Am I starving?

that does seem awfully low for an adult male. i am not sure, I could be wrong. it could possibly be the types of foods your eating. I tried to look at your diary, but it is only available to your friends. Sorry I couldnt be more helpful

Hi there! From what I see, you are making healthy choices BUT you need to increase your calories. Great job getting in those fruits! I think you could increase your veggie intake a little on most days. Do you drink milk? Skim milk is a great source not only of calcium, but also vitamins A, D, Riboflavin, and protein. For days when you are short of calories but just aren't hungry, try eating a tablespoon of peanut butter. It'll add calories and provides healthy fats. Or you could eat the peanut butter on Bran Crispbread (http://www.brancrispbread.com/default.aspx) which is an excellent source of fiber. Are you watching your sodium intake? Be careful of the packaged foods and lunch meats, they are loaded with sodium and will put you over your limit quick.

Overall, I think you are doing a great job! But definitely increase your calorie intake a little. Good luck! I hope this helps!

~Angela

Dude,

I looked at your food diary. You need some substance. But listen, that whole starvation thing that people just LOVE to talk about isn't even remotely accurate. Your body isn't going to starve. Your metabolism may slow down if it doesn't have fuel (just the way a car slows down if it doesn't have fuel) but you're not going to starve.

Zig zagging is a very good way to keep your body guessing. Sort of like muscle confusion. One day your calories are high, the next day they're low, and at the end of the week it all averages out. It's effective, it's safe, and if you're not feeling hungry or dizzy or faint, then I would say that you're probably all right. I know I never feel hungry after I weight train but I'm famished after I run more than ten or twelve miles.

You are a sandwich guy... I don't see much in the way of vegetables and fruit or dairy. I'd tell you to mix it up, throw in some different foods so that you get all those macronutrients you need.

At the end of the day, trust your body. It will tell you that you're hungry. You're losing weight, you feel good, you're working out, and you've sold me on the elliptical. I've never gotten on that thing but after seeing that you can burn all those calories in half an hour, I'm sold. I have to run seven miles to burn that much and it takes me an hour.

LOL at situation comment :P

I am 5'8" and was up to 210lbs. I dieted hardcore with no resistance training and ended up too skinny. Taken me 3 years to get back the strength I lost. Have a read of the above mate and your goals may change a bit

We're not dieting remember....we are changing our lifestyles. Eating so few calories without the micronutrients you receive from a wider variety of foods will only get you sick:(

The trick is changing our habits so we can maintain a manageable lifestyle with balance:)

for me and my body at 150-ish, i need more than 1200 calories. i typically shoot for 1400 per day. which gives me about 200 calories net after my 400 calorie workout burn. as a man with more muscle, i would think you need this much too!

i haven't seen your eating, but this is one thing i have seen in even my friends and family and the way that they eat: the variety is low, and the processed foods are high. our bodies were designed to eat many different colors of foods in one day. to do so, you must eat veggies and fruits. i eat my 5 veggies/fruits a day, lean proteins and really watch the quality of my breads/rice/pasta. get your carbs from your fruit instead of bread. the fruits and veggies will give you the volume you need to feel full vs. cheese and crackers that have high calories and low volume.

feel free to add me as a friend and i will help you best i can. you can also look at my food journals and see what i eat.

Jane

That does seem low for an adult male. If you have your MFP settings already set at 1000 cal deficit a day. (or -2 pounds/week) then you should be eating your exercise calories. If you find your weight loss slowing down, then it is most likely a sign of your body trying to slow its metabolism and the way out is to eat more. Sounds crazy but it works. Easy ways to do this is to add healthy heart friendly fats into your diet. Avocado, extra virgin olive oil, raw nuts & seeds. Pumpkin seeds are sooo healthy for men. Keep strong & well fed.

If you're not eating and you don't feel hungry, your body is in fat-conservation mode. What you want to do is get your body in fat usage mode!! EAT! Give your body enough fuel that the hormones will come into play that allow the fat storage to be used. Read up on Leptin, Ghrelin, and Insulin.

Yea the elptical is amazing. It's depend on your intensity level. i know the calories burned amount on those machines my be off by 50-100 calories so i try to keep that in mind. I also run.

Looks like you got plenty of advice on calorie consumption so I had the need to comment on the elliptical calories burned. Unless you are using a good HRM, its hard to say what you are really burning. I usually burn only 60% of what the elliptical says (as compared to my HRM) so when the elliptical says 600, I am actually at 400 or so. Be careful there when you say that they may be off by 50-100 calories, unless you are only working out for 15 minutes!

I would agree with using the Arnold bread. more cals but better for you. I see two other things that jump right out. 75% of your calories are in the evening (dinner and snacks?) is this accurate or are the snacks spread throughout the day? I would try and have most calories by 2-3pm and sensible dinner. the few days i looked at you seem way too low on water.

Basically eat more (better) calories. Go with healthier bread or sub bread with a whole wheat wrap. For you i assume ~2000 cals per day. if you burn 500+ with exercise, you still could eat close to that 2000 and still lose the 1lb/week. I think you have it set up where fitnesspal has deducted 500 cals per day already?. You are not eating back those exercise calories. Also recommend something like EAS drink after workout.

Men tend to have an easier time losing excess weight than do women and the reason is an important once. We tend to be more muscular and we tend to add muscle more easily. Knowing this should provide a message to both sexes. If you are a guy, you need to protect this advantage by feeding and growing that muscle. If you're a female, you aren't going to be able to build as much muscle, but you need to add on some. Doing this boosts metabolism and makes you look better.

I would avoid the idea of deciding to lift weights after weight has been lost. Although adding some muscle would add a little pure weight to you initially, the process of feeding and rebuilding those muscles would cause your body to burn more calories... particularly at night while you are sleeping as your body repairs itself. Doing the muscle work right now would also allow you to find yourself at a lower weight without as much hanging skin. Building strength later, after you've already emaciated yourself is sort of counter productive. If you try to just diet your way down, your body is just going to find itself looking for the best possible energy sources... which will be muscle.... You will find yourself with a body which burns fewer calories because their is no real muscle, trying to perform exercises which have become even harder because you have no strength or endurance.

Reducing calories too low is also considered to play a part in creating eating disorders. You're starving your brain.

I agree with this as well. I find that the calories burnt are about 100 less then what MFP suggests, so I manually key in what I actually burnt.