Too few calories hinders weight loss?

Your metabolism can and will slow down on a caloric deficit. Typically, the bigger the deficit, the faster the slow down will occur. It occurs through hormone manipulation. If you do want to go lower calorie you must include one day of surplus calories to boost hormone production and keep your metabolism running high. Also, when the deficit is greater, less exercise is advised because of increased risk of metabolism crash and excess cortisol.

Well I can't speak for the science part of it but it's true for me! The last two weeks I haven't lost anything and I went from eating 1700 calories a day to 1000...so now I decided to kick the calories back up to 1700 and I'm starting to lose again...it doesn't make much sense but it seems to be right

Hey all,

Out of curiosity do you think that I am eating too little? I am pretty active with exercise, I run between 15-20 miles a week and do core exercises every other day.

I struggle to eat all my calories. For example on Sunday after my 8 mile run I had to eat 2,817 calories but by the end of the day I still hadn't eaten 1,214.

Can someone check my profile and intakes and recommend any course of action. I ask as I really do not feel that hungry. For example I have just finished food and exercise for the day and still had 493 calories spare. My daily intake today was 1766 cals.

I currently weigh 159.8lb but would like to get to 154lb.

Many thanks,
Karl

The principle behind weight loss is simple: you either have to burn more or eat fewer calories. To lose weight, you need to create an energy (or calorie) deficit by eating fewer calories, increasing the number of calories you burn through physical activity, or both. Typically, what is recommended as the safest method is a combination of eating fewer calories and burning calories through physical activity.

Determining a safe daily calorie deficit can be difficult because every person is different when it comes to baseline metabolism, body size and composition, sex, age, and level of physical activity. What is easy to determine, however, is the fact that 3,500 calories equals about one pound of fat. Therefore you have to burn 3,500 calories MORE than you take in to lose one pound.

For example, if you cut 500 calories from your diet every day, you would lose about one pound a week. Or, if you are physically active, you can eat 250 calories less every day and burn 250 calories per day with your workout. Ideally, according to the Mayo Clinic, you do not want to lose more than one to two pounds per week, which means a safe calorie deficit would be to burn 500 to 1,000 calories per day through a reduced calorie diet AND exercise.

Determining a safe minimum amount of daily calories can be difficult as well for the same reasons listed above. However, extreme restriction of consumed calories can significantly slow the metabolic rate, and hinder your weight loss goals. The American College of Sports Medicine states that you SHOULDN'T send signals to your body to conserve calories by detoxing or fasting. They recommend that women should eat at least 1,200 calories per day, and men should eat at least 1,800.

The reason that the metabolic rate slows with prolonged dieting of less than 1,200 calories per day is a chain reaction of physiologic responses to the stress associated with such a restricted diet. Your body initially adapts to the stress of low caloric intake by engaging the "fight or flight" stress response, which has several negative consequences, despite you seeing lower numbers on the scale. The "fight or flight" response stimulates the breakdown of muscle in order to supply the body with enough fuel (glucose) to maintain the blood sugar levels in the absence of sufficient dietary calories. This "fight or flight" stress response will eventually wear out, thus slowing the metabolic rate to compensate for what the body perceives as starvation.
Some studies referenced at LiveStrong.com indicate that long-term dieting and calorie restriction can lower your metabolism by up to 40 percent and can take up to one year to correct.

The thing to remember is: BALANCE IS KEY. Visit MyPyramid.gov to see your specific food pyramid. There are food pyramids available for all types of diet - basic, vegetarian, low carbs, and more.

For example if your pyramid notes that most of your nutrients need to come from whole grains and veggies, then your calories for the day should reflect this as well.

Plan meals in advance. By planning in advance, you won't run out of calories by midday. If you need some menu ideas take a look at this great article; 1200 Calorie Diet Sample Menu. Don't forget to work in filling, low-calorie snacks into your diet plan!

Hey, I have a hard time figuring out how many calories I need to take in to lose weight. I was eating between 1300 and 1450 calories before I started to work out. Now I exercise for about an hour at least five times a week so I was thinking I also needed around 1700 or 1800 calories. I weigh 171 and I am trying to get down to 145 pounds at 5'3.

did you try inputting your numbers...exercise burn etc...into MFP and doing what it says? I mean..you have this tool in your hand, why not use it?

Hey, I have a hard time figuring out how many calories I need to take in to lose weight. I was eating between 1300 and 1450 calories before I started to work out. Now I exercise for about an hour at least five times a week so I was thinking I also needed around 1700 or 1800 calories. I weigh 171 and I am trying to get down to 145 pounds at 5'3.

If your doing cardio, consider an heart rate monitor. That gives me confidence in my numbers and makes it easier to add in!