struggling to get 1200 calories

lauren_guidry
lauren_guidry Posts: 1
in Health and Weight Loss
okay, so I'm 18, so I'm fairly young, as some tell me. I'm 5'2" and 129 pounds. my bmi says I am at a healthy weight, but I am close to becoming overweight... so I'm not trying to lose alot of weight, maybe just a few pounds and tone up. MFP is telling me I should get 1200 calories a day.. but I'm struggling to get that high. on average, I'm only getting around 800-900 calories a day. I'm NOT starving myself, I'm simply only eating when I'm truly hungry, as opposed to my former habits of eating out of boredom. but now I'm hearing things about "starvation mode" and "ruining my body"... but if I'm eating 4 times a day, and not starving myself, also considering I am a small (as in short) and young person, is it really necessary to get 1200 calories? I feel as though if I force myself to eat more, that couldn't do any good. any advice? thanks!

Replies

  • bayoncay
    bayoncay Posts: 11
    you know your body better than your computer does. Eat as you have been eating if its comfortable for you. Don't feel the need to overeat just because someone told you to.

    If you start exercising regularly, thats when i'd try to bump it up to 1200 to maintain energy.
  • purpleipod
    purpleipod Posts: 1,147 Member
    Eat more nutrient dense foods if you need to.. avocado, full fat cheese, stuff like that. It's not hard to get enough calories if you're eating higher calorie foods.
  • QuilterInVA
    QuilterInVA Posts: 672 Member
    You need 1200 calories minimum to get adequate nutrition. Are you using light, reduced fat, fat free type products? Use the real thing. What are you eating in a typical day?
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
    Set MFP to lose just half a pound a week if it is not already. How active are you in your daily life?

    You really need to strive to eat 1200 or else you probably are not getting enough nutrition. Just because you don't feel hungry doesn't mean you are getting enough vitamins and minerals.
  • randomartisrgirl
    randomartisrgirl Posts: 133
    Don't worry about it, honestly. Maybe I'm the wrong one but I ate around 800-1200 regularly for a summer and lost weight without a hitch. If you're sluggish or not losing weight you'll know why, but if you don't run into any problems, it's because it's NOT a problems. Don't struggle to eat more if it's not necessary. But as long as you're not specifically aiming to eat less than you should be...
  • leesyc81
    leesyc81 Posts: 52 Member
    Your tdee based on a sedentary lifestyle is that you should be eating 1700 calories. I would try upping your calories to at least 1200 and u might find it speeds metabolisms and your weight might go down. Try it for a few weeks and see how u go. Just make your food portions a bit bigger and maybe a healthy snack or two. I wish I struggled to reach 1200 lol, I could easily eat 3000+ (but I don't unfortunately)
  • leti89220
    leti89220 Posts: 1 Member
    I would question the type of food you are eating since you are not getting more than 900 calories per day. Not all calories are the same. Carbohydrate, fat and protein calories are indeed equal by definition in terms of their energy content, but the body processes each in a distinct way, and these differences have real implications for weight management. In addition, food calories of all types may have very different effects on the body depending on when they are eaten and what they are eaten with. Calorie restrictions reduces your metabolism which might be the case with you since are 5'2" and weigh 129lb. keeping a food diary and consulting with a nutritionist or personal trainer may be an option.
  • luckydays27
    luckydays27 Posts: 552 Member
    If you did no exercise and sat had a very inactive life, you should be eating 1700 cals to maintain your current weight.
    to lose 1 lb a week, you would need to eat 1200 but you are slim so you should try to eat 1450 plus the cals you burn in exercise (or most of them).

    Its not really hard to eat food that have higher cals to achieve you goals. Try ice cream, full fat dairy, avocado, nuts, etc are all higher cal foods that are good for you.

    I am all for being supportive but here is the bald faced truth... eating low calorie diets at your age (or any age) is setting yourself up with a bad relationship with food for the rest of your life. I have been in your shoes and every time I tried the low cal diet, I failed, gained more than I lost once I was off the diet. The times I was successful was when I ate more and exercised. And I bet many other people on this board have been in the same boat.
  • jjjewell
    jjjewell Posts: 1 Member
    My story is similar. I am 5 foot tall and down to 116 pounds from 123.50. I was also right at the top edge of healthy. As I understand it there is no starvation mode, I think your bodies metabolism will, however, slow down if it thinks it isn't getting enough food.

    Everyone's body is different but I lost zero weight when I ate under 1200 calories. It wasn't until I forced myself to eat over 1200 that I started losing weight. So I always eat breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks so that I am eating every 2-3 hours. You also don't have to eat 1200 calories every day. I shoot for a daily average of 1200 over the course of a week. So one day you could eat 1100 and the next 1400, etc.

    I can maintain this way and lose some weight but in order to speed up weight loss I also have to exercise. Exercise has been a huge factor for me in toning up. It really is a matter of experimenting and figuring out what your body wants from you. Keep logging food and exercise on the site but don't get so hung up in the numbers, just let your body guide you.

    The following previous post was also a huge help for me in figuring it all out. You can copy and paste it into your browser to get to it.
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/912920-in-place-of-a-road-map-3-2013
    Good Luck!
  • Achrya
    Achrya Posts: 16,913 Member
    Look, don't listen to your body for hunger queues. People talk about the body being smart but, honestly, the body does all sorts of wonky crap, including become 'less hungry' as you feed it less. It doesn't mean you don't need food, it just means your body stops sending the signal and tries to become more efficient with the little you feed it.

    Make a schedule, eat every 3 hours or something. Small meals if you must, to get yourself used to taking in at least 1200. 4 300 calorie meals or 6 200 calorie 'meals', whatever floats your boat.

    Food is fuel. You cannot expect your body to perform optimally if you don't fuel it.
  • BryKate
    BryKate Posts: 74 Member
    Hi!

    I completely understand where you're coming from. I was the same for a long time and without even meaning to I was undereating. However this a long with how much I was working out meant I put on a LOT of weight while I was travelling for 2 months, so it's definitely a good thing that you have recognised you are not eating enough. Prolonged periods of not eating enough will actually cause your metabolism to rapidly slow down causing serious metabolic damage.
    It seems daunting having to eat more especially (as you say) its not even like you are deliberately not eating enough. I found I was eating around 1000 a day but felt full and wasn't starving. The best way to add more in is to add little bits of calorie dense food. For example if you usually have oatmeal for breakfast, add in a tsp of peanut butter or a handful of nuts, that's immediately about 80cals there. Add some avocado to your lunch or a hard boiled egg, and that will easily be another 70-100cals. Add some nuts or seeds to your salad or to your yogurt. Also maybe look into getting yourself some protein powder and make yourself protein smoothies? 1 scoop of whey protein powder is usually around 100 cals.

    So just by having some peanut butter with your breakfast, and some avacado and egg with your lunch, you will be up to 1200 in no time :) also maybe cottage cheese and there are loads of other nut butters as well as peanut!! I personally am a big fan of cashew butter. Hope this helped a bit :) It seems scary as an extra 300 could equal a whole meal but just adding a few nuts here and there will give you the cals you need without making you feel way too full.

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