We are pleased to announce that on March 4, 2025, an updated Rich Text Editor will be introduced in the MyFitnessPal Community. To learn more about the upcoming changes, please click here. We look forward to sharing this new feature with you!

Is it starvation if I eat a lot but exercise a lot?

justified111
justified111 Posts: 18 Member
edited February 5 in Food and Nutrition
I generally eat about 2000 calories a day which is a good amount of food. However, I often have days where I burn 1000 or more calories in one workout session. Even though my net calories sometimes goes below 1000, I feel like I'm eating a lot of food. It's not like I'm literally starving myself.

Breakfast - 300 Calories
Snack - 150 Calories
Lunch - 600 Calories
Snack - 150 Calories
Dinner - 700 Calories
Late Night Snack - 100 Calories

That's a lot of food.

Replies

  • RGv2
    RGv2 Posts: 5,789 Member
    You'e a 34 year old male, you should be netting FAR more than 1000 calories per day.

    How do you estimate your caloric burn? What is the exercise?
  • IronCakes
    IronCakes Posts: 317 Member
    You'e a 34 year old male, you should be netting FAR more than 1000 calories per day.

    QFT
  • ChrisS30V
    ChrisS30V Posts: 157 Member
    2000 calories really isn't that much food, especially for someone who exercises as rigorously as you do. Given your activity levels and the fact that you're a 34 year-old dude, I'd say it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to eat closer to 3000 or maybe even a bit over if you're truly burning 1000+ calories.
  • justified111
    justified111 Posts: 18 Member
    My typical day is:

    6am: Very Small Snack to get the metabolism going (30 cals)
    630am: Cardio. I normally row 2000 meters and then jump on an elliptical for an hour and blast some music.
    or
    630am: Weights. I switch off which muscles I work each session.
    8:30am: Eat Breakfast. Normally 300 calories or so. A cottage cheese and a banana or something like that.
    10:30am: Eat a 150-200 calorie bar (Lara Bar, Kind, etc.)
    12:30 Eat Lunch. Could be anything from a Turkey Burger with Swiss and a side salad to a 2 pieces of pizza. 600 calorie lunches go a long way.
    3:00 Eat a 150-200 calorie bar (Lara Bar, Kind, etc.) or beef jerkey or fruit or some other small snack.
    6:30 Eat Dinner. My wife cooks various healthy meals. Last night we had Beef Stir Fry. The night before we had Baked Salmon. They range from 550-800 Calories.
    9:00 Eat a few fruits

    Like I said, that's not a small amount of food and I'm not hungry during the day. I'd also like to mention I've successfully lost 35lbs in the past 135 days so it IS working. I just don't want to hit a wall.
  • RGv2
    RGv2 Posts: 5,789 Member
    My typical day is:

    6am: Very Small Snack to get the metabolism going (30 cals)
    630am: Cardio. I normally row 2000 meters and then jump on an elliptical for an hour and blast some music.
    or
    630am: Weights. I switch off which muscles I work each session.
    8:30am: Eat Breakfast. Normally 300 calories or so. A cottage cheese and a banana or something like that.
    10:30am: Eat a 150-200 calorie bar (Lara Bar, Kind, etc.)
    12:30 Eat Lunch. Could be anything from a Turkey Burger with Swiss and a side salad to a 2 pieces of pizza. 600 calorie lunches go a long way.
    3:00 Eat a 150-200 calorie bar (Lara Bar, Kind, etc.) or beef jerkey or fruit or some other small snack.
    6:30 Eat Dinner. My wife cooks various healthy meals. Last night we had Beef Stir Fry. The night before we had Baked Salmon. They range from 550-800 Calories.
    9:00 Eat a few fruits

    Like I said, that's not a small amount of food and I'm not hungry during the day. I'd also like to mention I've successfully lost 35lbs in the past 135 days so it IS working. I just don't want to hit a wall.

    I could binge myself on carrots all day, stay full, and only get to 1500 calories. That still doesn't mean I'm fueling my body correctly.

    I'm the same age as you, ~215 lbs, and workout 4-6 hrs per week and my TDEE -20% is almost 2200 calories. You're WAY under your BMR let alone TDEE -20%.

    Yes, you've lost weight, but you're in an EXTREME caloric deficit. You had over 70 lbs to lose, so yes you will lose weight.....but IMHO you will run into issues down the road.

    If you're not hungry, I'm also interested in knowing how you estimate caloric burn. From what was posted, I'm skeptical that you're burning 1000 calories in a workout session.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    what are you doing exactly that is burning 1000 calories per day? That's a lot of working out, especially if we're talking every day...we're talking athletics here. If you want to train like an athlete you have to eat like one...and I guarantee you that's more than 1000 net calories and 2000 gross calories per day.

    I'm 5'10" and pushing 40. I workout and burn roughly 300 - 400 calories per session...a big burn for me would be in the 600 calorie range or an occasional really long ride that I might burn 1,000 calories...but that would be about a 30 mile ride or so and I don't do those often...and when I do, I eat all the foods...

    At any-rate, I eat around 2,700 calories or so on average just to maintain with that exercise level...I cut around 2200 calories gross which means I'm essentially netting around 1850 calories or so when I'm cutting...somedays are more somedays are less because I use the TDEE method.

    In summary, you can and should eat more to properly fuel your body. Your workouts will benefit and your LBM (muscles) will thank you by not burning themselves away to make up for such large calorie deficits.
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,267 Member
    My typical day is:

    6am: Very Small Snack to get the metabolism going (30 cals)
    630am: Cardio. I normally row 2000 meters and then jump on an elliptical for an hour and blast some music.
    or
    630am: Weights. I switch off which muscles I work each session.
    8:30am: Eat Breakfast. Normally 300 calories or so. A cottage cheese and a banana or something like that.
    10:30am: Eat a 150-200 calorie bar (Lara Bar, Kind, etc.)
    12:30 Eat Lunch. Could be anything from a Turkey Burger with Swiss and a side salad to a 2 pieces of pizza. 600 calorie lunches go a long way.
    3:00 Eat a 150-200 calorie bar (Lara Bar, Kind, etc.) or beef jerkey or fruit or some other small snack.
    6:30 Eat Dinner. My wife cooks various healthy meals. Last night we had Beef Stir Fry. The night before we had Baked Salmon. They range from 550-800 Calories.
    9:00 Eat a few fruits

    Like I said, that's not a small amount of food and I'm not hungry during the day. I'd also like to mention I've successfully lost 35lbs in the past 135 days so it IS working. I just don't want to hit a wall.

    wow...that's not a lot of food...my breakfasts alone can equal your entire day (after your burns) and your a man...I can't imagine I eat 1600 and I am at a 20% deficet right now...you are only eating my TDEE and then burning it off...
  • lucan07
    lucan07 Posts: 509
    Read this

    http://www.aworkoutroutine.com/starvation-mode/
  • justified111
    justified111 Posts: 18 Member
    Thanks for all the responses guys. First off let me explain that I don't burn 1000 calories every day or even most days. In my original post I explained that some days I burn that many.

    Now, to answer some questions.

    How do I know I'm burning 1000 calories?
    I basically trust the cardio machines. I use a Concept 2 rower and a Precor 5.31. Both have my user info (Weight, Age, Height) and the truth is with 80-90 mins of cardio the numbers seem about right based on everything I can find online. The days I left weights I only estimate I burn 250-600 calories based on how intense the workout is.

    Why are you keeping you net calories so low?
    I have MFP set to help me lose 2lbs a week. They have me netting 1534. A lot of days I do hit that, but the days I do cardio I normally end up under 1000. If I'm under 1000 3 days a week and at 1500-1600 the rest of the week, will I hit a starvation wall?

    I really appreciate all the comments so far guys.
  • RGv2
    RGv2 Posts: 5,789 Member
    I wouldn't trust the machines. They can be of 20-30%.

    If you aren't hitting BMR, at least, than you are correctly fueling your body.
This discussion has been closed.

Categories