Am I getting too few calories?

btracy01
btracy01 Posts: 49
in Health and Weight Loss
Hellos, I've been on here for about a month now and I've started feeling kinda woozy headachy, just felt meh. Not good. Am I not getting enough calories? I"ve been getting about 1100-1300 lately. Not sure if ya'll can see my diary... any help would be awesome

Replies

  • Mokey41
    Mokey41 Posts: 5,769 Member
    With 60 lbs to lose you probably aren't eating enough and from your diary you seem to eat a lot of carbs, not much protein. I'd set your goal at no more than 1.5 lbs per week, eat less processed pasta and bread, more proteins and do some exercise to burn off a few extra calories rather than eating 1100 calories a day.
  • btracy01
    btracy01 Posts: 49
    I used to drink protein shakes (26g protein) in the morning and still felt weird. felt better on days that I actually ate breakfast.
  • maqsmj
    maqsmj Posts: 697
    all what you need to do is get ur BF % and run a calculator online with BF% Incorporated in it , and it will give u an estimated calories which you need to eat, from there u need to balance things out, for example for a man, for each 1 lb of LB ( lean body mas ) we need 1 g of protien, and 1 LBM needs .5 g of fat and the rest carbs, try to find the numbers for ladies and you will be good to go, you do need balance in ur diet, and most probably u r eating so less fat as it is very essential for ladies
  • jlohcook
    jlohcook Posts: 228 Member
    My dear, you are not eating enough. For your weight, not sure your height, 1100 is not enough. Even i feel faint when i eat so little? And yes, breakfast is important, aim for 350-400 calories for breakfast. That helps me to get through the morning with energy. Forget about those protein shake, you are not even exercising, eat proper food. I try to have a heavier lunch at 500 cal or so, and dinner another 300, cos I tend to rest early and don't want to sleep with too full a tummy. Add more fruits and vegetables in between, that brings you to 1300-1400.

    Ensure your diet are balanced, eat real food eg, chicken, pork, and if you like pasta, bread go for whole wheat or brown rice. These are more substantial and filling. I notice you take quacker oats, which is good, it is very filling, you can take up to 1 cup for breakfast. Add milk, piece of fruit. That gives you the natural sugar, calcium and other good stuff you need. Learn more about eating natural healthy food to give you all the nutrients you need, at that age, your metabolism is still high, such diets are not sustainable.

    Add some exercise in, like walking. I uv shopping like you, I used to walk for miles and miles, and those were my workouts when I was younger. But of course, when you are ready to be more muscular etc, you got to get real workouts then.

    All the best in finding the right balance.
  • btracy01
    btracy01 Posts: 49
    Well its not like i'm starving myself. If I'm hungry, I eat. That's what gets me I guess. I'm not hungry so I don't wanna eat more. I do exercise, its just when I'm working. I lift a lot of stuff, power walk, etc. Meh diets suck
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
    It's not a perfect science, so all you can do is make a reasonable estimation, try it, and evaluate your results.

    You're not feeling well, that's a red flag. Is it because of diet? Hard to say. Your cals are pretty low - a lot of people do well on low cal. A lot of people don't. Are you seeing any progress?

    I skimmed through yoru diary quickly and you rarely hit your protein or fat goals. Those are the most important macros to hit. At the very least, hit those daily and see how you feel.
  • jlohcook
    jlohcook Posts: 228 Member
    Well its not like i'm starving myself. If I'm hungry, I eat. That's what gets me I guess. I'm not hungry so I don't wanna eat more. I do exercise, its just when I'm working. I lift a lot of stuff, power walk, etc. Meh diets suck

    So you do some activities. Your body is telling you something if you don't feel hungry yet you feel faint. Anaemic? Low blood pressure? Go have a check up with the doctor. You got to add slightly more food in your diet, eat more vegetables and fruits, since you are working some calories off, which will bring to 900-1000 cal?

    By the way, what's your height?
  • ChristinaR720
    ChristinaR720 Posts: 1,186
    I would also be sure to at least try to drink 8 glasses of water per day. I think a number of your meals have the potential to be fairly high in sodium, so you definitely want to increase your water intake to help flush some of that out of your system.

    You've made great progress so far, but please be sure to take good care of yourself, too!
  • btracy01
    btracy01 Posts: 49
    I"m a med geek who loves food, there is no way I would intentionally starve myself. I bring healthy snacks to work with me, even keep some hersheys kisses in my pocket just if i need an extra boost. Um... i'm about 5'6"

    I do drink lots of water, i'm just not good at keeping track of it lol
  • jlohcook
    jlohcook Posts: 228 Member
    Looks like your Wednesday's intake is better. Do you feel better? With your height, do take what MFP suggest. It's pretty close to what you need to sustain. Of course, it is always about balance, right balance of protein, carbo, sugar etc. great that you are looking out on the signals of your body.
  • bathsheba_c
    bathsheba_c Posts: 1,873 Member
    When people are overweight, their body often gets wonky with the hunger signals, so it is possible that you aren't eating enough, even if you don't feel hungry. In the Apps section of MFP, there is a BMR calculator. BMR, or basal metabolic rate, is how many calories your body burns each day just keeping you alive. It is the number of calories you need to keep your heart pumping, your guts digesting, your spleen doing spleen things, etc. You should be eating that at a minimum each day.

    In any event, it seems like you've already got one piece of the puzzle: you need to eat breakfast!*

    *Not everyone needs to eat breakfast, but some people (like you) do.

    Edit: Love the profile pic, by the way. "Just keep swimming! Just keep swimming! Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming..."
  • kristen6022
    kristen6022 Posts: 1,923 Member
    Like with everything on these forums. If you have to ask, you probably aren't...

    You have 60 pounds to lose, you could easily eat more and still lose weight steady. It might not be fast, but it will come off and you'll be way less uncomfortable and have way more energy. Aim for 1400-1500 calories daily, eating back 1/2 of your exercise calories. Try this for 3 weeks, if you stop losing, still eat at 1400-1500 calories and stop eating your exercise calories. I can guarantee you'll feel soooooo much better.
  • ChristinaR720
    ChristinaR720 Posts: 1,186

    I do drink lots of water, i'm just not good at keeping track of it lol

    Oh, okay! Good!! :)
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
    Well its not like i'm starving myself. If I'm hungry, I eat. That's what gets me I guess. I'm not hungry so I don't wanna eat more. I do exercise, its just when I'm working. I lift a lot of stuff, power walk, etc. Meh diets suck

    Just because you don't feel hungry doesn't mean you are taking in enough nutrients. Hunger signals come from your hormones, and they can get out of whack and not signal you correctly.

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