"youre eating too few calories"

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Belle_Fille
Belle_Fille Posts: 469
in Health and Weight Loss
I got that message for the first time today. It was a busy day and I didnt get to eat lunch. but I had breakfast, dinner, and a few snacks in between. i know that one day of being under 1200cals wont kill me but here is my question.

if i hadnt of logged any of my excersise i would have been fine. still under my daily goal but not under 1200. i did a lot today but im not sure i did enough to burn an extra 1510 calories!
my daughter is away for the night and i plan on staying up late with my boyfriend. since i didnt eat lunch i will probably get hungry at some point i want to base what i eat (if i do) on how many calories I REALLY have left.
can someone give me some insight?
I shoveled snow for 15-20 minutes and it says that burned 182cals
I walked/shopped for 3 hours (only logged half of it though) while pushing a shopping cart that was at least 30 pounds (so i logged it as as walking while caring 15lb load) and it says that burned 617cals
I lifted and moved a lot of heavy boxes for about 45min-1 hr but i only logged 30mins...and it says that burned 411cals
then breastfeeding burned 300cals (im not debating that one. that is the minimum that i could have burned today...it could easily be 500)

and before it gets asked- i logged shorter time limits on everything to be on the safe side. i never looked at a clock when i started, or stopped anything. i just guestimated.

so 1510 cals today. that isnt counting the little bit of wii fit i was able to do this morning or what i planned to do later. does that sound right?
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Replies

  • Belle_Fille
    Belle_Fille Posts: 469
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    wait...i made a mistake. i did only eat 1,005 calories today so i am still under the 1200 minimum before all the working out. so i will at least eat a few hundred cals to get me to 1200. but its saying i need to eat 2,305 more! i dont even eat that in any given day! my daily goal total is 1800 before working out.
  • luv2ash
    luv2ash Posts: 1,903 Member
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    Yikes!

    Either way, I would not worry about it, especially if you are not hungry.
  • NoAdditives
    NoAdditives Posts: 4,251 Member
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    If you consumed 1005 calories and burned 1510, you're at negative 505. That means you have to eat about 1700 to get back to a net of 1200. Obviously, that's a lot to eat. If you get hungry, eat something. If not, don't worry about one day. But, try to eat more during the day when you're going to burn that much.
  • mom2jamc
    mom2jamc Posts: 11
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    I get that message all the time. I eat well and exercise. I am not to worried about myself. I however understand your concern. Use your judgement and eat healthy exercise and do what is right for you.
  • MelissaL582
    MelissaL582 Posts: 1,422 Member
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    For me I don't log anything I do that doesn't break a sweat, like cleaning or shopping. I have 3 young children, so I am always doing something.

    But in your case, since you do log it in..maybe have something small if you do get hungry later.
  • Caper88
    Caper88 Posts: 418 Member
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    The number that MFP gives you already takes into account the difference you need to maintain your weight and the lower number you need to lose. According to this site your weight loss does not depend on working out. So when you do work out it looks like you are having too little calories because anything less then 1200 is starvation mode for women. So that is why it is saying you are eating too little calories. Basically if you ate 1200cals and then burned off 200 your body only thinks it ate 1000.
  • Belle_Fille
    Belle_Fille Posts: 469
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    For me I don't log anything I do that doesn't break a sweat, like cleaning or shopping. I have 3 young children, so I am always doing something.

    But in your case, since you do log it in..maybe have something small if you do get hungry later.
    theres snow on the ground and below freezing outside and i was in jeans and a tshirt (outside moving boxes ans shoveling snow), sweating my *kitten* off. so yep i logged it!
    snopping with 2 toddlers...pushing my cart, and my step mothers (because shes in a wheelchair) yep! i logged it!
  • beth40n2
    beth40n2 Posts: 233 Member
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    I would say to ignore the message. I got it the other day too! One day we are over, the next under, it all averages out. If you only at 1,000 every day for a week, then you will go into starvation mode. Actually the yo, yo method helps where you very little one day and a lot the next. Your body does not know what to expect and you will burn calories faster.

    1145659.png
    Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Free Calorie Counter
  • mariasheehan
    mariasheehan Posts: 335
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    For me I don't log anything I do that doesn't break a sweat, like cleaning or shopping. I have 3 young children, so I am always doing something.

    But in your case, since you do log it in..maybe have something small if you do get hungry later.
    theres snow on the ground and below freezing outside and i was in jeans and a tshirt (outside moving boxes ans shoveling snow), sweating my *kitten* off. so yep i logged it!
    snopping with 2 toddlers...pushing my cart, and my step mothers (because shes in a wheelchair) yep! i logged it!

    Hi, just wondering how you logged your shopping calories? do you use a HRM or pedometer? I spend ages pushing a cart and toddler so would be interested to know. and YES it would be a good idea to eat something because you're way under. How about some nuts? like almonds or peanut butter?? something high in calories but good?

    take care.. :)
  • lisawest
    lisawest Posts: 798 Member
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    I would say (not knowing you personally or your situation!) that you need to eat at least SOMETHING. Maybe some celery and peanut butter (a personal favorite snack:bigsmile: ) for around 200 cals. I DO know (from personal experience) that not eating enough can cause your milk supply to dwindle. If baby is getting close to weaning, not an issue, but if not, this could be a problem. Just something to keep in mind for next time!

    Good job! and Keep up the good work.
  • Phitommer
    Phitommer Posts: 5
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    I got that too and wondered. Then I read in a fitness magazine just yesterday that your calorie goal should be 10 times your desired weight. So if you want to weigh 110, then your average calorie intake goal will be 1100. And that's without workout. For any workout you do, you should add 1/2 the amount you burn. So If you burn 500 calories duting workout, then add 250 calories to your food. Your total calorie intake would be 1350 for the day. (I don't think this is the scientific way to figure this, but it is a quick calculation)

    But I don't follow this strictly, but I do think you can have too few calories if you are under too many days in a row. One day isn't going to mess you up.
  • Belle_Fille
    Belle_Fille Posts: 469
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    For me I don't log anything I do that doesn't break a sweat, like cleaning or shopping. I have 3 young children, so I am always doing something.

    But in your case, since you do log it in..maybe have something small if you do get hungry later.
    theres snow on the ground and below freezing outside and i was in jeans and a tshirt (outside moving boxes ans shoveling snow), sweating my *kitten* off. so yep i logged it!
    snopping with 2 toddlers...pushing my cart, and my step mothers (because shes in a wheelchair) yep! i logged it!

    Hi, just wondering how you logged your shopping calories? do you use a HRM or pedometer? I spend ages pushing a cart and toddler so would be interested to know. and YES it would be a good idea to eat something because you're way under. How about some nuts? like almonds or peanut butter?? something high in calories but good?

    take care.. :)
    I logged it as "walking while carrying 15 pound load" that was the closest thing i could find that fit in there with what i was doing.
  • bubbaduts
    bubbaduts Posts: 196 Member
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    I will log shoveling snow. But shopping etc I figure into my daily activites because i list my job as very active. What do you have listed for your job that can make a huge difference in calories takes mine up 500 calories a day and only some days do i eat all my exercise calories and i haven't really hit a plateau yet.
  • Proudmumofboys
    Proudmumofboys Posts: 73
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    Its hard on busy days to eat right.. There are some days when I don't have time to eat the way I should, I think we all do..
  • VeganJamiOnAMission
    VeganJamiOnAMission Posts: 65 Member
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    For me I don't log anything I do that doesn't break a sweat, like cleaning or shopping. I have 3 young children, so I am always doing something.

    But in your case, since you do log it in..maybe have something small if you do get hungry later.
    theres snow on the ground and below freezing outside and i was in jeans and a tshirt (outside moving boxes ans shoveling snow), sweating my *kitten* off. so yep i logged it!
    snopping with 2 toddlers...pushing my cart, and my step mothers (because shes in a wheelchair) yep! i logged it!

    Hi, just wondering how you logged your shopping calories? do you use a HRM or pedometer? I spend ages pushing a cart and toddler so would be interested to know. and YES it would be a good idea to eat something because you're way under. How about some nuts? like almonds or peanut butter?? something high in calories but good?

    take care.. :)
    I logged it as "walking while carrying 15 pound load" that was the closest thing i could find that fit in there with what i was doing.

    There is also "walking while pushing a stroller" I'm sure you can count a cart as a stroller.
  • LoveMy3Boys
    LoveMy3Boys Posts: 562 Member
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    One day is not a huge deal, but, just be cautious as a breastfeeding mother (I am as well) to get no less than 1500 a day most of the time. The most Important thing is to keep your supply up :)
  • janesmith1
    janesmith1 Posts: 1,511 Member
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    I've been getting it a lot lately too, although I go to bed late, and sometimes I just make it up to my cals. I would only be concerned if you're not getting at least 900 cals a day. I usually ignore it but it does seem like a scary message. I think they don't want people to starve themselves down the scale and that makes sense.
  • carrie340
    carrie340 Posts: 36
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    I forced myself to eat an extra snack today and still got the message, sometimes you just can't help it. I'd rather that than be in the red anyway! :laugh:

    4210516.png
    Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Free Calorie Counter
  • MsFitnFabulous
    MsFitnFabulous Posts: 432 Member
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    I'm wondering if that's an issue I'm having. I log everything and most nights I have 200+ calories just sitting there. I increased my goal to 1.5 lbs and it still felt like I was eating too much so I upped it again to 2lbs yet I lost 1 stinking lb. Maybe I should just log my actual workouts and not my walks @ work. That way I don't have all these extra calories that I know I won't eat.
  • LindieAndie
    LindieAndie Posts: 45
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    I should just log my actual workouts and not my walks @ work. That way I don't have all these extra calories that I know I won't eat.

    I used to not keep track of my exercise from walking when I was at work. I don't know if this is true or not, but I always rationalised that my body was used to that level of fitness from before I started losing weight that it didn't really need to exert itself to walk or do whatever it was I was doing. So I only logged stuff that I wouldn't have normally done, which for the most part was vigorous exercise.

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