Cutting too many calories?
alecschanno
Posts: 19 Member
I've been easily taking in about 700-900 calories a day while on my 20 carb keto diet, of which a calculator said I should aim for 1.8k calories a day. Is this going to accelerate my weight loss, or slow it by slowing my metabolism? Like today I've only had 350 calories, I'm a little hungry, but beyond that I feel fine.
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Replies
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Also, I've lost four pounds this week, which I know is already good, I just want to make sure I maintain that level of loss. If I should eat more, I'll do it1
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Eat the 1800. You’re doing some major damage to your body eating that few calories. And unless you have over 200 pounds to lose, you should not be aiming to lose 4 pounds every week.16
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You should be eating 1500 at the very least. Consistently eating as low as you are is going to wreck your health in that you'll be severely under your nutrition values as well as a great deal of muscle loss. Feeling fine is not an indicator of much. Eat what MFP gives you as a number, without going below 1500.6
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Unless you're actually 2 years old, you're not eating enough.14
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I realize that people who start keto are more satiated in the early stages.
And yes, especially with keto and in the beginning you will see higher losses because you're depleting glycogen fast (do note that part of it is a borrowed loss that will come back just as fast if you ever eat enough carbohydrates to replenish your glycogen stock).
But, no. No matter how inaccurately you may be logging. If you think that you should go about eating 350 calories or so on a regular basis... just no.
How many grams of protein did you eat today? You look like a guy so I will hazard a stab in the dark that 150lbs is somewhere in your normal weight zone. So 150g of protein + 20g of carbs = 680 Cal of stuff before we even hit a single gram of fat.
And since you're doing keto, you would be looking at 5-10% of calories from Carbs, 15-30% of cals from protein, and 65-75% of calories from Fat... So 1g of fat, i.e. 9 Cal will probably not cut it for you
Eat your 1500 Cal a day. You need it to meet your basic nutritional needs adequately.
In fact, eat more than the minimum and limit your deficit to something reasonable! For example, a deficit of no more than 20% of TDEE (25% of TDEE while obese). Double check that you're doing so by looking at your trending weight, which over time, should not be dipping by much more than 0.5% to 1% of your body-weight a week. If morbidly obese a rate of up to 1.5% of body-weight per week might not be too detrimental to lean mass, assuming that compliance is not compromised by the greater deficit attempted.
Or do what you're doing till you crash and burn... but something tells me that you wouldn't be asking the question if you truly thought this was a great idea!
<if at a later time you decide to find another way of eating, other than keto, remember that you may see a big weight jump when you re-introduce carbs. This is NOT fat gain. Glycogen is considered lean mass and it gets replenished when you have more carbs in you. I've met a lot of people who see this weight gain, lift their hands in the air, and re-gain a lot more weight because they go hog wild on all previously forbidden items. This also happens after periods of extreme (caloric) restriction. I prefer to stack the odds in my favour by not flirting with disaster whenever I can avoid doing so, so EXTREME restrictions are not for me! Good luck>13 -
TavistockToad wrote: »Unless you're actually 2 years old, you're not eating enough.
^ This.
You're creating the potential for loss of lots of lean mass (of which muscle is a component), along with the potential for numerous other negative side effects (hormonal dysfunction, hair loss, organ damage, etc.). At some point you can also expect your energy levels and workout performance (if you're working out) to crater, your testosterone levels to plummet and your sex drive to completely disappear.
But yeah, it'll accelerate your weight loss.
[ETA:] Unless you currently weigh somewhere north of 400 pounds, a loss of 4 pounds a week is not safe, nor is it sustainable. If you've recently started keto, a big portion of that loss is water/glycogen, not fat. And it won't continue at that rate.4 -
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TavistockToad wrote: »Unless you're actually 2 years old, you're not eating enough.
^ This.
You're creating the potential for loss of lots of lean mass (of which muscle is a component), along with the potential for numerous other negative side effects (hormonal dysfunction, hair loss, organ damage, etc.). At some point you can also expect your energy levels and workout performance (if you're working out) to crater, your testosterone levels to plummet and your sex drive to completely disappear.
But yeah, it'll accelerate your weight loss.
[ETA:] Unless you currently weigh somewhere north of 400 pounds, a loss of 4 pounds a week is not safe, nor is it sustainable. If you've recently started keto, a big portion of that loss is water/glycogen, not fat. And it won't continue at that rate.
Man, this is so much to take in. I just want to get healthy and be able to do things like maintaining a job again. My Beck has been killing me and my doctor assures me it's cause I'm far too overweight.0 -
alecschanno wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »Unless you're actually 2 years old, you're not eating enough.
^ This.
You're creating the potential for loss of lots of lean mass (of which muscle is a component), along with the potential for numerous other negative side effects (hormonal dysfunction, hair loss, organ damage, etc.). At some point you can also expect your energy levels and workout performance (if you're working out) to crater, your testosterone levels to plummet and your sex drive to completely disappear.
But yeah, it'll accelerate your weight loss.
[ETA:] Unless you currently weigh somewhere north of 400 pounds, a loss of 4 pounds a week is not safe, nor is it sustainable. If you've recently started keto, a big portion of that loss is water/glycogen, not fat. And it won't continue at that rate.
Man, this is so much to take in. I just want to get healthy and be able to do things like maintaining a job again. My Beck has been killing me and my doctor assures me it's cause I'm far too overweight.
You don't get healthy by doing unhealthy things. Losing the weight is a certainly a good idea for you, but go about it in a sensible manner.9 -
alecschanno wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »Unless you're actually 2 years old, you're not eating enough.
^ This.
You're creating the potential for loss of lots of lean mass (of which muscle is a component), along with the potential for numerous other negative side effects (hormonal dysfunction, hair loss, organ damage, etc.). At some point you can also expect your energy levels and workout performance (if you're working out) to crater, your testosterone levels to plummet and your sex drive to completely disappear.
But yeah, it'll accelerate your weight loss.
[ETA:] Unless you currently weigh somewhere north of 400 pounds, a loss of 4 pounds a week is not safe, nor is it sustainable. If you've recently started keto, a big portion of that loss is water/glycogen, not fat. And it won't continue at that rate.
Man, this is so much to take in. I just want to get healthy and be able to do things like maintaining a job again. My Beck has been killing me and my doctor assures me it's cause I'm far too overweight.
I would still push to have the back checked out just to be sure. My mother was told the same, turned out there were other issues contributing to her pain aside from her weight. Definitely take it slower, your body will thank you in the long run. And at your weight you could manage a 2lb a week weight loss which is not bad.2 -
im a 40 year old woman who is 5'1 and lose between 1-2 pounds a week eating around 1200.
you are eating far too little and if you continue long term, will damage your body.4 -
alecschanno wrote: »Man, this is so much to take in. I just want to get healthy and be able to do things like maintaining a job again. My Beck has been killing me and my doctor assures me it's cause I'm far too overweight.
If you want to be healthy, eat healthy. Losing weight by any means possible is not the same as being healthy. Your body will burn off muscle in preference to fat because muscle is more expensive to maintain. Note: your heart is made of muscle.
Incidentally, if your back is so bad you can't hold down a job then that indicates that there's something going on other than your weight. Doctors have a tendency to see a fat person and put all their health problems down to being fat, but doctors are as prejudiced as the next person (and quite often more so) and they're fairly often wrong about how much weight is a factor. I've never had a problem with my back, or any difficulty holding down a job, and I used to weigh 385 lb. I did have problems with my ankles; for ten years doctors told me I just needed to lose weight, then one finally did an x-ray and found out that my left ankle had been broken for an unknown length of time and needed surgery.5 -
I respect the opinions, I'll consult a doctor about my back and try talking to a nutritionist about my diet. Thank you guys.6
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alecschanno wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »Unless you're actually 2 years old, you're not eating enough.
^ This.
You're creating the potential for loss of lots of lean mass (of which muscle is a component), along with the potential for numerous other negative side effects (hormonal dysfunction, hair loss, organ damage, etc.). At some point you can also expect your energy levels and workout performance (if you're working out) to crater, your testosterone levels to plummet and your sex drive to completely disappear.
But yeah, it'll accelerate your weight loss.
[ETA:] Unless you currently weigh somewhere north of 400 pounds, a loss of 4 pounds a week is not safe, nor is it sustainable. If you've recently started keto, a big portion of that loss is water/glycogen, not fat. And it won't continue at that rate.
Man, this is so mLiuch to take in. I just want to get healthy and be able to do things like maintaining a job again. My Beck has been killing me and my doctor assures me it's cause I'm far too overweight.
Listen mate, if you're eating so little you're burning muscles for fuel. Muscles support your core (front and back abdomen). If you burn those muscles your back will most likely get worse.
I don't know what your back problem exactly is but can you go to a physiotherapist who shows you how to actually build and maintain core and upper back muscles? This might help with your pain as well.5 -
alecschanno wrote: »I respect the opinions, I'll consult a doctor about my back and try talking to a nutritionist about my diet. Thank you guys.
*Registered dietician. Nutritionists don't have the same education level.6 -
20 net carbs is a punishingly small number and although you’re not the first person I’ve seen pursuing it, I really don’t know where it came from. Aiming that low will bar you from eating all the vegetables you need, and it’ll be impossible to hit a decent calorie goal unless you sit around eating butter-poached chicken all day, which...don’t.
For ketosis you want 5-10% of your calories to come from carbohydrates (multiply net carbs x 4 and compare it to your calories for the day). If you’re eating 1800 calories, you should get anywhere from 28-45 net carbs (total carbs minus fiber, which isn’t digestible and doesn’t add calories). If you eat fewer calories you’ll want to keep the carbs lower, but on days you eat more your carb allowance rises, too. That means more room for foods with a variety of nutrients in them that you NEED.
I’ve got a lower calorie goal than yours, haven’t been below 30 net carbs in two weeks, and am still in ketosis. Trying to keep them to one low fixed number no matter what was really counterproductive for me, and I suspect it is for you as well, so try thinking of it as a ratio for a few days and see how it goes! Eat your fat and eat your fiber and everything gets much easier.
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alecschanno wrote: »
I'm 5ft 2, weigh 230lb and I eat 1700 -1800 and I'm female
I'm aiming for 130-140lb which is the top end of normal bmi
I'm down from 387lb and would not want to be eating less than my 2 year old who averages 1200-1500 a day and is on the 9th centile (I.e tiny)4 -
alecschanno wrote: »I've been easily taking in about 700-900 calories a day while on my 20 carb keto diet, of which a calculator said I should aim for 1.8k calories a day. Is this going to accelerate my weight loss, or slow it by slowing my metabolism? Like today I've only had 350 calories, I'm a little hungry, but beyond that I feel fine.
700-900 calories per day!!!! You're not doing yourself any favor, how are you getting your fiber and micronutrients with that amount of eating??? You're going to lose a *kitten* ton of weight, but health wise, you're making your body worse, for one, you are not giving the body it's proper nutrition, you will be deficient in many vitamins and minerals, by maintain it that way, you're going to make yourself sick.5 -
Doing this for a brief period is not going to do "major damage" to your body--not at your height and weight. However, it's not a good long-term plan, either for general health or for permanent weight loss. Drastic programs can provide some short-term motivation as you see the pounds come off quickly. However, they are not sustainable. It's best to start with good habits from day 1.2
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