Am I not eating enough?

bshibs
bshibs Posts: 31 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm ranging between 1200 and 1300 calories a day and I'm seeing a small amount of weight loss but not what I was aiming for. I'm not really active at the moment, except for moving around at my job. Am I eating too little?

Replies

  • Greenrun99
    Greenrun99 Posts: 2,065 Member
    Depending on your height/weight you might be under eating by maybe 100-300 calories.. but if your not exercising you can probably get away with it for awhile as long as you are eating semi healthy items. Do a search for BMR and TDEE and learn what those mean and then you will have a better idea.
  • bshibs
    bshibs Posts: 31 Member
    I've been eating superrr healthy. I'll up it a little and see what happens.
  • Serah87
    Serah87 Posts: 5,481 Member
    Try this: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12
  • MrsDrk
    MrsDrk Posts: 153 Member
    Judging by your profile, you really don't have an awful lot to lose- it might come off slow. Are you exercising too? You might be happier with the results of some strength training! Good luck :)
  • anaduffy
    anaduffy Posts: 74
    Also try increasing your water intake. It helps.
  • khall86790
    khall86790 Posts: 1,100 Member
    It is going to come off slowly if you are close to your target weight but if you are losing and comfortable eating at 1200-1300 calories then continue with it.
    You might want to consider exercising as it gives you a higher calorie allowance per day to eat because if MFP tells you to eat 1200 cals that is net calories meaning if you burn 400 cals working out you eat 1600 calories to compensate for that.
    Also, when you are at the final hurdle working out is probably going to make your body look 10 times better without changing your weight, but you will be more happy with how you look!
  • Lleldiranne
    Lleldiranne Posts: 5,516 Member
    From your profile: "I'm only trying to a lose a couple of pounds and got toned up and in shape."

    When one is very close the one's goal, it is much harder to lose those last few pounds. I'm about 10 pounds away, and it is definitely much slower. If you are only trying to lose a little bit, you probably want to eat more. Set MFP to lose .5 pounds a week and eat all those calories.

    You may also find better results from adding exercise, especially weights. If you build some muscle, you may find that your weight is fine (you also get to eat more to maintain with a higher muscle mass/lower body fat %). If you're pressed for time, I would suggest starting with something like 30 Day Shred (Jillian Michaels). It's only about 20 minutes a day, and incorporates weights and cardio.
  • Machafin
    Machafin Posts: 2,988 Member
    What you are doing now is the bare minimum. When you eat that little your body is going to try and hold on to everything. You may want to add some more food in there and see better results.
  • tmauck4472
    tmauck4472 Posts: 1,785 Member
    What you are doing now is the bare minimum. When you eat that little your body is going to try and hold on to everything. You may want to add some more food in there and see better results.

    This is so NOT TRUE.
  • Katbody10
    Katbody10 Posts: 369 Member
    I'm a tiny person .. well .. small. I'm 5'4, 46 years old and weigh 111 lbs. Eating 1200 calories a day for me generally only let's me lose a slow .4 lb a week. That's because I don't need to lose weight .. just 4-5 vanity pounds .. I'm quite happy with my weight and can maintain around 1400 calories a day. I can eat more if I exercise
  • bshibs
    bshibs Posts: 31 Member
    From your profile: "I'm only trying to a lose a couple of pounds and got toned up and in shape."

    When one is very close the one's goal, it is much harder to lose those last few pounds. I'm about 10 pounds away, and it is definitely much slower. If you are only trying to lose a little bit, you probably want to eat more. Set MFP to lose .5 pounds a week and eat all those calories.

    You may also find better results from adding exercise, especially weights. If you build some muscle, you may find that your weight is fine (you also get to eat more to maintain with a higher muscle mass/lower body fat %). If you're pressed for time, I would suggest starting with something like 30 Day Shred (Jillian Michaels). It's only about 20 minutes a day, and incorporates weights and cardio.

    Thank you!!!!!!!

    I'm going to try 30 Day Shred. I actually have the DVD and was using it last year.
  • bshibs
    bshibs Posts: 31 Member
    From your profile: "I'm only trying to a lose a couple of pounds and got toned up and in shape."

    When one is very close the one's goal, it is much harder to lose those last few pounds. I'm about 10 pounds away, and it is definitely much slower. If you are only trying to lose a little bit, you probably want to eat more. Set MFP to lose .5 pounds a week and eat all those calories.

    You may also find better results from adding exercise, especially weights. If you build some muscle, you may find that your weight is fine (you also get to eat more to maintain with a higher muscle mass/lower body fat %). If you're pressed for time, I would suggest starting with something like 30 Day Shred (Jillian Michaels). It's only about 20 minutes a day, and incorporates weights and cardio.

    I set it to .5 pounds a week and it gave me 1360 calories per day - I will try that! Thank you for your advice!
  • kayjaycee9
    kayjaycee9 Posts: 18 Member
    I only wanted to lose around 5 lbs in the beginning so I set my goal to lose .5 lb a week. To this day I have lost 18 lbs (in 3 months time) and I was allotted around 1300-1400 calories at first. Then I started doing cardio 5x a week and strength training 3x a week which has tremendously helped the weight come off, especially after I shed the first 5 lbs. I still maintain the 1400 calorie allotment a day and never take into consideration the extra calories I can now eat because of the introduction of my exercise. That is a no-no on my part since you do need those extra calories in order to make sure you have enough fuel to perform the exercises.

    Good luck with your weight loss. I don't know what I would have done without this awesome app. I now have my husband and a few co-workers doing the same and they have seen results in the past few weeks :)
  • tarasheehan1
    tarasheehan1 Posts: 13
    Eat less sodium, check out your day-to-day sodium! Drink more water and exercise!
  • natecoleman
    natecoleman Posts: 2
    Hit all macros, carb,fat,pro & fiber and water
  • jzammetti
    jzammetti Posts: 1,956 Member
    Try this: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

    THIS^^^^^^^
  • bshibs
    bshibs Posts: 31 Member
    Eat less sodium, check out your day-to-day sodium! Drink more water and exercise!

    Usually my sodium is pretty good. It's been high the last 2 days because I've been craving pickles like crazy!!

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