Is not eating enough making me fat?

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michellechristianclay8184
michellechristianclay8184 Posts: 4 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hey

I'm new to this app so bear with me! Just wondered if anyone is struggling to use all there calories? Mine is set at 1200 but I have like 400 left each day! I'm eating more now than I used too, as used to skip breakfast and lunch due to work etc.
I've heard not eating enough can make you gain weight but I'm not hungry with what I'm currently eating to have snacks. Should I just have them anyway?

Any suggestions welcome
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Replies

  • sarajenivieve
    sarajenivieve Posts: 303 Member
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    eating to little wont make you fat but it will slow down your matabolism for when you do eat.
    You may not feel hungry but 800cal a day is not enough your body gets used to eating so little and you stop feeling the hunger pains that should be there. I used to only eat 500-900 cal a day myself and speak from experience. You need to eat more start with breakfast shakes and light lunches or up your healthy snacks your body needs a bare minimum of 1100cal daily, in most cases more based on age,height and weight to maintian regualr health and body function long term.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    No, but as others have said it can mess you up and is very unhealthy.

    What are your current stats (height/weight) and goal? How long have you been counting and how long do you think you have been eating so little?

    What types of foods are you eating? Adding some fat to foods can help with the calorie count -- have you tried cooking vegetables with some olive oil or adding dressing to salad or a little cheese, eating nuts, stuff like that?
  • Traveler120
    Traveler120 Posts: 712 Member
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    If you're overweight, eating when you're not hungry makes NO sense whatsoever. Cramming more food in just to reach a number dictated by mfp and overriding your own body's natural signals, is just absurd. Listen to your body!
  • Traveler120
    Traveler120 Posts: 712 Member
    edited January 2017
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    Yes, I actually read their post. And yes, it's perfectly fine to eat under your specified calories if you're not hungry. And no, I don't expect that she'll be eating 800 calories until the end of time. Some days you feel hungrier than others. Tomorrow, she may be feel hungrier and eat 1400 calories. Being a slave to a number on your mfp screen is a bit silly. As long as you're maintaining the deficit you need to lose, over the span of a week, then day to day fluctuations don't matter.

    I need 1700-2000 calories to maintain my approx 115 lbs. Some days I'll eat 1000 if I'm not hungry and some days I'll eat 2500 if I'm ravenous, most days I'm in my range. I don't force feed myself an extra 700 calories on the 'not hungry' days. I just roll with it coz my body will sort itself out. Learning to eat naturally by following your body's hunger signals, as nature intended, is a good thing. Eating when you've already eaten or if you're not as hungry, is how we get fat.
  • DancingMoosie
    DancingMoosie Posts: 8,615 Member
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    I agree that it will probably even itself out over time. Sometimes we get excited about our new diets and just don't feel hungry for a few days. Don't worry unless your appetite does not return within the week. Open your diary so we can see what you are eating and give more specific advice.
  • studiog608
    studiog608 Posts: 27 Member
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    What is your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure)? If too far below, body will go into starvation mode, slow metabolism, and store fat.
  • MKEgal
    MKEgal Posts: 3,250 Member
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    Also, read these, esp. sexypants & the ones about logging accurately.

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10012907/logging-accuracy-consistency-and-youre-probably-eating-more-than-you-think

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/819925/the-basics-dont-complicate-it/p1

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/872212/youre-probably-eating-more-than-you-think/p1

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/833026/important-posts-to-read/p1
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,398 MFP Moderator
    edited January 2017
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    If you are struggling to eat adequate calories than you should focus more on calorie dense foods and less on diet foods. The below thread can help.

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10326769/are-you-a-hard-gainer-please-read/p1
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
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    My first thought is that if you were truly only eating 800 calories then the weight would be falling off of you fast, and you would also be feeling like crap and pretty lethargic. All of this will be followed by hair loss, sallow skin, muscle loss, brittle nails and just all round malnutrition.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,013 Member
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    OP is new, says she is eating more than she ever used to, and says she is 400 cals short of 1200 "each day". I honestly think it's safe to assume it's a logging issue. Maybe she'll come back and give us more info like how long this is happening, what her weight is doing, and open her diary.
  • cerise_noir
    cerise_noir Posts: 5,468 Member
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    kimny72 wrote: »
    OP is new, says she is eating more than she ever used to, and says she is 400 cals short of 1200 "each day". I honestly think it's safe to assume it's a logging issue. Maybe she'll come back and give us more info like how long this is happening, what her weight is doing, and open her diary.

    This.

    OP, please open your diary. Something is not quite right.
  • studiog608
    studiog608 Posts: 27 Member
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    MKEgal wrote: »
    Read this. Then read it again. Bookmark it so you can use it to explain to other newbies what "starvation mode"is and is not. What you're thinking it is, it's not.
    http://www.aworkoutroutine.com/starvation-mode/

    The body needs energy (calories) to run.
    It prefers to use glucose (blood sugar, easily-available carbs),
    then it prefers to use glycogen (slightly more complex carbs stored in liver & muscles),
    then it prefers to use fat,
    and as a distant 4th it uses protein (muscles).
    {Yes, we're all burning some of those all the time, but that's generally the order they're used.}

    Burning muscle is starvation.
    Part of the reason it's 4th is that it's an inefficient conversion. The body gets more energy per gram of tissue from the other sources.
    Also, it's a hail mary, hoping you will find (and EAT!) food before you lose so much muscle tissue that you can't move, or can't eat, or can't breathe, or your heart stops.
    It takes a long time of eating way below your healthy range to get there.

    The body WILL NOT "hold onto" _any_ calories (fat) if you're eating below maintenance.
    (Use a little common sense.)
    If it did, anorexia wouldn't be deadly.
    Neither would famine.
    POW's would be robust, not walking skeletons.

    Metabolism slows down. It will hold onto any fat storage, if possible, after all else has been burned for energy.

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