I Burn More Calories than I consume... safe?

You need to eat. Don't go down that road. It isn't worth it. Slow and steady...

I'm no expert but if you're feeling that tired, sore and lacking proper bowel movements then I'm guessing what you're doing is very unhealthy. I would be worried that your weight loss might not be from loosing fat but muscle mass.

Oh and you are most likely not having a bowel movement for one of two reasons, either you haven't eaten enough at all or you need to increase your fat intake with healthy fats.

You want to make sure you are eating enough to feed your body. Losing weight is more than watching the scale. It's about change, progress and measurable successes. Anything under 1200 calories per day can be dangerous. If you are exercising on top of it you need to add calories. 20lbs in a month may be feasible, but it most likely won't last and you could damage your body. Kdiamond said it best, you need to eat ... and slow and steady.

According to my BMR, it's 2040.5. So far I've lost the 10 lbs. I feel like crap obviously, but I'm incredibly incredibly incredibly determined to meet my goal..

We are all determined to meet our goal but if you don't do it the right way you will just put it all back on when you start eating. And what good is meeting your goal if you give yourself some serious health issues along the way.

Hey man, you need to eat. When I was 17, I weigh about 190lbs. Then I started going to the gym everyday and monitoring what I eat, and I eat A LOT. At that time, I would do 30 mins of cardio workout to get a nice appropriate heart rate. After that, I will do weight training. Increasing muscle mass helps burning calories through out the day. And you need nutrient to keep all those work out going. Just eat health, eat till you are around 70% full, and keep working out everyday!

According to my BMR, it's 2040.5. So far I've lost the 10 lbs. I feel like crap obviously, but I'm incredibly incredibly incredibly determined to meet my goal..

Your BMR is the amount of calories your body needs to function in a coma. You are supposed to eat more than your BMR.

Do you want to know the truth about what you are doing to your body? Because you admit you already feel like crap. In addition to that, you're losing lean body mass (muscle) along with fat. That means when the weight comes off, you'll be a thinner, flabby mess. Not to mention that you don't get to choose where that muscle comes from. Your heart is a muscle.

So if you continue this, you'll continue to feel crappy like you are now. You'll also experience impaired mental function (fogginess, inability to concentrate), nutrient deficiency, and hair loss. You'll put your body through hell and you'll hit goal and be unhappy with how your body looks.

Read these links. Set your MFP goal to lose 1 lb per week. Eat your calorie goal. Drink water. Lift weights and add in some cardio. Lose weight without putting yourself through agony.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets

You are dangerously close to being anarexic. If you really are working out that much, you need to be eating at least 1800 calories. I have lost 70 lbs eating all my calories that MFP has given me. It took me a year, and you need to figure out if this 20 lbs is work it because if you loose it too fast, I would bet 100 bucks it comes back over the holidays. Put your activity level on sedentary, for a 2 lb loss and log half your calories burned and eat all of them back. That will be 8 lbs a month, times 3, that will be 24 lbs by August. You can do it.

I am total agreement with all of the answers above me...eat! However, don't just eat anything. Make sure you are getting plenty of protein and fiber (i.e. some meat with fruits and vegetables), some healthy carbs will also be helpful. You need more than a 250 cal dinner and 60 cal lunch. Try a double serving of the salad with some grilled chicken breast on it. Sure, this will be roughly 300-400 calories for the meal, but you will feel satiated, get the calories you need, and prevent your body from breaking down the muscle you have to use for energy. Your body is hurting form 1) the sudden change in exercise level and 2) lack of proper nutrition to keep it running. Make sure you are drinking plenty of water.

For exercise, make sure that you are getting some strength training in as it will help you build more muscle (which has a higher calorie burn), and trim you up faster than running by itself.

Please be careful with your health. You only get one life- there is no point in being miserable because you made a terrible decision as a method to meet one goal. I personally feel the long term is more important. You may be able to be satisfied with the trimmer body at your specific goal date than to be miserable and not get the scale to tell you a specific number.

As for the bowel movements, I suspect it is from not eating enough- there is not enough in there to help push the old stuff out and your body is trying to hold on to it because it needs more energy. This can become a serious problem over time. Make sure that you eat enough in total and enough fiber throughout each day to get this under control. If you bring your diet up to 1500-1800 calories a day and are still not defecating regularly, please consult your doctor.

Bro, starving yourself will help you lose weight fast, but what kind of weight? With that high a calorie deficit, you're GOING to lose lean muscle, which will only lower your metabolic rate even more. Guess what happens after that? When you try to eat regular, you'll gain more fat in higher amounts (due to a higher surplus from a lower metabolism).
You won't look that impressive and you'll feel like crap. Do it right. Start at the VERY least by eating your BMR.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

If you are incredibly incredibly motivated, then eat a normal amount of food and increase your exercise. Go insane with the exercise and eat your 2000 calories each day. I bike, so I burn 1500+ calories in 80 minutes of cycling at 16MPH. Today, I ate just over 1650 calories. I was never hungry all day, and I split those calories up into 5 tiny meals just hours apart. That is the way to do it if you are that set on a goal. If you continue to fail to nourish your body, then it will go into starvation mode and you will have more problems losing the weight. Feed your body. Work the fat off through exercise. Yup, use your incredibly motivated to do more exercise.

Thank you everybody for all the help, consulting, and advice! It means the world to me that so many people responded so quickly. I'm just a very impatient person and want to lose it fast. I'm tired of feeling crappy. I don't want to be miserable forever for just one goal. Thanks again!

So what are your plans? You said you are tired of feeling crappy, and you don't want to be miserable forever, just for one goal. What does that mean?

First off, welcome to MFP. :flowerforyou:
Secondly, everything they said: you need to eat more, what you're doing is unhealthy, etc. :sick:

Don't eat less than 1200 cal per day. That's plain total calories, not calories minus exercise. When you don't eat enough, it's harder to lose weight, and MUCH harder to control your eating. Also, you'll eventually start burning muscle, which will slow your weight loss even more. Instead, do muscle-building exercise, even if it's just with your own weight, or lifting bags of kitty litter. Muscle uses more calories at rest than fat does, so building muscle will spiral into losing more weight.

A healthy rate of weight loss for most people is 1-2 lb per week.
1 lb of fat is 3500 calories, which is an average of 500 calories per day to short yourself, through eating less & exercising more. (But eating properly is the most important part. It can take an hour on the elliptical for me to burn 700 calories, but I can eat more than that in much less time.)

So where do you start? :ohwell:

1 - Let's figure out what you "should" weigh, so you have a healthy goal.
How tall are you? Because that's used to determine your body mass index (BMI). A healthy BMI is between 19 - 24.9.
This page has a BMI calculator, as well as charts: http://www.shapeup.org/bmi/bmi_index.html
I think the charts are more informative, easier to see where you are and where you need to be. One side has height, the other has weight. Where they intersect is your number. Now look to the left to see where it changes to green. Look up to see your goal weight.
In January, I was at 39. Right now, I'm at 36. Down 25 lb. :bigsmile: For me, at 5'10", the top end of that range is 173 lb.

2 - Then figure out how many calories you need.
2a - The simplest way to figure out your calorie needs is to take your healthy goal weight and add a 0 on the end. (This is the method my doctor & dietician use.)
For me, that would be 1700. That's my goal calories for the day, and will eventually, slowly, in a healthy way, get me to my goal weight.
(Then if you feel hungry, you can add 1/3 - 1/2 of the calories you used in exercise.)

2b - Another way is to find your resting metabolic rate, or basal metabolic rate, then add part of the calories you use in exercise.
Here's a RMR calculator: http://www.shapeup.org/resources/rmr1.html
Again using me as an example, it says my current RMR is 1850 cal, and at my goal weight it will be 1468. If I eat what's required to support my goal weight, I'll eventually weigh that much. Today MFP says I did 652 cal of exercise, so I'd add 200-300 to that 1468, to get about 1750.

2c - Another way is to take your current weight (200), add a zero (2000), and subtract 500 (1500). If you eat 1500 cal per day, in a week you should lose 1 pound. Don't go below 1200.
Look at what MFP says you're using in exercise, and add about 1/3 - 1/2 of those calories. Walking a mile takes about 100 calories, so if you're walking 2 miles a day, you could eat 1600 cal per day.
As you lose weight, you'll have to recalculate & eat less.
Using this method on me, I should have 1900 calories for now, and eventually drop to 1200 when I'm nearing my goal weight but still need to lose. That seems awfully low, though I won't have to do that indefinitely.

3 - Now eat healthy meals. Include protein at each meal & snack so you feel full longer. Choose whole grains, usually avoiding simple white starches. Eat vegetables of all sorts, fruits. Don't drink your calories! (I used to go through several quarts of gatorade every day! EEK!!)
This page has sample meal plans for 1200,1400, and 1600 calories.
http://www.choosemyplate.gov/preschoolers/meal-snack-patterns-ideas/1600-calories-patterns.html


For more nutrition resources:
http://www.choosemyplate.gov/
http://www.shapeup.org/

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what kind of hormonal imbalances did you have? I know off topic, but I am curious