help with calories

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mamadukes23
mamadukes23 Posts: 36 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Ok so I have been doing this for a while and I just have a question may sound stupid to some but an honest one nonetheless, am I eating too few calories? According to MFP I should eat 1890 cals a day however I usually eat around 1300.....could this be preventing me from losing weight? I exercise everyday and burn an extra 500+ calories a day and even more the days I work, so am I eating too few calories or is it just what I am eating that is preventing me from losing weight?? Feeling kinda hopeless right now

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  • haleeyabbott
    haleeyabbott Posts: 114
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    You are eating fine... I eat less than 1600, and you can changes how many calories you eat.. Its not preventing you from losing weight, it might be what's in your diet.. You can add me and I will help with anything you need
  • mamadukes23
    mamadukes23 Posts: 36 Member
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    You are eating fine... I eat less than 1600, and you can changes how many calories you eat.. Its not preventing you from losing weight, it might be what's in your diet.. You can add me and I will help with anything you need

    Well if possible can you look at my diary and let me know if im on the right track? Please. I know I have a problem with sodium I am trying to watch it but its difficult sometimes it just sneaks up on me
  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,220 Member
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    If you are being accurate (weighing everything) some days you barely hit 1000. I noticed you did have a slightly higher day in there which was good. The reason you should hit your calorie goal is to keep your body from burning lean mass. The less you eat the more likely it is that your body will turn to muscle instead of fat. Also, when most people try severe restriction they are more likely to binge eat.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,139 Member
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    If you are being accurate (weighing everything) some days you barely hit 1000. I noticed you did have a slightly higher day in there which was good. The reason you should hit your calorie goal is to keep your body from burning lean mass. The less you eat the more likely it is that your body will turn to muscle instead of fat. Also, when most people try severe restriction they are more likely to binge eat.

    all of this ...
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,139 Member
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    You are eating fine... I eat less than 1600, and you can changes how many calories you eat.. Its not preventing you from losing weight, it might be what's in your diet.. You can add me and I will help with anything you need

    so because you eat less than 1600 it will automatically work for everyone????
  • mamadukes23
    mamadukes23 Posts: 36 Member
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    If you are being accurate (weighing everything) some days you barely hit 1000. I noticed you did have a slightly higher day in there which was good. The reason you should hit your calorie goal is to keep your body from burning lean mass. The less you eat the more likely it is that your body will turn to muscle instead of fat. Also, when most people try severe restriction they are more likely to binge eat.

    I am accurate with the weighing of my food for the most part and if I am unsure I add a few cals to be safe. ...so I should start eating closer to my goal cals in order to lose weight?
  • arlenem1974
    arlenem1974 Posts: 437 Member
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    I have looked at your food log I noticed your not eating any of your exercise calories back. Your net should never be below 1200. If you eat 1300 calories and you burn off 300 with exercise that only leaves you with 1000 net. 1300-300= 1000. you need to eat back at least 200 of those or your body will go into starvation mode. I think that is part of the reason your not losing weight the other part is your sodium over 2500 is to high. Even if you eat the right amount of food you wont lose weight if you eat to much sodium.
  • mamadukes23
    mamadukes23 Posts: 36 Member
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    I have looked at your food log I noticed your not eating any of your exercise calories back. Your net should never be below 1200. If you eat 1300 calories and you burn off 300 with exercise that only leaves you with 1000 net. 1300-300= 1000. you need to eat back at least 200 of those or your body will go into starvation mode. I think that is part of the reason your not losing weight the other part is your sodium over 2500 is to high. Even if you eat the right amount of food you wont lose weight if you eat to much sodium.

    Thank you! I appreciate it!
  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,220 Member
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    I have looked at your food log I noticed your not eating any of your exercise calories back. Your net should never be below 1200. If you eat 1300 calories and you burn off 300 with exercise that only leaves you with 1000 net. 1300-300= 1000. you need to eat back at least 200 of those or your body will go into starvation mode. I think that is part of the reason your not losing weight the other part is your sodium over 2500 is to high. Even if you eat the right amount of food you wont lose weight if you eat to much sodium.

    Sodium might mask weight loss through water retention, but it's not going to stop you from losing weight. She needs to hit her target calories anyway, which she wasn't doing and she wasn't eating back her exercise calories. Her net should be higher than 1200 because she has more to lose. MFP doesn't have her set to 1200.
  • mamadukes23
    mamadukes23 Posts: 36 Member
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    For some reason I wasnt grasping the concept of the net calories but now I know thank you all I truly appreciate it
  • Xingy01
    Xingy01 Posts: 83 Member
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    It's a myth that you need to eat more calories to lose weight. The important thing is that you're getting enough nutrients. It's not easy to do that on very low calorie diets, which is why doctor supervision is needed for people who are eating less than 1200. If you know you're getting enough nutrients in 1300, there's nothing wrong with that. You should only increase your calories if you can't sustain the diet because you're getting hungry.

    Edit: I'm not condoning a very low calorie diet. But the starvation mode thing is also a myth. When we eat less calories than maintenance level, our metabolism may decrease very slightly and only temporarily. It's not enough to make a difference in anything. Your body doesn't and can't suddenly stop using energy.

    Now if you're exercising on a low calorie diet, you may run into problems because the rate that your body can convert fat into energy is below what you would need to exercise any meaningful amount.
  • defauIt
    defauIt Posts: 118 Member
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    Eating too few calories can definitely cause some permanent damage to your body, but it can NEVER stop you from losing weight.

    Ever.

    You'll lose weight unhealthily fast, your body will start cannibalizing its own muscle tissue, you will feel lethargic and have no energy and a plethora of other nasty side effects.

    If you're not losing weight at what you think is a huge deficit, there are two reasons:

    1) You're eating more than you think.
    2) You're burning less than you think.

    The solution to 1) is to be extremely diligent on weighing foods and counting every single thing that goes in your mouth - an extra nibble here or there throughout the day can add up quickly and is very easy to miss. The solution to 2) is to see a doctor and check for something major like a thyroid problem and to use a HRM to estimate exercise calorie burns.

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