calories per day-not eatting enuff?

yooperme
yooperme Posts: 18 Member
edited September 19 in Food and Nutrition
I am set at 1200 calories to lose my weight, however I only have been consuming about 900....Do i need to up my calorie intake, or will i just lose more with the 900? I am not hungry and I think I am eatting a balanced diet. Will this hurt me in the long run? say weeks down the road, will my body adjust to the 900 and i would have to eat less to lose? any assistance would be appreciated.

Replies

  • yooperme
    yooperme Posts: 18 Member
    I am set at 1200 calories to lose my weight, however I only have been consuming about 900....Do i need to up my calorie intake, or will i just lose more with the 900? I am not hungry and I think I am eatting a balanced diet. Will this hurt me in the long run? say weeks down the road, will my body adjust to the 900 and i would have to eat less to lose? any assistance would be appreciated.
  • chrissyh
    chrissyh Posts: 8,235 Member
    Heres my situation - I too had been eating less than 1200 between 950 and 1100 - well I gained 2 pounds during that. My body felt sluggish. I am back to eating 1300 minimum adding in exercise calories and I feel much better - now I have to be patient.

    Hope this helps...
  • lessertess
    lessertess Posts: 855 Member
    In general, going below 1200 calories a day is a bad idea. First of all you can't get enough nutrition to support your body and you're impacting your energy levels. In the long run it can cause your body to go into starvation mode and impede your ability to loose weight and cause you to gain weight when you increase your calories to a more reasonable level.

    That being said, there are some exceptions. If you are a very petite, small boned woman, then 900 calories might be more reasonable. Some very petite women only need about 1000 calories a day. I would suggest that you have to be much more careful about getting high quality nutrition within those calories though.

    1200 calories is just an average and for most people, even that is not enough. If you are in the "obese" category than you can afford a more drastic calorie deficit but if you only have a few pounds to loose than you need to reduce your goals. In the obese category loosing 2 pounds a week is very reasonable. For the higher end of the overweight category, one pound a week is more reasonable. If your just a few pounds overweight than a half pound a week or even less would be a better goal.

    Hope that makes sense.
  • Juliebean_1027
    Juliebean_1027 Posts: 713 Member
    In general, going below 1200 calories a day is a bad idea. First of all you can't get enough nutrition to support your body and you're impacting your energy levels. In the long run it can cause your body to go into starvation mode and impede your ability to loose weight and cause you to gain weight when you increase your calories to a more reasonable level.

    That being said, there are some exceptions. If you are a very petite, small boned woman, then 900 calories might be more reasonable. Some very petite women only need about 1000 calories a day. I would suggest that you have to be much more careful about getting high quality nutrition within those calories though.

    1200 calories is just an average and for most people, even that is not enough. If you are in the "obese" category than you can afford a more drastic calorie deficit but if you only have a few pounds to loose than you need to reduce your goals. In the obese category loosing 2 pounds a week is very reasonable. For the higher end of the overweight category, one pound a week is more reasonable. If your just a few pounds overweight than a half pound a week or even less would be a better goal.

    Hope that makes sense.

    Yeah, what she said...! It's very important to eat at least the 1200 calories a day. If you're having trouble getting up to that point try a handful of nuts, or something that is still nutritious but higher in calories.
  • yooperme
    yooperme Posts: 18 Member
    Thanks for those that replied.....looks like i can eat more, what a great idea! Will see if it works......thanks
  • Bunnies_Revenge
    Bunnies_Revenge Posts: 123
    So, I considerable short, I'm 5ft2. And yes I'm in the obese range. I consume usually below 900 calories a day. Sometimes I consume 1140 or 1044, sometimes only in the upper 900. The only time I consumed dramistically less than that was when I was sick and could only eat about 700 without upchucking it all back on the floor. Other days I consume 1400 but never really over. Usually its based on how hungry I am. I do take a multivitamin everyday, and my sugar levels are all in normal range. Am I making myself sick, or am I fine?
  • lessertess
    lessertess Posts: 855 Member
    Without the details regarding current height, weight, body fat percentage etc, I'd say that you are eating too few calories and it's negatively impacting your metabolism. there are a number of posts that are at the top of the "General" message boards that you should read. That should answer all your questions. In particular you want to read the one on 700 calories a day and gaining weight.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/23912-links-in-mfp-you-want-to-read-again-and-again
This discussion has been closed.

Categories