Can anyone answer my question?

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michaelo14446
michaelo14446 Posts: 5
in Food and Nutrition
Okay so I have a calorie goal at 1,550 but I rarely ever reach that. I usually get about 1,000 -1,200 calories. MFP is always telling me I'm in starvation mode, but I'm not hungry and I do eat a lot. Most of it is low calorie and protein rich foods. Spinach, chicken, fruits, and other veggies. So is this a bad thing? Should I try eating more? I walk close to 10,000 steps a day if that matters at all. And should I eat even though I don't feel hungry? Anything will help.
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  • meshashesha2012
    meshashesha2012 Posts: 8,326 Member
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    yes. eat.

    hunger isnt necessarily any indication of what your body needs calorie wise since hunger is controlled by hormones .
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    peanut butter
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
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    avocados
    nuts
    bacon
    butter and cheese
    granola bars
  • mshannond
    mshannond Posts: 60
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    Honestly if you're not hungry, why eat?
    I eat 1200 a day most days, 1500 on a weekend if necessary. I eat when I'm hungry , stop when I'm full. I'm 5'4 110 pounds and track as I wanted to be make healthy choices and up my protein rather then lose weight anymore. I have eaten like this for ages and according to blood tests have no deficiencies.
    Listen to your body, and your needs, not mfp. Try upping for a few days, if you have more energy great if not then you're fine as you were before.
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
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    Okay so I have a calorie goal at 1,550 but I rarely ever reach that. I usually get about 1,000 -1,200 calories. MFP is always telling me I'm in starvation mode, but I'm not hungry and I do eat a lot. Most of it is low calorie and protein rich foods. Spinach, chicken, fruits, and other veggies. So is this a bad thing? Should I try eating more? I walk close to 10,000 steps a day if that matters at all. And should I eat even though I don't feel hungry? Anything will help.

    If you have 40 lbs to lose you can get ~1200 calories a day from that, you're eating your body fat which is sort of the objective. As you get thinner you'll have to actually eat more.
  • brianpperkins
    brianpperkins Posts: 6,124 Member
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    Yes, you need to eat more ... especially as a still developing 18 year old male.
    Honestly if you're not hungry, why eat?
    I eat 1200 a day most days, 1500 on a weekend if necessary. I eat when I'm hungry , stop when I'm full. I'm 5'4 110 pounds and track as I wanted to be make healthy choices and up my protein rather then lose weight anymore. I have eaten like this for ages and according to blood tests have no deficiencies.
    Listen to your body, and your needs, not mfp. Try upping for a few days, if you have more energy great if not then you're fine as you were before.

    The caloric needs of a short female differ from those of a male. Details matter.
  • michellemybelll
    michellemybelll Posts: 2,228 Member
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    oh i see. so you got 50 lbs overweight by not knowing how to eat +1200 calories per day?
  • FindingAmy77
    FindingAmy77 Posts: 1,266 Member
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    Yes, you need to eat more ... especially as a still developing 18 year old male.
    Honestly if you're not hungry, why eat?
    I eat 1200 a day most days, 1500 on a weekend if necessary. I eat when I'm hungry , stop when I'm full. I'm 5'4 110 pounds and track as I wanted to be make healthy choices and up my protein rather then lose weight anymore. I have eaten like this for ages and according to blood tests have no deficiencies.
    Listen to your body, and your needs, not mfp. Try upping for a few days, if you have more energy great if not then you're fine as you were before.

    The caloric needs of a short female differ from those of a male. Details matter.

    yes males need way more than that. if you continue to not get enough calories/nutrients then you could lose muscle tone. the energy has to come from somewhere. I would think you will want to focus on building up some muscle definition eventually. YOu cant do that with that low of calories
  • maryann9wood
    maryann9wood Posts: 75 Member
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    Profile is 18 year old male.

    You need to talk to a medical professional, like a family doctor or nutritionist, because you are heading to a bad place. Your body is still growing, and you are shortchanging yourself by not eating. Please get help.
  • aprilgicker
    aprilgicker Posts: 395 Member
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    Are you sure you are inputting your food correctly? Do you measure it or just guess? Are you eating your exercise calories back? Do you know you BMI? Have you set real goals?

    My Son did not eat very good, Monster sodas and fast food, frozen crap he would use his own money on. He was very lucky to actually like outdoor activities or he would have been overweight. He joined the Army and had to learn how to eat to maintain which is hard with a fast food addiction. He is doing okay right now, but he struggles to eat the right foods. When he eats the bad stuff he doesn't eat anything the rest of the day to make up for eating the bad stuff. He is very active with PT and other activities. It is a cycle he is trying real hard to break.
    Why I tell you this is because I have noticed he wasn't the only one of his friends to do this. His friends range in age of about 5 years and are of different weights, all with this cycle of activity, fast food, then fasting with very little healthy food in between.
    Being healthy takes effort. You cannot do it half way.
    Answer the questions honestly and be honest with yourself and you will see the effects of being true to yourself.
  • michaelo14446
    michaelo14446 Posts: 5
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    By the way I used to eat a ton of junk. Literally nothing but junk, so that's how I got overweight. And I don't feel sick, or weak, not even a little faint from eating this way. I actually feel full of energy, rather than being sluggish. I work retail, so I am constantly on my feet speed walking. And that feels a little easier now. And I could be measuring my food wrong. Most of the time I just guesstimate. Like I really know how much 3oz of chicken are.
  • jasonmh630
    jasonmh630 Posts: 2,850 Member
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    By the way I used to eat a ton of junk. Literally nothing but junk, so that's how I got overweight. And I don't feel sick, or weak, not even a little faint from eating this way. I actually feel full of energy, rather than being sluggish. I work retail, so I am constantly on my feet speed walking. And that feels a little easier now. And I could be measuring my food wrong. Most of the time I just guesstimate. Like I really know how much 3oz of chicken are.

    Get a food scale, then. Measure solids in grams (not oz), and measure liquids in cups (or tsp/tbsp)... You'll be surprised how much your "guestimating" will be off. Best thing I did was buy a digital food scale.

    ETA: Peanut Butter is NOT considered a liquid... lol. Trial and error, man... Trial and error.
  • michaelo14446
    michaelo14446 Posts: 5
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    By the way I used to eat a ton of junk. Literally nothing but junk, so that's how I got overweight. And I don't feel sick, or weak, not even a little faint from eating this way. I actually feel full of energy, rather than being sluggish. I work retail, so I am constantly on my feet speed walking. And that feels a little easier now. And I could be measuring my food wrong. Most of the time I just guesstimate. Like I really know how much 3oz of chicken are.

    Get a food scale, then. Measure solids in grams (not oz), and measure liquids in cups (or tsp/tbsp)... You'll be surprised how much your "guestimating" will be off. Best thing I did was buy a digital food scale.

    ETA: Peanut Butter is NOT considered a liquid... lol. Trial and error, man... Trial and error.

    Okay. I'll look into that because really I'm just trying to be healthy. Heart disease runs in the family so yeah. Don't want all that when I'm older. And quit telling me to seek professional help people. I'm not anorexic, nor do I have an eating disorder. I eat when I'm hungry, or whenever I feel like I probably should because it's been a couple hours.
  • Monkey_Business
    Monkey_Business Posts: 1,800 Member
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    By the way I used to eat a ton of junk. Literally nothing but junk, so that's how I got overweight. And I don't feel sick, or weak, not even a little faint from eating this way. I actually feel full of energy, rather than being sluggish. I work retail, so I am constantly on my feet speed walking. And that feels a little easier now. And I could be measuring my food wrong. Most of the time I just guesstimate. Like I really know how much 3oz of chicken are.

    You need to measure your food and stay as close to possible to your calorie goal. Anything else could hurt you in the long run (like months not the couple of weeks so far).

    Your goal is to reach my age or much longer............

    Just one ole man's opinion............
  • BoatsnHose
    BoatsnHose Posts: 120 Member
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    If you aren't hungry, don't eat.

    Starvation mode isn't a real thing and you probably aren't counting your calories correctly anyway tbh.
  • leggup
    leggup Posts: 2,942 Member
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    And I could be measuring my food wrong. Most of the time I just guesstimate. Like I really know how much 3oz of chicken are.
    If you are male and not feeling like death on 1,000 every day.... you're probably eating more than 1,000 calories without realizing it. Heck, a recent study found that trained dieticians underestimated their daily calories by 223 +/- 116 kcal/day (it's a small study, but still worth noting: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12396160).
  • Fuzzipeg
    Fuzzipeg Posts: 2,298 Member
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    Sometimes it is possible for a hungry body not to feel hungry because it has gone past it.

    Please if you know you are eating little then you know you need more. At 18 and male you need to be eating "much" more to enable you to do all the active things a young person should be doing and to facilitate your maturing into the strong healthy desirable male you should be.
  • greetingsliv
    greetingsliv Posts: 17 Member
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    Hi! I would try to meet at least the MFP minimum of 1200. 3 meals + 2 snacks. You will lose weight consistently. If you dip under, your lose will stall out. Make a list of quick cals: rice cakes with peanut butter, spoonful of peanut butter, protein shake, fruit, yogurt is great because it's cals, carb and protein. You can eat unsweetened if your sugar goes out of range. Your body will think it's starving and hold onto fat and weight. You've got to tell it that's ok to let go of fat and weight because you will continue to nourish it. If you are consuming 100-200 cals every couple of hours you will speed up your metabolism and meet your 1200 with no problem.

    Your admiring Liv ox :flowerforyou:
  • michaelo14446
    michaelo14446 Posts: 5
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    And I only eat food that's going to benefit my body in some way. When it comes to veggies, I try staying away from lettuce. I a lot of protein. I try getting all my vitamins possible. The only struggle is getting to 1,200. Like I said it could be that my measurements are off, but I could be eating maybe 1,900 max. But that's just another guess. Won't know without a food scale.

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