Eating less than your recommended daily calorie intake?

becks0127
becks0127 Posts: 15
edited September 24 in Health and Weight Loss
Just wondering if any of you out there don't eat the recommended daily calorie intake. There have been a couple of days that I have been far away and then ate something just to reach the goal. Is that silly? I am just worried to be too far under the goal because of the warning that if you don't eat the recommended amount, your body can/will go into starvation mode and it will be even harder to lose. What do you guys do?

Also, I am REALLY new here, so if anyone wants to friend me, that would be nice! I need all the support I can get!
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Replies

  • kwardklinck
    kwardklinck Posts: 1,601
    Plan the food for your day in the morning before you eat anything. Balance them throughout the day so you're not trying to play catch up before bed. It takes some getting used to but it's worth it. I try to get within 100 calories of my goal. That works for me.
  • dunztar
    dunztar Posts: 45
    Many times I am under... but oh well
  • mandykasase
    mandykasase Posts: 110
    on the first day, i went over my intake by 150. But since then i always eat less, not on purpose but because i keep busy, have a drink on hand and carry a lot of fruit so i just don't feel hungry. I don't force myself to eat when i'm not hungry and i don't starve myself either. I think it's important to eat the right amount but also to listen to your body. eat when you are hungry and if you fall below it's no big deal. i assume you are quite active so the excercise you do adds more callories to your count.
  • kyacky1
    kyacky1 Posts: 11
    I too am usually under So far its not by much. I almost thik that if you are close to the recommended in take you should be alright:smile:
  • ethel64
    ethel64 Posts: 91
    i am usually under my calories as well. i dont usually worry too much about it...

    welcome to mfp :)
  • robin52077
    robin52077 Posts: 4,383 Member
    Many times I am under... but oh well

    NO, not "oh well".

    There are many, many negative ramifications of being underfed.

    Please everyone, rethink your goals. If you only have a small amount to lose (say, less than 50 pounds) do NOT set it for 2 lbs a week, you will be creating too large a deficit. People with more to lose can start with the higher deficit but will have to eat MORE as they LOSE, believe it or not.
    You need to FUEL your body, not STARVE it, in order to lose weight healthily.

    Set it to half pound or 1 lb a week, eat healthy foods, drink a lot of water , and move your body in any way you can. EAT all your calories for the day and you will look AND feel better, I promise!

    I am now maintaining at 103-108 on any given day and I eat close to 2000 a day.
  • juldga
    juldga Posts: 119
    my goal is 1800 I stay around 1500
  • robin52077
    robin52077 Posts: 4,383 Member
    my goal is 1800 I stay around 1500

    If you chose 2 lbs a week, you already have a 1000 calorie deficit, If you eat 300 below goal you are eating at a 1300 calorie deficit, which is way too much. That's just over 2.5 lbs a week, which is too much unless it is monitored closely by a doctor.

    Your weigh loss will stall, you'll wonder why, you'll lower it more, you will be sick and starving. You need to RAISE it, not lower it.

    Tough love, people. I am not trying to sound mean.
    It's just that half the women on this site are undereating and most don't even realize it.
    Most would lose weight faster and healthier if they ate MORE.
  • Martha_VH
    Martha_VH Posts: 386 Member
    I know that it was suggested to me by my nutritionist to start out eating only 1200 per day for the first 3, then bumping it back up to about 1600.

    The first few days were to cleanse my system and get used to eating less. But I know that even during that time, I was hungry and cranky. Now that I'm eating 1600 I feel much better and I have a lot more energy. The least I usually eat is about 1350, thats as little as I can eat and still be productive in a day.

    My strategy is eating 4 meals about 400 calories each. I try to not go more then 3-4 hours without eating so i don't get hungry. Its working so far.

    Just listen to your own body. You should learn how many calories you can eat to stay healthy and energetic, but still around your calorie goal.
  • superninjatam
    superninjatam Posts: 44 Member
    Starvation mode is a myth according to one poster who linked to some research. Apparantly, you have to not eat ANYTHING for 2 and a half days to get to starvation mode!! I think going under a couple hundred cals every so often is ok.
  • mytime60
    mytime60 Posts: 176 Member
    I try and eat as close to my calories as possible each day. That means taking in that I know what excersise I'm going to do for the day. I had been dieting for a year holding at 1000-1200 calories a day and all i did was loose 2 gain 2. When I found this site and out of curiosity put my data in, it showed I should be at 1350 calories before excersize. Within days of bumping my calories, I started losing. I will only be on two weeks tomorrow, but i'm anxious for my weigh in. I lost 4 lbs the first week. It was not my goal, and I don't think I will maintain that high, but i know with what I eat now i'm not hungry, and i'm finally losing.
  • jesseroyal
    jesseroyal Posts: 22 Member
    Starvation mode is a myth according to one poster who linked to some research. Apparantly, you have to not eat ANYTHING for 2 and a half days to get to starvation mode!! I think going under a couple hundred cals every so often is ok.

    Not that I care, but I have a feeling this is going to cause some problems ;)
  • robin52077
    robin52077 Posts: 4,383 Member
    Starvation mode is a myth according to one poster who linked to some research. Apparantly, you have to not eat ANYTHING for 2 and a half days to get to starvation mode!! I think going under a couple hundred cals every so often is ok.

    Not that I care, but I have a feeling this is going to cause some problems ;)

    I was thinking the same thing.

    It's not a "myth". It is real, just WIDELY misunderstood.
    Read the blog linked to in the first post of this topic. (for anyone who's interested)
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/177083-blog-on-short-and-long-term-underfeeding?page=1#posts-2358931

    The term "starvation mode" is thrown around WAY WAY too much here, but it's real, just not what most people think.

    You CAN fast for a day, you CAN have a day or 2 WAY under your calories and be FINE. starvation mode isn't instant and automatic as soon as you hit below your goal, it is a cumulation of long term deficits. fast for 3 or more days, and you can affect your health and metabolism, eat a really really big deficit for weeks at a time and you can affect your health and metabolism.
    Don't sweat being under here and there.
    Just don't do it long term.
  • laurenk182004
    laurenk182004 Posts: 1,882 Member
    Hey :) Welcome to MFP original poster :bigsmile:
    As far as the calories thing goes, I usually try to stay within 100 calories either way. Some days that's 100ish over and some days it's 100ish under...I think if it averages out you're fine :) But I'm no expert. Although, I did lose 60lbs this way..course I gained it back lol but that's besides the point!
  • Beastiephile
    Beastiephile Posts: 50
    I don't wanna get into the debate but I will say this: The weeks that I ate my goal + all exercise cals (close to 2000 cals a day) I lost a pound a week. The weeks that I didn't eat my exercise cals back, I lost none.
  • PhoenixFire975
    PhoenixFire975 Posts: 70
    Starvation mode is a myth according to one poster who linked to some research. Apparantly, you have to not eat ANYTHING for 2 and a half days to get to starvation mode!! I think going under a couple hundred cals every so often is ok.

    I think that's a load of bull. Another poster also talked about how her personal experience sent her into starvation mode and she gained a bunch of weight. Starvation mode was something I learned in freakin' Junior High. It's health class 101 people. Not eating enough will make your body want to hold on to any extra fat you eat. So the way you gain weight isn't when you completly starve yourself of food, it's when you don't eat enough cals and your body starts to hold real tight to that fat.
  • loganaw
    loganaw Posts: 62 Member
    eat when you're hungry. stop when you're full. plan and simple. who cares if it reaches the recommended daily intake? just be smart. 1,200 is not a magical number for every person of every height and weight and age. you just have to listen to your body. MFP recommended that i consume 1,200 a day. i literally had to gorge myself with food to reach that. i say if you eat under then so be it.
  • sweeteme
    sweeteme Posts: 18 Member
    I am right with you. I cant reach my calorie intake. I am so, so FULL I feel like I am going to BUST if I eat anything else.
  • PhoenixFire975
    PhoenixFire975 Posts: 70
    eat when you're hungry. stop when you're full. plan and simple. who cares if it reaches the recommended daily intake? just be smart. 1,200 is not a magical number for every person of every height and weight and age. you just have to listen to your body. MFP recommended that i consume 1,200 a day. i literally had to gorge myself with food to reach that. i say if you eat under then so be it.

    You might say that, but it could cause you to have serious probs. Try planning out your meals and eating them small and frequent because our body can process that a lot easier than large meals and we need to replenish our food energy every 3-5 hours. I definately don't agree with MFP's cal deficit, it's way to low to the point of self-destruction. I say find the right amount of cals that works for you from a trustable website's calc or talk to your doctor and then make it your goal on here. Honestly, the only reason I have this account is to track my food and exercise. There's snowball's chance in hell that I would actually trust this site to choose my amount of cals daily.
  • Ally_Clare
    Ally_Clare Posts: 355 Member
    I'm almost always under my calorie intake. Sometimes by a couple of hundred but i am eating a lot i think it's because i've been doing exercise and it adds on though. I shall add you as a friend for support :)
  • gooberr4
    gooberr4 Posts: 253 Member
    it seems that it just depends on the person. Some people say they lost weight because they didn't eat their exercise calories, some people say they lost weight when they ate their exercise calories back. I'm gonna go with loganaw and say eat when you're hungry, don't eat when your not. I guess you just gotta figure out what works best for you.
  • ronnieabc
    ronnieabc Posts: 23
    Hey I am here if you want to push each other. I have trouble as I am excercising and not sure how accurate the amount of calories I am burning is as I am doing excercise tapes! If you have any experience with that let me know and I would be glad to call you friend!
  • chickybabe05
    chickybabe05 Posts: 48
    Hi there, I am also having a hard time eating all of my allocated calories, and its seems to be a pretty heated debate about under-eating. I eat healthy foods when im hungry and drink plenty. I haven't dropped heaps of weight but its coming of slow and steady. Trying to find high calories snacks has helped bump up my intake a bit, don't panic its a learning curve and i hope we can learn together!!
  • runningneo122
    runningneo122 Posts: 6,962 Member
    Starvation mode is a myth according to one poster who linked to some research. Apparantly, you have to not eat ANYTHING for 2 and a half days to get to starvation mode!! I think going under a couple hundred cals every so often is ok.

    That poster was citing studies that had NOTHING to do with "starvation mode" b/c they weren't talking about exercise cals and in one study the subjects were completely sedentary!!

    Read this:

    http://www.burnthefat.com/starvation_mode.html
  • becks0127
    becks0127 Posts: 15
    Good to know. That is what everyone keeps telling me. Kinda hard to believe that you have to eat more to lose more, isn't it? I believe it, though!
  • FearAnLoathing
    FearAnLoathing Posts: 4,852 Member
    My goal is set at 1200 on any given day before exercise I eat like 1200 to 1300,after exercise its lower.Ive been tracking my calories in diffrent ways for over a year,with no eating back of exercise calories unless im hungry.ive lost weight just fine.
  • 123Jude
    123Jude Posts: 56 Member
    Robin, u really are harsh, and quite frankly it is a FACT if u eat less, u loose weight, does it matter in figures how MUCH less??
    Either way, your comments are supposed to be a supporting comment, not one that makes members (and anybody trying to loose weight) feel like they are doing something wrong when they are clearly progressing.
  • ramseyrose
    ramseyrose Posts: 421 Member
    A few years ago in a gym I had a metabolic test (I weighed slightly less than now). It worked out for my body (organs etc) to run correctly each day I needed about 2200 calories for my size and weight. If I ate less than that I would lose weight.

    Both this site and another that I am using say I can eat 1500 calories and will lose weight but still stay in a healthy range. I find this amount easy to eat, a banana being about 100 calories, a pear 80 it soon adds up. A small amount of rice or pasta will also bump up the calories as will a slice of wholemal bread.

    A couple of days I have gone under but I used them up on Saturday and treated my self to a couple of glasses of wine. I keep reading in mags that its the average over the week that counts so if you need more at weekends you can use any unused ones from the week.

    If you eat too few calories, your body will start to use muscle for energy and thats when you run into problems. Bad breath is one of the bad side-effects.

    If possible I would say you need to eat your calories inluding exercise ones. Its seems to have worked for most people on here.
  • deeanne22
    deeanne22 Posts: 28
    I really panicked when I saw that my daily diet is under.
    The thing is that I never feel hungry after eating a meal any more,

    I have protein foods for breakfast and not hungry til 1 and then lunch and not hugry until 8/9pm

    I am supposed to snack between meals but dont feel hungry so no need to pick.

    what do i do then??

    I dont want to force food down my throat when i am not in the least but hungry
  • bbb84
    bbb84 Posts: 418 Member
    Nothing here is 100%. Sometimes you have to play with the numbers a little to find out what works best for you and what keeps your metabolism running full force. What works for me may not work for you. Personally I try to stay close to my recommended calories or within 100 or so, a range if you will. Most days I eat back my exericise calories, but some I do not. On the days that I do not, either A) I am not hungry or B) I played two games of softball around 8-10pm and its really too late to try to make up those calories. I am recommended at 1500 give or take and I have been losing consistently 1-2 lbs a week and my food calories (not net) are almost always close. You have to do what works for YOU and your body!. Good luck on your journey, this is an awesome place to be!
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