Am I eating enough?

Aquarii

As the title says, am I eating enough? By looking at my food diary, you can see that I generally eat about 1,400 calories on days I don't work out, and 1,800 calories on days that I do.

Would my body go into "starvation mode" if I were to both exercise (usually lift weights 4 days/week and then do 30 minutes of cardio afterwards, and aim to do 60 minutes of cardio on non-lifting days) and eat only 1,400 calories (essentially putting me under 1,200 calories)?

The reason I'm worried about this is that I don't want my body to go into "starvation mode" and have my metabolism slow down a bunch. This happened to me 2 years ago, but back then I wasn't counting my calories, and I honestly don't exactly remember my eating habits back then.

Sorry in advance for making your head explore with all of the parentheses.

ajshepherd3

Hello,

I have had a couple of days when I haven't consumed enough calories, less than 1200 and a warning comes up up to tell me to eat more. I have also had days where I have eaten my calories and then exercised and the net calories are less than 1200 but no warning has appeared. On that I have assumed that just as long as I eat more than the 1200 as an absolute minimum then I should be fine.

Hope that makes sense.

Helloitsdan

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

This may shed some light.

Aquarii

Makes a lot of sense aj! Thank you.

Also, thank you Dan for the link to your thread. It's so... informative. Amazing. Thanks again.

La_dolce_vita_222

I was trying to figure out how much I should be eating...thanks for posting this topic and thanks to Dan for the informative thread...I followed his instructions and settled on a happy number...will let you know how it goes..

TavistockToad

you might want to consider how much cardio you are doing in relation to your desired body composition.

a lot of cadio on a very high deficit will lead to loss of muscle mass.

FeebRyan

I think you should definitely allow yourself a couple of rest days a week xx

Aquarii

TavistockToad:
At the moment I've been doing 30 minutes of cardio a day on an elliptical. I typically warm-up for 7 minutes, then increase the resistance a couple of times during the rest of the 23 minutes to make sure my heart rate stays around 170 - 180 bpm, and then cool down for ~5 minutes. Also, if I'm not struggling, I tend to increase the resistance some more. I usually burn ~400 calories according to the machine, but honestly I've never trusted those numbers, which is why I don't count it in my exercise diary (same with weight lifting).

Since I'm on a caloric deficit, I'm expecting to lose some muscle mass, so that's not a problem to me. Once I get down to around 140 pounds, I plan on going through the never ending cycle of bulking/cutting until I'm satisfied with myself.

FeebRyan:
Thank you for your concern! I used to exercise every day (did a push/pull routine 4 times a week and did 60 minutes of cardio on an elliptical everyday) and would like to get back to that routine. My body back then never really felt sore the day after a workout, so I think I could get back to that point again (hopefully). Basically, I want to fully commit myself to reaching my goals again.

La_dolce_vita:
I'll be waiting for your results, as we all are!

FitBeto

you might want to consider how much cardio you are doing in relation to your desired body composition.

a lot of cadio on a very high deficit will lead to loss of muscle mass.

and starvation mode

GypsysBloodRose26

As the title says, am I eating enough? By looking at my food diary, you can see that I generally eat about 1,400 calories on days I don't work out, and 1,800 calories on days that I do.

Would my body go into "starvation mode" if I were to both exercise (usually lift weights 4 days/week and then do 30 minutes of cardio afterwards, and aim to do 60 minutes of cardio on non-lifting days) and eat only 1,400 calories (essentially putting me under 1,200 calories)?

The reason I'm worried about this is that I don't want my body to go into "starvation mode" and have my metabolism slow down a bunch. This happened to me 2 years ago, but back then I wasn't counting my calories, and I honestly don't exactly remember my eating habits back then.

Sorry in advance for making your head explore with all of the parentheses.

I would eat. If you are losing a healthy weight doing what you are doing then keep it up. If you are only losing 0.5 to 1 pound a week, I would make a slight change. Instead of eating 1800 calories on workout days, drop it down to 1700. Give that a try for a month. If still only a pound a week, drop it down to 1600 calories on workout days. All the while keep nonworkout days at 1400. The goal is to find your balance to calorie intake/burning ratio. Making slow changes gives you time to analyze your body more accurately.

cedarghost

How much can you eat before you start to gain consistently? And by consistently, I mean over a month or more.

T1mH

Starvation mode is overblown. If you've got weight to lose your body isn't going to go into "starvation mode" and eat up your muscle. If your making progress doing what your doing, keep doing it. If you find that you stop making progress then switch it up. Dropping your calorie goal is not always the answer.

spicyginger2006

eat, eat, eat! all your calories. especially all the extra ones earned from working out. your body needs fuel to keep going and if you fail to give it enough, your not going to see the results you want. maybe for a bit, but it will catch up with you

Aquarii

FitBeto:
Yes. I'm very scared of going into starvation mode. I don't want to deal with that ever again.

Gypsybloodrose26:
Thank you for the advice! I'm definitely still experimenting with how many calories I should be eating, since I just started using this site/a calorie counter on 11/21. Hopefully after a month or so I'll figure out how much I should be eating, like you said.

cedarghost:
No idea, since I just started using a calorie counter through this site (started 11/21). My problem is that I can eat a lot. I honestly think that my stomach is a never-ending abyss. One example: I went on a trip to Wisconsin with a few friends and all we had to eat was literally junk food/BBQ. The following weekend was Labor day and I attended 2 barbeques. From that week of over-eating, I somehow went from 165 to 177, and that's after the water weight was off (was 180+ right after the Wisconsin trip).

Random Note:
I just noticed a typo in my original post. "explore" should be "explode." :indifferent:

cedarghost

cedarghost:
No idea, since I just started using a calorie counter through this site (started 11/21). My problem is that I can eat a lot. I honestly think that my stomach is a never-ending abyss. One example: I went on a trip to Wisconsin with a few friends and all we had to eat was literally junk food/BBQ. The following weekend was Labor day and I attended 2 barbeques. From that week of over-eating, I somehow went from 165 to 177, and that's after the water weight was off (was 180+ right after the Wisconsin trip).

Your moment of enlightenment will come when you find that magic number. And the only way to do that is to up your calories and keep them there for at least a month until you find the number where you start to gain. Once you figure that out (and it can be an excruciating, slow process) you have got this thing beaten.

TavistockToad

why would you choose to lose muscle mass if you then want to build MORE muscle in the future?

Aquarii

T1mH:
According to some blood/urine tests and a visit to my physician and a dietitian, my body was in "starvation mode." During the 3 weeks that I spent to get my metabolism and everything else back in order, I forced myself to eat (lost my appetite during this time for the most part), while continuing with my workout regimen. So thankfully, I was able to stay at about 215 pounds during this process. Once I was back to normal, I was losing 1-2 pounds a week, sometimes 3.

[Side Note] I thought I was doing great during my first 2 months of working out and "eating right," because I went from 242 to 215 pounds, but then I started to feel weak and was not able to perform my usual workouts with the same intensity as before. So basically, my bad eating habits caught up to me.

About decreasing my calories, I may be a bit extreme, since I haven't watched my caloric intake this seriously before. Though, I seem to currently be eating a little less than 1/2 of what I was eating before (around 2300 calories), which makes sense because I've been stalling at 172 pounds for the past few months.

spicyginger2006:
Thanks for the advice. The dietitian I met with 2 years ago pretty much gave me the same advice and gave the analogy of our metabolisms being like a fire. You have to feed it in order for it to continuously burn, if not, it'll die. I guess my problem is that I'm still experimenting with how many calories I should be consuming everyday in order to lose 2 pounds per week maximum, without going into starvation mode.

Aquarii

cedarghost:
Thank you for the advice. I never thought of using that method to find my approximate BMR. Finally knowing it will be amazing. I have no problem eating more, I just need to keep on consistently working out.

Tavistocktoad:
I'm not sure if this is "broscience," but I believe that when one is on a caloric deficit, he/she will lose some muscle mass no matter what (along with fat). Not sure how correct that is, since I haven't personally looked for any studies on this subject. Though, if you look at a lot of bodybuilders' routines, they typically bulk up during the winter and then cut down for the summer for several years or their entire life/career.

Helloitsdan

cedarghost:
No idea, since I just started using a calorie counter through this site (started 11/21). My problem is that I can eat a lot. I honestly think that my stomach is a never-ending abyss. One example: I went on a trip to Wisconsin with a few friends and all we had to eat was literally junk food/BBQ. The following weekend was Labor day and I attended 2 barbeques. From that week of over-eating, I somehow went from 165 to 177, and that's after the water weight was off (was 180+ right after the Wisconsin trip).

Your moment of enlightenment will come when you find that magic number. And the only way to do that is to up your calories and keep them there for at least a month until you find the number where you start to gain. Once you figure that out (and it can be an excruciating, slow process) you have got this thing beaten.

I just recently found my TDEE.
Now i'm burning the lats of the fat.
Took months of experimentation.

cedarghost

I just recently found my TDEE.
Now i'm burning the lats of the fat.
Took months of experimentation.

It really is a slow process, but the value of taking out all that guesswork is priceless and well worth the wait. And hey, we are all in this for the long haul anyway right?

AnniePenny

I'm sorry I can't be of much help. I'm in the same stage you are, playing with the numbers to see what's a comfortable calorie intake for losing weight healthy and consistently.. I did up my calorie intake according to Dan's long post recommendation :P (from 1400 to 1600 ) But we'll see if it works over time or if i gain instead of loose.. They say the closer you are to your goal weight the harder it is to loose it so.. patience is our friend ! Good luck to you.. and me

Helloitsdan

I just recently found my TDEE.
Now i'm burning the lats of the fat.
Took months of experimentation.

It really is a slow process, but the value of taking out all that guesswork is priceless and well worth the wait. And hey, we are all in this for the long haul anyway right?

True story!

Aquarii

Only time shall tell now. Thank you everyone for your advice and input.

Sarauk2sf

cedarghost:
Thank you for the advice. I never thought of using that method to find my approximate BMR. Finally knowing it will be amazing. I have no problem eating more, I just need to keep on consistently working out.

Tavistocktoad:
I'm not sure if this is "broscience," but I believe that when one is on a caloric deficit, he/she will lose some muscle mass no matter what (along with fat). Not sure how correct that is, since I haven't personally looked for any studies on this subject. Though, if you look at a lot of bodybuilders' routines, they typically bulk up during the winter and then cut down for the summer for several years or their entire life/career.

If you strength train and keep a moderate calorie deficit and eat enough protein any muscle loss should be minimal. Body builders do bulk/cut cycles to add muscle mass (which also adds fat) and then cut to get rid of the fat. If they do it right, there should be minimal muscle loss while cutting - so net/net they are adding muscle, not just maintaining it.

Shock_Wave

^^Sarauk2sf :flowerforyou:

Aquarii

If you strength train and keep a moderate calorie deficit and eat enough protein any muscle loss should be minimal. Body builders do bulk/cut cycles to add muscle mass (which also adds fat) and then cut to get rid of the fat. If they do it right, there should be minimal muscle loss while cutting - so net/net they are adding muscle, not just maintaining it.

Yuppp. That's my goal once I get down to around 140 pounds.