Not eating enough?! ???????? Someone please help me.

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giselie
giselie Posts: 2
in Health and Weight Loss
As far as I can remember, I feel like I never ate enough. I've been on a mission to lose weight this year after my 3rd kid with my weight peeking at 180( I am 5'2). It's been on and off but I'm most determined to do it now because I can hardly keep up with my kids and I have lower back pain. I work out & I eat good. Problem is, I don't know if I'm eating too little. I use the app to keep track of my macros and keep my daily calorie intake under 1300 calories. Not only do I eat under 1300 calories a day, I work out at least 4 times a week for at least one hour.

I did a calculation of my daily calorie maintenance level and it's 2303 calories. So at 20% calorie deficit(which is the healthy way to lose weight) I should be eating at least 1800 calories. I've been eating 600 calories less than I should be.

Someone please help me,
Is this hindering my weight loss?
I want to start eating more calories because despite my efforts I haven't been loosing weight , I'm always tired and lightheaded and I'm thinking that eating too little is my problem.
Should I just start eating the 1800 calories or eat 2300 calories to fix my metabolism?
Should I progressively add more calories to my diet?

Replies

  • itsbasschick
    itsbasschick Posts: 1,584 Member
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    how do you figure your calories? do you weigh all your foods, measure your liquids - including cooking oil, a schmear of butter, a couple teaspoons of cream in a recipe? if you don't, chances are you're eating more calories than you think you are.

    those calculators are very approximate. unless you get tested by a medical professional for metabolism and body fat, chances are TDEE, BMI, BMR, etc aren't very accurate. i'm 5' 3 1/2" and i eat 1200 net carbs per day, and until recently worked out 6 days per week (i'm sick). i lose 1 pound a week doing that.
  • Snip8241
    Snip8241 Posts: 767 Member
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    Calculate how many calories you need and eat them. There it's that simple.
  • itsbasschick
    itsbasschick Posts: 1,584 Member
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    except that's not simple at all in some cases. i've weighed 171 twice in my life - once as an amateur bodybuilder, once as a heavy chick in poor condition. my calorie needs at those two periods were quite different.
    Calculate how many calories you need and eat them. There it's that simple.
  • 5stringjeff
    5stringjeff Posts: 790 Member
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    As far as I can remember, I feel like I never ate enough. I've been on a mission to lose weight this year after my 3rd kid with my weight peeking at 180( I am 5'2). It's been on and off but I'm most determined to do it now because I can hardly keep up with my kids and I have lower back pain. I work out & I eat good. Problem is, I don't know if I'm eating too little. I use the app to keep track of my macros and keep my daily calorie intake under 1300 calories. Not only do I eat under 1300 calories a day, I work out at least 4 times a week for at least one hour.

    I did a calculation of my daily calorie maintenance level and it's 2303 calories. So at 20% calorie deficit(which is the healthy way to lose weight) I should be eating at least 1800 calories. I've been eating 600 calories less than I should be.

    Someone please help me,
    Is this hindering my weight loss?
    I want to start eating more calories because despite my efforts I haven't been loosing weight , I'm always tired and lightheaded and I'm thinking that eating too little is my problem.
    Should I just start eating the 1800 calories or eat 2300 calories to fix my metabolism?
    Should I progressively add more calories to my diet?

    Long term, consistently eating under your BMR will hinder your weight loss.

    If your TDEE is 2300, then 1800 is a good sustainable level to aim for each day. That will put you on track to lose 1 lb/week. You should recalculate your BMR/TDEE every 10 pounds or so.
  • thefiley
    thefiley Posts: 14
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    except that's not simple at all in some cases. i've weighed 171 twice in my life - once as an amateur bodybuilder, once as a heavy chick in poor condition. my calorie needs at those two periods were quite different.
    Calculate how many calories you need and eat them. There it's that simple.

    It is, however, a healthier approach than just jumping to 1200 to 1300 calories + working out a lot, thereby crashing your metabolism and setting yourself up for subsequent binging and weight regain.

    @giseli

    Determining your TDEE and eating at a small deficit is a good start. Don't make the deficit too big so you have some wriggle room once you hit a plateau. If you have been eating significantly under your recommended TDEE-deficit, I'd recommend to slowly up your calories (adding 25 to 50 calories per Week, so 1350 first week, 1400 second week etc.) until you hit about 1800 calories.

    Weight may go up a little initially, but it will balance out over the course of a few weeks and the added calories will give you enough energy to push yourself more when working out (=more fat loss) - and to keep up with your kids! :)
  • nicailyzee
    nicailyzee Posts: 183 Member
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    Hi,

    When I started here I was calculated to eat 1420 and I ate 1200 because of a book that I read. I read that in order to loose it fast I should eat at that minimum of 1200 cals per day and exercise extreme multiple hours per day that I could never reach. I did the 1200 calories for a few weeks and found that I was over eating I mean by over 500 calories at least 2 days per week because I was very hungry still. I lost weight but what is the purpose if I am eating a bowl full of nuts and chocolate at night or over eating a particular meal. I then went up to I think 1460 for another few weeks and I looked at the trend in my eating but I was still hungry and continuing to over eat 1 or two days per week striving to get a 2 lb loss. I then decided to change to sedentary and drop my loss to 1 lb per week and I feel more able to keep up with the hunger except for the lady times per month and even then I can still eat within the 1600+ that I am now eating at. This is the first week that I have not exercised at least 6 days per week. I usually have a deficit through exercise and I don't eat back exercise calories unless I over eat.

    I am saying all this to say you have to adjust the numbers as you need. You know what your body needs and if you are feeling sick because of lack of food try something else and see if that works. Don't get stuck in the one track mind way of thinking that only one thing works. Keep changing until you find what works for you. Check out the charts on the APP, look at your diary, drink lots of water. I am not going to say eat clean because to each his own but incorporate food humans consider good food.

    You have to test something out for a few weeks if it does not work try something else. I started here in June I believe and I have lost weight and inches. I am no expert but I have learned from reading a lot on the forums and seeing what worked for others and I have become my own test dummy, lol. GOOD LUCK!
  • happyfeetrebel1
    happyfeetrebel1 Posts: 1,005 Member
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    Unless you have a TRUE medical condition, and you should get tested, you are not eating 1300 calories per day and gaining weight steadily. Especially not if you are working out.

    Excluding medical issues, the true culprit is probably logging incorrectly and overestimating your exercise. Get a food scale and weigh everything. With kids, it's super easy to eat WAAAYYY more than you think with snacks and such.

    Try accurately logging for a few weeks and see what happens. I'd bet you're really surprised :)

    Good luck
  • giselie
    giselie Posts: 2
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    I've read all your input & it's all truly appreciated.

    I'm going to be putting a greater effort into measuring correctly & increasing my calorie intake to a level where I'm not only getting results but also feel good.

    Good luck to all of you & thank you for your feedback.

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