Is my calorie intake too low?
kaet_nicole93
Posts: 11 Member
Hello MFP members! I believe that I am not eating enough and have been researching the signs of under eating. For the past few months I have tried to keep my daily intake to 1200 calories of healthy, non-processed, whole foods. I have a sedentary job but workout 6 days a week and burn an average of 300-400 calories per workout. However, I have hit a plateau and have been advised to increase my intake to achieve weight loss again. So, I tried this for a few weeks slowly creeping up to 1400 calories but did not like my results. I do not like the way my body looks after doing this and I feel "puggy." These past two weeks I have dropped back down to 1200 and feel very tired, lack energy, and am unable to tighten back up.
Any advice?!
Any advice?!
0
Replies
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Opinion: 1,200 is too low especially if you exercise.
You might not be eating the right foods. Go to settings and open your diary to the public. People really helped me. I was not getting enough protein or fiber. Too many chips with little nutrition.2 -
I have opened it to the public. Thank you for the advice! I hope when people see it they take in consideration that I also like to have a few cheats but stay within my calorie intake if possible.
I definitely try to eat clean 80% or more of the time. 0 -
Take vitamins. Raising your calories means you will gain weight.1
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Pretty amazing diary. The only possible thing I can think of is you don't have a food scale.
With one, this place rocks. Walmart for around $18. Otherwise, I'm stumped.0 -
seekingdaintiness wrote: »Take vitamins. Raising your calories means you will gain weight.
Raising calories does not always equal weight gain... If a person were in a 500 calorie deficit and they started eating 200 calories more a day, they are still in a deficit and will still lose weight.2 -
I would be lost without my food scale! Sadly, that is not the issue because I use it just about 3-4 times a day to make sure I am accurate with logging the foods. Thank you for taking a look at the diary!0
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A few things that I haven't seen mentioned- Who advised you to increase your calories? How long has it been since you have seen a change on the scale? Have you noticed your clothes fitting better or measurements have changed?
How close are you to your goal weight?
There are many things that can go into making the scale appear that you have plateaued. Increasing calories, high sodium, TOM for women, change on bowel movements- can all mess with your scale weight but are only temporary.1 -
TresaAswegan wrote: »A few things that I haven't seen mentioned- Who advised you to increase your calories? How long has it been since you have seen a change on the scale? Have you noticed your clothes fitting better or measurements have changed?
How close are you to your goal weight?
There are many things that can go into making the scale appear that you have plateaued. Increasing calories, high sodium, TOM for women, change on bowel movements- can all mess with your scale weight but are only temporary.
A nutritionist advised me to increase my daily calories to 1600 a day. I started to slowly make my way up from 1200 to 1400 by adding 50-100 calories per week. I did not notice the scale changing which I thought was good at first since I wasn't increasing weight with the added calories. However, I felt my body did not look as tight/tone as it had before starting and my clothes felt tighter than normal.0 -
kaet_nicole93 wrote: »Hello MFP members! I believe that I am not eating enough and have been researching the signs of under eating. For the past few months I have tried to keep my daily intake to 1200 calories of healthy, non-processed, whole foods. I have a sedentary job but workout 6 days a week and burn an average of 300-400 calories per workout. However, I have hit a plateau and have been advised to increase my intake to achieve weight loss again. So, I tried this for a few weeks slowly creeping up to 1400 calories but did not like my results. I do not like the way my body looks after doing this and I feel "puggy." These past two weeks I have dropped back down to 1200 and feel very tired, lack energy, and am unable to tighten back up.
Any advice?!
What are your stats?
Age, height, weight...0 -
kaet_nicole93 wrote: »Hello MFP members! I believe that I am not eating enough and have been researching the signs of under eating. For the past few months I have tried to keep my daily intake to 1200 calories of healthy, non-processed, whole foods. I have a sedentary job but workout 6 days a week and burn an average of 300-400 calories per workout. However, I have hit a plateau and have been advised to increase my intake to achieve weight loss again. So, I tried this for a few weeks slowly creeping up to 1400 calories but did not like my results. I do not like the way my body looks after doing this and I feel "puggy." These past two weeks I have dropped back down to 1200 and feel very tired, lack energy, and am unable to tighten back up.
Any advice?!
What are your stats?
Age, height, weight...
Age - 23 Height - 63 inches Weight - 140 lbs
Like I mentioned above, I work a sedentary job and exercise 6 days a week burning an average of 300-400 calories through cycling and resistance training.0 -
How long has it been since your weight has changed?0
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One thing i have started doing after reading a few of the "cups" vs "grams" posts here on MFP is to weigh everything. You listed "Canteloupe - Canteloupe, 1 cup" as 68 cals. Last night I weight "Cantalope - Fresh Cantalope, 200 gr" which I would bet is more than 1 cup but only logged 60 cals for that weight. I wonder if your not quite getting the calories you intend because of these type of differences.0
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We're the same exact height and you have almost the same exact starting weight I did. I went from 139 pounds to 108 pounds. I can tell you right now that looking at your diary that you're most likely eating much more than you think. You say you have a food scale, but your diary really isn't reflecting that at all. Using your food scale 3 or 4 times a day isn't going to give you accuracy. I see a lot of measurements in cups or 1 egg, 1 slice, 1 bar, 1 medium apple, etc. On top of that, some of the entries are flat out off calorie wise.
For example, the "chicken
" entry; 4 ounces of chicken is not 110 calories. Are you weighing your meat raw or cooked? Are you logging any oil or cooking spray you may be using to cook it? Protein bars are not always going to be the same gram weight as the package states and can be off by 30+ calories easily. When your gala apples are in gram weight, it's always 154 grams; that is highly unlikely. Do you weigh your peanut butter? It's easy to underestimate a tablespoon of peanut butter.
With your stats, you don't have a lot of room for error. A deficit can easily be wiped out. All of this is contingent upon how long it has been since you last lost weight. If it's been more than a few weeks, it's definitely the logging.4 -
kaet_nicole93 wrote: »kaet_nicole93 wrote: »Hello MFP members! I believe that I am not eating enough and have been researching the signs of under eating. For the past few months I have tried to keep my daily intake to 1200 calories of healthy, non-processed, whole foods. I have a sedentary job but workout 6 days a week and burn an average of 300-400 calories per workout. However, I have hit a plateau and have been advised to increase my intake to achieve weight loss again. So, I tried this for a few weeks slowly creeping up to 1400 calories but did not like my results. I do not like the way my body looks after doing this and I feel "puggy." These past two weeks I have dropped back down to 1200 and feel very tired, lack energy, and am unable to tighten back up.
Any advice?!
What are your stats?
Age, height, weight...
Age - 23 Height - 63 inches Weight - 140 lbs
Like I mentioned above, I work a sedentary job and exercise 6 days a week burning an average of 300-400 calories through cycling and resistance training.
Forgot to ask, what's your goal weight?
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Something's not adding up. At your height and weight and activity level, your maintenance calories should be somewhere north of 1,500.0
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So does this mean I would be maintaining at 1650 calories daily?0 -
We're the same exact height and you have almost the same exact starting weight I did. I went from 139 pounds to 108 pounds. I can tell you right now that looking at your diary that you're most likely eating much more than you think. You say you have a food scale, but your diary really isn't reflecting that at all. Using your food scale 3 or 4 times a day isn't going to give you accuracy. I see a lot of measurements in cups or 1 egg, 1 slice, 1 bar, 1 medium apple, etc. On top of that, some of the entries are flat out off calorie wise.
For example, the "chicken" entry; 4 ounces of chicken is not 110 calories. Are you weighing your meat raw or cooked? Are you logging any oil or cooking spray you may be using to cook it? Protein bars are not always going to be the same gram weight as the package states and can be off by 30+ calories easily. When your gala apples are in gram weight, it's always 154 grams; that is highly unlikely. Do you weigh your peanut butter? It's easy to underestimate a tablespoon of peanut butter.
With your stats, you don't have a lot of room for error. A deficit can easily be wiped out. All of this is contingent upon how long it has been since you last lost weight. If it's been more than a few weeks, it's definitely the logging.
I will definitely do a better job at logging my food to see if that helps make a difference! I know everyone is different but do you mind sharing what has worked best for you?0 -
kaet_nicole93 wrote: »
So does this mean I would be maintaining at 1650 calories daily?
What is your goal weight?0 -
kaet_nicole93 wrote: »
So does this mean I would be maintaining at 1650 calories daily?
What is your goal weight?
I would like to be down to 125 and then maintain from there.0 -
Try calorie-cycling. This can help break through a plateau without freaking out your system with a sudden influx of calories. If you do 1200 calories one day, do 1400 the next...and start a rotation like this. Also...depending on how lean you are, you may benefit from a "cheat/treat" day where you eat at maintenance. This can kickstart the metabolism which becomes a bit "content" after too long on a deficit.0
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angelwowings23 wrote: »Try calorie-cycling. This can help break through a plateau without freaking out your system with a sudden influx of calories. If you do 1200 calories one day, do 1400 the next...and start a rotation like this. Also...depending on how lean you are, you may benefit from a "cheat/treat" day where you eat at maintenance. This can kickstart the metabolism which becomes a bit "content" after too long on a deficit.
There's something more going on than a simple metabolic issue. As stated, the OP is on a daily 400-500 calorie deficit, which should be close to a pound lost a week. Either there are hidden calories or something bigger is going on.0 -
angelwowings23 wrote: »Try calorie-cycling. This can help break through a plateau without freaking out your system with a sudden influx of calories. If you do 1200 calories one day, do 1400 the next...and start a rotation like this. Also...depending on how lean you are, you may benefit from a "cheat/treat" day where you eat at maintenance. This can kickstart the metabolism which becomes a bit "content" after too long on a deficit.
There's something more going on than a simple metabolic issue. As stated, the OP is on a daily 400-500 calorie deficit, which should be close to a pound lost a week. Either there are hidden calories or something bigger is going on.
Not necessarily. Our bodies fight fat loss throughout the whole process. If OP has been eating at the same deficit for an extended period of time, weight loss will eventually halt. Your body is an amazing machine and will adapt. Don't complicate a pretty simple solution.0 -
angelwowings23 wrote: »Try calorie-cycling. This can help break through a plateau without freaking out your system with a sudden influx of calories. If you do 1200 calories one day, do 1400 the next...and start a rotation like this. Also...depending on how lean you are, you may benefit from a "cheat/treat" day where you eat at maintenance. This can kickstart the metabolism which becomes a bit "content" after too long on a deficit.
There's something more going on than a simple metabolic issue. As stated, the OP is on a daily 400-500 calorie deficit, which should be close to a pound lost a week. Either there are hidden calories or something bigger is going on.angelwowings23 wrote: »Try calorie-cycling. This can help break through a plateau without freaking out your system with a sudden influx of calories. If you do 1200 calories one day, do 1400 the next...and start a rotation like this. Also...depending on how lean you are, you may benefit from a "cheat/treat" day where you eat at maintenance. This can kickstart the metabolism which becomes a bit "content" after too long on a deficit.
There's something more going on than a simple metabolic issue. As stated, the OP is on a daily 400-500 calorie deficit, which should be close to a pound lost a week. Either there are hidden calories or something bigger is going on.
Over the last year I found out that I do have a medical condition affecting my pituitary glad but have been on medication for it. I have thought about getting my Thyroid tested just to make sure all is good there. I did Insanity about 3 years ago when I first got into working out and followed the meal plan. I lost about 10 pounds and was eating more than I currently am. Then the following fall I dropped my calories down to 1200 because I stopped working out as intensely and maintained. Then, last spring I started gaining again and reached 140. I have only been able to drop down to 132 when I stop taking my birth control. I'm just at a loss because I have been working out intensely and trying my best to track calories and macros and feel like I am doing worse than I was 3 years ago. It's more frustrating than anything.0 -
angelwowings23 wrote: »angelwowings23 wrote: »Try calorie-cycling. This can help break through a plateau without freaking out your system with a sudden influx of calories. If you do 1200 calories one day, do 1400 the next...and start a rotation like this. Also...depending on how lean you are, you may benefit from a "cheat/treat" day where you eat at maintenance. This can kickstart the metabolism which becomes a bit "content" after too long on a deficit.
There's something more going on than a simple metabolic issue. As stated, the OP is on a daily 400-500 calorie deficit, which should be close to a pound lost a week. Either there are hidden calories or something bigger is going on.
Not necessarily. Our bodies fight fat loss throughout the whole process. If OP has been eating at the same deficit for an extended period of time, weight loss will eventually halt. Your body is an amazing machine and will adapt. Don't complicate a pretty simple solution.
Actually, you're the one who is complicating a simple solution. The OP is most likely not lean enough to encounter leptin related issues. The simple solution is that she needs to weigh all of her food, as she has a tiny margin of error and her food diary is inaccurate. My weight loss never once halted from 139 to 115 pounds and the reason why is because I used a food scale to weigh everything I ate unless I was eating out, which was rare. In cases like that I overestimated. It was only from 115 to 108 that the process was much slower because I didn't have much to lose, if at all. The OP still hasn't addressed how long it has been since she last lost weight, but I honestly do believe she's eating far more than she thinks. 99% of the time, that is the answer to the "I'm not losing weight" posts on these forums when a medical issue isn't present and said medical issues are rare.3 -
kaet_nicole93 wrote: »kaet_nicole93 wrote: »
So does this mean I would be maintaining at 1650 calories daily?
What is your goal weight?
I would like to be down to 125 and then maintain from there.
Ok then. If all info is accurate, you should be losing on 1500 - 1650 calories per day...1 -
angelwowings23 wrote: »angelwowings23 wrote: »Try calorie-cycling. This can help break through a plateau without freaking out your system with a sudden influx of calories. If you do 1200 calories one day, do 1400 the next...and start a rotation like this. Also...depending on how lean you are, you may benefit from a "cheat/treat" day where you eat at maintenance. This can kickstart the metabolism which becomes a bit "content" after too long on a deficit.
There's something more going on than a simple metabolic issue. As stated, the OP is on a daily 400-500 calorie deficit, which should be close to a pound lost a week. Either there are hidden calories or something bigger is going on.
Not necessarily. Our bodies fight fat loss throughout the whole process. If OP has been eating at the same deficit for an extended period of time, weight loss will eventually halt. Your body is an amazing machine and will adapt. Don't complicate a pretty simple solution.
So calorie cycling is not over complicating?2 -
angelwowings23 wrote: »angelwowings23 wrote: »Try calorie-cycling. This can help break through a plateau without freaking out your system with a sudden influx of calories. If you do 1200 calories one day, do 1400 the next...and start a rotation like this. Also...depending on how lean you are, you may benefit from a "cheat/treat" day where you eat at maintenance. This can kickstart the metabolism which becomes a bit "content" after too long on a deficit.
There's something more going on than a simple metabolic issue. As stated, the OP is on a daily 400-500 calorie deficit, which should be close to a pound lost a week. Either there are hidden calories or something bigger is going on.
Not necessarily. Our bodies fight fat loss throughout the whole process. If OP has been eating at the same deficit for an extended period of time, weight loss will eventually halt. Your body is an amazing machine and will adapt. Don't complicate a pretty simple solution.
Actually, you're the one who is complicating a simple solution. The OP is most likely not lean enough to encounter leptin related issues. The simple solution is that she needs to weigh all of her food, as she has a tiny margin of error and her food diary is inaccurate. My weight loss never once halted from 139 to 115 pounds and the reason why is because I used a food scale to weigh everything I ate unless I was eating out, which was rare. In cases like that I overestimated. It was only from 115 to 108 that the process was much slower because I didn't have much to lose, if at all. The OP still hasn't addressed how long it has been since she last lost weight, but I honestly do believe she's eating far more than she thinks. 99% of the time, that is the answer to the "I'm not losing weight" posts on these forums when a medical issue isn't present and said medical issues are rare.
I have been at this weight and fluctuating 2-3 pounds each week since August of 2015. Like I mentioned earlier, I have been able to drop more (Mid December of 2015) but had to stop taking my BC in order to do so.0 -
angelwowings23 wrote: »angelwowings23 wrote: »Try calorie-cycling. This can help break through a plateau without freaking out your system with a sudden influx of calories. If you do 1200 calories one day, do 1400 the next...and start a rotation like this. Also...depending on how lean you are, you may benefit from a "cheat/treat" day where you eat at maintenance. This can kickstart the metabolism which becomes a bit "content" after too long on a deficit.
There's something more going on than a simple metabolic issue. As stated, the OP is on a daily 400-500 calorie deficit, which should be close to a pound lost a week. Either there are hidden calories or something bigger is going on.
Not necessarily. Our bodies fight fat loss throughout the whole process. If OP has been eating at the same deficit for an extended period of time, weight loss will eventually halt. Your body is an amazing machine and will adapt. Don't complicate a pretty simple solution.
So calorie cycling is not over complicating?
What's difficult about taking in more calories one day and less the next? People do it all the time without trying. LOL!0 -
kaet_nicole93 wrote: »angelwowings23 wrote: »angelwowings23 wrote: »Try calorie-cycling. This can help break through a plateau without freaking out your system with a sudden influx of calories. If you do 1200 calories one day, do 1400 the next...and start a rotation like this. Also...depending on how lean you are, you may benefit from a "cheat/treat" day where you eat at maintenance. This can kickstart the metabolism which becomes a bit "content" after too long on a deficit.
There's something more going on than a simple metabolic issue. As stated, the OP is on a daily 400-500 calorie deficit, which should be close to a pound lost a week. Either there are hidden calories or something bigger is going on.
Not necessarily. Our bodies fight fat loss throughout the whole process. If OP has been eating at the same deficit for an extended period of time, weight loss will eventually halt. Your body is an amazing machine and will adapt. Don't complicate a pretty simple solution.
Actually, you're the one who is complicating a simple solution. The OP is most likely not lean enough to encounter leptin related issues. The simple solution is that she needs to weigh all of her food, as she has a tiny margin of error and her food diary is inaccurate. My weight loss never once halted from 139 to 115 pounds and the reason why is because I used a food scale to weigh everything I ate unless I was eating out, which was rare. In cases like that I overestimated. It was only from 115 to 108 that the process was much slower because I didn't have much to lose, if at all. The OP still hasn't addressed how long it has been since she last lost weight, but I honestly do believe she's eating far more than she thinks. 99% of the time, that is the answer to the "I'm not losing weight" posts on these forums when a medical issue isn't present and said medical issues are rare.
I have been at this weight and fluctuating 2-3 pounds each week since August of 2015. Like I mentioned earlier, I have been able to drop more (Mid December of 2015) but had to stop taking my BC in order to do so.
Birth control can make you retain water, but it won't make you flat out gain weight. If you saw a temporary scale drop in mid December after stopping your birth control, it was due to water retention. If you have been fluctuating the same two to three pounds for almost a year, then you are definitely eating at maintenance and not a deficit. My suggestion to you is to use your food scale to weigh every single thing you eat and use measuring cups for all liquids. Everything should be logged, including cooking oils and drinks. Also, try to be as accurate as possible with the database entries you choose by putting "usda" in the search bar while searching up fruits, vegetables, meats, or anything where you do not have the packaging for what you've used. When you do have the packaging, use the nutritional info. Packaged foods should still be weighed, as the gram weight can vary greatly from the listed weight. Also, meats, rice, pasta, etc. should be weighed raw when possible.4
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