Eating too little?

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superaustinbell
superaustinbell Posts: 28 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm consuming 1200-1400 calories on average a day I work a semi hard job we have our days where we do nothing and we have our days where we work hard for 8-12 hours I'm wondering if I'm eating too little and what the consequences are

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  • jellybaby84
    jellybaby84 Posts: 583 Member
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    If that's you in the picture then yes, I would imagine you are eating way too little.

    Consequences - I don't know - weakness, tiredness and irritability in the short term. Difficulty sleeping or maintaining concentration perhaps.

    In the long term you would become underweight and undernourished. Probably.
  • laniferous
    laniferous Posts: 10 Member
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    I'd be really careful about following the guidelines that MFP generates - I've found them to be way too low. I met with an actual nutritionist to establish my goals, and am just using MFP as a way to keep track of them. If you're feeling run down or really hungry, I'd advise seeing a professional first.
  • superaustinbell
    superaustinbell Posts: 28 Member
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    To the first comment I feel fine but I do have trouble sleeping but I also sleep noon-midnight (really 3pm-11pm) and
    Reply to the second comment
    I don't use mfp tracker I use the app lose it as I don't have Internet 24/7 because of my job
  • DaddieCat
    DaddieCat Posts: 3,643 Member
    edited May 2016
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    Where did you get your calorie/macro recommendations? MFP generally won't go below 1500 for males, although I think that can be manipulated to lower.

    For a 20 year old male, I'd think that your intake is too low, especially if you are doing any excercise on top of your "semi-hard work". (in quotes because we don't actually know what kind of work it is and hard is subjective)

    Personally, I maintain at around 2800-3000 kcal/day and lose on anything less, so I'd think you have some room to increase calories. I'd suggest increasing to at least 1500 for a few weeks, make sure you are weighing and measuring accurately, and reassess then. Judging by your picture, you don't have too much to lose, so your goal might be a bit too aggressive.

    The key for me was to do this in a slow, sustainable fashion... lose slowly, and learn the appropriate habits to help keep it off once I reached maintenance.
  • superaustinbell
    superaustinbell Posts: 28 Member
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    I work in the oil field if that tells you anything lots of stairs rigging for cranes working with 2 inch lines lots of maintenance also work in very hot engine room probably 3-6 hours a day for 2 out of 4 weeks of my work shift but on mfp my calorie intake is like 2000 but I just can't seem to eat that much and feel good about it if that makes sense I've lost 7 or so lbs in almost 2 weeks without working out
  • DaddieCat
    DaddieCat Posts: 3,643 Member
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    An initial big loss is to be expected as your body dumps water weight. Many experience that. But after that, 1-2 lbs a week is considered a healthy rate of loss. If you lose faster than that, you run the risk of losing lean mass as your body will start to burn muscle tissue in addition to fat.

    Ultimately, a slower, more controlled rate of loss, adequate protein, and some form of resistance training (any kind) will help preserve your lean mass during your losses. This will assist you in having a better body composition at the end of your journey. Most people want to maintain their lean mass so that they have a more aesthetic look when they reach goal weight. Also, it's easier to maintain the lean tissue than it is to add it back on later.
  • superaustinbell
    superaustinbell Posts: 28 Member
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    I apreciate the help. Thanks a lot I think I'm gonna pre cook some meals so when I'm short on time I can eat 600 or so calories instead of 200
  • DaddieCat
    DaddieCat Posts: 3,643 Member
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    Meal prep and even pre-logging is a great strategy. It's one I use myself.
  • StealthHealth
    StealthHealth Posts: 2,417 Member
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    Agree with @BecomingBane on pre-logging and meal prep being very helpful. Also, if struggling to eat more do not shy away from higher fat foods. Full fat dairy, nuts, avocado etc. the higher calories and lower volume may help with:
    superaustinbell wrote: »
    I just can't seem to eat that much and feel good about it if that makes sense

  • markag1990
    markag1990 Posts: 75 Member
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    Pre-logging is something I do too. And works wonders.
  • superaustinbell
    superaustinbell Posts: 28 Member
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    Can't eat nuts but I plan to get my calories up also one more thing if you do cardio and it subtracts calories should you eat back the said calories? It doesn't make sense to me
  • DaddieCat
    DaddieCat Posts: 3,643 Member
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    MFP is designed for you to eat back exercise calories. Most seem to say the awarded calories are too high and eat back 50% or so.
  • StealthHealth
    StealthHealth Posts: 2,417 Member
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    If you were logging on MFP: Yes. But since you're using another tool and I'm not sure how it calculated your non-exercise calories and how the exercise calories are accounted for I can't say.

    It may be worth plugging your data, including work and exercise, into a few online TDEE calculators and using that figure but ignoring the variation in your work patterns and any other exercise.

    I use http://www.calculator.net/calorie-calculator.html and http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/
  • superaustinbell
    superaustinbell Posts: 28 Member
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    I used the calculator and it says 1800 calories to lose 1 lb a week all good but it seems that's a very slow pace I was hoping to see 189 by July and 170 by October instead of next March
  • StealthHealth
    StealthHealth Posts: 2,417 Member
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    Slow and steady is the way forward. In my experience it is more sustainable and I'm led to believe that studies show that those eating at greater deficits tend to lose proportionally more muscle than those at slight deficits. Of course there are other factors in this (presence of absence of strength training and protein content of the diet spring to mind).

    At the end of the day it is your choice but for me, the 1300 calories you're currently on, would be very difficult to maintain over anything longer than a week or two, let alone the 6 months that your planning.
  • superaustinbell
    superaustinbell Posts: 28 Member
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    Decided to share my meals for today still 100 under but I think I'll plan for any calories I haven't accounted for

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