Always under calorie goal, but it doesn't help!

emerald0788

Please help, I'm eating healthily, but I'm always way below my calorie goal (which I thought would be a good thing), but MFP is telling me this wont help my metabolism. I eat when I'm hungry, and don't see the point in eating more, when I'm not hungry x

LittleMissDover

The point is getting the right nutrition for your body.

Sparlingo

Emerald, I would caution you to try to be a little closer to your nutrition goal, mainly because with your physical limitations you are at increased risk of muscle loss with a greater caloric deficit. I'm sure you'd rather lose more fat -- so think slow and steady on this weight loss journey and make sure you're not depriving your body. Maintaining a lower weight will be difficult if you're losing too much lean body mass.

emerald0788

Thanks for the advice x

fit4life1985

Hey Emerald,

When you cut calories, the hormone Leptin (secreted from adipose tissue aka body fat) begins to drop. This in turn slows your metabolism the longer you cut calories. Your body loves to stay in homeostasis and keep everything the same. This is why cutting calories makes you hungry, as your body wants you to eat to stay the same weight. To increase metabolism again, you need to re-spark Leptin. You do this by having a higher calorie day than normal (ex. cheat day). I would suggest once a week or so. This will prevent plateaus and keep progress going. I have been doing this for the past 3 weeks while on a cyclic ketogenic diet and I continue to drop bodyfat. Thats the best way to do it in my opinion.

emerald0788

That makes sense, might give that a go, thanks x

JesterMFP

Hunger signals are not a good measure of how much food your body needs. It's very common for people who undereat to not feel hungry, and it's also common for people who overeat to still feel ravenous. Your body needs a certain amount of protein, and it needs a certain amount of fat. It needs micronutrients. On top of that, it needs energy - in whatever form it comes. When it consistently doesn't get enough, your body's processes will slow down to compensate, and will even cut out some non-essential processes. Nutrients will be diverted to vital organs, away from skin, hair, nails etc. It's not really a good thing. It looks (from your photo and ticker) that you have very little to lose anyway, so having a massive calorie deficit can be even more detrimental. One very real risk is that you will lose too much muscle. Everyone loses a little when they lose weight. The fact that you are unable to exercise increases this risk, so it's even more important to only have a small calorie deficit, to minimise that loss.

Think of it like any other goal you set - you aim to meet those goals, right? Not consistently fall short; otherwise what is the point of setting the goal in the first place?

It can be hard to increase calories when you have got to the point where you don't feel hungry. The best thing to do is to aim for calorie-dense foods, so you increase calories without feeling stuffed. Eg. avocados, cheese, chocolate, whole eggs, oils (in cooking or on salads), seeds, nuts, peanut butter, full fat dairy products. Also, remember you can drink your calories in the form of milk, nut milk, smoothies and protein shakes.

emerald0788

Thanks Jester, everyone is really helpful on here, definitely given me things to think about x