Under-eating... please help my friend!

LittleMissRainey
LittleMissRainey Posts: 440 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I have a friend who is on the MFP generic 1200 calorie daily goal, but also runs most days (sometimes twice a day) and doesn't eat her exercise calories back. Some days she nets 800 calories, and feels frustrated when she loses weight then gains it back.

I should add for full disclosure that she has passed out in the street while on this 'diet' and afterwards I told her to stop exercising for a few days full stop - luckily she did - then take it slow with just walking a few days then bringing back running and she felt better.

I need some feedback for her so I can tell her it's not healthy - I'm by no means an expert on the subject and at the moment I'm at the other end of the scale - I just don't want to be the only one who's down on her all the time, even though I do it because I care. We live in different parts of the UK so we can't work out together and I can't keep an eye on her so I need some backup to show her I know what I'm talking about.

She is a member here and I will be pointing her to this thread after some replies.

Please help?

Replies

  • Yardtigress
    Yardtigress Posts: 367 Member
    she needs to look at how much weight she wants to lose. You should never pass out on the street. That is not healthy, to try and lose 5-10 lbs a week. If you exercise that much you need to eat, otherwise you won't lose any weight. OMHO.
  • Whitezombiegirl
    Whitezombiegirl Posts: 1,042 Member
    Passing out is not a good sign but I don't agree with the generic 1200 cal limit, I also don't have a problem with people undereating, infact I think its healthiest to cycle your calories. I know you are concerened for your freind, I hope she is doing better soon.
  • LittleMissRainey
    LittleMissRainey Posts: 440 Member
    Thank you both for replying.

    I don't think it's cycling if it's constantly that far under. But I can only hope that there are more replies to come and she doesn't zone in on that one sentence and think she's okay.
  • impyimpyaj
    impyimpyaj Posts: 1,073 Member
    Chronic undereating is definitely a problem, as she just found out when she passed out in the street. That should never, ever happen on a healthy diet.

    Especially if she's running, she needs to fuel her body to keep her metabolism going and to make sure her muscles are getting all the nutrition she needs. She's expending a LOT of energy, and without fuel, she's not going to be able to maintain this level of activity. She's going to severely hurt herself in the long run.

    I would recommend that she use MFP's BMR calculator in the "tools" tab to find out her BMR, and set her minimum calorie goal to match or exceed that by a little bit. Her BMR is the minimum number of calories her body needs to keep her organs functioning, even if she just lies in bed all day. Then I would advise that she eats at least some of her exercise calories, since she's undoubtedly getting pretty big burns from running. If she does that, she will still see weight loss, and she'll feel much better in the process. In addition, she's more likely to burn her fat instead of muscle, which is going to get her the body she wants. You don't want to burn the muscle and keep the fat.

    When increasing calories, it might be easier to bump up her intake for 100 or so for a few days, and then add another 100 or so for another few days, and so on until she reaches the new, higher goal. That will help keep her from feeling overwhelmed by "all the food," and it will also help prevent any incidental water weight gain that might happen from a sudden huge increase in food volume.
  • bklyngirl71
    bklyngirl71 Posts: 381 Member
    she should try to eat the 1200 calories. if you under eat, as funny as it sounds, she won't lose any weight
  • LittleMissRainey
    LittleMissRainey Posts: 440 Member
    *bumpies*
    I'd really like your opinions, please.

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