Are my calories too low?

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FemmeAndi
FemmeAndi Posts: 107 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Started Insanity Max 30 at 137 pounds. Nutrition plan says to eat between 1200-1391 cals PLAN A
Completed Month 1 and dropped down 3 pounds. I am now 134 (Goal is 130) In the last week of month 1 my energy plummeted, moody, muscles felt flat and didn't have energy to push in my workouts, nails brittle, hair very dry!

I`m in month two this week, day 4. I took a little break on the weekend and ate a little extra. Monday felt awesome to do my workout, could push hard again. Last night binged 400 cals over greek yogurt apple and pb and oatmeal lol

I have 4 pounds to lose but with the brittle nails, dry hair, moody and tiredness I`m wondering whats going on? Should I up my calories even though I still have weight to lose? I don`t want to ruin my progress.
weight 134 goal-> 130.
height 5'7
frame: a little more on the medium side

Replies

  • Myamya123
    Myamya123 Posts: 30 Member
    edited August 2017
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    I'd up them to 1500. I am sedentary 5'8 136lbs (eat 1500 cals to lose) and losing very slowly.... BUT the closer you are the harder it is to lose.
  • FemmeAndi
    FemmeAndi Posts: 107 Member
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    Myamya123 wrote: »
    I'd up them to 1500. I am sedentary 5'8 136lbs (eat 1500 cals to lose) and losing very slowly.... BUT the closer you are the harder it is to lose.

    wow! and you still lose weight !? :smile: Thanks guys. I just didn`t know... that nutrition plan in max 30 says if you are under 150 pounds to eat at that range so ... i trusted it.
  • Myamya123
    Myamya123 Posts: 30 Member
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    FemmeAndi wrote: »
    Myamya123 wrote: »
    I'd up them to 1500. I am sedentary 5'8 136lbs (eat 1500 cals to lose) and losing very slowly.... BUT the closer you are the harder it is to lose.

    wow! and you still lose weight !? :smile: Thanks guys. I just didn`t know... that nutrition plan in max 30 says if you are under 150 pounds to eat at that range so ... i trusted it.

    Yes, it has taken me about a month to lose 1.5 lbs but that is normal for people so close to goal because you dont have wiggle room. I also dont eat any cals for walking etc, since i dont count it as exercise since it isnt much.
  • eyer0ll
    eyer0ll Posts: 313 Member
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    FemmeAndi wrote: »
    In the last week of month 1 my energy plummeted, moody, muscles felt flat and didn't have energy to push in my workouts, nails brittle, hair very dry!

    I`m in month two this week, day 4. I took a little break on the weekend and ate a little extra. Monday felt awesome to do my workout, could push hard again.

    I feel like you answered your own question here.
  • MileHigh4Wheeler
    MileHigh4Wheeler Posts: 67 Member
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    @Myamya123 I went through a similar issue where I was eating far less than I should thinking that it would shed pounds faster, and then I got used to that 1000-1200 a day level. I often was under 1K! I learned that you need to eat to lose because being too far under will work for a while but then you hit a wall and get in a rut. I got really pissed at MFP for setting my calorie goal at 1250 because, as a guy, I felt that was really low.

    As I started adjusting upwards I found my weight started dropping again a week or two after adding several hundred calories a day back to my diet. Now I'm 1800-2500 depending on activity level that day and it's working for me. I also learned #1 to weigh everything I eat because guessing is WAAAAAAAAAY of and #2 to have MFP recalculate regularly and then go double check the numbers (which are generally wrong) and manually put in what I need to be doing (I'm a paid subscriber of MFP).
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,013 Member
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    I have personally found that the calorie recommendations for all of the BB workouts are too low. I think it's a combination of them assuming people will underestimate what they are eating, and if they don't they will lose weight superfast for the 4 weeks and we'll get a dramatic success story to publish.

    They always want me to eat like 1300-1400 calories, and that's too little for me even when I'm not doing their workouts LOL. I would put all your data in here, set your goal to lose 0.5 lbs per week, log your workouts and see what MFP gives you. And keep in mind your desired loss is well within normal water weight fluctuations, so it might take a while to really see that number consistently on the scale. My weight fluctuates between 126-132 every day so if I decided I wanted to lose 4 lbs I might never be sure it happened :lol: Good luck!
  • Tankiscool
    Tankiscool Posts: 11,105 Member
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    From your symptoms alone you aren't getting enough nutrition to recover from your workouts. So yes you are not eating enough. Eat more pronto. If you don't that late night binge will happen more and more because your body is telling me "You are starving me woman!"

    You're goal is also a bit scary. You are focusing on the number of the scale rather than how you look. If it were me Id rather be a fit trim athletic type at your height and be 150 lbs rather than just skinny at 130.

    May I ask why you are doing Insanity? Do you actually enjoy it? Or was it the results on the infomercial the reason you purchased it?
  • FemmeAndi
    FemmeAndi Posts: 107 Member
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    MileHigh4Wheeler wrote: »
    @Myamya123 I went through a similar issue where I was eating far less than I should thinking that it would shed pounds faster, and then I got used to that 1000-1200 a day level. I often was under 1K! I learned that you need to eat to lose because being too far under will work for a while but then you hit a wall and get in a rut. I got really pissed at MFP for setting my calorie goal at 1250 because, as a guy, I felt that was really low.

    As I started adjusting upwards I found my weight started dropping again a week or two after adding several hundred calories a day back to my diet. Now I'm 1800-2500 depending on activity level that day and it's working for me. I also learned #1 to weigh everything I eat because guessing is WAAAAAAAAAY of and #2 to have MFP recalculate regularly and then go double check the numbers (which are generally wrong) and manually put in what I need to be doing (I'm a paid subscriber of MFP).


    WOW!!! OMG! I wish I realized this a longgggggg longgg (like 10 years) time ago. Thanks so much for telling me your experiences! I`m going to slowly go up week by week till I find that magic number.
  • FemmeAndi
    FemmeAndi Posts: 107 Member
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    Tankiscool wrote: »
    From your symptoms alone you aren't getting enough nutrition to recover from your workouts. So yes you are not eating enough. Eat more pronto. If you don't that late night binge will happen more and more because your body is telling me "You are starving me woman!"

    You're goal is also a bit scary. You are focusing on the number of the scale rather than how you look. If it were me Id rather be a fit trim athletic type at your height and be 150 lbs rather than just skinny at 130.

    May I ask why you are doing Insanity? Do you actually enjoy it? Or was it the results on the infomercial the reason you purchased it?

    I love love love the insanity max 30, looks right forward to it. I`m kinda a 'go hard' kinda person. The more challenging it is for me the more i like it because it feels like i accomplished something awesome. :) Umm im just focusing on the number 130 because that`s my normal weight i`ve kinda been around all my life (i had a little too much fun over the winter and shot up to 142) oopsie haha But, i`d rather be fit than skinny, that's why i`m doing the hard work (strength sessions in month two of max 30 is amazing) for it and not just dieting and doing cardio alone.
  • FemmeAndi
    FemmeAndi Posts: 107 Member
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    kimny72 wrote: »
    I have personally found that the calorie recommendations for all of the BB workouts are too low. I think it's a combination of them assuming people will underestimate what they are eating, and if they don't they will lose weight superfast for the 4 weeks and we'll get a dramatic success story to publish.

    They always want me to eat like 1300-1400 calories, and that's too little for me even when I'm not doing their workouts LOL. I would put all your data in here, set your goal to lose 0.5 lbs per week, log your workouts and see what MFP gives you. And keep in mind your desired loss is well within normal water weight fluctuations, so it might take a while to really see that number consistently on the scale. My weight fluctuates between 126-132 every day so if I decided I wanted to lose 4 lbs I might never be sure it happened :lol: Good luck!

    SO that'S what its all about! That low calorie number. I`ve been at the beach body programs for a long long time and i kept seeing these calorie ranges.. and like u said... i`d see a big change in the first 4 weeks and then.. i could work like a dog and i wouldn`t see no more progress! I can`t believe that I`m only figuring this out now :neutral: darn! I coulda had them muscles i`ve always wanted if i didn`t just go along believing everything about that calorie range on the beach body programs. Well kinda almost tells you everywhere... it`s like 1200 is the magic number or something. Oh Well, I know now thanks to all you guys :smiley:

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