Is undereating going to backfire on me?

wildapril
wildapril Posts: 97 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey, I'm going from around 163 to hopefully around 140. For the last week or so, I have around 300 for breakfast, 500 for lunch, and I have made the decision not to eat dinner. I don't get overpoweringly hungry, but I'm never tired either. I will sometimes go for a cookie or cup of tea with milk, but not often.

I have gotten down to 153 or so, and I have plenty of energy. I do physical work all day and sometimes go for a run in the evening.

Question is, if this is going to backfire when I get down to 140 and stop "cutting" weight. I don't think I'll go back to my 165 habit of eating whatever I wanted, with cream added, five times a day plus dessert.
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Replies

  • yo_andi
    yo_andi Posts: 2,178 Member
    Yes. Feed your body. The end.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,426 MFP Moderator
    More than likely, yes it will backfire. The less weight you have to lose, the more fuel you need to provide or your body will catabolize lean body mass. The issue with this is two fold; first, your body will adapt and burn less calories and decrease your metabolic rate and second, you will probably not be happy once you get to your goal weight as you will lose muscle and still be flabby. Why don't you aim for a moderate deficit (20% below TDEE) and start heavy weight training so you cut fat.
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
    So you want to eat 800 calories a day? Bad idea.
  • DanaDark
    DanaDark Posts: 2,187 Member
    Yes. Eating so little is not recommended. Quick weight loss will usually result in flabby skin and significantly reduced muscle. Ultimately becoming "skinny fat".

    When you up your eating, you will regain several pounds due to water, as well as the body now desiring to store more food for emergencies as after prolonged periods of significant caloric reductions, it thinks something is wrong.
  • LeidaPrimal
    LeidaPrimal Posts: 198 Member
    You will eventually start getting hungry. Right now you are running on the stored up energy. As long as you don't try to force yourself to stick with too low calories, eat when you are hungry, stop when you are full and only of foods that are not toxic, and appetite inducing, your appetite will normalize to your needs and you will maintain. If you start forcing, you will end up binging & regaining. Two meals a day is fine, just watch your hunger and energy level, and go for meat and veggies rather than milk and cookies. Good luck.
  • Erykah3584
    Erykah3584 Posts: 324 Member
    You will most likely hit a plateau. Your body needs fuel especially if you are also exercising. Dont be afraid to eat, food is your friend not the enemy!
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    No matter what you eat while losing, if you go back to your 165 habit, you'll likely end up weighing 165 again. That's just common sense.

    Whether eating so little backfires is entirely up to what you do after you lose 13 more lbs. But it will probably be a whole lot easier if you just eat a little more and lose more slowly.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    Your perfect "size" is not a number on the scale ..... it's really about the way you look. This is measured in inches ... not pounds. Because muscle is compact & fat is loose & jiggly ... you want to focus on FAT loss not weight loss. Eat more to preserve existing muscle.
  • wildapril
    wildapril Posts: 97 Member
    I am pretty muscular, and while I will lose some muscle it will be mostly fat. I was around 20% bodyfat when I started. I'm fine with losing muscle. I was and am "fit" (I run and lift weights) I'm just trying to live life at a thinner size.
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
    I am pretty muscular, and while I will lose some muscle it will be mostly fat. I was around 20% bodyfat when I started. I'm fine with losing muscle. I was and am "fit" (I run and lift weights) I'm just trying to live life at a thinner size.

    You are joking right?
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,426 MFP Moderator
    I am pretty muscular, and while I will lose some muscle it will be mostly fat. I was around 20% bodyfat when I started. I'm fine with losing muscle. I was and am "fit" (I run and lift weights) I'm just trying to live life at a thinner size.

    Muscle is what makes you thinner. You need to cut fat. You can do this by a moderate deficit and heavy weight training. Look at the first link. If you cut muscle and fat, you will look like the first picture.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/392784-skinny-fat-vs-fit-photo?hl=skinny+fat


    http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/07/21/meet-staci-your-new-powerlifting-super-hero/
  • KBE1990
    KBE1990 Posts: 38
    You should eat at least 3 meals a day, to keep your metabolism boosted... You shouldn't really skip meals. Just try and eat lighter healthier meals.
  • Erykah3584
    Erykah3584 Posts: 324 Member
    I am pretty muscular, and while I will lose some muscle it will be mostly fat. I was around 20% bodyfat when I started. I'm fine with losing muscle. I was and am "fit" (I run and lift weights) I'm just trying to live life at a thinner size.

    Im out, good luck. Just dont understand why you would want to lose muscle just to be "smaller".
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    I am pretty muscular, and while I will lose some muscle it will be mostly fat. I was around 20% bodyfat when I started. I'm fine with losing muscle. I was and am "fit" (I run and lift weights) I'm just trying to live life at a thinner size.

    Muscle is what makes you thinner. You need to cut fat. You can do this by a moderate deficit and heavy weight training. Look at the first link. If you cut muscle and fat, you will look like the first picture.

    That's actually pretty unlikely since the OP is only 22 and never had a huge amount of weight to lose. Youth is great in that it makes you naturally firm if you keep your weight in check.
  • adelitas_star
    adelitas_star Posts: 91
    To put it simple, yes.
  • ctooch99
    ctooch99 Posts: 459 Member
    Yes. Feed your body. The end.

    ^^THIS
  • sweebum
    sweebum Posts: 1,060 Member
    Yes, after about 12 weeks. Your body will figure it out.
  • KateCon912
    KateCon912 Posts: 200 Member
    Yes it absolutely will. I never listened to all the advise of "don't go under 1200 calories" and all that.. i averaged about 700 calories a day for almost a year. It has completely backfired. Of course I lost the weight fast, but your body and mind will revolt. I can't even imagine going back to that amount now. I developed a binge eating disorder because I wouldn't let myself eat.. so now when I get food I just go overboard and eat everything in reach. I have gained some weight back.

    My advise is don't diet for quick results. Lose weight slowly and learn how to keep it off. You cannot survive for long on 800 calories a day. It may seem easy now, but it will be VERY VERY hard later on. Good luck!
  • geekyjock76
    geekyjock76 Posts: 2,720 Member
    You must have a large amount of bone mass and/or be extremely tall to weigh 163 and be 20% bf - that's a lean body mass of 130 lbs.

    One of the worst things about chronic calorie restriction is decreased serum leptin concentration levels. Leptin is the hormone responsible for satiety and drops when you restrict food intake or net too little. Basically, your body will want and need more energy in the form of calories but, because your satiety signaling is messed up, you won't get the message. This will continue the cycle of chronic calorie restriction and potentially other health issues.
  • wildapril
    wildapril Posts: 97 Member
    Yes, I'm 5'10. I squat around 190 and hang clean 185. I am pretty muscular, run a lot, do sprints, etc.
  • wildapril
    wildapril Posts: 97 Member
    No, not joking at all. I have always been muscular and healthy, and I also have about 10 lbs of fat scattered around that I'd like to get rid of. I would also like to cut down on some of the muscle I've built up.
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
    Eating 800 calories is not the way to go. You will actually suppress your metabolism and it won't have the desired effect.
  • AbsoluteNG
    AbsoluteNG Posts: 1,079 Member
    There is no known disease associated with destroying your metabolism when eating a low calorie diet but there is something associated with eating more. It's called Diabetes type 2, heart disease, and many more. If you're not hungry, not tired, and you are exercising then there is no reason you should force your body to eat.

    The only way this will backfire on you is if you constantly overfeed your body, as in going back to your bad eating habits.
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
    She is proposing eating 800 calories a day. She is not obese. She works out, and is very active. Hello?
  • AbsoluteNG
    AbsoluteNG Posts: 1,079 Member
    I am pretty muscular, and while I will lose some muscle it will be mostly fat. I was around 20% bodyfat when I started. I'm fine with losing muscle. I was and am "fit" (I run and lift weights) I'm just trying to live life at a thinner size.

    Muscle loss can be prevented by adding some resistance or strength training exercises to your routine. You should see really fast results if you include some type of resistance training, even if it's not much.

    Edit: Take a daily potassium pill if you are going to stick to 800 calories.
  • wildapril
    wildapril Posts: 97 Member
    I take fish oil, vitamin b complex, biotin, vitamin d, and a multi-vitamin daily. Also, I eat bananas and vegetables. I'm trying to stay balanced here :)
  • geekyjock76
    geekyjock76 Posts: 2,720 Member
    I honestly do not understand why you want to atrophy your lean body mass. I turn into a sad panda when I hear athletic women desire that for themselves. I did that to myself a few years ago when I participated in a calorie restrictive experiment with 1000 calories of exercise doing 85% VO2 max and I lost about 9 lbs of lean body mass in two months. It's your decision, but you could just focus on body composition and reduce your body fat to get leaner.

    I don't know how much total exercise you do a day, but if your net is too low for 5 consecutive days, you could experience amenorrhea due to disruption in LH pulsatility and ovarian function. I've run your numbers and a net below this number will expose you to such disruption:

    15 cal x 59.1 lean body mass (kg) = 886 calories of daily exercise

    30 cal x 59.1 lean body mass (kg) x 5 days = 8863 calories consumed / 5 days = 1773 calories consumed daily

    So, if you ate 1773 calories per day and engaged in 886 calories of daily exercise so that your net is 886 for 5 straight days, amenorrhea would not occur. However, if your net is below 886 a day, over 5 days, then you risk experiencing amenorrhea.

    Thus, for 5 consecutive days, if you only ate 800 calories a day - even with no activity at all - you'd be crossing the threshold.

    Here is the study:
    http://jcem.endojournals.org/content/88/1/297.full?sid=3f3b16d8-b819-47c8-9cc9-88c8451b52dd
  • wildapril
    wildapril Posts: 97 Member
    Well, I have been rather solid and athletic my entire life. I did track and field as a thrower, and I never "bulked up" but I felt large and rather masculine. I'm tired of feeling that way. I don't want to be weak and "skinny-fat" - that's not my goal. I will keep most of my muscle, and lose some of the fat. As a woman, it would be really freaking hard to drop below 15% body fat, so just losing fat will not get me where I want to be.

    I have a physically active job which takes up most of my day, and in the evenings I go for a 45-min jog/run. I'm not concerned with having children at this time or any other, so that issue is not relevant. Yes, it's important to stay healthy, but dropping 13 lbs of fat and muscle will not affect my general health.
  • geekyjock76
    geekyjock76 Posts: 2,720 Member
    Reading your profile, you seem to be comparing yourself to thinner friends and even stated you are envious of them. You do not have to resemble them, you know. Nonetheless, if you are engaging in 45 minute jog/runs, then by default you will lose some lean body mass thus it's not necessary for you to restrict dietary intake as drastically as you propose. Just by adhering to a 25% or so deficit below maintenance will get you there in time.
  • AbsoluteNG
    AbsoluteNG Posts: 1,079 Member
    I take fish oil, vitamin b complex, biotin, vitamin d, and a multi-vitamin daily. Also, I eat bananas and vegetables. I'm trying to stay balanced here :)

    Sounds good. Bananas have a lot of potassium. Do some resistance training even if it's not a lot. It will tell ur body to preserve the muscle groups that you use and force ur body to use more fat as energy than ur lean mass. In other words faster results.

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