Confused - 1000 calories too little?

VicariousNick

Is 1000 calories a day ok for me? I'm considering changing it to 1200 (net calories)


Thanks guys and girls!

tricksee

For today? You'll live.

Over an extended period of time? You'll be alive, but it probably wouldn't be worth living. Weak, tired, headaches etc...

VicariousNick

so 1200 then? (and ignore the profile pic - its old)

JesterMFP

You're an 18 year old male? How tall and heavy are you? It's quite possible that 1200 will be too low for you.

squindles

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/895215-why-is-1200-cal-day-too-low?hl=under+1200+cals

lauren3101

so 1200 then? (and ignore the profile pic - its old)

No, not 1200 either.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/912920-in-place-of-a-road-map-3-2013?hl=road+map+2013

ramonafrincu

R u joking?! If you are serious please read this http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/912914-in-place-of-a-road-map-3-2013.

AudreyinNC

I'm not sure if I've heard of a situation where 1000 was NOT too little.
Up it.

ladyraven68

so 1200 then? (and ignore the profile pic - its old)

1200?
For an 18 yr old male??

Yes, it is too low. You are still growing and need adequate nutrition.

Do you know what your estimated maintenance calories are?

EDITED cos I can't spell

leotardbanshee

if i were a boy, i would never eat less than 1500 calories, no matter what! you need energy! i am a 25 year old female 5'4" 120 pounds and i feel like 1200 calories is ridiculously low for me. also eating too few calories can make your body efficient at using them and that is not what you want, it will damage your metabolism in the long term if your goal is to eat too few calories for a long period of time. don't be afraid to eat, but eat the right things. focus on adding fruits and vegetables to your diet and you should have no problem! good luck

CedricOl

I wonder how many studies we need before people understand that this whole lowered metabolism thing is a myth :-) Those myths stay alive no matter what... and that's because people keep repeating them... over and over and over and over again...

VicariousNick

Thanks guys for the help - whether it be sarcastic or not.

Basically, I don't really eat that much. I can easily survive with only eating a little bit. I'm still at school, and I walk for about 45 mins each day to get to and from school. I play either rugby or soccer every lunchtime for about 40 minutes, and usually go home, hop on the Exercycle and go at it for a solid 30 mins. It's only been like this for 3 weeks or so. I noticed that I lost weight over the holidays, and I was sick of being fat lol. I'm 174 cm right now, with a weight of 63.5kg. I used to be in the seventies a few months ago. Funny thing is that I wasn't trying too hard to lose weight over that time period.

My bmi is 21.2, but I'm still a bit chubs. MFP reccomended 1380 calories a day. I'll stick with that. It may be hard eating that much lol. I guess I'll put some more sugar on my porridge

Thanks for all your help guys, and sorry for the long message

sherlau83

My BMR is about 1750, so eating 1000 calories is actually what I should do is what my doctor said, to lose weight. Everyone is different though!

VicariousNick

My BMR is 1,637. No idea what that means anyway. Doesn't tell me anything

leotardbanshee

naw it's no myth, i have dramatically altered my metabolism through changing my diet. i have lost weight eating 2000 calories now where i wouldn't lose anything eating 1200. regardless it's not healthy to starve yourself

ladyraven68

Thanks guys for the help - whether it be sarcastic or not.

Basically, I don't really eat that much. I can easily survive with only eating a little bit. I'm still at school, and I walk for about 45 mins each day to get to and from school. I play either rugby or soccer every lunchtime for about 40 minutes, and usually go home, hop on the Exercycle and go at it for a solid 30 mins. It's only been like this for 3 weeks or so. I noticed that I lost weight over the holidays, and I was sick of being fat lol. I'm 174 cm right now, with a weight of 63.5kg. I used to be in the seventies a few months ago. Funny thing is that I wasn't trying too hard to lose weight over that time period.

My bmi is 21.2, but I'm still a bit chubs. MFP reccomended 1380 calories a day. I'll stick with that. It may be hard eating that much lol. I guess I'll put some more sugar on my porridge

Thanks for all your help guys, and sorry for the long message

MFP advises 1380 PLUS your exercise calories, not just 1380.

You would be better looking at a TDEE calculator as linked above to work out your daily maintenance, and then deduct a reasonable defict from that.

CedricOl

MFP reccomended 1380 calories a day.

I guess it's safe and easy, so I'd do the same thing.

I guess I'll put some more sugar on my porridge

Monitor your sugar intake as well... it's probably the worst thing you can add to get your calories ;-)

ladyraven68

My BMR is 1,637. No idea what that means anyway. Doesn't tell me anything

To extimate your maintenance you would apply a BMR calculator

•Sedentary = BMR X 1.2 (little or no exercise, desk job)
•Lightly Active = BMR X 1.375 (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk)
•Moderately Active = BMR X 1.55 (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk)
•Very Active = BMR X 1.725 (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk)
•Extremely Active = BMR X 1.9 (hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or 2X day training, etc.)


So, based on your exercising you are lookin at between 2500 and 3000 as maintenence calories, which means you could lose weight at 2000 calories a day.

It is better to still eat well and lose, rather than try to survive on the bare minimum.

debendavey

Ridiculously low. You will feel lethargic, weak, and demotivated. It is all about net calories. To maintain your weigh, calories used should equal calories consumed.

To lose weight, you need to use more calories than you are putting in. This can be done by continuing on 2500 calories a day but adding in exercise each day (10-20 minutes brisk walk + 10 minutes on resistance bands + any other exercise you can fit in), and that way you will lose 1-2 Ibs per week.

Or, you could be al ittle more strict, and use MFP to guide you, enter a realistic goal - aiming to lose no more that 2Ibs per wek on average, and then let MFP tell you how many calories you should be consuming. It will be far higher that 1200. And remember, the figure given to you by MFP is net calories, so if they give you a figure of 1900, and you exercise burning up 500, then you should ideally consume 2400 calories that day.

I have done both the above, and I lost 1-2Ibs per (most) weeks, and that is a good amount to lose as you are removing fat not lean tissue.

JesterMFP

Thanks guys for the help - whether it be sarcastic or not.

Basically, I don't really eat that much. I can easily survive with only eating a little bit. I'm still at school, and I walk for about 45 mins each day to get to and from school. I play either rugby or soccer every lunchtime for about 40 minutes, and usually go home, hop on the Exercycle and go at it for a solid 30 mins. It's only been like this for 3 weeks or so. I noticed that I lost weight over the holidays, and I was sick of being fat lol. I'm 174 cm right now, with a weight of 63.5kg. I used to be in the seventies a few months ago. Funny thing is that I wasn't trying too hard to lose weight over that time period.

My bmi is 21.2, but I'm still a bit chubs. MFP reccomended 1380 calories a day. I'll stick with that. It may be hard eating that much lol. I guess I'll put some more sugar on my porridge

Thanks for all your help guys, and sorry for the long message

So, is "survival" all you're aiming for?

So, I'm guessing you told MFP you were sedentary (which you're not) and said that you want to lose 2 lbs a week right? 2 lbs a week is a reasonable rate of loss for someone who is obese. For someone who is well within the healthy weight range, 0.5 lbs a week is much more realistic/healthy.

Being "a bit chubs" is not likely to go away by restricting your food intake so drastically. You'll lose weight, but you probably still won't be happy. You'll lose muscle along with fat, maybe look a bit skinnier, but still flabby. You'd probably be happier with your results if you eat more, and do some strength training. You won't get huge (unless that's your plan). In fact, to put on serious muscle, you'd need to eat a lot, lot more. Strength training will help you look less chubby and more solid though, however lean you are.

Find out what your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) is - this is the amount of calories you burn in a day. There are lots of online calculators to help you with this. I'm guessing it's at least 2,500. You're a young man, and you're exercising a lot. If you keep eating so little over a long period of time, you're going to do your body damage. If you can't be bothered with the calculations, then go back and tell MFP you want to lose 0.5 lbs a week, tell it you're (at least) lightly active, and eat back your exercise calories.

Eating more than 1000/12000 isn't really that hard once you get used to it. If you're not hungry (not a good sign by the way) then aim for more calorie-dense foods. Thing that are higher in fat are ideal: cheese, eggs, nuts, seeds, chocolate, olive oil, avocados, full fat dairy. Drink milk, smoothies, protein shakes etc. As you eat more, you'll get used to it, and you'll have more of an appetite.

At 18 (if you are really 18), your body is still growing, your brain is still developing, and apart from anything else, eating so little can have a bad effect on your hormones. This is not a good path to go down.

FlaxMilk

Nick, can you tell us your settings? If MFP recommends 1380, you would also need to add in the lunchtime activities and cycling and eat those calories back. As a young active male, you really do need to eat much more. Think of it this way--by undereating, you are shooting yourself in the foot with your muscle and fitness that you are working so hard at.

VicariousNick

To lose weight, you need to use more calories than you are putting in.

What? I don't understand? Am I supposed to burn more calories by exercising then i eat??

lauren3101

To lose weight, you need to use more calories than you are putting in, but not maintain too large a deficit.

There. Fixed it for you.

VicariousNick

I didn't put sedentary, i put ctive, but thanks everyone. I'll try to... eat more? lol

sammycat1

so 1200 then? (and ignore the profile pic - its old)

No, not 1200 either.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/912920-in-place-of-a-road-map-3-2013?hl=road+map+2013

Snap, please read. I upped mine to 1400 and lost 3lbs this week. 1200 is way too low.

Let us know how you get on

VicariousNick

Nick, can you tell us your settings? If MFP recommends 1380, you would also need to add in the lunchtime activities and cycling and eat those calories back. As a young active male, you really do need to eat much more. Think of it this way--by undereating, you are shooting yourself in the foot with your muscle and fitness that you are working so hard at.

I do record all that stuff. Religiously, you can view my diary if you want, seeing the replys now makes me realise how I was undereating

ladyraven68

To lose weight, you need to use more calories than you are putting in.

What? I don't understand? Am I supposed to burn more calories by exercising then i eat??

You are forgetting about the calories you burn just surviving.



have a look at the threads in here - http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/10067-eat-train-progress-

Especially these

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/833026-important-posts-to-read

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets

EmmaKarney

To lose weight, you need to use more calories than you are putting in.

What? I don't understand? Am I supposed to burn more calories by exercising then i eat??

You are already eating at a calorific deficit - the exercise is increasing this.

There is an optimum calorie deficit for weight loss - too large will slow your metabolism not to mention you will feel like crap from under-eating and probably be cranky and tired the whole time.

SRH7

Thanks guys for the help - whether it be sarcastic or not.

Basically, I don't really eat that much. I can easily survive with only eating a little bit. I'm still at school, and I walk for about 45 mins each day to get to and from school. I play either rugby or soccer every lunchtime for about 40 minutes, and usually go home, hop on the Exercycle and go at it for a solid 30 mins. It's only been like this for 3 weeks or so. I noticed that I lost weight over the holidays, and I was sick of being fat lol. I'm 174 cm right now, with a weight of 63.5kg. I used to be in the seventies a few months ago. Funny thing is that I wasn't trying too hard to lose weight over that time period.

My bmi is 21.2, but I'm still a bit chubs. MFP reccomended 1380 calories a day. I'll stick with that. It may be hard eating that much lol. I guess I'll put some more sugar on my porridge

Thanks for all your help guys, and sorry for the long message

No sarcasm - I promise!

From what you are saying you are already at the lower end of your ideal weight for your height so I think any worries that you are a bit chubby are probably wrong (we all get paranoid about our weight!).

Is it that you want to lose weight or actually just improve the body you have?

You are blessed that as an 18-year-old lad your body is great at burning fat and building muscle and you are physically in a great place to have a look at your exercise. It's great that you are playing rugby and football but you might also get a bit of a confidence boost by picking up some weights too. It will not only help your performance on the pitch but help you get the body shape you want.

You could either join a gym or buy some cheap weights to use at home (adverts for second-hand equipment can keep the costs down). Weights are not only for people who want to look beefed up - they can really help you look lean and strong too!

From the figures you have given your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure - so the amount of food you need just to maintain your current weight with the amount of exercise you currently get) is around 2700 calories a day. Eat anything less that that figure and you will lose weight. So, you can see, even 1200 calories is far too low.

To get more in-depth advice, I highly recommend these:

* Calorie intake: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/912914-in-place-of-a-road-map-3-2013 (the original poster Dan is superhelpful if you need advice)

* Exercise/getting the body you want: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/10118-eat-train-progress (Sara and Sidesteel run this group and, again, are really knowledgable and helpful - and look fantastic! They have some great advice on exercise and macros, which might help - the amount of protein, fat and carbs you should try to include in your diet).

Hope this helps. And, yes, at 18 you are very lucky to be able to eat more - and you should!

SRH7

To lose weight, you need to use more calories than you are putting in.

What? I don't understand? Am I supposed to burn more calories by exercising then i eat??

You are forgetting about the calories you burn just surviving.



have a look at the threads in here - http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/10067-eat-train-progress-

Especially these

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/833026-important-posts-to-read

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets

:flowerforyou:

You beat me to it! Great minds think alike!

chatogal

I wonder how many studies we need before people understand that this whole lowered metabolism thing is a myth :-) Those myths stay alive no matter what... and that's because people keep repeating them... over and over and over and over again...

uh huh

Having said that if you keep to 1200 calories you are going to be pretty thin....nothing very pretty about a skinny man!!