Am I eating too much food or not enough food???

buckeyegurl74
buckeyegurl74 Posts: 13 Member
in Motivation and Support
Ok, so I have been on this site for quite some time and I have it down to a science and I really do track everything i eat everyday. Here is my delemma.... I have my calorie count set at 1200 a day. I am currently juicing for 2 meals a day and eating a healthy dinner with my family. I avoid pasta, bread and potatoes. I pretty much avoid anything white. I am working out at Title Boxing at least 4 times a day. (high cardio, body weight and boxing for 60 mins) The problem is the scale isnt really budging. I have had people tell me that I might not be eating enough. Does anyone have any advice?

Replies

  • seena511
    seena511 Posts: 685 Member
    if you're not eating back your exercise calories, that is correct, you are not eating enough.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    is there any reason you juice 2 meals?

    whats wrong with pasta bread or potatoes?

    and i really hope 'working out 4 times a day' is a typo....
  • sleepingtodream
    sleepingtodream Posts: 304 Member
    Are you losing inches? Do your clothes feel different? With your exercise plan it sounds like you are putting in alot of work!
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    Ok, so I have been on this site for quite some time and I have it down to a science and I really do track everything i eat everyday. Here is my delemma.... I have my calorie count set at 1200 a day. I am currently juicing for 2 meals a day and eating a healthy dinner with my family. I avoid pasta, bread and potatoes. I pretty much avoid anything white. I am working out at Title Boxing at least 4 times a day. (high cardio, body weight and boxing for 60 mins) The problem is the scale isnt really budging. I have had people tell me that I might not be eating enough. Does anyone have any advice?

    Unless you are eating back exercise calories - 1200 is not enough.

    MFP has you eat 1200 NET calories ... this means you eat your exercise calories back. The reason for this ..... 1200 calories are about what your body requires for basic function: heart, lungs, kidneys, etc. Eating less than 1200 NET .... means that your body must "find" nutrients somewhere else....... stored fat (yeah!) AND muscle mass.

    Eat 1200 NET to preserve muscle mass.
  • AMAdams10
    AMAdams10 Posts: 3 Member
    Do you mean 4 times a week or 4 times a day?
  • nikky731
    nikky731 Posts: 65 Member
    I find that when I eat back my exercise calories I don't lose weight though....I started eating back half of my exercise calories.
  • skparker2
    skparker2 Posts: 132
    Your exercise & calories burned is leaving you with a massive calorie gap. Your body is probably holding on to all of those calories. You should try to up your calories a bit more. Maybe to 1300 or 1400. I struggled with not losing weight for a month and a half. I upped my calories since I was working out a heck of a lot more and I was dropping weight.

    I normally eat my calories back. Just test it out.
  • MissMaryMac33
    MissMaryMac33 Posts: 1,433 Member
    You would get better responses if your diary was visible so we could see what you're really doing.

    1200 is too low for almost every reason - especially if you work out as much as you state.
  • Querian
    Querian Posts: 419 Member
    You would get better responses if your diary was visible so we could see what you're really doing.

    1200 is too low for almost every reason - especially if you work out as much as you state.
    Ditto
  • mikejholmes
    mikejholmes Posts: 291 Member
    The scale isn't really budging -- for how long? A day? 4 days? Or are we talking weeks?
    That'll make a difference
  • thirstyflea
    thirstyflea Posts: 114 Member
    I'm at 1200 a day with MFP as well- I don't eat back ALL of my exercise calories, but I do eat usually 200-300 more calories on work out days (5-6 days/week). The increase in calories definitely helps me lose weight, but I'm still struggling with a balance...

    Agree with everyone here, you need to eat more.
  • staciedee10
    staciedee10 Posts: 90 Member
    If I were you, I would measure everywhere. You are probably swapping muscle for fat. Your clothes should fit differently as well. I bet your post was a typo - work out 4 x a day in lieu of a week. How much water do you drink daily? I shoot for a gallon of water a day but at least get in 8 glasses daily. Lots of luck!!! :-)
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    Are you planning to stop eating bread, pasta etc forever? Is there a reason you want to lose weight fast? Because otherwise, you're setting yourself up for failing. You'll never be able to keep up this diet long term.
  • Derpina7
    Derpina7 Posts: 552 Member
    Knowing your weight loss goals (pounds left to go, or inches) would help this thread answer your questions a little better as well.
    It's very possible you really don't have much left to go and might just want to work on toning up if you're already in a healthy weight range.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    If I were you, I would measure everywhere. You are probably swapping muscle for fat. Your clothes should fit differently as well. I bet your post was a typo - work out 4 x a day in lieu of a week. How much water do you drink daily? I shoot for a gallon of water a day but at least get in 8 glasses daily. Lots of luck!!! :-)

    No way she's building muscle on 1200 calories a day ... unless she's extremely petite
  • buckeyegurl74
    buckeyegurl74 Posts: 13 Member
    I avoid pasta and potatoes at all costs. Yes, it was a type. Its 3-4 times a WEEK. Sorry about that. :-)
  • buckeyegurl74
    buckeyegurl74 Posts: 13 Member
    I had this really long answer all typed out and went to post it and it dissapeared. Grrrr

    Heres the basics

    5'2", I figure to stay healthy I need to lose about 40 lbs. I am jucining 2x a day because I feel better. I juice more veges than fruit and I feel really good. I am getting plenty of nutrients so I really dont look at it as a diet. I work out 3-4 times a week doing cardio and boxing for 60 minutes a session. My clothes do fit better. No budge on the scale. Just want to make sure I dont need to increase my caloric intake to cover the cardio I am doing. I do eat back most of the calories I burn but not all. I drink about a gallon a water a day. No coffee. No pop. I drink 1 Spark (Advocare) a day. Thanks so much for the feedback
  • MichaelWms
    MichaelWms Posts: 22 Member
    1200 calories is not enough. You are starving yourself and you are going to get fat, especially with training 4 times a week or day. Your body will be in starvation mode and store fat. Do you feel tired? Losing motivation? headaches? Problems sleeping? Its all probably cause your not eating enough.

    I'd suggest increasing your calories by 500 a day! Stick with it no matter what for 4 weeks. AFTER four weeks evaluate your results...
  • buckeyegurl74
    buckeyegurl74 Posts: 13 Member
    So increase the caloric intake to 1700 a day for a month? Im burning 600-900 calories a workout. 3 - 4 times a week.

    Do you feel tired? Yes
    Losing motivation? Yes
    headaches? Occasionally
    Problems sleeping? Yes getting to sleep and staying asleep

    Thats why I put this post out here hoping all of you fabulous peeps will help get me back on track.
  • Springfield_Rocks
    Springfield_Rocks Posts: 289
    hey there,

    educating yourself on how the body uses calories is the most important thing you can do.

    join this group... http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/7965-in-place-of-a-road-map

    READ all you can and then get to calculating for yourself.

    You will be successful.

    I am only new at this, but using this method I am down 10 pounds in 17 days! at 1600 cals per day. Not too shabby. I have a lot more to go, but I am feeling awesome and I am NOT starving.

    :flowerforyou:
  • mazdauk
    mazdauk Posts: 1,380 Member
    If you're burning that much and not eating it back no wonder you are tired! Eat back at least 2/3 of each workout and you'll feel better. Bread and pasta aren't toxic you know, they are perfectly safe foodstuffs, and will help you sleep better at night. You really can't live on juiced veggies and fruit alone, you need some proteien and carbs - carbs are also non-toxic!

    If you find you ahve a problem because you eat too much of them, invest in a food scale and weigh your pasta and potatoes - 75g of uncooked pasta is not excessive and will give your digestion something to work on.
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
    is there any reason you juice 2 meals?

    whats wrong with pasta bread or potatoes?

    and i really hope 'working out 4 times a day' is a typo....

    ^This

    And white foods...why be racist. Some really yummy foods are white.

    And yes, four times a day seems strange, unless you are counting walks. Technically I exercise several times a day, if you count jogging up a couple flights of stairs to get to a meeting and walking from the parking garage to my desk and back again.
  • shutupandlift13
    shutupandlift13 Posts: 727 Member
    This question was just asked in another thread, so, sorry for the copy pasta but its applicable:

    You most likely don't need to be eating that little to see results.

    Check out this, long, but definitely worth the read: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/937712-in-place-of-a-road-map-ver-3-0

    Short and sweet, calculate your TDEE*, subtract 10-20%, eat that amount as your TOTAL calories, not NET. To increase the benefits of weightloss and for supplementing body composition changes, eat adequate protein, lift heavy and move fast a few times a week.

    *A lot of people overestimate TDEE... unless you're on your feet all day for work or lifting constantly at work then your little 1-2 hour workout every night or every other night doesn't make you moderately or maybe even lightly active. Be a little conservative with your TDEE calculation and a good check is to see that you're at least consuming a TOTAL of calories above your BMR or pretty darn close to it.
  • amberlykay1014
    amberlykay1014 Posts: 608 Member
    So increase the caloric intake to 1700 a day for a month? Im burning 600-900 calories a workout. 3 - 4 times a week.

    Do you feel tired? Yes
    Losing motivation? Yes
    headaches? Occasionally
    Problems sleeping? Yes getting to sleep and staying asleep

    Thats why I put this post out here hoping all of you fabulous peeps will help get me back on track.

    I'm so glad you decided to look into this more! I am currently eating around 1900 cals/day and slowly losing while maintaining muscle. I think you'll find you can eat a lot more and you don't have to be so strict on your diet. You're going to see results! Do the calculations like others have suggested. You can do this!
  • buckeyegurl74
    buckeyegurl74 Posts: 13 Member
    Just so I am clear...do you eat back the calories you burned working out or should you be under your calorie goal (according to MFP) by the amount of calories you burned?
  • shutupandlift13
    shutupandlift13 Posts: 727 Member
    How have you established your calorie goal? If you calculated your TDEE (includes all daily activity, even exercise) and created a deficit from that by subtracting 20% then no, do not eat back your exercise calories, TDEE - 20% is your TOTAL calorie goal. In fact, I don't even track them, I track it as 1 cal burned so that it doesn't mess with my cal goals and my macros.

    If you're still following MFPs 1200 cals NET per day, then yes, eat back your exercise calories. Since MFPs cal burns are usually overestimated, I recommend and a lot of other people do to, eating back 50-75% of your exercise calories as opposed to all of them. You can start with 50% and see how you feel, what the scale does, etc. If you're still feeling run down and tired and losing rapidly, try eating back more. 0.5-1lb per week loss is recommended to preserve lean body mass. Also, try to eat adequate protein if you are working out, specifically if you are weightlifting, 0.8g/lb bodyweight. And a quick guideline for fat is 0.3g/lb bodyweight.

    Hope that helps!

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