Number crunching, need some advice please.

trixiemou

I have been checking over my results for the last three weeks and my average daily calorie intake is between 950 and 1000. is this too low?
I am attempting 16/8 with two days a week at only 5-600 cals. The remainder of the week is aprox 1300 calories per day (Tdee - 20%). I do eat back part of my exercise calories most days.

I have just read so much on MFP about starvation mode, it concerns me. Then to find that I am netting less than 1000 cals per day. Should I be concerned?

Thank you

SlickDaddyCool

I'm not really a big fan of starvation mode. I just see too many people that eat too few calories still lose weight. With that said, I know that when I eat really low, I experience stress on my body. Whether or not it's obvious. My skin looks bad, I have less energy, and my sleep sucks to name a few. (And my friends say I'm a bit cranky!)

Now in contrast. I have run into and am currently experiencing, the ability to lose weight while actually upping my calories. Modestly speaking, from 1200 a day to 1600 a day. My weight loss is slower, but I feel better. And I'm hoping I won't want to break my diet and binge because of it.

So I guess what I'm saying is, if your body feels OK and your still getting good results, stick with it. If your worried you may be putting your health in jeopardy, up the cals a bit. (Especially on those 600 cal days. I'm not sure if that's even needed when your on a 16/8 plan anyways. But honestly I'm not sure. I'm totally new to IF.)

Good luck!

trixiemou

Thanks for this, maybe I should just increase my allowance, and eat back more of my exercise calories. I do actually feel fine and have exercised more over the last three weeks which could be why my average is down. Like yourself it is all new to me and I do not want to do anything silly, not when I have come this far.

Cheers.

mfpcopine

I have been checking over my results for the last three weeks and my average daily calorie intake is between 950 and 1000. is this too low?
I am attempting 16/8 with two days a week at only 5-600 cals. The remainder of the week is aprox 1300 calories per day (Tdee - 20%). I do eat back part of my exercise calories most days.

I have just read so much on MFP about starvation mode, it concerns me. Then to find that I am netting less than 1000 cals per day. Should I be concerned?

Thank you

If you look at some of the better posts here on starvation mode, you will find that eating dramatically fewer calories may slow down your metabolism slightly, but you will still lose weight. I can't advise re the calories you're eating because I'm not following that system. I do IF a couple of days a week, and every day, fasting or not, I try to stay somewhere around my goal of 1150. Sometimes I exceed it, more rarely, I fall below it.

mfpcopine

I have been checking over my results for the last three weeks and my average daily calorie intake is between 950 and 1000. is this too low?
I am attempting 16/8 with two days a week at only 5-600 cals. The remainder of the week is aprox 1300 calories per day (Tdee - 20%). I do eat back part of my exercise calories most days.

I have just read so much on MFP about starvation mode, it concerns me. Then to find that I am netting less than 1000 cals per day. Should I be concerned?

Thank you

If you look at some of the better posts here on starvation mode, you will find that eating dramatically fewer calories may slow down your metabolism slightly, but you will still lose weight. I can't advise re the calories you're eating because I'm not following that system. I do IF a couple of days a week, and every day, fasting or not, I try to stay somewhere around my goal of 1150. Sometimes I exceed it, more rarely, I fall below it.

Put it this way, I think 1150 is pretty tough; I'm not sure I'd want to limit myself to 500, but that's just me.

trixiemou

Thanks, I will check out some of the other posts on starvation mode as it is not somewhere I want to go even unintentionally. I am now thinking that I should try the 16/8 with my normal daily ration of 12-1300 and give the 600 a miss, especially if that is what is pulling me back.

Cheers

girlie100

i would pick one system first and stick with it for a couple of months, i.e. LG 16/8, eat stop eat or 5:2

trying to follow cal deficit days and then adding in extra low cal days is going to mess your weekly average, the idea with say eat stop eat is that you have a low day and then a maintenece day so it all balances out like calorie zig-zagging :bigsmile:

for me I have found following 16/8 and using a 20% deficit from TDEE has been working for me and I'm loosing about 1/2" a fortnight and increasing my strength using stronglifts :happy:

trixiemou

Thanks girlie100, messing with my weekly average just about sums up what I have been doing. I feel as though I am all over the place. So I need to sit down and work out just which I need to do and stick with it. The 16/8 I find quite easy to follow, so will probaby go for that.
Cheers