Not eating enough calories

In my own experience, there is nothing wrong with a big deficit as long as you are exercising!!!

I was always super confused about the whole eating more to lose weight thing. When I had a super labor intensive job, sometimes I struggled to net above zero for the day, and during that time I lost a TON of weight! I went from 165 lbs to 135 in 2.5 months.

I think the thing is that your metabolism WILL slow down if you are simply starving yourself. However, if you are eating and getting all your macros and nutrients (I was eating about 1600-1800 cals, burning 1500-2000 so netting extremely low even though I was eating lots) then your metabolism won't slow down, no 'starvation mode'. I was able to maintain my weight for almost 4 months after I was laid off, without intensive exercise. I gained back my weight on a 6-week vacation

Anyways, ive never had any metabolic issues as a result of netting very low, as long as I've kept up exercise.

Hope this helps, good luck

I can explain this totally. your body when not getting enough calories takes what you eat and stores it as fat. it thinks it will not be fed properly. I have underate in calories for a long time between 1,000 -1100 calories and I gained a lot of weight.

basicially I eat now 3 meals, 2 snacks period and it helps me stay on track with my calories.

you gained a lot of weight?
your body made something from nothing?

quite curious.

The majority of the time when you’re having a problem losing weight, it’s not because you aren’t making good food choices. The reason why your weight loss has stagnated is because you’re not eating enough calories to lose weight.

What Happens When You’re Not Eating Enough Calories?

When most people start dieting, they slash their calories and add a large amount of exercise to their daily routine. That’s fine, but they usually cut their calories way too low. Add in the extra exercise, and all of a sudden you have an extreme calorie deficit that is working against you.

Not eating enough calories causes many metabolic changes. Your body is a smart machine and senses a large decrease in dietary energy. Your large calorie deficit might work for a few days or even weeks, but eventually your body will wake up and sound alarms that it needs to conserve energy. It doesn’t want to just waste away. It needs that energy (fat) to survive. So, what does your body do when it senses prolonged energy restriction? Not eating enough calories…

Slows down thyroid production – Your thyroid is responsible for fat, carbohydrate, and protein metabolism among other things. Your body has the ability to slow down thyroid output in an effort to maintain energy balance [1].

Decreases muscle mass – Muscle is highly calorie intensive to maintain. In a prolonged extreme calorie deficit, it is one of the first things that your body looks to get rid of. Your body needs the fat, wants the fat, and the muscle can be spared. It breaks down the muscle tissue and uses it for energy.

Lowers testosterone levels – An important hormone for both men and women, testosterone is just one of many hormones that are affected with severe calorie restriction [2]. Testosterone is anabolic to muscle tissue. Without it, it becomes that much harder to maintain, let alone put on muscle mass.

Decreases leptin levels – Leptin is one of many energy regulating hormones. More importantly, it’s a “hunger” hormone that tells you whether to eat or not. High leptin levels signal that it’s OK to stop eating, while low leptin levels are a signal to eat more energy. Because of this, leptin levels decrease in calorie restricted environments [3].

Decreases energy levels – There are many physical actions your body takes when you’re not eating enough calories to lose weight, but there are also some mental ones. Neurotransmitter production is limited, which can lead to a lack of motivation. It’s your body’s way of telling you to “slow down” – conserve your energy.

How Many Calories Should You Be Eating?

Your goal should be to eat as many calories as possible and still lose weight. You always want to start high and then come down with your calorie intake. It’s much easier to do this than come up in calories after your weight loss has stalled and you’ve lost all your motivation. How many calories should you eat? There is no perfect number. Each person’s metabolism is different. Calorie calculators are a good starting point, but they can’t take into account all the individualistic variables.

To do that, you need to find your calorie intake either through:

Experimentation – I laid out a plan to determine this number in – How Many Calories Should I Eat? You might want to give it a read.

Measure it with a device – I personally use the BodyMedia FIT Armband to determine my calorie burn. You can read more about it here. I’ve found it to be accurate within a 10% margin of error.

The problem is most people want the weight gone, and they want it gone now. Weight loss is a patience game. It takes time and consistency to make it work. Losing 2lbs per week is the most I would aim for. At this pace, it will ensure that the majority of your weight loss is coming from stored body fat instead of muscle. You will also give yourself the best chance to build muscle while you lose fat, which is what you should be striving to do. To find out what portion of your weight loss is fat and what portion is muscle, I highly recommend you pick up a $5 pair of body fat calipers to measure your body composition. It will make weight loss much easier if you can hold onto your muscle, or even put some on in the process.

So if your progress has stalled, but you think you’re eating the right foods and exercising intensely, more than likely your problem is that you’re not eating enough calories to lose weight. Eat as much as you can, get in as many nutrients as possible, and your weight loss will start moving forward again.

I can explain this totally. your body when not getting enough calories takes what you eat and stores it as fat. it thinks it will not be fed properly. I have underate in calories for a long time between 1,000 -1100 calories and I gained a lot of weight.

basicially I eat now 3 meals, 2 snacks period and it helps me stay on track with my calories.

you gained a lot of weight?
your body made something from nothing?

quite curious.

She did have something - and therefore since her body felt as though it was "starving" it kept everything in not burning so the body absorbs it... thus gaining weight from "little" versus losing with "lots" as long as you burn it!!

So what do you do when you've reached goal?

If you are taking in1600-1800 calories and burning 1500-2000 in exercise, you are starving yourself.

Was I? See I always wondered about that, I find it quite curious. I ate massive amounts of veggies, fish, chicken and small amounts of nuts and oil. I NEVER felt hungry, weak, ill, etc. In fact I'd never felt better. The fact that someone could say to me "you are starving yourself" would have completely confounded me. If it weren't for MFP and my being aware of my daily net calories, I am sure I would have felt like I was netting 1500-2k.

So I guess my question is, what exactly is "starving yourself?" why was I always full of energy and never physically hungry? And I kept track of my vitamin and mineral intake, eating tons of healthy veggies, getting way more nutrients than the average SAD.

Was I still damaging myself? Shed some light, brother!

You were burning off all of the calories you ate. Your body still needed additional calories to function. There is only so much fat that your body will burn off and you will burn LBM. Unless you were overestimating calorie burns...


So what do you do when you've reached your goal?

This article explains it well:

http://www.coachcalorie.com/not-eating-enough-calories-to-lose-weight/

<snip>Your goal should be to eat as many calories as possible and still lose weight. You always want to start high and then come down with your calorie intake. It’s much easier to do this than come up in calories after your weight loss has stalled and you’ve lost all your motivation.

^^ This is my favorite part. I can never understand people who reverse this process and start off with 500 or 100 calories a day.

Agreed. This is my biggest argument against 1200 calories for most people not 'starvation mode'. You have little room to cut if you start out at the bottom.

This article explains it well:

http://www.coachcalorie.com/not-eating-enough-calories-to-lose-weight/

<snip>Your goal should be to eat as many calories as possible and still lose weight. You always want to start high and then come down with your calorie intake. It’s much easier to do this than come up in calories after your weight loss has stalled and you’ve lost all your motivation.

^^ This is my favorite part. I can never understand people who reverse this process and start off with 500 or 100 calories a day.

Agreed. This is my biggest argument against 1200 calories for most people not 'starvation mode'. You have little room to cut if you start out at the bottom.

But if you're already at the bottom, why would you need to cut? Sure you need to realize that as you lose weight your calorie needs will likely lessen, so the size of your deficit will decrease and your progress will slow, but some might argue that's the point. And isn't that why some people like to base their daily intakes on their goal weight, so that when they hit their goal they will already be at maintenance?

i think people on MFP talk too much about dieting and not enough about 'reverse dieting'