How little is too little of calories to lose fat?

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toridukestar
toridukestar Posts: 1
in Food and Nutrition
I have been struggling to lose body fat for some time. I go to the gym but avoid hard cardio workouts like running. I have switched my diet completely and eat healthier foods but eat very little. Sometimes I'll even have Herbalife shakes in the am/pm and a very low calorie lunch but I am still at the same weight. Am I not eating enough food? is that possible. I am 6ft. 230lb. woman and probably consume no more than 1000 calories a day with a well balanced diet. Any opinions would be welcome, thanks.

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  • peachynoir
    peachynoir Posts: 14
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    Were you losing weight at first? If so, then you should probably up your calories and start to fluctuate them. Some days 1200, some 1400, some 1600 until you see some progress. You might be at a mini-plateau that can easily be fixed considering your current weight.

    If you're avoiding cardio, what are you doing...?
  • silverainn
    silverainn Posts: 49
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    I'm an inch shorter and the same weight, and have lost 3 kg/7 lbs in under 3 weeks on 1800-2000 calories/day. You can eat a lot more.
  • PurpleTina
    PurpleTina Posts: 390 Member
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    If you have entered your height and weight into MFP, together with a weekly weightloss goal, it should tell you how many calories you should be eating. My guess is that it would be a lot more than 1000 calories a day. Try eating what MFP suggests; it really does work.

    I usually eat 1750+ calories a day and am still losing weight steadily (and I eat a lot more on exercise days). My weight loss did stall,. but I looked at my intake and wasn't eating enough; upped it to the amounts that MFP suggested, and sure enough I started losing again.
  • tryclyn
    tryclyn Posts: 2,414 Member
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    I have been struggling to lose body fat for some time. I go to the gym but avoid hard cardio workouts like running. I have switched my diet completely and eat healthier foods but eat very little. Sometimes I'll even have Herbalife shakes in the am/pm and a very low calorie lunch but I am still at the same weight. Am I not eating enough food? is that possible. I am 6ft. 230lb. woman and probably consume no more than 1000 calories a day with a well balanced diet. Any opinions would be welcome, thanks.

    Umm...less than a 1000?

    I would start here
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/833500-what-do-i-do-common-sense-cliff-notes

    And join this group, they are very helpful.
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/10118-eat-train-progress

    Just for an example
    http://nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/07/21/meet-staci-your-new-powerlifting-super-hero/
  • zealousmissjj_wechange
    zealousmissjj_wechange Posts: 445
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    Don't avoid breaking a sweat! My weightloss only started when I started leaving the gym all sweaty and red-faced. I never used to want to break a sweat at the gym and did some low intensity cardio. Trust me. Go running. Lift heavy *kitten*. Breathe heavily. Break a sweat. You'll see what I mean!!

    Oh, and I eat at around 1500 daily and I'm losing weight ;)
  • emchip1983
    emchip1983 Posts: 80
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    Hi it could be that your eating to little . im 5ft7 and from 3rd of jan have lost 16lbs, i stick to 1200 calories and eat back half my daily exercises calories. I do at least 60 mins exercise a week, i do a lot of cardio work outs from you tube, such as zumba,2mile walk, dancing,low impact cardio, i also do beach body mom sculpt work outs ,legs,arms etc. do you eat back any of your exercise calories ?
  • serofex
    serofex Posts: 23 Member
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    Before I joined MPF I was eating less than 1200 calories a day, sometimes even less than 1000. My weight stayed at 140lbs for over a year, no matter what I did. Once I joined MPF and started eating 1200 a day, I started losing weight. I upped it to 1300 and am still losing weight.
  • Markguns
    Markguns Posts: 554 Member
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    Yes eat more...
    "Medline Plus advises women to eat a minimum of 1,200 calories per day to avoid nutritional deficiencies."
    http://www.livestrong.com/article/360444-daily-recommended-caloric-intake-for-women/

    Exercise for 20-30 mins 4-5 times a week and have your heart rate at 65% of max. Elevating your heart rate is key to burning calories.

    Calorie calculator-- http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm
    Heart rate calorie burn calculator-- http://www.shapesense.com/fitness-exercise/calculators/heart-rate-based-calorie-burn-calculator.aspx
    And here for a Target Heart Rate Calculator (HR)
    http://www.shapesense.com/fitness-exercise/calculators/target-heart-rate-calculator.aspx
  • Minerva624
    Minerva624 Posts: 577 Member
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    Apparently 1,200 calories is too little to lose weight.
  • symonspatrick
    symonspatrick Posts: 213 Member
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    How long has it been since you changed your diet completely? It takes time for your body to adjust to changes. I have gone three weeks without seeing my scale weight go down but during that time my clothes were getting smaller. And after that a huge drop in scale weight. Weight loss is not always linear, but if you keep eating less calories than you burn eventually you will see a loss. Eating too little calories as you say has more to do with not getting proper nutrition than it does with not being able to lose fat.

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