Not eating all my calories...

tahirih19
tahirih19 Posts: 2
edited November 15 in Health and Weight Loss
I'm I hindering myself from losing weight if I'm not eating my total Dailey calories?

Replies

  • ncboiler89
    ncboiler89 Posts: 2,408 Member
    No. Not sure what the thought process is behind you thinking that but no.
  • futuremanda
    futuremanda Posts: 816 Member
    Not directly, no.

    If you try to go too aggressive with cutting calories, you can have negative side effects that *essentially* will hinder you... like causing you to give up or overeat like crazy. :)

    Do try to eat a minimum of 1200 on average though. I see one day you were more like 1100, then more like 1500. That's okay, because that averages to 1300. So over time, you want to be above that 1200 target. Feel free to use some of the ones you didn't eat for treats and eating out and meals at parties and such.

    And that should be AFTER exercise. If you eat 1300, but then go burn 500, you're only netting 800 calories! So you'd want to eat back at least 400. (Assuming you *really* burned 500.)

    Also keep in mind that fewer calories also means fewer nutrients. You may need to pay more attention to the nutritious value being provided by your calories if you're going very low cal than if you eat more. Like if you find yourself low in energy or digesting food poorly, etc. You're just more likely to get better nutrition by accident when you're eating more to begin with.

    And finally... hitting your calorie target set by MFP, over time, all else being equal and correct in the numbers, is a fairly healthy approach (which is why MFP is recommending it to you). It's not recommended to most people, for example, for general health, to lose more than 2 lbs a week. If going under your target consistently results in really fast weight loss, you might want to consider eating more. (Ignore the first couple weeks, where you might see extra weight loss just because of water loss!)
  • cleaver1
    cleaver1 Posts: 37 Member
    futuremanda wrote: »
    Not directly, no.

    If you try to go too aggressive with cutting calories, you can have negative side effects that *essentially* will hinder you... like causing you to give up or overeat like crazy. :)

    Do try to eat a minimum of 1200 on average though. I see one day you were more like 1100, then more like 1500. That's okay, because that averages to 1300. So over time, you want to be above that 1200 target. Feel free to use some of the ones you didn't eat for treats and eating out and meals at parties and such.

    And that should be AFTER exercise. If you eat 1300, but then go burn 500, you're only netting 800 calories! So you'd want to eat back at least 400. (Assuming you *really* burned 500.)

    Also keep in mind that fewer calories also means fewer nutrients. You may need to pay more attention to the nutritious value being provided by your calories if you're going very low cal than if you eat more. Like if you find yourself low in energy or digesting food poorly, etc. You're just more likely to get better nutrition by accident when you're eating more to begin with.

    And finally... hitting your calorie target set by MFP, over time, all else being equal and correct in the numbers, is a fairly healthy approach (which is why MFP is recommending it to you). It's not recommended to most people, for example, for general health, to lose more than 2 lbs a week. If going under your target consistently results in really fast weight loss, you might want to consider eating more. (Ignore the first couple weeks, where you might see extra weight loss just because of water loss!)

    Great post, spot on! If you are struggling to hit your daily calories try increasing your unsaturated fat intake as fats contain 9 calories per gram whereas protein and carbs contain 4 calories per gram. Unsaturated fats are the good fats that you hear people talking about and you can find them in foods such as nuts and seeds. A small handful of nuts on those days you are struggling to hit your calorie target will increase your calories by around 200.

  • tahirih19
    tahirih19 Posts: 2
    Thanks so much guys. I just don't want to go backwards. In December (2014) I weighed 212 and worked hard (just eating no carbs). Then hit a stand still for a little bit, now I'm incorporating excercise. I just want to get down to a healthier weight and maintain it.
  • terbusha
    terbusha Posts: 1,483 Member
    You will absolutely lose weight if you cut your calorie way down. Unfortunately, this will also make it much more difficult to maintain your results when you reach your goal. Here, check this out. It'll explain a bit more on this subject: www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHHzie6XRGk
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