eating too few calories...

brunette824

I dont do it on purpose...I'm just not hungry! Ive only eaten about 800 calories today (and I do this every once in awhile) but I just don't have the appetite to get me to that magic 1200 calories. I know its not great for you (and I go ever my calories goal just as often as I go under) so is it okay or should I suck it up and eat those 400 calories.

zebisis

I think if it happens once in awhile, it is OK, but I try to get to my 1200, and don't eat exercise cals back (unless I am starving and then just 100-150 of them).
I keep Sunbutter around (PB sub, as we have allergies in the house to nuts). Nut and seed butters are high in cals and if you eat one with little to no added sugar, you get a high protein high cal treat with little mass (you could have 4 T of sunbutter for the 400 cal you have remaining). Then you are eating your cals without having to stuff in a meal sized portion.
Again, I don't think anything bad will happen if you don't eat the other cals, but I find that when I am under, I am sometimes crazy hungry the next morning, and I can't eat today's cals tomorrow!!

I also keep atkins strawberry protein shakes around, and will have one of those as a treat if I am under (160 cals, 1 g net carbs)

HTH!

lachesissss

I would look at it longitudinally. Not just today but over the course of the week. If you're not hungry because you had a big meal yesterday and ate more than you normally do, you're probably fine. If it's one day that you're under and you aren't starving, I would say you're fine too.

SuffolkSally

It isn't about the daily intake, it's the average over a week or month. So if you're not hungry, don't eat; if you're over, don't stress - but keep an eye on those averaged out calories.

iluxoxo211

If I find myself under my cals but alot or fair amount I have a peice of toast with pb or a apple with pb...I wouldnt stess over it as long as its not going on everyday.

brunette824

Alrighty thanks everyone! I might eat something with nuts just so I'm not that much under. I get more paranoid going way under than way over. I just don't want to put my body in that doomed starvation mode that everyone talks about lol

HypersonicFitNess

Actually, something bad will happen. If you aren't getting enough calories your body will slow your metabolism and you will have a harder time losing weight. When you actually eat normal calories, you will gain weight. I don't think you are "not hungry" enough to eat more than 800 calories; I think it is a mental thing. I was there before and it leads to a path of destructive eating disorders. You should be eating above your BMR - this is the amount of calories your body needs for you to exist (no activity).

Here are a few sites to calculate that:

http://www.muscleandstrength.com/tools/bmr-and-daily-calorie-calculator.html

http://health.discovery.com/centers/heart/basal/basal.html

http://www.hussmanfitness.org/bmrcalc.htm (this one was interesting)

http://www.calculator.net/bmr-calculator.html

http://www.calculator.org/calculate-online/health-fitness/basal-metabolic-rate.aspx

http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/

http://thefitgirls.com/rmr-calculator.aspx

http://calorieline.com/tools/tdee

mimiyo1980

I just wondered if you know about averaging out, so, if i was over yesterday and under today will it balance out over the week? I definitely want to take the healthiest approach possible but it is hard to get exactly 1200 cals in all the time - my life isn't that black and white sadly!