Am I going to cause my body to starve?

kayveebee7
kayveebee7 Posts: 127 Member
in Getting Started
I am new. I have been allotted 1270 calories a day. Is this healthy? I am not critiquing the program, I just want to be right. I have about 80 pounds to lose and I have a desk job.

Your thoughts...

Replies

  • SailorKnightWing
    SailorKnightWing Posts: 875 Member
    It also depends on your height, weight, age, gender, and any medical issues you may have. But odds are, 1270 isn't going to be enough to get you the nutrients your body needs to be healthy. Not to mention you can probably eat more and achieve similar results.

    ETA: But no, you won't literally starve. You'll probably be unnecessarily hungry and tired, but what we commonly know as "starvation mode" is a myth.
  • britteliz1
    britteliz1 Posts: 43 Member
    Do you have your settings to lose two pounds a day? I would try adjusting those. I'm new here too, so maybe someone else could better enlighten us both!
  • geekyjock76
    geekyjock76 Posts: 2,720 Member
    If you have 85 lbs to lose, then you will not starve yourself by initially losing at a rate of 2 lbs per week (a 1000 calorie daily deficit). With that said, once you reach certain weight loss goals, you'll have to change your goals to 1.5 lbs, 1.0 lbs and finally 0.5 lbs . Your body can't burn as much fat per day when you get leaner. Thus, a smaller deficit is recommended as you get closer to your end goal weight.
  • kcb0308
    kcb0308 Posts: 73 Member
    I am new. I have been allotted 1270 calories a day. Is this healthy? I am not critiquing the program, I just want to be right. I have about 80 pounds to lose and I have a desk job.

    Your thoughts...

    Don't adjust your goal of two pounds per week, depending on how much you have to lose, just yet... The 1270 calories is your net intake, that is after you exercise. So if you exercise and burn 500 calories a day. Then you should be eating 1770 calories, which will net you 1270 cals.

    Also, doing so will keep you satisfied and allow you to stay on course with your goals.
  • nikilis
    nikilis Posts: 2,305 Member
    post your height & weight and we will go over the numbers with you.

    :)
  • britteliz1
    britteliz1 Posts: 43 Member
    I'm not the OP, but thanks to everyone for clarifying!
  • red_road
    red_road Posts: 761 Member
    with 80 pounds to lose you can eat a lot more than that and still achieve quick losses.
  • kayveebee7
    kayveebee7 Posts: 127 Member
    Thank you, this is great stuff.

    I have my settings set to 2 lbs per week. I am 254 and I am 5"2, 33 years old and I work a desk job. I run and do cardio challenges here and there.
  • mungowungo
    mungowungo Posts: 327 Member
    I'm fairly new myself - been here about 3 weeks now - and I have found that I have been rather tired and getting hungry. I have a fair whack of weight to lose myself. Obviously when you have a decent amount of weight to lose you just know it's going to take time plus after all that effort you really don't want it to creep back on. Plus you want something that you can stick to in the long term - if you are tired and hungry this isn't going to be sustainable. Initially I'd go back into your goals and have a good hard look at what the program has come up with for you. If it's something like a 2llb loss a week this is probably too much. You can manually change this to a more reasonable amount - even 1/2 llb a week - that way you can concentrate on getting used to logging everything you eat and getting your macros (carbs/proteins/fats) into a balance that suits you.

    Hope this helps a bit and good luck.
  • kayveebee7
    kayveebee7 Posts: 127 Member
    Thank you, that helps. Possibly 2lbs a week is a bit aggressive. I want to maintain this. However, I do not feel tired or hungry...........I just think I "need" more.

    I'm hungry today because I went out to eat at lunch and could have used my calories better.
  • blackNBUK
    blackNBUK Posts: 58 Member
    Thank you, this is great stuff.

    I have my settings set to 2 lbs per week. I am 254 and I am 5"2, 33 years old and I work a desk job. I run and do cardio challenges here and there.

    1270 calories does seem on the low side given your figures. If you put them into the BMR calculator you get a figure of 1810 calories. That is the amount of energy your body will use if you were in a coma; even with a desk job the amount you're going to actually use will probably be nearer 2100 or 2200, more if you include exercise.

    If I was you I would double check the figures you put into MFP to make sure you didn't make any mistakes. If everything is still the same I would change to losing 1 lbs or 1.5 lbs a week and see how you get on for a few weeks. You can always speed things up later if you wish.
  • nikilis
    nikilis Posts: 2,305 Member
    Thank you, this is great stuff.

    I have my settings set to 2 lbs per week. I am 254 and I am 5"2, 33 years old and I work a desk job. I run and do cardio challenges here and there.

    1270 calories does seem on the low side given your figures. If you put them into the BMR calculator you get a figure of 1810 calories. That is the amount of energy your body will use if you were in a coma; even with a desk job the amount you're going to actually use will probably be nearer 2100 or 2200, more if you include exercise.

    If I was you I would double check the figures you put into MFP to make sure you didn't make any mistakes. If everything is still the same I would change to losing 1 lbs or 1.5 lbs a week and see how you get on for a few weeks. You can always speed things up later if you wish.

    yeh except that the calculator is wrong because its overestimating her lean body mass, so that the BMR is higher than it should be.

    the calculation should be done at the high end of the BMI scale - 26ish, and use that.

    your true bmr estimate is 1400-1600 at a maximum.

    if you want to eat more calories, you will need to exercise, log it and eat back half your exercise calories.

    you have drawn the unlucky card with your BMR as BMR's are lower for women and also due to your height.

    secondly, 300g of mixed vegetables is 80cals. this will fill you up big time. the average double chocolate chip cookie is 70-120cals, and you can eat them until you feel sick, and probably not be full.

    think about what you eat for satiation and as fuel for your body.
  • blackNBUK
    blackNBUK Posts: 58 Member
    Thank you, this is great stuff.

    I have my settings set to 2 lbs per week. I am 254 and I am 5"2, 33 years old and I work a desk job. I run and do cardio challenges here and there.

    1270 calories does seem on the low side given your figures. If you put them into the BMR calculator you get a figure of 1810 calories. That is the amount of energy your body will use if you were in a coma; even with a desk job the amount you're going to actually use will probably be nearer 2100 or 2200, more if you include exercise.

    If I was you I would double check the figures you put into MFP to make sure you didn't make any mistakes. If everything is still the same I would change to losing 1 lbs or 1.5 lbs a week and see how you get on for a few weeks. You can always speed things up later if you wish.

    yeh except that the calculator is wrong because its overestimating her lean body mass, so that the BMR is higher than it should be.

    the calculation should be done at the high end of the BMI scale - 26ish, and use that.

    your true bmr estimate is 1400-1600 at a maximum.

    if you want to eat more calories, you will need to exercise, log it and eat back half your exercise calories.

    you have drawn the unlucky card with your BMR as BMR's are lower for women and also due to your height.

    secondly, 300g of mixed vegetables is 80cals. this will fill you up big time. the average double chocolate chip cookie is 70-120cals, and you can eat them until you feel sick, and probably not be full.

    think about what you eat for satiation and as fuel for your body.

    Good point. However I think you might be going too far in the other direction. The Katch-McCardle formula uses body fat percentage to work out a better estimate for BMR and you have to put in a pretty extreme value to get down to 1400 calories. 1600 calories seems like a reasonable estimate overall.

    In any case my advice is still the same; start off with a modest reduction in calories (i.e. 1 or 1.5 lbs a week) and see how it goes. If you feel happy to eat less and want faster progress then move up to 2 lbs a week. The important thing is to find something that works for you long term and you're more likely to do that it you start off slow in the beginning.

    Edit: Going slowly also has the advantage that your body has more chance to adapt to the changes happening to it. Losing a lot of weight quickly makes having problems with loose skin more likely.
  • nikilis
    nikilis Posts: 2,305 Member
    Thank you, this is great stuff.

    I have my settings set to 2 lbs per week. I am 254 and I am 5"2, 33 years old and I work a desk job. I run and do cardio challenges here and there.

    1270 calories does seem on the low side given your figures. If you put them into the BMR calculator you get a figure of 1810 calories. That is the amount of energy your body will use if you were in a coma; even with a desk job the amount you're going to actually use will probably be nearer 2100 or 2200, more if you include exercise.

    If I was you I would double check the figures you put into MFP to make sure you didn't make any mistakes. If everything is still the same I would change to losing 1 lbs or 1.5 lbs a week and see how you get on for a few weeks. You can always speed things up later if you wish.

    yeh except that the calculator is wrong because its overestimating her lean body mass, so that the BMR is higher than it should be.

    the calculation should be done at the high end of the BMI scale - 26ish, and use that.

    your true bmr estimate is 1400-1600 at a maximum.

    if you want to eat more calories, you will need to exercise, log it and eat back half your exercise calories.

    you have drawn the unlucky card with your BMR as BMR's are lower for women and also due to your height.

    secondly, 300g of mixed vegetables is 80cals. this will fill you up big time. the average double chocolate chip cookie is 70-120cals, and you can eat them until you feel sick, and probably not be full.

    think about what you eat for satiation and as fuel for your body.
    Good point. However I think you might be going too far in the other direction. The Katch-McCardle formula uses body fat percentage to work out a better estimate for BMR and you have to put in a pretty extreme value to get down to 1400 calories. 1600 calories seems like a reasonable estimate overall.

    yeh catch Katch-McCardle is good if you can get a good body fat estimate, probably about as good as it can get. I had a work up done at a dietician clinic and my BMR came out as 1766. I'm 184cm aka 6" tall, 71kg with a BF % below 15% and I'm a guy.

    if my BMR and Maintenance is around 1700-1800 / 2000-2100 - it might seem a bit odd to suggest a woman who is 5"2 would have the same intake.

    I've looked into BMR's quite a bit as I've been on here for a while, and the most comprehensive study of BMR's recorded a BMR of 1050 for a woman who was 5" tall.

    a lot of women have BMR's around 1300-1400. especially women shorter in stature.
  • haymancm
    haymancm Posts: 280 Member
    http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm

    I use this website as a back up for how many calories I need to be eating. With no workout calories burned, goal to lose 2 lbs/week, you can lose the weight based on 1175 calories eaten for your height @ 5'2", 33, 254 lbs. The more you workout, the more you get to eat & is based on an average of the last 7 days. So, if you burn an average of 400 calories, you can eat 1575 calories/day. The exercise level should be set @ little/none. You are eating back an average of your workout calories a day.

    The reason why I show this to you, is that I was so frustrated with how much I should eat over the summer. Once I found this site, it's really helped me. I was eating too many calories earlier, which slowed down my results from 2 lbs/week to 1 lb/week.

    Something else to read…it's helped me with my weight loss: http://www.acaloriecounter.com/blog/why-am-i-not-losing-weight/

    Add me if you'd like. :)
  • PunkyRachel
    PunkyRachel Posts: 1,959 Member
    I have mine set at 1200 cals per day. I usually eat my exercise cals, so I actually consume on average 1500-2000, but my net will show around 1200. I also end up going over about 50 percent of the time.
  • nikilis
    nikilis Posts: 2,305 Member
    I have mine set at 1200 cals per day. I usually eat my exercise cals, so I actually consume on average 1500-2000, but my net will show around 1200. I also end up going over about 50 percent of the time.

    its working for you tho! you are doing great. you started in a similar situation as the OP so maybe u should Friend her and give her your advice / support :P
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    my advice would be try and see how it goes..

    if you feel like crap then add 100 calories a day and see how you feel..

    but after a while you will have to adjust your calorie intake..
  • kayveebee7
    kayveebee7 Posts: 127 Member
    Wowzers! Thank you for the great tips and support! I went over by 233 cals today and I'm not hungry. I think I may go to 1.5 lbs per week. This thread was so helpful, thank you!

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