Should I eat less than my goal?

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mackemshazza
mackemshazza Posts: 87 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So I've got 1200 calories to eat each day.

I'm here for support, friendship and like minded people (which works both ways). I love my MFP family. Post something and they are there to help, I read something and I'm there with support too.

I don't want to lose much weight but every lb is hard to shift for me, it's still a real journey so please don't judge because I know there are a lot of people who have a much harder journey than me, but ...

When I eat 1200 calories I'm told if I carry on as I am - within 5 weeks I'll be higher than my goal.

I really think 5 weeks should be enough to reach my goal, so should I eat less?

Half a stone in 5 weeks, please don't hate me, that's all I'd like to do for now.

Replies

  • infamousmk
    infamousmk Posts: 6,033 Member
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    Are you adding in your exercise? From what I understand your body needs at least 1200 calories a day to maintain functioning, so if you eat below that you'll go in to starvation mode. If you're working out, then 1200 is still the minimum you should net, but theoretically the activity will burn fat and you'll see a loss.
  • abbie017
    abbie017 Posts: 410
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    Please don't eat less than 1200 calories. The WHO did a study and 1200 is the absolute minimum a woman should eat to avoid traumatic health effects. Eating less will slow your metabolism and make losing weight that much harder!
  • fairfieldbeach
    fairfieldbeach Posts: 261 Member
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    This is what another MFPer sent me when I asked basically the same question. It's pretty helpful, so I'm passing it along.
    Thu 06/30/11 08:19 AM

    Hi i can't see your diary Are you eating to enough?

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/61706-guide-to-calorie-deficit


    This is just a part of it! please read the link above


    Generally someone with a BMI over 32 can do a 1000 calorie a day (2 lbs a week) deficit
    With a BMI of 30 to 32 a deficit of 750 calories is generally correct (about 1.5 lbs a week)
    With a BMI of 28 to 30 a deficit of 500 calories is about right (about 1 lb a week)
    With a BMI of 26 to 28 a deficit of about 300 calories is perfect (about 1/2 lb a week)
    and below 26... well this is where we get fuzzy. See now you're no longer talking about being overweight, so while it's still ok to have a small deficit, you really should shift your focus more towards muscle tone, and reducing fat. This means is EXTRA important to eat your exercise calories as your body needs to KNOW it's ok to burn fat stores, and the only way it will know is if you keep giving it the calories it needs to not enter the famine response (starvation mode)


    Also this might be helpful http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/00trayn/view/how-to-bust-a-3-month-plateau-87677

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/153704-myth-or-fact-simple-math-3500-calories-one-pound-eat



    Good luck on your journey
  • Slinkybaz
    Slinkybaz Posts: 312 Member
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    Half a stone to reach goal isn't much and generally that means it will come off a lot slower for you than for someone like me who needed to lose over 50 pounds. I'm not sure you can expect 7 pounds in 5 weeks, you may need to give yourself a longer target time. Why don't you aim for 1 pound a week and see how you get on?

    Most people on here seem to be quite adamant about 1200 being your minimum calorie intake and how your body can go into starvation mode and all that. So if you were thinking 1000 cals for example, why don't you just up your exercise by 200 cals a day? That's only a 15 minute swim for example so you should be able to make the time somehow.

    Good luck ;-)
  • infamousmk
    infamousmk Posts: 6,033 Member
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    So if you were thinking 1000 cals for example, why don't you just up your exercise by 200 cals a day? That's only a 15 minute swim for example so you should be able to make the time somehow.



    This is a really great way to look at it! Thanks!
  • mackemshazza
    mackemshazza Posts: 87 Member
    Options
    This is what another MFPer sent me when I asked basically the same question. It's pretty helpful, so I'm passing it along.
    Thu 06/30/11 08:19 AM

    Hi i can't see your diary Are you eating to enough?

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/61706-guide-to-calorie-deficit


    This is just a part of it! please read the link above


    Generally someone with a BMI over 32 can do a 1000 calorie a day (2 lbs a week) deficit
    With a BMI of 30 to 32 a deficit of 750 calories is generally correct (about 1.5 lbs a week)
    With a BMI of 28 to 30 a deficit of 500 calories is about right (about 1 lb a week)
    With a BMI of 26 to 28 a deficit of about 300 calories is perfect (about 1/2 lb a week)
    and below 26... well this is where we get fuzzy. See now you're no longer talking about being overweight, so while it's still ok to have a small deficit, you really should shift your focus more towards muscle tone, and reducing fat. This means is EXTRA important to eat your exercise calories as your body needs to KNOW it's ok to burn fat stores, and the only way it will know is if you keep giving it the calories it needs to not enter the famine response (starvation mode)


    Also this might be helpful http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/00trayn/view/how-to-bust-a-3-month-plateau-87677

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/153704-myth-or-fact-simple-math-3500-calories-one-pound-eat



    Good luck on your journey

    This is a great help, thank you, i've been living boarderline "starvation mode" (hate that term) without thinking about it, so thought my body would just get the message and calm down. It's frustrating but thanks for the help x
  • mackemshazza
    mackemshazza Posts: 87 Member
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    So if you were thinking 1000 cals for example, why don't you just up your exercise by 200 cals a day? That's only a 15 minute swim for example so you should be able to make the time somehow.

    Good luck ;-)

    Oh lord, if I up my exercise I'd need to up my calorie intake, this is one of the problems I'm having, eating back my exercise calories, I just end up eating bad food to make it up. I'm pants at this lark, this is why I joined MFP x
  • Sarcastic1
    Sarcastic1 Posts: 14 Member
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    Okay, I'm in the same boat, I am having a terrible time losing the last 8lbs, so I started working out twice as much and ignoring the "net calories", just sticking to 1200 total, bad, bad idea. I have had such low energy this week that getting through my workouts is torture. Not a good plan.
  • evesacks
    evesacks Posts: 94 Member
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    7lbs in 5 weeks totally realistic if you are overweight, but unrealistic if near goal. I'm in same boat, currently 121lbs would like to be 119lbs, no weight loss for nearly a month.

    TBH I don't think its about eating 1200 calories, rather about making sure they are all good healthy calories. Don't go under 1200, rather focus on cutting out any processed food etc.
  • fairfieldbeach
    fairfieldbeach Posts: 261 Member
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    Glad it helped! When I'm starving, I wind up fantasizing about bad food and,:sad: ultimately,bingeing.

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