Eating under 1200 calories?

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EmmaReed84
EmmaReed84 Posts: 263 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Today, I have not had much of an appetite, I have not had my dinner, but I know what I will be having, so I have logged it. Today my calories will be about 900-950 (Currently 812, but will probably have a bit more fruit later)

I would probably say I am like this 50% of the time, I cannot eat massive meals, I do tend to graze throughout the day.

There are days when I know I do at least have 1600-1700 calories, although I have not logged on here I have kept an eye on it.

So my question is... Is it okay for days like today? I don't want to start fretting about food, and forcing myself to eat, for the sake of a few more calories.

Replies

  • trogalicious
    trogalicious Posts: 4,583 Member
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    Eat. Don't eat "diet" foods, and you won't have to eat massive meals. Peanut butter goes a long way.
  • EmmaReed84
    EmmaReed84 Posts: 263 Member
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    Eat. Don't eat "diet" foods, and you won't have to eat massive meals. Peanut butter goes a long way.

    I don't buy any half-fat reduced-fat stuff, and I also cook with olive oil and add dressings to my salad.

    I eat what I want, when I want, I do not 'diet' I generally have a vaired diet of fruits and veg... I aslso enjoy pizza and "bad" food. I believe in everything in moderation.

    But because I have quite a few health problems, somedays I can feel extrenely sick and bloated, I can eat two mouthfuls of food and feel like I have had a 3 course meal, Other days I could eat a horse!

    I just want to make sure that they odd day under 1200 is not going to cause lasting damage... Otherwise I may have to resort to a spoonful of revolving peanut butter LOL!!!
  • randomtai
    randomtai Posts: 9,003 Member
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    Today, I have not had much of an appetite, I have not had my dinner, but I know what I will be having, so I have logged it. Today my calories will be about 900-950 (Currently 812, but will probably have a bit more fruit later)

    I would probably say I am like this 50% of the time, I cannot eat massive meals, I do tend to graze throughout the day.

    There are days when I know I do at least have 1600-1700 calories, although I have not logged on here I have kept an eye on it.

    So my question is... Is it okay for days like today? I don't want to start fretting about food, and forcing myself to eat, for the sake of a few more calories.

    If you don't accurately log, how do you know how many calories you have eaten?
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    It may be okay here and there, but def not with such little amount of protein in your diet. Not getting enough protein will lead to a larger % of your weight loss coming from lean muscle, not fat.
  • mccindy72
    mccindy72 Posts: 7,001 Member
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    Today, I have not had much of an appetite, I have not had my dinner, but I know what I will be having, so I have logged it. Today my calories will be about 900-950 (Currently 812, but will probably have a bit more fruit later)

    I would probably say I am like this 50% of the time, I cannot eat massive meals, I do tend to graze throughout the day.

    There are days when I know I do at least have 1600-1700 calories, although I have not logged on here I have kept an eye on it.

    So my question is... Is it okay for days like today? I don't want to start fretting about food, and forcing myself to eat, for the sake of a few more calories.

    If you don't accurately log, how do you know how many calories you have eaten?

    this. You can't keep a running tally in your head and be accurate, or guess at the totals. You need to log and keep an accurate count.
  • Sarasota_Guy
    Sarasota_Guy Posts: 82 Member
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    I think it's ok every now and then, but just keep in mind that the body needs about that much (1200 calories) to sustain itself for a full day, taking nothing else into account. Just make sure you don't do it so often that you thrown your body into starvation mode :) That will decrease your metabolism.
  • t1954
    t1954 Posts: 81 Member
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    I have done it about every day for over 17 months. Having said that, you should probably be properly monitored by a doctor. That is what I did to be sure I wasn't hurting myself. The advice about the protein is solid. You have to be careful about losing muscle. I lost muscle but it was more related to a hernia that prevented me from doing much weight work and mostly cardio.
  • mccindy72
    mccindy72 Posts: 7,001 Member
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    I think it's ok every now and then, but just keep in mind that the body needs about that much (1200 calories) to sustain itself for a full day, taking nothing else into account. Just make sure you don't do it so often that you thrown your body into starvation mode :) That will decrease your metabolism.

    Not really - you will lose more lean muscle mass than you want to, but it won't make you stop losing weight.
  • auddii
    auddii Posts: 15,357 Member
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    It may be okay here and there, but def not with such little amount of protein in your diet. Not getting enough protein will lead to a larger % of your weight loss coming from lean muscle, not fat.
    I'd agree with this. When you don't want a lot of food on days, make sure you focus on calorie/protein dense foods. There's a huge list that someone has been copying and pasting, but of course I didn't think to save that anywhere. But nuts, add avocado or bacon to your salad, eggs, full fat ranch for your salad, fatty fish like tuna or salmon, etc.
  • EmmaReed84
    EmmaReed84 Posts: 263 Member
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    Thank you for the replies.

    I know the days when I go way over, because they are the days when i can actually eat a proper breakfast, lunch and dinner, with snacks inbetween. Also the odd sneaky chocolate.

    I will try to keep a minimum of 1200 a day... Looks for a chocolate LOL... That is a joke BTW ;)
  • mccindy72
    mccindy72 Posts: 7,001 Member
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    Thank you for the replies.

    I know the days when I go way over, because they are the days when i can actually eat a proper breakfast, lunch and dinner, with snacks inbetween. Also the odd sneaky chocolate.

    I will try to keep a minimum of 1200 a day... Looks for a chocolate LOL... That is a joke BTW ;)
    No joke. Have the chocolate. You can have treats, as long as you are staying at a calorie deficit. And dark chocolate is good for you.
  • randomtai
    randomtai Posts: 9,003 Member
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    Thank you for the replies.

    I know the days when I go way over, because they are the days when i can actually eat a proper breakfast, lunch and dinner, with snacks inbetween. Also the odd sneaky chocolate.

    I will try to keep a minimum of 1200 a day... Looks for a chocolate LOL... That is a joke BTW ;)

    Without an accurate calorie count you have no idea what you are consuming.

    I would read this thread:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/872212-you-re-probably-eating-more-than-you-think
  • mazdauk
    mazdauk Posts: 1,380 Member
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    The occasional day eating under won't hurt you, just as the occasional day eating over is also fine. But as others have said, without logging accurately (including your exercise) you cannot possibly know how much you are eating and whether you are eating at a calorie deficit. I would also add in weighing - while eating a really large apple instead of a medium one is no biggie, unless you weigh things like pasta, cereal, rice etc., its really easy to give yourself a much larger portion than you think. try it yourself - pour a 30g portion of cereal or 75g portion of pasta into a bowl. Then weigh it. I bet it is over!

    You don't have to give anything up - except second portions - unless you find eating them aggravates your medical condition. If you accurately
  • ddarpel
    ddarpel Posts: 14 Member
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    I have worried over going into starvation mode since November when I started (or re-started) tracking. I am a nut about recording everything, and I stay just under 1200 each day (within 100). Many days I find myself eating at the end of the day just to get my calories up. I'm not realy hungry but I feel I'm in a dangerous place. I am exercising 3X a week at a low level (45 min on easy elliptical) without feeling overly drained.

    My plan is to run this way until I hit my goal (I'm guessing end of Feb) and then I need to increase my workouts to get in condition for a big backpacking trip in June. I plan to increase calories when I increase workouts.

    Any suggestions for keeping this close to 1200 and not going into starvation mode? Is protien the answer? I like the results so far...
  • mccindy72
    mccindy72 Posts: 7,001 Member
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    I have worried over going into starvation mode since November when I started (or re-started) tracking. I am a nut about recording everything, and I stay just under 1200 each day (within 100). Many days I find myself eating at the end of the day just to get my calories up. I'm not realy hungry but I feel I'm in a dangerous place. I am exercising 3X a week at a low level (45 min on easy elliptical) without feeling overly drained.

    My plan is to run this way until I hit my goal (I'm guessing end of Feb) and then I need to increase my workouts to get in condition for a big backpacking trip in June. I plan to increase calories when I increase workouts.

    Any suggestions for keeping this close to 1200 and not going into starvation mode? Is protien the answer? I like the results so far...

    You won't go into "starvation mode". You will still lose weight. The risk when not eating enough calories (for you) is that you could cause your body to break down muscle along with fat.
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
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    Looking at your past posts and in light of your health problems, you should probably have the advice of a dietitian on how much and what your should eat. (Also agree that if you are not logging/weighing/measuring everything you eat, then you don't know how much you are really eating.) Protein can be problematic for people with kidney problems. You may also need to be more careful than people without health problems about maintaining certain nutritional balances, electrolytes, fluids, etc. Following broad advice from people on a forum who are not professionals and who do not know your health history is probably not the smartest thing for you to do.
  • EmmaReed84
    EmmaReed84 Posts: 263 Member
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    Thank you for the replies. I have got scales and weigh my food. But I am not a big eater, my dinners are dished up on a side plate, and usually I find I cannot even eat all that, and my son has my left overs. I would say, what I manage to eat in one sitting is about the size of a fist (a ladies fist, not a big burly man fist lol)

    Tonight I added some diced potato, ate some extra poppadoms, and added tikka paste... I did manage to eat it all, but now I am desperately trying to keep it down. I am not actually sick after eating, although it has happened once or twice, just the incredible feeling of wanting to be sick, ladies who suffered morning sickness will know what I mean!

    With all the little extras I am still only just over 1000 calories. I will take on board the advice and make sure I am logging EVERYTHING and weighing EVERYTHING.

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