Way under calorie goal

tjkuyper
tjkuyper Posts: 5 Member
edited September 22 in Health and Weight Loss
Currently my calorie goal is just over 2000 a day, and that should make me lose 2 lbs a week. I just started my diet, but the last two days I have had 1364 and 1520 calories. The math works out to a little over 3 lbs a week. I know the recommended maximum weight loss is 2 lbs a week, but if I am getting the nutrients I need and my body is not going into "starvation mode" is it bad to keep these levels of calories?

Replies

  • amysj303
    amysj303 Posts: 5,086 Member
    It's an interesting question, it seems like it would be ok, but I have read a couple of things that might impact the answer:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/3047-700-calories-a-day-and-not-losing
    or if you are concerned that you are not losing while maintaining a calorie-deficit:
    http://www.everydayhealth.com/fitness-specialist/fixing-ruined-metabolism.aspx?xid=nl_EverydayHealthWomensHealth_20100828
  • afred29
    afred29 Posts: 29
    Good question...I'm in the same boat that you are. Hope to get some good responses. Best of luck.
  • SHBoss1673
    SHBoss1673 Posts: 7,161 Member
    Considering that most adult males require a diet of 1800 healthy calories as an average minimum in order to receive the required macro and micro nutrient levels, I have my doubts as to whether you are actually receiving sufficient nutrients.

    I understand people's desire to rush and lose tons of weight, but it's a difficult thing to do in a healthy way, not easily done without the constant supervision of a trained medical professional. There are many side effects to long term Very Low Calorie Diets and you should be extremely careful when choosing this route.

    There are also some positives to slowing it down a bit. I.E. allowing your body to adjust to the loss of weight helps keep hormones in homeostasis and heads of mood swings, slowing down weight loss will give your skin time to adjust so you don't have bags of loose skin, and you allow your hair, nails, and teeth to remain healthy and doesn't force your organs to suck essential vitamins and minerals away from other processes in order to fuel your increased fat conversion (due to the massive deficit you've created).
  • afred29
    afred29 Posts: 29
    Thanks asjerven for that link. I never looked at it that way before, it makes my view(strategy) on weight loss totally different.
  • tjkuyper
    tjkuyper Posts: 5 Member
    Thank you for your posts, I will take the information you have provided into consideration. I am going to try to make up the deficit, one of the things was that after waiting a while after eating I was no longer hungry. I certainly do not want to do any damage to my body, the whole point of me losing weight is to be healthy. I think there are things I can adjust to give me more calories in a day without eating a bunch of junk food.

    Thanks everyone.
  • SHBoss1673
    SHBoss1673 Posts: 7,161 Member
    Thank you for your posts, I will take the information you have provided into consideration. I am going to try to make up the deficit, one of the things was that after waiting a while after eating I was no longer hungry. I certainly do not want to do any damage to my body, the whole point of me losing weight is to be healthy. I think there are things I can adjust to give me more calories in a day without eating a bunch of junk food.

    Thanks everyone.

    there are, Google calorie dense foods, you'll find lots of healthy choices. It provides higher calorie values without higher fiber content or water content which will allow you to eat more calories for similar volumes of foods.
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