The great debate of calorie intake
lissmack83
Posts: 28
Hey guys, any feed back or opinions I'll happily take on board!
So iv been maintaining a 1,000 calories a day goal since I started, iv done one cheat meal in 7 weeks but I'm classed as obese so I have a lot to lose. Iv heard mixed responses to the 1,000 a day rule. It doesn't leave me hungry, I eat lean chicken, veggies, avocado, salads, sandwiches, lean mince that's majority packed with mushroom, celery, buk choy, capsicum & veg. I have a protien shake in between that's full of vitamins and minerals, I'm dropping weight, but some people frown on this 1,000 cal a day. If I had less body fat Id agree but I think what I'm doing is ok, maybe I just need to incorporate a day where I eat about 1,200-1,500 to mix it up?! Any thoughts, opinions, whatever, I'll appreciate! Thanks in advance
So iv been maintaining a 1,000 calories a day goal since I started, iv done one cheat meal in 7 weeks but I'm classed as obese so I have a lot to lose. Iv heard mixed responses to the 1,000 a day rule. It doesn't leave me hungry, I eat lean chicken, veggies, avocado, salads, sandwiches, lean mince that's majority packed with mushroom, celery, buk choy, capsicum & veg. I have a protien shake in between that's full of vitamins and minerals, I'm dropping weight, but some people frown on this 1,000 cal a day. If I had less body fat Id agree but I think what I'm doing is ok, maybe I just need to incorporate a day where I eat about 1,200-1,500 to mix it up?! Any thoughts, opinions, whatever, I'll appreciate! Thanks in advance
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Replies
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This isn't a healthy, sustainable way that allows for adequate nutrition to lose weight nor is it advised by MFP to undereat what they recommend. You lose weight in a calorie deficit, but your deficit is too extreme. Who wouldn't want to find out the maximum you can eat and still lose?
I'm classified obese and have a lot to lose, but I eat nearly twice as much and still lose weight. Here's a helpful page on TDEE, BMR and how to work out a good baseline.0 -
likely 1,000 is very low, but in some cases I've heard of doctors approving of it. Personally, I'd raise it up some and see how it goes. IMO, I don't think 1,000 calories is a sustainable plan .0
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No caloric deficit - large or small - is "sustainable".
OP - lots of variables to consider. As a general rule, your intake is low enough that you need to be quite careful about the types of foods you're consuming to make sure you are meeting nutrient needs. It can be done, for sure, but there is very little room for error.
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No caloric deficit - large or small - is "sustainable".
OP - lots of variables to consider. As a general rule, your intake is low enough that you need to be quite careful about the types of foods you're consuming to make sure you are meeting nutrient needs. It can be done, for sure, but there is very little room for error.
Let me rephrase: sustainable for the individual to stay on without either gaining, losing, gaining benefit or losing their health over time. Calorie goals should change to account for an individual's activity/exercise plans, or lack thereof, weight loss, weight gain, etc.
You are correct. Many factors to keep in mind. Apologies.0 -
This is a great post for explaining low calorie dieting. Goes along with what Mr_Knight said. community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/475726/very-low-calorie-diets-and-metabolic-damage/p1 I should add that Steve is a well trusted resource around here.0
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i would suggest speaking to your dr and getting medical advice if you plan to eat that few calories per day for an extended period. esp if you do any exercise, you won't have much fuel.
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MDs get 20 hours or less of nutritional training. Consult a dietician if you consult any doctor at all.0
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What I don't like about this idea personally is that there's nowhere to go when you plateau. You certainly shouldn't cut calories even more! MFP put me at 1700, so there's room to cut back when I plateau.0
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lissmack83 wrote: »Hey guys, any feed back or opinions I'll happily take on board!
So iv been maintaining a 1,000 calories a day goal since I started, iv done one cheat meal in 7 weeks but I'm classed as obese so I have a lot to lose. Iv heard mixed responses to the 1,000 a day rule. It doesn't leave me hungry, I eat lean chicken, veggies, avocado, salads, sandwiches, lean mince that's majority packed with mushroom, celery, buk choy, capsicum & veg. I have a protien shake in between that's full of vitamins and minerals, I'm dropping weight, but some people frown on this 1,000 cal a day. If I had less body fat Id agree but I think what I'm doing is ok, maybe I just need to incorporate a day where I eat about 1,200-1,500 to mix it up?! Any thoughts, opinions, whatever, I'll appreciate! Thanks in advance
What is your weight/height? Or, have you calculated your TDEE using a tool like Scooby's Workshop: http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/ ? For example, if you are 5'7" and 160 lbs. (you look pretty thin already, so I'm not sure this can be true), you should be at a TDEE of 1450 if you plan to reduce by 20% (losing about 1 lb. every 10 days or so). If you try to lose more (using this fictitious example) at 25% (almost 1 lb. a week in loss), you should be consuming about 1350 calories if you don't do any exercise (and more calories if you are doing exercise).
Perhaps you may need to revisit your BMI, BMR, and goals? Whatever the case, good luck, and be healthy!
How to Change your Goals:
Click Goals > Change Goals > Guided, Continue, enter in your accurate information and realistic goal weight, and click Update Profile. MFP will give you good information on how many calories you should eat each day to safely lose weight.
Direct Link: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/my_goals
BMI Calculator: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/tools/bmi-calculator
BMR Calculator: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/tools/bmr-calculator0 -
furioushummingbird wrote: »MDs get 20 hours or less of nutritional training. Consult a dietician if you consult any doctor at all.
this is a great idea. speak to your dr and find out if s/he can recommend a dietician.
but i think speaking to your dr is crucial.
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It's not advisable to eat below 1200 cals a day as your body enters into starvation mode. Healthy eating is a lifestyle change, not a fad diet. You aren't going to necessarily lose a stone in 3 weeks. Just ask yourself, could you live on a 1000 cal limit for 6 months or a year for example or are you going to start to struggle. I'd advise upping your calorie intake to about 1200-1350 a day but also try and increase your exercise.
Don't eat back your exercise calories though, unless you want to be gaining weight.0 -
Does nobody follow the calorie counter that came with this app?0
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lissmack83. Eating at such a low calorie intake could cause problems in the long, rather than short term. Please listen to those who have asked you to get clearance from your doctor with a referral to a dietician.
Devilboy1592, there are always special snowflakes that think the calorie intake calculator isn't for them. There are also people who prefer the TDEE method over the method MFP uses to calculate their calorie needs.
cheers,h.0 -
Phoebeg1723 wrote: »It's not advisable to eat below 1200 cals a day as your body enters into starvation mode. Healthy eating is a lifestyle change, not a fad diet. You aren't going to necessarily lose a stone in 3 weeks. Just ask yourself, could you live on a 1000 cal limit for 6 months or a year for example or are you going to start to struggle. I'd advise upping your calorie intake to about 1200-1350 a day but also try and increase your exercise.
Don't eat back your exercise calories though, unless you want to be gaining weight.
I definitely agree about upping the calorie limit a bit. It's not a race to lose weight, and 1,000 definitely doesn't allow you ANY wriggle room at all. You might be setting yourself up for failure there.
If you've set your limit as 1,000 on MFP, I would really recommend eating back at least half your calories burnt in exercise (because any method of estimating burn is guesswork, eating 50% allows for a margin of error), because that is still a very low calorie goal even if doctor approved because of your starting weight. Especially because, depending on how hard you exercise, an overweight person who is new to it may have quite a high calorie burn. Allowing yourself 100-200 extra calories a day when you work out might make this programme more sustainable.
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Phoebeg1723 wrote: »It's not advisable to eat below 1200 cals a day as your body enters into starvation mode. Healthy eating is a lifestyle change, not a fad diet. You aren't going to necessarily lose a stone in 3 weeks. Just ask yourself, could you live on a 1000 cal limit for 6 months or a year for example or are you going to start to struggle. I'd advise upping your calorie intake to about 1200-1350 a day but also try and increase your exercise.
Don't eat back your exercise calories though, unless you want to be gaining weight.
I know you mean well, but this isn't really right.
Starvation mode isn't really in the picture here. Adaptive thermogenesis is.
1200 is NOT the magic number for everyone. It's the minimum amount of calories MFP will give for someone that inputs "Sedentary" and "Lose 2 lbs a week." Though sometimes, someone who is very short, tiny, and (at times) older can get this number.
MFP's NEAT method is designed for you to eat back exercise calories, or at least half due to the overestimated calorie burns that it gives. You would not gain weight, as you're already in a calorie deficit and the deficit would be too extreme without adding back in what you burned.0 -
speak to your doc and get their qualified advice as everyone will tell you different on here however there are medical approved very low calories diets for people who are obese and if you feel ok plus are still losing then I would go with you what your body says. Once your weight loss starts to slow or stop or you start feeling tired, struggle with motivation etc then you could move up and make sure you do when you hit over weight as opposed to obese too. I would speak to your doc though.0
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1200 is the recommended minimum, not just from MFP. Theres a whole bunch of people normally 18 year old girls many with eating disorders who know better and exist on sub 1000 calorie diets. I like food too much and would rather I go enough nutrition and dieted in a safe and sustainable way.
I always find is surprising when you see many overweight posters with large amounts to lose and had previously been in a massive calorie surplus suddenly start posying about how full they are and camt manage 1200 calories because its just too much food.
Enjoy you 1000 calorie lifestyle.0 -
It's true that obese or severely obese people can be recommended a low cal diet, but that is only because the benefits of rapid weightloss out weigh the negatives of remainly severely obese.
It is a short term solution and not a long term goal.
Have you been advised to do this 1000 cal diet by a doctor? If not, I would at the very least consult one. And realise it is not something you will be able to maintain indefinitely.
What is your long term plan?0 -
Even MFP has changed their warning to read that it's not recommended for women to eat less than "1000 to 1200" per day. I don't think 1000 is going to hurt you, especially since you're eating healthy and most of us miss 25-40% of our intake.
But I think the problem with drastic restrictions is you get diet fatigue and fall off the wagon, and then you recall the diet as being so hard you don't want to ever get back on. But some people do better with quicker losses, too. Diet fatigue can also set in from no scale movement. Each of us has to find out what works best for us.0 -
I would also suggest speaking with your Dr. about a 1,000 calorie day goal.
Starvation mode is a myth, however, I would have questions about maintaining you health and the ability to sustain such a strict diet over time.
Are you happy? Is it safe? If the answers are yes, then so be it. BUT you can still lose weight eating a little bit more. All you need is a reasonable deficit. It may take a little longer, but it will be more in line with a lifestyle change. Personally, I would want to eat as many calories as possible while still losing weight at a good pace over a period of time. Because, food is awesome.0 -
I hear about this starvation mode your body goes into. In my last weight loss cycle I kept my calories under 700 a day for 7 months and lost about 100 pounds. Never hit plateau and never was hungry.0
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deviboy1592 wrote: »Does nobody follow the calorie counter that came with this app?
I follow it, but it seems some people have trouble with that. Some believe the calorie estimates are too high, and some too low. Anyway, the MFP recommendation is working fine for me!
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Dietitians aren't doctors. You may know that and have just phrased it poorly.furioushummingbird wrote: »MDs get 20 hours or less of nutritional training. Consult a dietician if you consult any doctor at all.
OP, a doctor is an excellent first step in any weight loss journey and seeing one at the beginning of your weight loss journey will be advised by any expert. You should do that and get a referral to a dietitian. Between the two, all your questions about your health and weight loss will get answered.
I'm not anti-Low Calorie Diets. However, if you can eat more and still lose, you should consider it. The weight will come off quickly at first, but it will get harder later. When it gets harder, you're going to want some wiggle room!
If you really have your heart set on the 1000 calories and your doctor approves it, go for it. Who cares what anyone else thinks.
Good luck!
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Thankyou everyone for all your responses, it seems their is nothing clear cut and I guess it's up to the individual. Yes I see a doctor every 2 weeks, she suggested I lose weight & monitors the weight loss (29 pound or 13 kilo gone in 7 weeks) im also booked in to see a dietician but can't get in till the end of the month. Thanks guys, I workout 5 X's a week, a mixture of circuit, weight training & brisk walking, through my own discretion, comments & research iv decided to up my calories to at least 1,200 and see how that goes 0
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1200 is the recommended minimum, not just from MFP. Theres a whole bunch of people normally 18 year old girls many with eating disorders who know better and exist on sub 1000 calorie diets. I like food too much and would rather I go enough nutrition and dieted in a safe and sustainable way.
I always find is surprising when you see many overweight posters with large amounts to lose and had previously been in a massive calorie surplus suddenly start posying about how full they are and camt manage 1200 calories because its just too much food.
Enjoy you 1000 calorie lifestyle.
Dietitians aren't doctors. You may know that and have just phrased it poorly.furioushummingbird wrote: »MDs get 20 hours or less of nutritional training. Consult a dietician if you consult any doctor at all.
OP, a doctor is an excellent first step in any weight loss journey and seeing one at the beginning of your weight loss journey will be advised by any expert. You should do that and get a referral to a dietitian. Between the two, all your questions about your health and weight loss will get answered.
I'm not anti-Low Calorie Diets. However, if you can eat more and still lose, you should consider it. The weight will come off quickly at first, but it will get harder later. When it gets harder, you're going to want some wiggle room!
If you really have your heart set on the 1000 calories and your doctor approves it, go for it. Who cares what anyone else thinks.
Good luck!
Yep, I worded it poorly. Any professional at all was what I meant. ^_^0
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