Eating less than 1.2k calories.

cappuccinio
cappuccinio Posts: 15
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm 5ft with a small body frame. I'm not a heavy eater and on normal days I only eat 800 cals... so I eat some snacks by the end of the day to make it reach 1200, since I've been reading up that eating less will make my metabolism slower.

The weight loss is pretty slow though, maybe only 2 lbs per month. I have 7 lbs to go until I get to my goal weight and it's taking foreveeer. I just checked out the BMR calculator (1,175BMR) and taking into account that I have a sedentary lifestyle, my guess is that I burn about 1500 calories per day. Which means per week, I only have a calorie deficit of 2100. :(

So my question is... considering that I'm shorter and have a smaller body frame than the average person anyway, would it really be so bad to stick to 1000 calories per day so I get the 3500 (500 per day) calorie deficit per week?

Replies

  • mmcdonald700
    mmcdonald700 Posts: 116 Member
    You'll be fine. 1200 isn't some magical metabolism number. If you're not super hungry after 1000 (net) I don't think there's an issue with it considering you're only 5 ft tall. That being said - you only have 7 lbs to lose so 0.5 lb/week is a healthy rate of loss with so little to lose so I think your 2 lbs per month is a fantastic amount of weight loss! But no, it's not gonna screw your body up to eat a little less you might just find that you lose more muscle mass than you would if you ate 1200 net. My bmr is about 1500-1600, and I eat about 1500 net most or a little below days... I feel perfectly fine. Go with how your body feels eating that much, follow a resistance routine and get enough protein to try to minimize muscle loss.
  • gigglesinthesun
    gigglesinthesun Posts: 860 Member
    I was about to say that if you are overweight then you probably eat more then 800 cals on a normal day and then I looked at your stats where you say that you are 5ft and 110lbs. That is a perfectly fine weight (I know that because I am exactly your height and weight), so why do you need to lose weight very quickly?

    Also at 24, what do you consider sedentary?

    Overall I think you should eat more (I eat 1350 when I want to lose) and examine you relationship with both food and your body, but that's just my 2 cents.
  • mmcdonald700
    mmcdonald700 Posts: 116 Member
    I was about to say that if you are overweight then you probably eat more then 800 cals on a normal day and then I looked at your stats where you say that you are 5ft and 110lbs. That is a perfectly fine weight (I know that because I am exactly your height and weight), so why do you need to lose weight very quickly?

    Also at 24, what do you consider sedentary?

    Overall I think you should eat more (I eat 1350 when I want to lose) and examine you relationship with both food and your body, but that's just my 2 cents.

    Good advice
  • cappuccinio
    cappuccinio Posts: 15
    You'll be fine. 1200 isn't some magical metabolism number. If you're not super hungry after 1000 (net) I don't think there's an issue with it considering you're only 5 ft tall. That being said - you only have 7 lbs to lose so 0.5 lb/week is a healthy rate of loss with so little to lose so I think your 2 lbs per month is a fantastic amount of weight loss! But no, it's not gonna screw your body up to eat a little less you might just find that you lose more muscle mass than you would if you ate 1200 net. My bmr is about 1500-1600, and I eat about 1500 net most or a little below days... I feel perfectly fine. Go with how your body feels eating that much, follow a resistance routine and get enough protein to try to minimize muscle loss.

    Thank you, that was really helpful. I do want to minimize muscle loss so if I try out the 1k calories, I'll remember your advice :)
    I was about to say that if you are overweight then you probably eat more then 800 cals on a normal day and then I looked at your stats where you say that you are 5ft and 110lbs. That is a perfectly fine weight (I know that because I am exactly your height and weight), so why do you need to lose weight very quickly?

    Also at 24, what do you consider sedentary?

    Overall I think you should eat more (I eat 1350 when I want to lose) and examine you relationship with both food and your body, but that's just my 2 cents.

    Oh I don't want to lose weight very quickly. Any healthy rate would be great. :) I have a small frame and even if my numbers seem healthy, it's mostly from body fat and it shows in the inches. Btw, I have a desk job and I'm not able to walk around too much so I think (?) that would be a sedentary lifestyle

    1350 seems like a lot to me though, haha! I'll see what works for me
  • Ang108
    Ang108 Posts: 1,706 Member
    I am 4' 11.5" and as someone who has worked for several decades in the field of nutrition I would not eat much less than 1200 calories and especially not less than 1000. It's not so much the calories if you eat over 1000 a day, but the fact that you won't get enough nutrition, because at a low calorie point you can't get your macros right, especially if you are young and want the occasional drink or non-nutritious treat.
    This is not a matter of weight loss, but of sustainable health.......If you look at pictures of starving people in Africa; they usually eat between 600-800 calories and I can't understand that anyone who has the chance to eat more would voluntarily eat 800 calories. Maybe someone in their 80's and completely bedridden.....but not an active young person.
  • kagevf
    kagevf Posts: 509 Member
    the closer you get to your weight goal, the longer it will take.

    whats the goal weight anyway?
  • tshuk00
    tshuk00 Posts: 17 Member
    If your BMR is 1175 why are you going *over* that amount? What happens when you plug your numbers in, set how much weight you want to lose, and it calculates your goal for you on MFP?
  • mmcdonald700
    mmcdonald700 Posts: 116 Member
    I am 4' 11.5" and as someone who has worked for several decades in the field of nutrition I would not eat much less than 1200 calories and especially not less than 1000. It's not so much the calories if you eat over 1000 a day, but the fact that you won't get enough nutrition, because at a low calorie point you can't get your macros right, especially if you are young and want the occasional drink or non-nutritious treat.
    This is not a matter of weight loss, but of sustainable health.......If you look at pictures of starving people in Africa; they usually eat between 600-800 calories and I can't understand that anyone who has the chance to eat more would voluntarily eat 800 calories. Maybe someone in their 80's and completely bedridden.....but not an active young person.

    This is true! If you are only eating 1000-1200 it can't be junk food or you'll have very poor nutrition so if you increase your calories you have a bit more flexibility. You'll have enough to get proper nutrition plus flex calories because everything you put in your mouth will not always be nutritionally focused which is much easier to maintain for the long haul. Since you don't have a lot to lose you don't want to be that far from maintenance or you may end up yo-yoing back and forth (which happens when you restrict too much and lose quickly) and that's just no good.
  • cappuccinio
    cappuccinio Posts: 15
    Thanks guy. All very helpful answers. From what I gathered I should stick to the 1.2k then. :p

    kagevf - 105 lbs
  • kagevf
    kagevf Posts: 509 Member
    with a goal weight of 105 with a sedentary lifestyle

    Your BMR is: 1315 dont eat less than this

    Your TDEE is: 1578 you can eat as much as this

    it is safe to say that you can eat at 1300ish and still lose weight

    under eating will not make you lose weight. instead, your body is gonna hold on to whatever you got.

    dont be obsess with your scale weight, you are already within healthy range. howbout aim for fat loss ? get you toned up
  • 1princesswarrior
    1princesswarrior Posts: 1,242 Member
    If you want to lose body fat then you need to eat at a reasonable deficit and do resistance training with the right macro balance. Eating 800 calories a day will cause muscle and fat loss. It is generally not recommended to eat below your BMR for an extended period of time.

    If all you want to do is lose body fat consider eating at maintenance and starting a strength training program. Even things like P90x and 30 Day Shred will help you shed inches but before starting programs like that you need to figure out an appropriate calorie intake.

    When I look at your numbers, maintenance is around 1500 so you could eat 1200 and add a 30 min workout daily.
  • AlongCame_Molly
    AlongCame_Molly Posts: 2,835 Member
    If you're not a "heavy eater" as you claim, how did you end up being 12 pound overweight to begin with? *scratches head*
  • cappuccinio
    cappuccinio Posts: 15
    If you're not a "heavy eater" as you claim, how did you end up being 12 pound overweight to begin with? *scratches head*

    Does it matter?

    If it does though, the main criminal would be rice. We eat it as a staple, regardless of appetite. Took it off my diet and saw that I easily got a minus of 750 calories per day. I guess that's where the extra pounds came from too. I'm not hungry even w/o it though.
  • cappuccinio
    cappuccinio Posts: 15
    Thank you everyone for the advice :)

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