Too few calories ??

kerrya93
kerrya93 Posts: 2
in Food and Nutrition
I'm 19 and at the moment I eat roughly 1100-1200 calories a day - all told I've lost 4 stone - and I exercise 5 times a week for about half an hour. But recently I've been really tired and catching a lit of colds and bugs - could this be because I'm not eating enough to sustain my busy student life and my body is under nourished ?? How many calories should I eat to still lose weight but so I'm not tired and always ill ?

Replies

  • all4my3boyz
    all4my3boyz Posts: 94 Member
    Find out what your MBR is and reduce that number by 20%.

    Sorry, that was supposed to say Find out what your TDEE is and reduce by 20%
  • tstar1983
    tstar1983 Posts: 2 Member
    Heya Kerry,

    Yeah, I def reckon it's because you're not eating enough - especially since you exercise quite often. If you don't feel hungry, perhaps you can drink more fresh juices (they have enough calories in haha). OJ especially will help your immune system as well. I wouldn't recommend going down the route of eating junk to add more calories though. Hope that helps.T.
  • soehlerking
    soehlerking Posts: 589 Member
    Following what All said, find your TDEE and eat 10-20% under that. It is almost always over 1200. I'm 5'4" 127lb, working out 5-6 hours/week, and my BMR (Base Metabolic Rate, the BARE MINIMUM I should be eating) is 1350. My TDEE is nearly 2200, so I eat around 1800/day to lose.

    http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

    that's a good calculator if you need it.
  • calderhayes
    calderhayes Posts: 2 Member
    Sounds too low. You need to hit a particular macronutrient count of protein and dietary fat in order to remain healthy. Also too large of a caloric deficit will cause too much muscle mass loss. As people said, try aiming for 20-20% of your TDEE.

    Sources:
    http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=133163973
  • kerrya93
    kerrya93 Posts: 2
    Thanks that calculator is just what I've been looking for - much appreciated !!!

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