Not enough calories

nina1968 · January 2010

I have been following fitness pal for 1 week. I work out 2x a day and burn up on average 500 calories from excercise. I am on a very strict diet, But according to fitness pal I am under my calorie intake everyday. Somedays like today i am under 600 calories. wIll this hurt me in trying to lose weight?

mama050709 · January 2010

I am wondering the same thing!

DrBorkBork · January 2010

Yes, in the long run, eating less than 1200 cals a day will severely harm you. Not just in the weight department, but your body will start eating your muscles to survive, which is bad. It will actually store MORE fat.
There are easy ways to get up to 1200 without feeling stuffed. By eating nutrient dense foods (nuts, legumes, etc), you can reach the daily 1200.

chanstriste13 · January 2010

yes, it will come to no good. eat, people! just eat right!

sajar_06 · January 2010

you need to eat the 1200 calories that is needed to substain life anything above that you don't have to eat and therefore will lose the weight by forming the deficit needed in weight loss. God Bless, brenda

bajangrl29 · January 2010

Brenda,

With your success I will accept that as gospel and move on. What an inspiration you are to those of us on this journey!

Nina- If you are doing dual workouts and there are intense then you definitely need to consume at least 1500cals. Even if each workout gave an additional 400 calories then you are using 800cals with both activities alone, so you can afford to eat more.

Use protein shakes with fruit, cottage cheese with fruit, snack on nuts which are high in calories, olive oil on your veggies for good fats, flaxsed oil in shakes, protein powder in oatmeal with dried fruit and slivered almonds and balance bars, etc. If you can get each meal to 350cals and snacks at 100-200cals each then it is doable.

HTH,
Michelle

deaubreydigest · January 2010

This has been posted on several threads and I found it helpful, so I am passing it along for anyone to read who is interested. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo

This really does a good job of explaining how things work and why they say to eat what you need.

mjennings · January 2010

I had the same problem until I started eating 6 small meals a day, dont be afraid to eat ! I have lost more weight eating than I have restricting my calorie intake, I was very suprised. My food goal is 1490 per day, I don't eat the whole 1490 but I at least try to hit about 1000 calories a day. This is the first time I have lost steady weight 1.5 lbs a week and it is because my body is no longer starving and trying to conserve food, it knows more food is coming so it will allow me to burn off what I have eaten. Just limit your fat and carb intake and increase your protein intake even if you go over your daily goal in that category, I promise you will see results. By the way I only burn off maybe 300 calories a day from excercise, the rest is burned off from my daily routines. Good Luck!

Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Free Calorie Counter

samseed101 · January 2010

Before assuming that they are eating under 1200 calories, perhaps we should ask how many calories they are actualyl getting and how many they are supposed to get

For example, Mine is right around 2,000 calories to lose 1lb per week. I need around 2,500 per day to stay at the same weight (not counting exercise.) So even though I wouldn't recommend 600 under for me, I could certainly do it without any serious risk.

kksam · January 2010

You have to eat the 1200 calories, it's the exercise that puts you below that amount when you do your figuring out at the end. Eatting more that the alloted amount will work against your workout. Eating under will put you in the starvation area.:glasses:

larsonv · January 2010

I don't like the way the application adds calories to your daily total. I ignore the "bonus" and stick to a reasonable daily total, with a little wiggle room in case I go over. 1200 calories is a starvation diet. Not healthy. Working out on top of that will burn some important muscle, like your heart. I've lost 10 pounds in three weeks, which is really too fast. I'm a large male. Seattle Sutton had me losing ten pounds a month on 2000 calories. This site put me at 1600. Too low.

LosingLbsAndGainingConfidence · July 2010

That is not exactly true..eating under 1200 calories will not harm you depending on your size..someone who is between 280+ is fine eating around 1000..I have a nutritionist and a DR I see about my weight and I currently only intake 1000 calories..alot of days less than that..and they said it is fine but eventually I will need to up it after I lose around 50 lbs

Not enough calories

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