How many calories is too little and why?
Brimstone14
Posts: 36 Member
I'm in my late 20s and currently I'm 'dieting.' I've cut out junk food, pizza, takeout food, etc, etc. and even cut down heavily on alcohol. After a month of this my appetite has stabled and i usually eat around 1200 calories of food comprised mainly of meat abd fat in every meal as I've stopped bread and pasta too. I can easily eat less that 1200kcal though as I've just not got that hunger as i used to have but i force myself to eat more to get to at least 1200kcal.
So, i feel naturally able to eat as little as 1000kcal, why is my body not telling me to eat more i.e. why am i not hungry?
Can anyone give me some info at different calorie intakes what the body starts doing (muscle loss, starvation mode, etc) and could anyone give some advice like should i do things like have a cheat day to boost metabolism, etc?
I'm just quite confused as before my diet i was eating too much and gaining weight, now I'm losing weight but I worry I'm not doing it correctly despite my appetite being quite low, stable and very manageable.
I'm just under 200lbs and 5'10" btw.
So, i feel naturally able to eat as little as 1000kcal, why is my body not telling me to eat more i.e. why am i not hungry?
Can anyone give me some info at different calorie intakes what the body starts doing (muscle loss, starvation mode, etc) and could anyone give some advice like should i do things like have a cheat day to boost metabolism, etc?
I'm just quite confused as before my diet i was eating too much and gaining weight, now I'm losing weight but I worry I'm not doing it correctly despite my appetite being quite low, stable and very manageable.
I'm just under 200lbs and 5'10" btw.
6
Replies
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1,200 calories is too little for a man. If you're accurately measuring your intake, you should be eating more. A "cheat day" is going to be less helpful than regularly planning to ensure you're meeting your nutritional needs.
Nobody is going to be able to pinpoint for you when you'll begin experiencing negative things like hair loss, excessive muscle loss, potential gall bladder problems, etc. It's going to be different for different people.
Hunger is a weird thing. Many people find that their hunger isn't an issue when they initially cut calories drastically. You're not the first person who has reported that they aren't hungry even though they're eating very little. It's just another sign that hunger isn't always tied to what our body needs (just like we can be hungry when we're consuming more than our body needs).
I recommend looking into some calorie-dense foods and adding those to your diet. Many of these foods are low in volume so you can add them without feeling "stuffed." Many people find that their hunger comes back after they've been on reduced calories for a while and this will make it easier to get what your body needs. If most of what you are eating is meat and fat, I suggest you focus on calorie-dense foods that will give you some of the vitamins that can be harder to find in meat and fat.8 -
You're male and you want to voluntarily eat only 1000 cals?
Why?7 -
Starvation mode isn't something you have to worry about. There really isn't an "official" number...more of a "if your deficit is too high" to muscle loss. 1500 calories is seen as a guideline to ensure you're getting adequate nutrition, but most likely you can lose eating more than that.2
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Uhhh...1200 calories is for small sedentary women.
You're just going to torch a bunch of muscle mass, not to mention all kinds of nastiness down the road.
The bare minimum for a sedentary male is 1500 calories
You burn around 1800 calories merely existing...so if that's the case, how does 1000 calories sound remotely healthy to you.
You're also going to bring about some major adaptive thermogenesis on such few calories...basically your body will just shut down "non-essential" functions to conserve energy and burn muscle.
I'm 5'10" and I cut on around 2300 calories at a good rate...
Hunger is driven by hormones...dieting in general *kitten* with your hormones...supper massive deficits really *kitten* with your hormones.7 -
Have you stopped almost all your carb intake? You mentioned mostly eating meat and fat. If you are doing a lower carb diet this can have effect on your appetite. Are you possibly just ignoring your body's signals to eat?
Maybe including some information about your diet, how long you have doing this etc would be helpful.
In any regard, you need to get your intake to a minimum of 1500 calories as you are heading for numerous side effects from not eating eating enough, muscle loss etc and possible longer term health issues.1 -
Have you stopped almost all your carb intake? You mentioned mostly eating meat and fat. If you are doing a lower carb diet this can have effect on your appetite. Are you possibly just ignoring your body's signals to eat?
Maybe including some information about your diet, how long you have doing this etc would be helpful.
In any regard, you need to get your intake to a minimum of 1500 calories as you are heading for numerous side effects from not eating eating enough, muscle loss etc and possible longer term health issues.
Yeah, i am not really shooting for low carb but that's what it's working out as, I'm averaging about 50g carbs daily as I've cut out bread, pasta, fries, chocolate, juice drinks. Carbs come from fruit and condiments just.
I've been doing this for about 30 days now. I'm not particularly active due to having torn knee ligaments and unsuccessful corrective operations, that's why i believe helped me pile 9n the weight. I gained about 50+ pounds in about 4 years by eating what i wanted, i think my weakness is sugary things like cakes and chocolate.
I've not really ignored my bodies hunger signals i wouldn't say but I've not really had that hunger like before when i was just burning sugar. Saying that, i would find it easier not to eat if i wanted to do that.0 -
davidmillar14 wrote: »Have you stopped almost all your carb intake? You mentioned mostly eating meat and fat. If you are doing a lower carb diet this can have effect on your appetite. Are you possibly just ignoring your body's signals to eat?
Maybe including some information about your diet, how long you have doing this etc would be helpful.
In any regard, you need to get your intake to a minimum of 1500 calories as you are heading for numerous side effects from not eating eating enough, muscle loss etc and possible longer term health issues.
Yeah, i am not really shooting for low carb but that's what it's working out as, I'm averaging about 50g carbs daily as I've cut out bread, pasta, fries, chocolate, juice drinks. Carbs come from fruit and condiments just.
I've been doing this for about 30 days now. I'm not particularly active due to having torn knee ligaments and unsuccessful corrective operations, that's why i believe helped me pile 9n the weight. I gained about 50+ pounds in about 4 years by eating what i wanted, i think my weakness is sugary things like cakes and chocolate.
I've not really ignored my bodies hunger signals i wouldn't say but I've not really had that hunger like before when i was just burning sugar. Saying that, i would find it easier not to eat if i wanted to do that.
You need to get a handle on this for sure. You gained weight because you ate too much over the course of time its not carbs/sugar in general.
I feel like you should work on your macros to balance those more that suits you because eating too little is very dangerous and depending on how long you continue this you will lose viable muscle in the process.5 -
TavistockToad wrote: »You're male and you want to voluntarily eat only 1000 cals?
Why?
I'm not voluntarily eating 1000kcal. I've been dieting and i seem to not have the urge to eat anything more and my intake is only 1000kcal after logging.1 -
Go to the section starting at Negative Effects on Weight Loss from Undereating and read from there.
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10569458/why-eating-too-little-calories-is-a-bad-idea/p12 -
Go to the section starting at Negative Effects on Weight Loss from Undereating and read from there.
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10569458/why-eating-too-little-calories-is-a-bad-idea/p1
Thanks1 -
A guy with your stats, I find it very hard to believe you're not hungry only eating 1k calories a day consistently. Maybe I'm jaded (and it's entirely possible), but when I read this kind of thing, my first thought is you're eating more than you think. Which in your case is very good news as this is an all around bad weight loss plan for reasons that have already been mentioned.
How much weight have you lost over the last month since you started doing this?4 -
How fast are you losing? That's relevant to determining what your deficit currently is and how much you may be undereating.
You don't want to lose more muscle than you need to, which is one big concern.1 -
davidmillar14 wrote: »I'm just under 200lbs and 5'10" btw.
Depending on if you work out / how active you are with your weight and height you should successfully lose weight by eating ~ 2000 calories per day or even more.
In any case eating below 1500 is dangerous. I would choose slower weight loss and wouldn't eat less than my BMR.
I'm currently 40, 190 lbs and 5'11 and I lose weight just fine eating around 2000 calories with some strength training in the mix.
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measure your food to make sure your tracking is accurate. track EVERYTHING that goes in your mouth. and eat your veggies!3
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davidmillar14 wrote: »Have you stopped almost all your carb intake? You mentioned mostly eating meat and fat. If you are doing a lower carb diet this can have effect on your appetite. Are you possibly just ignoring your body's signals to eat?
Maybe including some information about your diet, how long you have doing this etc would be helpful.
In any regard, you need to get your intake to a minimum of 1500 calories as you are heading for numerous side effects from not eating eating enough, muscle loss etc and possible longer term health issues.
Yeah, i am not really shooting for low carb but that's what it's working out as, I'm averaging about 50g carbs daily as I've cut out bread, pasta, fries, chocolate, juice drinks. Carbs come from fruit and condiments just.
I've been doing this for about 30 days now. I'm not particularly active due to having torn knee ligaments and unsuccessful corrective operations, that's why i believe helped me pile 9n the weight. I gained about 50+ pounds in about 4 years by eating what i wanted, i think my weakness is sugary things like cakes and chocolate.
I've not really ignored my bodies hunger signals i wouldn't say but I've not really had that hunger like before when i was just burning sugar. Saying that, i would find it easier not to eat if i wanted to do that.
I hope you're eating plenty of vegetables, too?!? A minimum of 5 daily servings of varied, colorful veggies would be good (10 would be better). You need micronutrients & fiber, tool (A vitamin pill is Not. The. Same.)2 -
If you're having trouble filling up your calories because you feel full, try swapping out a few of your foods for calorie dense foods. Ones to consider are: nuts, salmon, peanut butter, ice cream. No need to go crazy with them, but a few strategic substitutions should get you back up to 1,500, which is the minimum you should be at.2
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And how much weight have you been losing per week?3
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One negative medical outcome is, very low calorie diets often cause gallstones. When I did an 800 calorie diet 20+ years ago it was under a doctor's supervision and I had to get liver enzyme tests regularly. If you're going to do this, I strongly suggest you clear it with your doctor first. There can be other medical reasons why some should not be crash dieting.
Worse, it's not teaching you how to live in maintenance once the weight loss is over. That's why it's better to think in terms of permanent lifestyle changes rather than "crash" dieting. It's also more difficult to make sure you're getting all the nutrients you need on a very low calorie diet.
You're young, you're only 200 lbs and 5'10", so there's no reason you should be trying to rush things. Do it the right way and you'll have a better chance of not having to come back to MFP a few years from now with a "back again" post, and having lost any gains you got through your crash dieting.2 -
And how much weight have you been losing per week?
And the winner for Most Relevant Question in This Thread is ... ^^^
OP, the best gauge for whether you're eating too little is how fast you're losing weight. Since you've been at this for a month or more, and you're not obese (not sure if you're even overweight, given the vague statement that you're "just under" 200 lbs, whatever that means exactly), you shouldn't be losing more than 2 lbs a week, and 1 lb a week would be better. Given how many people turn out to be eating a lot more than they think they are (and you don't mention whether you're using a food scale), eat enough so that you don't lose more than 2 lbs a week on average, and aim for no more than a pound a week if you're concerned about conserving muscle during your weight loss.2 -
lynn_glenmont wrote: »And how much weight have you been losing per week?
And the winner for Most Relevant Question in This Thread is ... ^^^
OP, the best gauge for whether you're eating too little is how fast you're losing weight. Since you've been at this for a month or more, and you're not obese (not sure if you're even overweight, given the vague statement that you're "just under" 200 lbs, whatever that means exactly), you shouldn't be losing more than 2 lbs a week, and 1 lb a week would be better. Given how many people turn out to be eating a lot more than they think they are (and you don't mention whether you're using a food scale), eat enough so that you don't lose more than 2 lbs a week on average, and aim for no more than a pound a week if you're concerned about conserving muscle during your weight loss.
Exactly.
And I asked this because it is rare for someone new to logging, especially a male, to actually be eating 1200 calories (and even more so with claims not to be hungry).
I eat 1200 calories sometimes and it takes WORK. I weigh my damn spinach and log my gum.2 -
For all wanting to know my weight loss, i started at 210lbs now I'm 195lbs. Been eating how i am consistently for 28 days quite comfortably, appetite wise, I'm eating without long gaps and I'm eating good food that's not high glycemic or processed. I believe a fair bit of that initial weight loss may have been water and just the fact there's not as much food in my stomach as I'm obviously eating less food daily on average. Also the weight loss has been gradually slowing down, in the last 7 days I've lost 1.5lbs, which is a lower amount thab the weeks before obviously. I would maybe guess that since I've cut my carbs dramatically from before i was dieting and i have been lifting and going long walks, my muscle glycogen will be lower and i think glycogen in the muscles retains water (i think).
I use scales for nuts and protein powder, i tend to trust labels otherwise.
Thanks for all replies.0 -
davidmillar14 wrote: »Have you stopped almost all your carb intake? You mentioned mostly eating meat and fat. If you are doing a lower carb diet this can have effect on your appetite. Are you possibly just ignoring your body's signals to eat?
Maybe including some information about your diet, how long you have doing this etc would be helpful.
In any regard, you need to get your intake to a minimum of 1500 calories as you are heading for numerous side effects from not eating eating enough, muscle loss etc and possible longer term health issues.
Yeah, i am not really shooting for low carb but that's what it's working out as, I'm averaging about 50g carbs daily as I've cut out bread, pasta, fries, chocolate, juice drinks. Carbs come from fruit and condiments just.
I've been doing this for about 30 days now. I'm not particularly active due to having torn knee ligaments and unsuccessful corrective operations, that's why i believe helped me pile 9n the weight. I gained about 50+ pounds in about 4 years by eating what i wanted, i think my weakness is sugary things like cakes and chocolate.
I've not really ignored my bodies hunger signals i wouldn't say but I've not really had that hunger like before when i was just burning sugar. Saying that, i would find it easier not to eat if i wanted to do that.
I hope you're eating plenty of vegetables, too?!? A minimum of 5 daily servings of varied, colorful veggies would be good (10 would be better). You need micronutrients & fiber, tool (A vitamin pill is Not. The. Same.)
I meant to include vegetables. But truth be told i don't eat that much. I usually have 1 salad per day. But the thing is that's more than i used to have before the diet. Why are supplement pills not the same, vitamin wise?0 -
davidmillar14 wrote: »davidmillar14 wrote: »Have you stopped almost all your carb intake? You mentioned mostly eating meat and fat. If you are doing a lower carb diet this can have effect on your appetite. Are you possibly just ignoring your body's signals to eat?
Maybe including some information about your diet, how long you have doing this etc would be helpful.
In any regard, you need to get your intake to a minimum of 1500 calories as you are heading for numerous side effects from not eating eating enough, muscle loss etc and possible longer term health issues.
Yeah, i am not really shooting for low carb but that's what it's working out as, I'm averaging about 50g carbs daily as I've cut out bread, pasta, fries, chocolate, juice drinks. Carbs come from fruit and condiments just.
I've been doing this for about 30 days now. I'm not particularly active due to having torn knee ligaments and unsuccessful corrective operations, that's why i believe helped me pile 9n the weight. I gained about 50+ pounds in about 4 years by eating what i wanted, i think my weakness is sugary things like cakes and chocolate.
I've not really ignored my bodies hunger signals i wouldn't say but I've not really had that hunger like before when i was just burning sugar. Saying that, i would find it easier not to eat if i wanted to do that.
I hope you're eating plenty of vegetables, too?!? A minimum of 5 daily servings of varied, colorful veggies would be good (10 would be better). You need micronutrients & fiber, tool (A vitamin pill is Not. The. Same.)
I meant to include vegetables. But truth be told i don't eat that much. I usually have 1 salad per day. But the thing is that's more than i used to have before the diet. Why are supplement pills not the same, vitamin wise?
Two things, mainly:
1. Some vitamins in supplement forms have been shown to be injurious to some subpopulations even when larger amounts are beneficial in the food-sourced forms. One easy example is Vitamin A. https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminA-HealthProfessional/ .
2. I'm old (62). Over the course of my adult life, science has discovered a number of essential or beneficial nutrients (vitamins, other phytochemicals like antioxidants). Once those are identified, they're included in supplements. They were in heathy foods all along. I'd be profoundly surprised if we've now discovered all of them.
Third, speaking now only for myself, because it's hearsay/anecdotal, I've so far known three people who did research relevant to this question (I live near a major research university, and worked there - you meet lots of fun science folks). All of them suggested preferring a healthy, well rounded diet and avoiding self-prescribed OTC supplements, the latter having more unknowns and risks than benefits in general, with the possible exception of a non-mega-dose multivitamin as insurance.
In summary, food is evolution tested. We're designed to eat it. Science can help us optimize food choices within the wide array of available history-proven options, but so far IMO has not come close to replacing it. I particularly don't understand why someone would cut out processed foods, then turn around and rely on supplements for basic nutrition . . . they're kind of the ultimate processed foods.
4 -
https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/supplements/art-20044894
“Supplements aren't intended to substitute for food. They can't replicate all of the nutrients and benefits of whole foods, such as fruits and vegetables. Whole foods offer three main benefits over dietary supplements:
Greater nutrition. Whole foods are complex, containing a variety of the micronutrients your body needs.
Essential fiber. Whole foods, such as whole grains, fruits, vegetables and legumes, provide dietary fiber. As part of a healthy diet, fiber can help prevent certain diseases, such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease, and it can also help manage constipation.
Protective substances. Many whole foods are also good sources of antioxidants — substances that slow down a natural process leading to cell and tissue damage. It isn't clear that antioxidant supplements offer the same benefits as antioxidants in food. Some high-dose antioxidant supplements have been associated with health risks.”
You really need to eat vegetables and you need the fibre. The worlds Centenarian populations all ate a LOT of fibre.
Check MFP for how much you are consuming.0 -
davidmillar14 wrote: »davidmillar14 wrote: »Have you stopped almost all your carb intake? You mentioned mostly eating meat and fat. If you are doing a lower carb diet this can have effect on your appetite. Are you possibly just ignoring your body's signals to eat?
Maybe including some information about your diet, how long you have doing this etc would be helpful.
In any regard, you need to get your intake to a minimum of 1500 calories as you are heading for numerous side effects from not eating eating enough, muscle loss etc and possible longer term health issues.
Yeah, i am not really shooting for low carb but that's what it's working out as, I'm averaging about 50g carbs daily as I've cut out bread, pasta, fries, chocolate, juice drinks. Carbs come from fruit and condiments just.
I've been doing this for about 30 days now. I'm not particularly active due to having torn knee ligaments and unsuccessful corrective operations, that's why i believe helped me pile 9n the weight. I gained about 50+ pounds in about 4 years by eating what i wanted, i think my weakness is sugary things like cakes and chocolate.
I've not really ignored my bodies hunger signals i wouldn't say but I've not really had that hunger like before when i was just burning sugar. Saying that, i would find it easier not to eat if i wanted to do that.
I hope you're eating plenty of vegetables, too?!? A minimum of 5 daily servings of varied, colorful veggies would be good (10 would be better). You need micronutrients & fiber, tool (A vitamin pill is Not. The. Same.)
I meant to include vegetables. But truth be told i don't eat that much. I usually have 1 salad per day. But the thing is that's more than i used to have before the diet. Why are supplement pills not the same, vitamin wise?
Two things, mainly:
1. Some vitamins in supplement forms have been shown to be injurious to some subpopulations even when larger amounts are beneficial in the food-sourced forms. One easy example is Vitamin A. https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminA-HealthProfessional/ .
2. I'm old (62). Over the course of my adult life, science has discovered a number of essential or beneficial nutrients (vitamins, other phytochemicals like antioxidants). Once those are identified, they're included in supplements. They were in heathy foods all along. I'd be profoundly surprised if we've now discovered all of them.
Third, speaking now only for myself, because it's hearsay/anecdotal, I've so far known three people who did research relevant to this question (I live near a major research university, and worked there - you meet lots of fun science folks). All of them suggested preferring a healthy, well rounded diet and avoiding self-prescribed OTC supplements, the latter having more unknowns and risks than benefits in general, with the possible exception of a non-mega-dose multivitamin as insurance.
In summary, food is evolution tested. We're designed to eat it. Science can help us optimize food choices within the wide array of available history-proven options, but so far IMO has not come close to replacing it. I particularly don't understand why someone would cut out processed foods, then turn around and rely on supplements for basic nutrition . . . they're kind of the ultimate processed foods.
These are all good reasons to choose food over supplements when possible. Just want to add one more reason: some supplements don't have the ingredients they claim to have, and others have contaminants and potential allergens they don't mention.
for example,
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/02/03/gnc-target-wal-mart-walgreens-accused-of-selling-fake-herbals/
and
:"The United States Pharmacopeial Convention runs a voluntary testing program for supplements, testing vitamins and supplements to ensure they actually contain what they claim to in the amounts listed. Plus they test to make sure the products are contaminant-free and made with clean, safe manufacturing practices. They maintain a list of all the supplements that are certified on their website, and it contains shockingly few brands. It’s basically just NatureMade and Costco’s Kirkland Signature brand. You can also look for their USP certified label on the supplement itself."
https://www.popsci.com/dangerous-supplement-exposures#page-3
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Mate, eat! Your body is not only burning fat but also muscles. You don't want to lose them as you'd just look skinny fat in the end (and no, even as a bloke you don't rebuild muscles quickly again). There's only so much fat a body can burn, if your body needs more energy it does munch on your muscles. And hey, your heart is a muscle as well. You don't want your body to get energy from that, do you?1
This discussion has been closed.
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