Why eating too little calories is a bad idea.....
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musicfan68 wrote: »brianneangell08 wrote: »I am on my second start. my first, I lost no weight. Recalculated my TDEE to reflect the fact that yes, even though i work out a few times a week, I'm otherwise not that active--so its 1440 (I'm 5'1" and 125). . That puts me at 1200 to lose 1/2 lb a week. I'm going a bit under some days that I can have a nice meal out or two this week. My goal is to lose 5-8 pounds, but once I have a new 'set point' I'd really like build up enough muscle/get enough exercise that I can maintain on 1500. I know this seems low, but I am a 40 something short woman...
Yes! It's so frustrating for us shorties! My TDEE is only about 1510, so even 0.5 lb/week would mean a calorie intake of 1260 ... personally, I opt to eat at 1300 because any lower and I get cranky! The rate of loss is sooo frustratingly slow.
I think this is something that isn't acknowledged on MFP a lot.
Not everyone is tall (or even average height) and not everyone is able to or chooses to work out. For some, even a 0.5 lb a week deficit puts them at 1200-1300 calories a week. Not everyone eating at 1200-1300 calories is 'starving themselves' it's just what they have to eat in order to lose weight even at a very slow pace.
This would be me. I've been trying to hit 1260 a day, and that was set for lightly active, 1 lb a week loss. I finally backed it down to .5 so I can get closer to 1500 calories a day.
Awesome point. This is not a race on a TV show. Losing weight was not the hard part of the last 40 years but taking 40 years to learn to change my Way Of Eating so weight loss and maintaining was automated in my my case was the hard part. 40 years of 100%+ regains just about killed me. I lost 50 pounds the first year and have maintained that loss for the past three years.
We need to each find the WOE that works for each of us and just do that.
If one can not or will not lose .5 pounds a week then they can never lose 2 pounds a week any way.
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Wow great information. I had an ex that would get grumpy if he didn't get enough sleep. Overall the accuracy is what I like from what I heard. How do you get a food scale? Or where, i mean?!2
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nathalieprudencio wrote: »Wow great information. I had an ex that would get grumpy if he didn't get enough sleep. Overall the accuracy is what I like from what I heard. How do you get a food scale? Or where, i mean?!
Most larger supermarkets have them in the kitchen section, or you can get one online from Amazon, etc.2 -
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Thanks for bumping this thread. This is something I've been struggling with during my first month here. It just seems a bit...unnatural...to be able to eat more while I'm trying to get rid of the weight that has held me back for so long. I suppose the hardest aspect of this so far isn't the calorie counting, or the logging, or weighing every single thing- the hard part is retraining my brain to think of this in terms of lifelong improvements, not lifelong restrictions.12
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GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »I just wanted to add that I experienced the binge/restrict reaction to trying to have a deficit that was too aggressive and have learned my lesson the hard way.
I am slowly coming out of that now and am currently eating at a 250 calorie deficit and my desire to binge is greatly curbed.
It's been a long road, part of that involved getting my settings right between MFP and Fitbit, part of it involved finding the right macro balance for me, and part of it has involved changing my meal timing. However, the biggest factor was just stopping the rush to the finish line (stupid last 5 pounds!).
Well, that last 5 pounds is now 10, and I'm not in any rush. In the real world, I'm not a fast runner, I don't know what made me think I could be a sprinter in the dieting world!
Nailed it! I've been trying to restrict my calories too much and I'm gaining as a result. Some is probably water weight (I don't drink nearly enough of that wonderful H2O stuff) but the rest is most likely my body thinking I'm starving myself and it's holding on for dear life.
I've also realized (today, in fact) 135 lbs is not in the cards for me. 140? Yup! No prob. So, accepting your body's limits goes a long way too.
That's not at all what @GottaBurnEmAll was saying. She was saying when her deficit was too steep (due to a weekly weight loss goal that was too aggressive), that led to hunger and cravings that would cause her to binge. The binges resulted in taking in more calories that either reduced or wiped out her deficit. This behavior can slow down or prevent weight loss. People don't fail to lose weight because they are eating too few calories.
Here's that same explanation in chart form:
https://www.aworkoutroutine.com/1200-calorie-diet/21 -
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kshama2001 wrote: »
Hmmm. He's wrong about something.
"Popular diet apps like MyFitnessPal constantly suggesting “1200 calories” as the ideal daily calorie intake for a wide range of the women who use it."
MFP has it set as a floor, not as an ideal. Funny that MFP is set up pretty much to agree with what he says, but he misses this point (and I like the site).
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Tacklewasher wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »
Hmmm. He's wrong about something.
"Popular diet apps like MyFitnessPal constantly suggesting “1200 calories” as the ideal daily calorie intake for a wide range of the women who use it."
MFP has it set as a floor, not as an ideal. Funny that MFP is set up pretty much to agree with what he says, but he misses this point (and I like the site).
Yes, it only appears as if MFP is suggesting 1200 as an ideal because everyone runs in and chooses 2 pounds per week and sedentary. I still think a 'suggested rate of loss' based on current weight and goal weight would be a valuable addition to the goal setup screen.16 -
nathalieprudencio wrote: »Wow great information. I had an ex that would get grumpy if he didn't get enough sleep. Overall the accuracy is what I like from what I heard. How do you get a food scale? Or where, i mean?!
Really? Walmart, Target, Kohls, Bed Bath and Beyond, Shopko, basically any department store that has a kitchen section - and they all do. Or Amazon.1 -
Sheesh: MFP has never suggested 1200 Calories/day for me.Tacklewasher wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »
Hmmm. He's wrong about something.
"Popular diet apps like MyFitnessPal constantly suggesting “1200 calories” as the ideal daily calorie intake for a wide range of the women who use it."
MFP has it set as a floor, not as an ideal. Funny that MFP is set up pretty much to agree with what he says, but he misses this point (and I like the site).
Yes, it only appears as if MFP is suggesting 1200 as an ideal because everyone runs in and chooses 2 pounds per week and sedentary. I still think a 'suggested rate of loss' based on current weight and goal weight would be a valuable addition to the goal setup screen.
(I've always put in "sedentary," because I always have been; but I've never put in more than 1.5 lbs/week.)
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Evelyn_Gorfram wrote: »
Sheesh: MFP has never suggested 1200 Calories/day for me.Tacklewasher wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »
Hmmm. He's wrong about something.
"Popular diet apps like MyFitnessPal constantly suggesting “1200 calories” as the ideal daily calorie intake for a wide range of the women who use it."
MFP has it set as a floor, not as an ideal. Funny that MFP is set up pretty much to agree with what he says, but he misses this point (and I like the site).
Yes, it only appears as if MFP is suggesting 1200 as an ideal because everyone runs in and chooses 2 pounds per week and sedentary. I still think a 'suggested rate of loss' based on current weight and goal weight would be a valuable addition to the goal setup screen.
(I've always put in "sedentary," because I always have been; but I've never put in more than 1.5 lbs/week.)
It's clear from some of the posts here that if MFP let you select a faster than 2 lbs per week weight loss, we'd have folks trying to get by on 800 cals a day.
@pinuplove is right. It would be nice to see MFP give a suggested weight loss rate based on current height/weight.10 -
Tacklewasher wrote: »Evelyn_Gorfram wrote: »
Sheesh: MFP has never suggested 1200 Calories/day for me.Tacklewasher wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »
Hmmm. He's wrong about something.
"Popular diet apps like MyFitnessPal constantly suggesting “1200 calories” as the ideal daily calorie intake for a wide range of the women who use it."
MFP has it set as a floor, not as an ideal. Funny that MFP is set up pretty much to agree with what he says, but he misses this point (and I like the site).
Yes, it only appears as if MFP is suggesting 1200 as an ideal because everyone runs in and chooses 2 pounds per week and sedentary. I still think a 'suggested rate of loss' based on current weight and goal weight would be a valuable addition to the goal setup screen.
(I've always put in "sedentary," because I always have been; but I've never put in more than 1.5 lbs/week.)
It's clear from some of the posts here that if MFP let you select a faster than 2 lbs per week weight loss, we'd have folks trying to get by on 800 cals a day.
@pinuplove is right. It would be nice to see MFP give a suggested weight loss rate based on current height/weight.
Just memorializing the time @Tacklewasher was nice to me!5 -
Evelyn_Gorfram wrote: »
Sheesh: MFP has never suggested 1200 Calories/day for me.Tacklewasher wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »
Hmmm. He's wrong about something.
"Popular diet apps like MyFitnessPal constantly suggesting “1200 calories” as the ideal daily calorie intake for a wide range of the women who use it."
MFP has it set as a floor, not as an ideal. Funny that MFP is set up pretty much to agree with what he says, but he misses this point (and I like the site).
Yes, it only appears as if MFP is suggesting 1200 as an ideal because everyone runs in and chooses 2 pounds per week and sedentary. I still think a 'suggested rate of loss' based on current weight and goal weight would be a valuable addition to the goal setup screen.
(I've always put in "sedentary," because I always have been; but I've never put in more than 1.5 lbs/week.)
You would eventually, if you kept the sedentary setting and set it to lose 2 pounds a week
For my height and weight, set to sedentary, I get 1350 calories when set to lose 1/2 pound per week - which means I'd hit the 1200 floor at 1, 1.5, or 2 pounds. 1 -
1200 probably appears default to new users, who then hear of others that got it, as if some big surprise.
And precisely because of picking Sedentary and 2 lb loss goal.
A chart of recommended loss rates would be great.
A tad more on activity levels would be smart also - so many getting activity trackers that look at what they get before they get inspired to move more - already moving into Lightly Active.
A 40 hr desk job doesn't mean sedentary lifestyle for the other 40 hrs during the week and then throw the weekend in there.5 -
1200 probably appears default to new users, who then hear of others that got it, as if some big surprise.
And precisely because of picking Sedentary and 2 lb loss goal.
A chart of recommended loss rates would be great.
A tad more on activity levels would be smart also - so many getting activity trackers that look at what they get before they get inspired to move more - already moving into Lightly Active.
A 40 hr desk job doesn't mean sedentary lifestyle for the other 40 hrs during the week and then throw the weekend in there.
All very true...2 -
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