Such thing as too few calories?
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amandatcv23
Posts: 41 Member
I recently started eating aroubd 1200 calories a day. For my weight to lose weight, I should be eating around 1700 calories a day. I haven't been hungry and have had great success with 1100-1200 calories. Is this bad? I am obese according to my BMI, so I would think that eating too few calories isn't a bad thing and extreme weight loss is something I SHOULD be doing.
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Replies
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It depends.
Given you are obese then your body can handle a steeper deficit and the proportion to fat loss to lean body mass should still be favourable. In addition, losing weight in itself will help secure some pleasing health benefits which can offset the potential pitfalls of a steep deficit at your weight.
That said, your diet has to be quite tight to ensure adequate nutrition at that calorie level so you won't have much wiggle room for treats which could prove psychologically challenging.
So, try it out for a while but don't be afraid to eat more and there will come a point where eating more will become necessary.0 -
Forget BMI. Percent Body Fat is what matters. 1200 should be good.
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Thank you so much. It has been kind of difficult to completely put off treats. I have cut off sugar completely and I see it helping a lot. I have a lot of energy and just feel better overall. Not I don't get as hungry as I used to.
I have been sticking to the diet so far. I have lost 11 pounds. Hopefully I can stick to this, my mind is in the right place, so I have hope.0 -
amandatcv23 wrote: »Thank you so much. It has been kind of difficult to completely put off treats. I have cut off sugar completely and I see it helping a lot. I have a lot of energy and just feel better overall. Not I don't get as hungry as I used to.
I have been sticking to the diet so far. I have lost 11 pounds. Hopefully I can stick to this, my mind is in the right place, so I have hope.
Just remember that you should have a reasonable amount of wiggle room as to the amount you can eat and still lose weight. There aren't many advantages to being obese but that is one of them. When you get lighter it becomes harder in this regard. So if you feel you need to up calories at some point then feel confident that you can.
Best of luck.0 -
About 5 or so years ago I was in the same situation as you (I have been struggling with my weight for well over 15 years by now). During one of my most successful attempts at calorie counting I was supposed to start around 1600/1700 calories but I found that this seemed to be way too much for me and I just was not loosing it as quickly as I would have liked with this amount. So I eventually cut back to around 1200 calories and was doing amazing. I spent at least a year staying on track, recording my weight and updating my calorie goal every time I lost weight. I went from being around 245 lbs to 198 lbs.
During the time I was only having 1200 calories, I felt great. I wasn't loosing weight incredibly fast, maybe 2.5-3 lbs a week on average, but I did have great success, especially for the first 45 pounds. If it works for you, go for it. But keep in mind, if you plan on adjusting your calories as you loose weight, you'll eventually come to a point where you may not be able to shave any more off.0 -
amandatcv23 wrote: »Thank you so much. It has been kind of difficult to completely put off treats. I have cut off sugar completely and I see it helping a lot. I have a lot of energy and just feel better overall. Not I don't get as hungry as I used to.
I have been sticking to the diet so far. I have lost 11 pounds. Hopefully I can stick to this, my mind is in the right place, so I have hope.
Just remember that you should have a reasonable amount of wiggle room as to the amount you can eat and still lose weight. There aren't many advantages to being obese but that is one of them. When you get lighter it becomes harder in this regard. So if you feel you need to up calories at some point then feel confident that you can.
Best of luck.
That is a good point. Thank you for your help.0 -
About 5 or so years ago I was in the same situation as you (I have been struggling with my weight for well over 15 years by now). During one of my most successful attempts at calorie counting I was supposed to start around 1600/1700 calories but I found that this seemed to be way too much for me and I just was not loosing it as quickly as I would have liked with this amount. So I eventually cut back to around 1200 calories and was doing amazing. I spent at least a year staying on track, recording my weight and updating my calorie goal every time I lost weight. I went from being around 245 lbs to 198 lbs. When I finally broke 200 pounds my calorie intake was less than 950.
I tried to stay at around 950 calories instead of lowering the amount any more and found it was difficult to loose any more weight. It was at this point I decided to give up for then, I just couldn't do it anymore because I had more weight I wanted to loose, and I was not willing to give up any more calories.
During the time I was only having 1200 calories, I felt great. I wasn't loosing weight incredibly fast, maybe 2.5-3 lbs a week on average, but I did have great success, especially for the first 45 pounds. If it works for you, go for it. But keep in mind, if you plan on adjusting your calories as you loose weight, you'll eventually come to a point where you may not be able to shave any more off.
That totally makes sense. I'm wondering if I will stop losing weight when I get to a smaller size if I continue eating 1000-1200 calories a day.. I could do 900 or so calories when I get to that point, but in not sure if that's realistic.
Were you exercising at all during that time?
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amandatcv23 wrote: »About 5 or so years ago I was in the same situation as you (I have been struggling with my weight for well over 15 years by now). During one of my most successful attempts at calorie counting I was supposed to start around 1600/1700 calories but I found that this seemed to be way too much for me and I just was not loosing it as quickly as I would have liked with this amount. So I eventually cut back to around 1200 calories and was doing amazing. I spent at least a year staying on track, recording my weight and updating my calorie goal every time I lost weight. I went from being around 245 lbs to 198 lbs. When I finally broke 200 pounds my calorie intake was less than 950.
I tried to stay at around 950 calories instead of lowering the amount any more and found it was difficult to loose any more weight. It was at this point I decided to give up for then, I just couldn't do it anymore because I had more weight I wanted to loose, and I was not willing to give up any more calories.
During the time I was only having 1200 calories, I felt great. I wasn't loosing weight incredibly fast, maybe 2.5-3 lbs a week on average, but I did have great success, especially for the first 45 pounds. If it works for you, go for it. But keep in mind, if you plan on adjusting your calories as you loose weight, you'll eventually come to a point where you may not be able to shave any more off.
That totally makes sense. I'm wondering if I will stop losing weight when I get to a smaller size if I continue eating 1000-1200 calories a day.. I could do 900 or so calories when I get to that point, but in not sure if that's realistic.
Were you exercising at all during that time?
Sorry to stick my oar in again but that is a poor set up for long term success.
If you find that you are not losing weight at 1,200 calories then (unless you are particularly light which begs the question why you would want to lose more weight anyway) a better idea would be:
1) Take a break for a week or two to allow your body recovery time to deal with accumulated stress
2) Re-establish a reasonable calorie level and be ruthless with your logging of food intake (one of the biggest, if not the biggest culprits of a weight loss plateau is eating more in reality than you actually believe)
3) Slowly increasing exercise until you reach a sweet spot of enough calories for adequate nutrition but still a steady rate of loss0 -
Pretty sure it's not recommended to eat under 1200 calories though. You don't want your body to enter starvation mode because then it will hold on even more to fat out of survival mode. That, and also then you might be prone to binge eating. My opinion is to remain at 1200 but add in exercise...enough to make you sweat a bit each day. Also to add in weight training because with added muscle your body burns more calories even at rest plus looks good. And no worries, as a woman you won't turn into the Hulk. Also recommended it to let yourself have an occassional treat so you don't feel deprivation. Occassional. Good luck!! 0
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Heartlight441 wrote: »Pretty sure it's not recommended to eat under 1200 calories though. You don't want your body to enter starvation mode because then it will hold on even more to fat out of survival mode. That, and also then you might be prone to binge eating. My opinion is to remain at 1200 but add in exercise...enough to make you sweat a bit each day. Also to add in weight training because with added muscle your body burns more calories even at rest plus looks good. And no worries, as a woman you won't turn into the Hulk. Also recommended it to let yourself have an occassional treat so you don't feel deprivation. Occassional. Good luck!!
Hey thanks... I should have added i workout least 3 times a week sometimes more sometimes less. My workouts include weight training and some cardio. I will try it out0 -
amandatcv23 wrote: »About 5 or so years ago I was in the same situation as you (I have been struggling with my weight for well over 15 years by now). During one of my most successful attempts at calorie counting I was supposed to start around 1600/1700 calories but I found that this seemed to be way too much for me and I just was not loosing it as quickly as I would have liked with this amount. So I eventually cut back to around 1200 calories and was doing amazing. I spent at least a year staying on track, recording my weight and updating my calorie goal every time I lost weight. I went from being around 245 lbs to 198 lbs. When I finally broke 200 pounds my calorie intake was less than 950.
I tried to stay at around 950 calories instead of lowering the amount any more and found it was difficult to loose any more weight. It was at this point I decided to give up for then, I just couldn't do it anymore because I had more weight I wanted to loose, and I was not willing to give up any more calories.
During the time I was only having 1200 calories, I felt great. I wasn't loosing weight incredibly fast, maybe 2.5-3 lbs a week on average, but I did have great success, especially for the first 45 pounds. If it works for you, go for it. But keep in mind, if you plan on adjusting your calories as you loose weight, you'll eventually come to a point where you may not be able to shave any more off.
That totally makes sense. I'm wondering if I will stop losing weight when I get to a smaller size if I continue eating 1000-1200 calories a day.. I could do 900 or so calories when I get to that point, but in not sure if that's realistic.
Were you exercising at all during that time?
Please don't take that poster's advice and do 900 calories. It's not healthy. That story should be a cautionary tale.
Thank you, I will not do that.
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amandatcv23 wrote: »About 5 or so years ago I was in the same situation as you (I have been struggling with my weight for well over 15 years by now). During one of my most successful attempts at calorie counting I was supposed to start around 1600/1700 calories but I found that this seemed to be way too much for me and I just was not loosing it as quickly as I would have liked with this amount. So I eventually cut back to around 1200 calories and was doing amazing. I spent at least a year staying on track, recording my weight and updating my calorie goal every time I lost weight. I went from being around 245 lbs to 198 lbs. When I finally broke 200 pounds my calorie intake was less than 950.
I tried to stay at around 950 calories instead of lowering the amount any more and found it was difficult to loose any more weight. It was at this point I decided to give up for then, I just couldn't do it anymore because I had more weight I wanted to loose, and I was not willing to give up any more calories.
During the time I was only having 1200 calories, I felt great. I wasn't loosing weight incredibly fast, maybe 2.5-3 lbs a week on average, but I did have great success, especially for the first 45 pounds. If it works for you, go for it. But keep in mind, if you plan on adjusting your calories as you loose weight, you'll eventually come to a point where you may not be able to shave any more off.
That totally makes sense. I'm wondering if I will stop losing weight when I get to a smaller size if I continue eating 1000-1200 calories a day.. I could do 900 or so calories when I get to that point, but in not sure if that's realistic.
Were you exercising at all during that time?
Sorry to stick my oar in again but that is a poor set up for long term success.
If you find that you are not losing weight at 1,200 calories then (unless you are particularly light which begs the question why you would want to lose more weight anyway) a better idea would be:
1) Take a break for a week or two to allow your body recovery time to deal with accumulated stress
2) Re-establish a reasonable calorie level and be ruthless with your logging of food intake (one of the biggest, if not the biggest culprits of a weight loss plateau is eating more in reality than you actually believe)
3) Slowly increasing exercise until you reach a sweet spot of enough calories for adequate nutrition but still a steady rate of loss
Thank you. Right now I will definitely lose weight at 1200 calories when I get to a smaller weight, I will do what you have recommended thanks again for your help. I appreciate it
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Just in case what I said has gotten misinterpreted, I was never suggesting to go down to 900 calories, as that is what ultimately made me give up and stay away from calorie counting for quite some time. I was merely letting the original poster know my experience when I started with 1200 calories and where it led to by starting out with a low amount0
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Heartlight441 wrote: »Pretty sure it's not recommended to eat under 1200 calories though. You don't want your body to enter starvation mode because then it will hold on even more to fat out of survival mode. That, and also then you might be prone to binge eating. My opinion is to remain at 1200 but add in exercise...enough to make you sweat a bit each day. Also to add in weight training because with added muscle your body burns more calories even at rest plus looks good. And no worries, as a woman you won't turn into the Hulk. Also recommended it to let yourself have an occassional treat so you don't feel deprivation. Occassional. Good luck!!
Starvation mode doesn't exist. 1200 calories is the minimum to ensure a woman receives adequate nutrition. You also cannot build muscle on 1200 calories, but strength training is important to preserve muscle, especially at a low calorie amount.0 -
Heartlight441 wrote: »Pretty sure it's not recommended to eat under 1200 calories though. You don't want your body to enter starvation mode because then it will hold on even more to fat out of survival mode. That, and also then you might be prone to binge eating. My opinion is to remain at 1200 but add in exercise...enough to make you sweat a bit each day. Also to add in weight training because with added muscle your body burns more calories even at rest plus looks good. And no worries, as a woman you won't turn into the Hulk. Also recommended it to let yourself have an occassional treat so you don't feel deprivation. Occassional. Good luck!!
Mostly good points. Starvation mode is not a thing, though. Eating too few calories will not cause your body to hold on to all the fat.0 -
If I can eat 1700 and lose at a realistically desired rate then you'll be damn sure that's what I'm going to eat! It's not a race and whilst you feel fine now, being so aggressive will likely have consequences later on down the line. That's aside from the fact you have nowhere to go from 1200 because it's the lowest amount need to meet bare minimum nutritional needs for most women.0
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It can be difficult to get your nutrients at levels your body needs when you consume too few calories. For instance, fat helps with hormone regulation, and hair and skin health may suffer if you're not consuming enough fat. A common recommendation is a minimum of 0.35g of fat per day, per pound of body weight. Consuming enough protein is also a really good idea while at a deficit, to help minimize loss of lean muscle mass and hopefully lose mostly fat0
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