Such thing as too few calories?
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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.
Can't build muscle on 1200 calories does that mean if I'm eating 1200 calories and weight training I won't lose weight?
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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!!
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.
Never heard of starvation mode until today0 -
VintageFeline wrote: »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.
So if I lose say 50 pounds doing 1200 calories and then I go to say 1400-1600 would I gain weight back if I'm still eating healthy and working out?
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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 fat
Thank you for that. I will keep up my calorie intake to keep the fat and protein up
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Too few calories makes it difficult to reach nutrient goals, which can result in hair loss, brittle nails, even organ damage eventually. Much easier to get appropriate macros when you eat a little more than 1200 calories.0
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amandatcv23 wrote: »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.
Never heard of starvation mode until today
Didn't miss much
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So here's my question... As being so overweight, if I did a low calorie diet plan until I got to a reasonable weight and then upped my calories, would that be a good option? I have done the 1700-2000 calories while working out and I have lost weight, but I always gain the weight back..0
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chandanista wrote: »Too few calories makes it difficult to reach nutrient goals, which can result in hair loss, brittle nails, even organ damage eventually. Much easier to get appropriate macros when you eat a little more than 1200 calories.
Is that information for someone who is normal to slightly overweight? Does it pertain to people who are obese?
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The only extremely low calorie diet I know is the Bernstein diet. iirc you get around 800 calories a day. Though I don't know if it is considered a "starvation" diet medically, I would think it is. On that diet for instance your blood and urine is monitored consistently and you have to take a multitude of vitamins and B-Vitamin shots (Don't remember which ones, its been over 10 years). The foods you ate were healthy, but you still needed those oral and injected vitamins because, as others have stated, you can't get the appropriate vitamins if you drop very far below 1200. The diet works well, but at what cost?0
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The only extremely low calorie diet I know is the Bernstein diet. iirc you get around 800 calories a day. Though I don't know if it is considered a "starvation" diet medically, I would think it is. On that diet for instance your blood and urine is monitored consistently and you have to take a multitude of vitamins and B-Vitamin shots (Don't remember which ones, its been over 10 years). The foods you ate were healthy, but you still needed those oral and injected vitamins because, as others have stated, you can't get the appropriate vitamins if you drop very far below 1200. The diet works well, but at what cost?
That doesn't seem worth it.. Might as well eat s healthy diet of 1200+ calories to get the appropriate nutrients0 -
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Yes, because the body is limited on how much it can take from fat stores in a given time period. If it runs short on the "bank withdrawals" for the day it will start restricting expenditures to unnecessary and less necessary functions.amandatcv23 wrote: »chandanista wrote: »Too few calories makes it difficult to reach nutrient goals, which can result in hair loss, brittle nails, even organ damage eventually. Much easier to get appropriate macros when you eat a little more than 1200 calories.
Is that information for someone who is normal to slightly overweight? Does it pertain to people who are obese?
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It definitely isn't worth it, health wise (thats not even talking about the extra cost of something like that).
I'd definitely stay above 1200. (I'm not sure what your weight is, but I have started this time at around 1600 calories and I am obese as well) After the last time I wanted to give myself more room to cut back the calories as I loose weight so that I would never have to go below 1200 as I cut back. I know It's really hard to take it slowly, especially when you want to loose it. It can sometimes be really tempting to try and just cut back to 1200 and continue cutting back from there so you can see faster progress. Especially when you have so much that you want to loose.0 -
chandanista wrote: »
Yes, because the body is limited on how much it can take from fat stores in a given time period. If it runs short on the "bank withdrawals" for the day it will start restricting expenditures to unnecessary and less necessary functions.amandatcv23 wrote: »chandanista wrote: »Too few calories makes it difficult to reach nutrient goals, which can result in hair loss, brittle nails, even organ damage eventually. Much easier to get appropriate macros when you eat a little more than 1200 calories.
Is that information for someone who is normal to slightly overweight? Does it pertain to people who are obese?
Thank you
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I am jumping in here and defending the poster who mentioned "starvation mode." It does exist and is a euphemism for adaptive thermogenisis. It does not happen quite the way the poster described, but the point is the same. Basically, it is a physiological response to a sustained, low calorie intake. The brain is protecting the body from starvation by slowing the body's metabolism. It is the same reason that you should lower your calorie intake as you lose weight or make an effort to burn more calories through some form of exercise.
Ref (laymen): authoritynutrition.com/starvation-mode
Ref (technical): www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3673773/
However, there is a point where the body is not receiving enough fuel to function or, more importantly the right mix of nutrients. Scientist and nutritionist disagree on what the minimum calorie intake should be as it varies with each individual, but the current rule of thumb is around 1,200 calories per day for an adult female. There are a number of websites that will assist you in calculating your minimum calories needed per day. Look up "Basil Metabolic Rate" (BMR) and "Total daily energy expenditure" (TDEE). These can assist you in determining a daily calorie intake that is right for you.
If you are not losing weight at your current calorie intake, I suggest 2 things:
1. Double check your logging. I have found that many items on MFP have multiple listings and the listings can vary by 500 calories or more. I have a hierarchy that I use when there are multiple entries or calories given. I trust the food labels first, Published restaurant nutrition information second, third are items in MFP with a check and, as a last resort, I look at the various entries for an item, discard the high and low and take the one with the highest calorie count (conservative), or, if several are in a range, I use the average.
2. Try adding more exercise. I think I saw where you do this, so I am not telling you anything you do not already do.
You should also keep in mind that calorie measurements (both calories in and calories out) are very imprecise measurements. For example, the guidelines from the FDA for caloric measuring of food is + or - 20%. Exercise equipment that measures calories expended are notorious for over estimating energy expended. I would be conservative on estimating calories expended for exercise as well.
Good luck on your journey!0 -
amandatcv23 wrote: »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.
Can't build muscle on 1200 calories does that mean if I'm eating 1200 calories and weight training I won't lose weight?
If you're on 1200 calories, the chances of building any appreciable amount of muscle are low, though not impossible. There are tons of factors, such as how much muscle the person already has / how advanced in training they are, the structure and volume of their program, adequate rest and recovery, how overweight the individual already is, etc.
Generally on MFP people throw out that you won't gain on 1200 calories because you don't want false hope - many people think they're building huge amounts of muscle and that's preventing their weight loss, when in fact, the ease with which a new person gains strength has a lot to do with increase their nerve signalling instead of actually growing muscles in proportion to the strength gains. When losing weight, strength training is best looked as about retaining existing muscles, and if anything is gained, considered a nice a bonus, not an expectation.0
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