If I cant eat exactly 1,200 calories....

DOMTIA1012
DOMTIA1012 Posts: 57 Member
in Food and Nutrition
There is a message that pops up and is telling me that I am under my calories and its dangerous. I am just barely under. If I were to eat something else it would put me over. Any advice? Should I just ignore the message because I am close?

Replies

  • Mokey41
    Mokey41 Posts: 5,769 Member
    Ignore the message but realize that 1200 calories is as low as MFP will set a budget because below that is considered dangerous. You may want to reassess your weight loss goals. Figure out what your BMR is and eat above it rather than trusting a program to randomly do math for you.
  • SaintBock
    SaintBock Posts: 17
    I'd say don't be worried, as long as you are close. If you're under by like 100 or more calories, then yes... find something else to eat to get closer to 1200. I don't worry too much if I'm under by around 40 or something like that. I'll usually try to at least fill it with something to get my calories closer to 1200 (like some mushrooms, pickles, baby carrots, something low enough to fill that gap).
    But you also have to remember, there's nothing wrong with having something that puts you over the 1200 calories. It's not an EXACT amount that you have to have, just kind of a goal, I find. So if you eat something to put you over and it's putting you over by 50, don't worry. It's such a small amount to worry about, you'll still lose weight.

    Right now I'm under by around 40 calories... I think I'm going to grab some baby carrots right now, actually!
  • Hunterlady
    Hunterlady Posts: 12 Member
    I agree with the other suggestions. don't make a habit of being under as you are depriving your body of food and it could lead to your body shutting down and no weight lose.
  • DOMTIA1012
    DOMTIA1012 Posts: 57 Member
    Thank you everyone!
  • mikeyrp
    mikeyrp Posts: 1,616 Member
    As a general rule - any one day of calorie intake isn't going to make a difference - I am talking extremes here too - you could literally eat nothing or eat twice your allowance and it wont matter - what counts is your average intake - I try and get my average for a week pretty close to my target (+/- 100 calories).

    The calories on food isn't accurate enough to stress about an individual day anyway: for example two bananas of the same weight will have different sugar density - meat will have different fat density... everything you see is an average unless it really is a pure ingredient like sugar. Similarly with exercise, the calories you burn depend on so many factors... hydration levels, room temperature, efficiency of your motion... BUT if you take an average everything works out fine :)
  • lambchoplewis
    lambchoplewis Posts: 797
    I am 5' 2" and weigh 100 lbs. I feel great, exercise and can only eat apx 1000 cal/day to maintain (I am 53 yrs old). Don't worry about going over or under a little bit. Somedays I could eat anything and others I am not hungry. I have lot 25 lbs and try to eat less on days I am not hungry and not in mood to eat everything.
  • 714rah714
    714rah714 Posts: 759 Member
    From a legal stand point, MFP is just covering there *kitten* by displaying that message
  • pkw58
    pkw58 Posts: 2,038 Member
    After seeing the cudzillion posts around the internet about the magical mystical 1200 calorie - the recurring theme is that on average, if your body is going to get all the macro and micro nutrition it needs, 1200 is the minimum AVERAGE that gets you there. I don't sweat one day under, but don't like it as I think it will wreck my energy level or I will overeat the next day. So I have protein powder and fat free greek yogurt on hand to make up the difference at night.
  • TheVimFuego
    TheVimFuego Posts: 2,412 Member
    Calories in/out is such a ridiculous approximation it's laughable that there is some magic 1200 mark beyond which we are all going to wither away because our bodies have shut up shop.

    Food labeling is rubbish, exercise calories are bunk, why do the calories we eat HAVE to be stored or liberated, etc, etc ...

    it's just a guideline, don't sweat a few calories or even a few hundred ... extra or less IMO.
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
    Drink a small glass of milk. Eat a Tbs of peanut butter. I don't get how anybody can't bump up a hundred calories quite easily.

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