How do you physically tell?

Showmm
Showmm Posts: 406 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
How do you physically tell if you are getting enough to eat, rather than just numbers on a page? I've read lots of threads about BMR and TDEE. I think my calorie setting of 1310 per day not including exercise (5foot6/168cm, 178lbs/80.4kg, 41 age) might be too low or ambitious, but I'm not certain. It's obviously a guesstimate at how active I am or am not, so what I want to ask the great MFP folks is, how do you feel when you know you aren't getting enough calories?

See, I am tired a fair amount, but I've also upped my exercise doing the 30 Day Shred, so I thought it might be partly from that. I have a few other things I'm wondering if they are from my body trying to protect itself from me "starving myself" or if they are just my body not yet adjusted to a quota on food goodies and alcohol and the increase in exercise!

So how does your body let you know you aren't eating enough?

Replies

  • MaraDiaz
    MaraDiaz Posts: 4,604 Member
    It's hard to tell sometimes and might be different for everyone.

    I sleep more and get tired faster when I exercise. Well, I'm a lazy sod and not used to any physical activity.

    But when I'm not eating enough I get a different kind of tired. First I wake up feeling like pure crap. I get fatigued really easily, my muscles don't feel as reliable when I am working out. Even going up and down stairs is too much hassle.

    And if I'm dumb and ignore that sign then I get lightheaded, and if I ignore that sign, well then psycho depressed Mara arrives on scene. Not eating right will really screws with my moods.
  • Sla6adm
    Sla6adm Posts: 31
    Your metabolism slows, and so you feel cold more easily. Obviously, if you're outside and it is snowing, you would feel cold anyway. Therefore, compare yourself to others around you to see if you feel colder than them. E.g. If they're complaining it is really stuffy in an office, and you're not etc
  • darrensurrey
    darrensurrey Posts: 3,942 Member
    I'd love to be able to just listen to my body and eat when I feel hungry but I did that and that is why I'm on MFP!! All I can suggest is calculate your TDEE and aim to eat 10-20% less than that for a few months. See how things go over time. Your body is a biological unit and so things do not happen linearly. Like the stock market, the trend may be up but you will see drops.
  • innerfashionista
    innerfashionista Posts: 451 Member
    Some signs for me are:

    1) I stop losing weight. Ironically enough, the more weight you lose and the more fit you become, the more you're supposed to eat
    2) I'm tired. A LOT.
    3) I feel sluggish, or foggy, or just not right.

    It's a weird guessing game. If you do decide to increase your calories, give it at least 2 weeks to see if it's working.
  • Showmm
    Showmm Posts: 406 Member
    Yes, the 2 week thing to see if it's working is kind of where I am with the 1300 limit. I want to see how things go with that first before upping anything, but I will be annoyed if I've sabotaged my start by getting too few calories to properly lose weight!
  • spade117
    spade117 Posts: 2,466 Member
    Your metabolism slows, and so you feel cold more easily. Obviously, if you're outside and it is snowing, you would feel cold anyway. Therefore, compare yourself to others around you to see if you feel colder than them. E.g. If they're complaining it is really stuffy in an office, and you're not etc

    wut?
  • Showmm
    Showmm Posts: 406 Member
    Care to clarify Spade?
  • MaraDiaz
    MaraDiaz Posts: 4,604 Member
    Yes, the 2 week thing to see if it's working is kind of where I am with the 1300 limit. I want to see how things go with that first before upping anything, but I will be annoyed if I've sabotaged my start by getting too few calories to properly lose weight!

    Well the good thing is if you guess wrong you can set it right pretty quickly. If you're getting proper nutrients. The one thing you definitely won't recover as quickly from would be anemia. Ugh. Horrible feeling!
  • innerfashionista
    innerfashionista Posts: 451 Member
    Yes, the 2 week thing to see if it's working is kind of where I am with the 1300 limit. I want to see how things go with that first before upping anything, but I will be annoyed if I've sabotaged my start by getting too few calories to properly lose weight!

    I don't think it's a sabotage. I don't buy into "starvation mode." You'll lose weight, just not as much weight. I started with 1200, and don't regret it. I just got to the point the scale didn't move and I feel like of lagging, and I know it's time to increase :) Before I get to my goal, I'll increase again, several times.
  • BarackMeLikeAHurricane
    BarackMeLikeAHurricane Posts: 3,400 Member
    I know I haven't eaten enough when just walking a few steps makes my heart beat like crazy and I get dizzy.
  • now_or_never13
    now_or_never13 Posts: 1,575 Member
    I know when I'm dizzy/shaky... when I am exhausted all day and have no energy... when I can't do my workouts.

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