Starving Myself?

glovepuppet

are you getting enough nutrients. 'healthy' foods aren't healthy if you're not eating the right balance.

what does your diet look like if you change your settings to count, say, protein and calcium, or iron? add things to your diet that fill any shortfall.

Leeanne1974

This doesn't make any sense to me! Why do you have to "eat your calories back" that seems like nonsense. If you feel like you are eating enough...then shouldn't that be enough? I mean the caloric expenditure on mfp isn't accurate anyways. I have been eating around 600-800 calories a day which is below the "recommended" 1200 calories a day for a "normal woman". However I am not "normal", I am "obese". Therefore there will be no such thing as starvation mode or any reason to eat back calories if I decided to exercise especially if I feel satisfied. My doctor is even aware of my daily intake, and he said its perfectly fine because I have plenty fat storage for energy as long as I'm taking vitamins.

Look up "starvation mode myth" to better assure yourself.

There IS such a thing as starvation mode...
Don't agree, as do an awful lot of doctors, with a 600 calorie diet.
I know you are doing what you feel is best for you but what are you doing to do when you reach your goal? Surely you can't survive on 600 calories a day for the rest of your life??
1200 calories is the recommended calorie intake for weight loss. Not for maintaining, for losing weight. It might take a bit longer to come off but the longer the weight takes to come off the more likely you are to keep it off.
No offence but its bad for you to be on a diet like that in the long run, vitamins or no vitamins.
Not digging at you, just being honest. x

brneydgrlie

see, i'm trying really hard not to eat processed foods. I know I could get more calories from them, but along with that I could get a lot less appealing things in my body. I want to eat as natural as my budget and time allows. But its hard to bulk up on blueberries

Use olive oil in cooking; eat avocado and almonds; oatmeal or even leftovers can make a good mid-day snack; add protein shakes; eat and extra side fruit or vegetable with each meal.

You do not want your Net calories to stay below 1200, especially if you are burning that many calories exercising. It would eventually slow your metabolism down and become counterproductive.

GnochhiGnomes

Why do people 1-4 weeks into a "Diet" always talk about not being able to eat 1500 calories a day when they just stopped eating probably over 2500 per day?

Because steamed asparagus with haddock don't taste as good as fried egg sandwich with brown sauce.

UrbanRunner81

you're body gets used to eating very little, you get less hunger responses. The thing is when you don't eat enough for your body, not only are you losing fat, but you start to lose your muscle. You want to keep your muscle so you can burn fat more effectively.

I always find eating more for breakfast always helps me. I snack throughout the day. Sometimes I have one large meal usually lunch or dinner (sometimes both if I have a high burn day lol).

almc170

This doesn't make any sense to me! Why do you have to "eat your calories back" that seems like nonsense. If you feel like you are eating enough...then shouldn't that be enough? I mean the caloric expenditure on mfp isn't accurate anyways. I have been eating around 600-800 calories a day which is below the "recommended" 1200 calories a day for a "normal woman". However I am not "normal", I am "obese". Therefore there will be no such thing as starvation mode or any reason to eat back calories if I decided to exercise especially if I feel satisfied. My doctor is even aware of my daily intake, and he said its perfectly fine because I have plenty fat storage for energy as long as I'm taking vitamins.

Look up "starvation mode myth" to better assure yourself.

I did a VLCD about 15 years ago. When I started, I was at a normal weight but decided to go for that "French supermodel" look, and ate accordingly (cigarettes, caffeine, ~800 cals a day). I rapidly lost weight, got my BMI down to 18.2. But I also lost hair, stopped getting my periods, was cold all the time, etc. Once I started eating semi-normally again, I quickly regained the weight I had lost plus about another 50lbs. Call it "starvation mode" or something else, but your body can and will fight back if you don't eat enough.

I get that you're obese, and your situation is different. Only you and your doctor can know if your nutrition plan is appropriate for your needs. But please don't dismiss the consequences of extreme dieting as "myth."

IdunAbelone

Almonds are good for your heart, but high on calories. A handful is about 200 kcal, and when I'm low on my calories, that's my night-snack
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/60696.php

MSeel1984

see, i'm trying really hard not to eat processed foods. I know I could get more calories from them, but along with that I could get a lot less appealing things in my body. I want to eat as natural as my budget and time allows. But its hard to bulk up on blueberries

Try dried fruits and nuts...nutritious, packed with fiber and vitamins, filling and healthy!

fatrayray

I have been doing this on and off for the last month or so and I find the calorie counter very useful to see the true nutritional and calorie content of what I am eating.

I have no idea how anyone has trouble reaching 1200 calories though!

What are you guys eating?

I am very concious of not only losing weight but trying to get healthier and stay that way so I am still eating a lot of things like fruit that have quote a high content.

I would be starving if I didn't eat at least my 1200 calories and more often than not am over and have to make it up with exercise.

And for anyone having trouble bulking up their calories a favourite of mine is a fruit smoothie. Make at home with natural (low fat or not) YOGHURT, milk, tsp of honey, some porridge oats and then fuit of your choice. I usually go for frozen raspberries and blueberries. Blend in a food processor and ta da! delicious and filling.

and you can vary your quantities to suit you re consistency, fat content etc.

Leeanne1974

This doesn't make any sense to me! Why do you have to "eat your calories back" that seems like nonsense. If you feel like you are eating enough...then shouldn't that be enough? I mean the caloric expenditure on mfp isn't accurate anyways. I have been eating around 600-800 calories a day which is below the "recommended" 1200 calories a day for a "normal woman". However I am not "normal", I am "obese". Therefore there will be no such thing as starvation mode or any reason to eat back calories if I decided to exercise especially if I feel satisfied. My doctor is even aware of my daily intake, and he said its perfectly fine because I have plenty fat storage for energy as long as I'm taking vitamins.

Look up "starvation mode myth" to better assure yourself.

I did a VLCD about 15 years ago. When I started, I was at a normal weight but decided to go for that "French supermodel" look, and ate accordingly (cigarettes, caffeine, ~800 cals a day). I rapidly lost weight, got my BMI down to 18.2. But I also lost hair, stopped getting my periods, was cold all the time, etc. Once I started eating semi-normally again, I quickly regained the weight I had lost plus about another 50lbs. Call it "starvation mode" or something else, but your body can and will fight back if you don't eat enough.

I get that you're obese, and your situation is different. Only you and your doctor can know if your nutrition plan is appropriate for your needs. But please don't dismiss the consequences of extreme dieting as "myth."

Similar situation here... When I was 15-17 i had a brush with anorexia. Was eating about 700-800 cals a day. Was incredibly thin, (scarily the same sort of weight that some aspire to be on MFP, i find it very scary), you could see my ribs, my hip bones...
I have had nothing but problems with my periods for the last 8 years or so and i have been diagnosed with PCOS. I swear that the earlier eating habits i had are at least partly to blame. I go months with no periods and recently stopped bleeding after a 25 day period.
If people honestly stopped, saw the bigger picture and realised the health troubles they may well face and accepted that it isn't going to be a quick fix and that it will take months, if not a couple of years, to lose a huge amount of weight that will stay off if they eat healthier forever then they might not be so extreme.

Lisah8969

I was having this same discussion with friends yesterday. For the past week, my net calorie intake was 854 (average) daily and my acutal calorie consumption was 1,388 a day and I gained a pound. I have been trying to figure a way to solve this as right now I don't really notice that I haven't eaten enough until dinner time when I don't want to consume something high calorie just to fill in the numbers. I am going to try and add a couple hundred calories around lunchtime (something good for me as well) and see if that helps.

I was reading a different message board last week and it seems that those who are doing the best eat their "allowed" calories per day plus half of their exercise calories. I'm going to make that my new goal and see how that works out for me.

Good luck to all!

amy1612

Why do people 1-4 weeks into a "Diet" always talk about not being able to eat 1500 calories a day when they just stopped eating probably over 2500 per day?

Because steamed asparagus with haddock don't taste as good as fried egg sandwich with brown sauce.

Urrrrrgh, lol, I wholeheartedly disagree!

But yeah, eat avocados, nuts, etc. If youre really struggling, take a shot of olive oil!x

islandmonkey

I'm kind of curious about the calc that shows you have 1500 calories left to eat? Given that you are eating a nice breakfast and some items throughout the day, I can't see that you'd be burning 1000+ calories by jogging 4-5 miles? First step I'd look at is confirming your calories burned - either with a HRM, or checking a few different places (I find MFP shows the highest number of calories burned for the same amount of activity, and always shows far more than my HRM).

It's great that you're exploring what to eat to fill that gap though, and I agree with other poster on avocados,nuts, coconut oil etc. Let us know how it goes! (My favorites are 1 oz of cashews, or a slice of havarti cheese)

So I've been slowly easing myself into the whole diet and exercise thing, and recently I've found the motivation to fit it hard and go full throtle. However, I'm having a hard time filling up my daily calories with healthy food. I usually dont eat back the calories I burn exercising. Today, by the end of everything, my tracker said I still had over 1,500 calories to eat! I'm maybe a bit hungry but not starving by any means. I hd a big nutritious breakfast and ate a little more throughout the day when I felt hungry. Jogged about 4or5 miles. So what do I do? I don't want to fill my diet with higher calorie options, but how do I find the middle ground?

pornstarzombie

When I usually have a lot of calories left, I'll go for a peanut butter and honey sandwich or peanut butter and jelly sandwich. PB is pretty high in calories. Last night I ended up having to eat a PB&H and almonds at the end of the night, and even then I was off. But...I was over a few days before so it does even out.

PrettyGrit

Just a thought... but if you are eating fairly clean healthy foods and you feel full isn't that the goal??
Shouldn't we be teaching ourselves 'look we are full stop eating'
Surely that is the only way to maintain a goal weight and a healthy attitude towards food and eating

ashesfromfire

I ate 1070 calories yesterday - not 600. I just ended up running off about 900 of those calories.

hulkklogan

So I've been slowly easing myself into the whole diet and exercise thing, and recently I've found the motivation to fit it hard and go full throtle. However, I'm having a hard time filling up my daily calories with healthy food. I usually dont eat back the calories I burn exercising. Today, by the end of everything, my tracker said I still had over 1,500 calories to eat! I'm maybe a bit hungry but not starving by any means. I hd a big nutritious breakfast and ate a little more throughout the day when I felt hungry. Jogged about 4or5 miles. So what do I do? I don't want to fill my diet with higher calorie options, but how do I find the middle ground?

Eat if you are hungry, don't if you're not. Listen to your body, not just MFP. I don't agree with MFP's calorie allowances after exercise.

The human body was developed around the premise of food was not always available and we could not always eat if we were hungry, and did not eat if we weren't hungry. Intermittent fasting (a 24 hour fast once a month or more often if you'd like) is a great way to burn off fat. The hard part is hours 18-24, but that is when the most of the fat is burned off. The easiest way to do this is to eat dinner, go to bed, and not eat again until dinner.

eta

I got off track on this post.. but you should be eating at least about 1200 calories a day since you are exercising. But don't feel like you actually need to eat 900 extra calories after a run - MFP is very "kind" with the amount of calories you supposedly burn off with exercise.

minburke

I just dont know how you can be burning 1500 cals and not be hungry enough to get up to 1200.. I'm starving when I exercise.. Try having a bigger brekkie to get your metabolism going early.

I also dont eat back all my burned calories, some days I will, others I won't. I eat if I'm hungry, not if I'm bored.. Works for me

onyxgirl17

Is your stomach screaming "IM HUNGRY FEED ME NOW!!!". If not, you are probably not starving yourself. Years ago before people overanalyzed everything it was so much simpler. Eat healthy when you feel hungry, exercise moderately, and some days you will net higher than others.

Susan2BHealthier

are you getting enough nutrients. 'healthy' foods aren't healthy if you're not eating the right balance.

what does your diet look like if you change your settings to count, say, protein and calcium, or iron? add things to your diet that fill any shortfall.

Yes....this is what I do at the end of the day. I see how much more protein and fiber I need for the day then i eat something that will fill those needs.