myfitnessnmhoy
    myfitnessnmhoy Posts: 2,105 Member
    Yeh but that's you. OP needs to determine what works best for her.

    While that's true, dropping calories should not be the FIRST resort to figuring out what is right, in my opinion. First make an attempt to follow the guidelines and recommendations of the site, THEN experiment with that experiential data as a baseline.

    And given the American tendency to equate suffering = good when it comes to weight loss, my usual bias when people ask is to eat a little more. Not a lot, just a little. Because most people are too impatient, push themselves too hard, and end up stalling because they aren't feeding themselves enough.

    I've been on that treadmill for 30 years. It's familiar territory to me.
  • Momjogger
    Momjogger Posts: 750 Member
    Plain Greek yogurt with 3 packages of Stevia in the raw and some frozen berries is a good alternative if you dont ' want sugar. I would try body pump for strength training twice a week and spinning or Zumba for cardio, and eat 1500 on the days you exercise. You will look and feel GREAT even if you don't lost as much as you want.
  • mcarter99
    mcarter99 Posts: 1,666 Member
    Yeh but that's you. OP needs to determine what works best for her.

    While that's true, dropping calories should not be the FIRST resort to figuring out what is right, in my opinion. First make an attempt to follow the guidelines and recommendations of the site, THEN experiment with that experiential data as a baseline.

    And given the American tendency to equate suffering = good when it comes to weight loss, my usual bias when people ask is to eat a little more. Not a lot, just a little. Because most people are too impatient, push themselves too hard, and end up stalling because they aren't feeding themselves enough.

    I've been on that treadmill for 30 years. It's familiar territory to me.

    Really? What I see is most people don't push hard and think they're pushing hard and think they end up stalling because their scale hasn't moved in a week. And they keep reading that other people supposedly aren't eating enough so they think they're not.
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member

    While that's true, dropping calories should not be the FIRST resort to figuring out what is right, in my opinion. First make an attempt to follow the guidelines and recommendations of the site, THEN experiment with that experiential data as a baseline.

    And given the American tendency to equate suffering = good when it comes to weight loss, my usual bias when people ask is to eat a little more. Not a lot, just a little. Because most people are too impatient, push themselves too hard, and end up stalling because they aren't feeding themselves enough.

    I've been on that treadmill for 30 years. It's familiar territory to me.

    Really? What I see is most people don't push hard and think they're pushing hard and think they end up stalling because their scale hasn't moved in a week. And they keep reading that other people supposedly aren't eating enough so they think they're not.

    I think both are true. People cut calories to extreme levels, get frustrated when they don't see Biggest Loser type results, and quit.

    I tried the low cal routine. It was frustrating and slow. Aiming for a moderate loss (one pound a week until I got within 10 pounds of my goal, then a half pound a week), weight loss was so effortless, it was ridiculous. I won't say it was "easy," because I was still busting my butt with exercise, but I wasn't starving myself and I wasn't EXPECTING to lose 2-5 pounds a week.

    Too many people think weight loss means eating small servings of boring foods. All it takes is eating a little bit less than it would take to maintain your weight. Gaining weight for most of us meant eating a little bit more than it takes to maintain our weight. Most of us put on weight slowly. Twenty pounds over the course of a year is less than a half pound a week. It's eating only about 200 extra calories a day. The eating habits of someone who gained 20 pounds in a year aren't THAT bad... they don't need to do a total lifestyle overhaul. A few small changes is all it takes... either eating a little less or exercising a little more, or a combination of the two.

Categories