Eating over 900 calories too hard?!

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Hi everyone. I started using MFP a week ago. It gave me 1200 Cal for my calorie goal. I'm 18, weigh about 116 pounds and I'd like to be around the 100's. I know it's not much but I'm petite and it would really make a difference. Now, I thought I ate too much and that with MFP I would see all the extra calories that I could cut back. Then when I started using it I realized I didnt have to mny calories, around 1100 a day, but I thought I could do less and easily went down to 700 or 800. Those were extra calories I didn't need mostly stuff like a granola bar I can totally skip. Now I realize it's not healthy to have that amount of calories. But it's too hard from me to have 1200. What can I do?
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Replies

  • farway
    farway Posts: 1,264 Member
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    Skip the granola bars and substitute fresh fruit, like apples / oranges / bananas . They have natural fruit sugars as well as fibre, minerals etc. They will increase your calorie intake as well as being "good for you"
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
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    Substitute calorie dense foods. Avacado, unsalted almonds, peanut butter, and Greek yogurt will all give you more calories for lower volume of food. So you'll get your calories without feeling like you're eating a ton more.
  • DairByNature
    DairByNature Posts: 35 Member
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    i agree, it is hard trying to eat loads, but if u dont eat enough ur body will go into starvation mode, but i agree that eating little & often is the best way & eat plenty more fruit & veg than u would normally i promise in a short space of time u will notice the diffrence x x :heart:
  • Jacole18
    Jacole18 Posts: 716 Member
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    why do you want to weigh 100 lbs? that seems low to me...but who am I ::huh:
  • Brunner26_2
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    I have a similar problem. I keep repeatedly hitting myself in the head with a hammer. Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can fix this?
  • TexasSunny
    TexasSunny Posts: 105 Member
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    Put down the hammer.
  • gabbymom2
    gabbymom2 Posts: 175 Member
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    Trade the granola bars for a lower sugar protein bar. So much better for you!
  • jojorocksforeva
    jojorocksforeva Posts: 303 Member
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    Just make sure you get all your nutrition on a low calorie diet if you do that i dont see the harm in it ..
  • onedayillbeamilf
    onedayillbeamilf Posts: 966 Member
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    Trade the granola bar for peanut butter?
  • bonniecarbs
    bonniecarbs Posts: 446 Member
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    Some of the answers on here are very good. You will get good answers from most people when you post something. Some answers wont be as nice. Welcome to MFP.
  • Skinny_minny_mo
    Skinny_minny_mo Posts: 1,272 Member
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    why do you want to weigh 100 lbs? that seems low to me...but who am I ::huh:

    i'd like to weigh 100lbs too. i;m 5ft and this would be a heakthy weight for me.

    perhaps the OP is the same?
  • Skinny_minny_mo
    Skinny_minny_mo Posts: 1,272 Member
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    Put down the hammer.


    :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
  • californiagirl2012
    californiagirl2012 Posts: 2,625 Member
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    Hi everyone. I started using MFP a week ago. It gave me 1200 Cal for my calorie goal. I'm 18, weigh about 116 pounds and I'd like to be around the 100's. I know it's not much but I'm petite and it would really make a difference. Now, I thought I ate too much and that with MFP I would see all the extra calories that I could cut back. Then when I started using it I realized I didnt have to mny calories, around 1100 a day, but I thought I could do less and easily went down to 700 or 800. Those were extra calories I didn't need mostly stuff like a granola bar I can totally skip. Now I realize it's not healthy to have that amount of calories. But it's too hard from me to have 1200. What can I do?

    You weigh 116 and you want to weigh 100? WHY? How tall are you? I'm 5'1" and 100 lbs is not within my healthy weight range . Unless you are extremely short (like something way under 4 ft tall!) that is not a healthy weight range. You do need to go see a doctor.

    When I was obese and needed to lose a lot of weight I could eat lower then 1000 under a doctors care and with the full fat reserve for my body to pull from, mainly because I'm sort and my LBM is closer to the 1200 limit compared to most people. As a female you don't have to worry about starvation mode if you have more than 12% body fat. However once you get below 12% you DO RISK starvation mode. I'm under 12% now so I can NOT eat that low anymore.

    I'm willing to bet you are taller than 5'1", which means you are likely below 12% body fat. Which means YOU WILL GO INTO STARVATION MODE if you eat under 1000 calories.

    That is ulgy. No one here can condone that. Not even me, miss "eat less" queen and it is only because I'm so tiny that I needed to do this.

    Go see your doctor.

    Added later:

    Okay, I went and looked up my chart from my Venus Index books. For my height 5’1” the weight rand for this height is 99 – 128 Lbs. So it's possibly that this could be a healthy range if you are 5'1" or shorter. HOWEVER, you need to seek you doctors advice on the lower calories. However, since you are only 116 lbs you don't have the fat reserves to have too big of a deficit. You need a smaller deficit at this point. You need to check with your doctor. If you are short it might be close to 1000 or 1200 but you need to check with a doctor. No one here can tell you. I can tell you that under a doctors care at 5'1" with lots of fat reserves I could eat less than 1000 calories. But once I got leaner I had to taper that up. If you try to eat too low when you have low body fat your hunger hormones will go crazy and you will binge out of control and start doing the ugly yo-yo and at your age this will set you on a very very very bad path in life.

    Here is some documentation that backs up what I am saying. You are too lean to eat at a BIG DEFICIT. If you truly are 5'1" or shorter and want to go to 100 (that is within your weight range), then you need to do this SLOWLY at a smaller deficit and UNDER A DOCTORS CARE. I was able to do this to lean out for my pictures in March. So my diary shows me floating around 1000 calories from January to March of this year, that was a long slow shallow deficit for me so I could be ready for my photo shoot, UNDER THE DOCTORS CARE. He checked my blood work on a regular basis.
    The Theory of Fat Availability:
    •There is a set amount of fat that can be released from a fat cell.
    •The more fat you have, the more fat can be used as a fuel when dieting.
    •The less fat you have, the less fat can be used as a fuel when dieting.
    •Towards the end of a transformation, when body fat is extremely low you
    may not have enough fat to handle a large caloric deficit anymore.

    At the extreme low end, when your body fat cannot ‘keep up’ with the energy deficit
    you've imposed on your body, the energy MUST come from SOMEWHERE. This is
    when you are at risk of losing lean body mass during dieting (commonly referred to
    as ‘starvation mode’). This happens at extremely low levels of body fat, under 6% in
    men and 12% in women [Friedl K.E. J Appl Phsiol, 1994].

    -Brad Pilon and John Barban, The Reverse Taper Diet, from the Venus Index and Adonis Index manuals
  • proudandprejudiced
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    Substitute calorie dense foods. Avacado, unsalted almonds, peanut butter, and Greek yogurt will all give you more calories for lower volume of food. So you'll get your calories without feeling like you're eating a ton more.

    this is the best advice there is, i struggle to eat my calorie goal sometimes, and when i'm low i eat nuts/peanut butter!
  • senyosmom
    senyosmom Posts: 613 Member
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    You can eat BETTER without eatting MORE. Look at what you are eating.... anything boxed, packaged or otherwise prcessed? Fast food? These sorts of things can be replaced with better for your food like fruits, veggies, lean meats, etc.

    Maybe instead of a granola bar eat an apple. Probably similar in calories but the apple is better for you.
  • Brunner26_2
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    Put down the hammer.

    Surely it's not that simple.
  • jeleclekat
    jeleclekat Posts: 124 Member
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    No offense, but 100 lbs seems low unless you are under 5ft. or want that sickly skin and bone look seemingly popular with girls your age. You say your're 18 so immediately I think of "vanity" pounds. You CAN be too thin, too . If you get seriously sick, what will your body fall back on for fuel? But as others have mentioned , substitute.
  • opuntia
    opuntia Posts: 860 Member
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    If you've been naturally eating 1100 calories, before calorie counting, then why is eating over 900 calories too hard? I would go with what your body is comfortable with. If you feel like you've been really overeating and your body feels stuffed and your head feels overwhelmed, then eating less is a good idea. But if you've naturally been eating the amount you're eating, and you feel happy and comfortable with it, then there's no real reason to eat less. If you do strength exercises, your body will improve in tone - you'll lose excess fat and gain muscle, and you'll be smaller in inches, and you'll have more definition to your body.
  • chivalryder
    chivalryder Posts: 4,391 Member
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    How tall are you? Unless you're 5' or shorter, you don't want to weigh 100 lbs. If you do, you're on the wrong site. No on here will support an unhealthy goal like that.
  • djc315
    djc315 Posts: 585 Member
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    Hi everyone. I started using MFP a week ago. It gave me 1200 Cal for my calorie goal. I'm 18, weigh about 116 pounds and I'd like to be around the 100's. I know it's not much but I'm petite and it would really make a difference. Now, I thought I ate too much and that with MFP I would see all the extra calories that I could cut back. Then when I started using it I realized I didnt have to mny calories, around 1100 a day, but I thought I could do less and easily went down to 700 or 800. Those were extra calories I didn't need mostly stuff like a granola bar I can totally skip. Now I realize it's not healthy to have that amount of calories. But it's too hard from me to have 1200. What can I do?

    How tall are you?