If my goal is 1250 and I'm eating 1160 what adverse effects

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xLyric
xLyric Posts: 840 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I know the magic all-holy number is 1200 and to go below it is sacreligious. BUT, will being 40 calories under really hurt anything? My goals are set to 1250 but I'm trying for more like 1200, because I'm impatient. Not as impatient as my mother, who is only eating 500 calories...

Anyway. If I do it like this what will happen? It's just for a week, until I make a new meal plan, and then I can probably get it closer to being between 1200-1250.
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  • foxylady8098
    foxylady8098 Posts: 57
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    As long as you aren't feeling hungry you should be fine. If you ARE feeling hungry, I would eat more calories.
  • CroakerNorge
    CroakerNorge Posts: 165 Member
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    I doubt it, though, I make use of ALL caloires made available to me, it keeps me from stabbing someone :wink:
  • qwho
    qwho Posts: 157
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    I started my 1200 cal a day diet on August 16, and have lost 26 pounds! Some days I ate under a few, some days over a few, but on average it has been like 1210, so it evens out, if you are not hungry, look at it as a small reserve for a day when you may go over
  • pellenga
    pellenga Posts: 66 Member
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    3500 = 1 pound. So if you eat 1200 a day, instead of 1250, you are reducing your calories by 50 per day. 3500/50 = 70 Which means over the course of 70 days you will have only lost 1 pound more than if you would of eaten your goal of 1250.

    The reason your not suppose to far under on calories is because your body will think its starving & go into starvation mode. Yeah... you may lose weight due to the low calorie intake, but your most likley going to gain it back plus some once you start eating like a normal person again. :drinker:
  • 00trayn
    00trayn Posts: 1,849 Member
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    I started off eating more and have gradually reduced my calories to 1200 a day, even with exercise. It's worked for me since I've spent the past 8 months getting my metabolism going so that when I eat less, the scale doesn't come to an abrupt halt. And I also have a few days a week where it's higher, so it's balancing out. My body is never starving off what I'm eating, so that 100 calories or so less a few days a week isn't going to hurt. And with estimating calories, we tend to underestimate what we're eating. Especially when i have a salad from the salad bar at lunch and don't precisely measure everything that goes in. It evens out in the end, and I eat when I'm hungry.
  • thefallguy
    thefallguy Posts: 23
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    You'll lose the weight faster, be sure to be taking a very good multivitamin daily because there is no way you'll be eating all the vitamins and minerals in such a low calorie diet. I'm on the 1200 cal diet.
  • helloiloveukitty
    helloiloveukitty Posts: 448 Member
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    I am on 1200 a day and usually net about 600-900. I find that it really depends on what I'm eating, for me is must be nutritious and I plan my meals pretty carefully so I'm getting things that are good for me and make me feel good so IMO its fine but with such a low cal diet theres zero wiggle room so its easy to just not get enough of the right things. Also depends on your body, and how it wants to / likes to run...which is discovery by trial and error.

    You might notice your losing a little weight but not as much as you feel you should be (which I've considered) and you might want to a little eat more and see what that does.

    Super low cal worked better when I was fatter because I had more to burn / lose I think. Now it seems to have slowed down.
  • TabiHerbalifeCoach
    TabiHerbalifeCoach Posts: 691 Member
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    1200 is the all-holy number because it is what your body needs to sustain life, you will loose weight cause your body WILL break down your muscle and use that for energy, muscle weighs more than fat. everyone wants to loose weight quickly but what is more important is learning how to eat right for the long haul that's how the weight stays off. I've been doing this for 2 years. I use to be 230 pounds. being impatient only leads you back to where you started.
  • 00trayn
    00trayn Posts: 1,849 Member
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    There's an easy way to make sure your body isn't breaking down it's muscle when on a lower calorie diet. Just get a scale that measures body fat. I can see exactly how much weight I've lost, and then how much of that weight is fat based on the body fat percentage. I lost 0.6 lbs last week (i had a wedding that weekend so my number was worse than usual) and my body fat went from 31.8 to 31.5. Calculate that based on weight and it's 0.575 lbs of fat. As long as that number is close to what I've actually lost, I'm not gonna worry about breaking down my muscle. I strength train 4+ times a week, so I know my muscles are being maintained.
  • kdiamond
    kdiamond Posts: 3,329 Member
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    No adverse effects. Don't overthink this.
  • mommylucy
    mommylucy Posts: 13
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    I look at that as the "wiggle room" needed for not exactly getting every, single calorie accounted for...

    I try to aim for at least 100 below (not including the "exercise calories") just for the margin of error fact.

    Good luck!
  • kennedar
    kennedar Posts: 306 Member
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    40 calories is not going to hurt your body. Even if you measure everything that goes in your mouth, there is still some error in calorie counts. Anything pre-packaged can be off by as much as 15%. If you are cooking speggetti and meatballs for your family and take a portion, you have no idea if your meat ball is a sliver larger or smaller than anyone elses. Counting calories is a guessing game and we all do the best we can. Be honest with what you are eating but know that there is some wiggle room. If you were at 1000 calories then I would start to get worried, or even 1100. But 1150 is so close to 1200 that it is not something that I would worry about if I was you!
  • LotusF1ower
    LotusF1ower Posts: 1,259 Member
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    1200 is the all-holy number because it is what your body needs to sustain life, you will loose weight cause your body WILL break down your muscle and use that for energy, muscle weighs more than fat. everyone wants to loose weight quickly but what is more important is learning how to eat right for the long haul that's how the weight stays off. I've been doing this for 2 years. I use to be 230 pounds. being impatient only leads you back to where you started.

    The body will break down the fat and burn that before anything else, only when there is less than 5% body fat left will it begin to eat its own muscles.

    To the OP, going under 1200 by approx 50 calories or so will NOT put you in starvation mode. I've done that on more than a few occasions myself. The only thing I would say however, is this, ensure, more than anything, that you are eating all good stuff, no crap if you do go under. Fruit, veg, lots of protein, vitamins and minerals. If you don't, you will not be taking in the correct nutrients and eventually your body could start to "play up".
  • maletac
    maletac Posts: 767 Member
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    okay so im going to be kinda mean about this... but dont listen to everyone on here about that.. they throw around opinions with no facts....

    we were just talking about that in nutrtion class today and it was an in depth conversation.. there is adverse affects of going below 1200 you start losing nutrients your body needs... and anything below 1200 should be suppervised by a Doctor because there is certain things in your diet that you must have before you start cause damage to your body instead of actually doing it any good .... BUT on that not 50 kcals isnt to damaging just be wise about it

    and to the lady who is on a 900 kcal diet... you should talk to a dr about that because you are causing more damage to your body then helping it...

    and to everyone else... stop assuming .. stuff can get dangerous... fo realZ
  • maletac
    maletac Posts: 767 Member
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    I am on 1200 a day and usually net about 600-900. I find that it really depends on what I'm eating, for me is must be nutritious and I plan my meals pretty carefully so I'm getting things that are good for me and make me feel good so IMO its fine but with such a low cal diet theres zero wiggle room so its easy to just not get enough of the right things. Also depends on your body, and how it wants to / likes to run...which is discovery by trial and error.

    You might notice your losing a little weight but not as much as you feel you should be (which I've considered) and you might want to a little eat more and see what that does.

    Super low cal worked better when I was fatter because I had more to burn / lose I think. Now it seems to have slowed down.


    that is so unhealthy its your being watched by a dr
  • amyjo519
    amyjo519 Posts: 72 Member
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    I doubt it, though, I make use of ALL caloires made available to me, it keeps me from stabbing someone :wink:

    LOL!!! Cranky hungry is the worst!!
  • MisdemeanorM
    MisdemeanorM Posts: 3,493 Member
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    keep in mind that this also only works if you are SPOT ON on your logging. meaning every single lick of the knife making a sandwich, or bite of a spouses plate, or extra dab of sauce is logged, every stick of gum, and exact weights (not volumes) of foods. Odds are you are fluctuating on both sides of the goal depending on accuracy each day. if you are doing it just to lose weight slower - there are no tricks - this is long term. And you should also have a talk with your mom - she is seriously damaging her body by eating that little and it WILL backfire. A year from now when you lost weight and she is either deathly ill or put it all back on.... you will see. PS - over one week - it won't make that much of a difference.
  • steppann
    steppann Posts: 44
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    Just a warning to everyone who is eating under let me tell you my short story. When I started eating helathy food and excercising I was dropping pounds super fast and eating between 500-700 calories a day. I was so proud. I got to 29 pounds lost and BAM my scale has not moved in almost 3 weeks. Thats when I researched to see what the crap was going on since I was still busting my butt working out daily and eating the right things. Your body will go in starvation mode and you WILL NOT loose anything at all. I am now having to retrain my body so it will not want to store everything I put in my mouth, and I will tell you it sucks and makes staying motivated that much harder.
  • LotusF1ower
    LotusF1ower Posts: 1,259 Member
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    okay so im going to be kinda mean about this... but dont listen to everyone on here about that.. they throw around opinions with no facts....

    we were just talking about that in nutrtion class today and it was an in depth conversation.. there is adverse affects of going below 1200 you start losing nutrients your body needs... and anything below 1200 should be suppervised by a Doctor because there is certain things in your diet that you must have before you start cause damage to your body instead of actually doing it any good .... BUT on that not 50 kcals isnt to damaging just be wise about it

    and to the lady who is on a 900 kcal diet... you should talk to a dr about that because you are causing more damage to your body then helping it...

    and to everyone else... stop assuming .. stuff can get dangerous... fo realZ

    Excuse me, since when was you nominated to be the only one to know anything about nutrition on here? Don't presume everybody else knows nothing as that is insulting and presumptious and is a first-class way to turn anybody away from your advice, not quite the result you would want I should think!

    Minerals, vitamins, proteins and carbs must be consumed daily in order to keep the body working in an efficient and healthy way. Fact.

    As for your final sentence, namely - "and to everyone else... stop assuming .. stuff can get dangerous... fo realZ" - make sure you do not include me in that, as I never assume, unlike you.
  • ncqueenbee
    ncqueenbee Posts: 147 Member
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    Hi, this comment is in no way meant to offened anyone. I realize we all want fast results, but fast results are not always the best for our bodies. There is a pleather of information out there regarding proper dieting. Caloric intake being one of them. Talk to your dr or a certified nutritionist if you must. Going below a certian number of calories can indeed harm our bodies. Eating only 500 or 600 calories is NOT good for our bodies, and it doesn't take a professional to know this.

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