Worried I am not eating enough

Russjass1
Russjass1 Posts: 5 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I have a daily goal of 1500 calories and I am usually eating between 1300-1500. Have gone hardcore on rigid meal prep, and have no food in the house at all except pre-made meals in the fridge and freezer (snacking was my huge weakness and my never ending battle.)

I also walk twice a day for 20-45 minutes and have started doing some beginner level bodyweight exercises.

My fitbit is linked to my mfp account, and I sync up once a day, in the evening.

After mfp performs the calorie adjustment the food I have eaten is still at 1300-1500, but the calories remaining will be anywhere from 600-1000. If I am hungry I have some oatmeal or a bananna, but I am not usually hungry.

So, my question is: If I am eating up to 1000 calories below my adjusted "goal", is this a problem? Have read 1 set of articles saying survival mode is a myth etc, and another saying not eating enough will make you gain weight.

Am currently still losing weight.

Anyone have any experience with this?

Replies

  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    You haven't mentioned your stats, how much weight you are trying to lose and how quickly you are losing weight but as a male that is an absolutely tiny amount of calories. Sounds like a problem to me.

  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    autumnblade75 wrote: »
    Not eating enough will not make you gain weight. Not eating enough will cause you to lose more muscle instead of fat, leaving you worse off in the long run.

    Your profile indicates that you are male. 1500 is the lowest calorie goal suggested for men for a reason. Most men should probably eat more, even for weight loss.

    If all you want is to lose weight, than I don't guess you've got a problem. If you want to lose fat, but not muscle, you should eat more and use your muscles, so that your body recognizes them as important. Resistance training, rather than cardio. (But cardio is good for your heart, so maybe find some time for that, too.)

    Cardio is also a signal to your body to retain its muscle, not as strong a signal as resistance training but it's not something to be avoided in a deficit as long as you fuel it properly. Cardio is only going to be an issue if used to create an excessive deficit but that's the problem with the excessive deficit not the cardio itself.
  • Russjass1
    Russjass1 Posts: 5 Member
    Thanks for the replies, will aim to reach my adjusted goals each day, I think.
    As to stats, very very overweight, 5"7, 206 pounds. Aiming at 2lbs a week.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    You are just barely into the range of weight to lose that 2lb weekly is reasonable, under 50 lbs to healthy weight then 1.5 usually becomes more reasonable.

    I'll mention too the adjustment you are getting is based on daily calorie burn, calculated from distance moved, which of course is based on your stride length setting ultimately.

    Ever walked a known distance (track, measured trail, ect) and confirmed the Fitbit saw it right?
    And this should be at your avg daily pace - not grocery store shuffle, not exercise level pace, but probably 2 mph or tad slower.
    That lets the Fitbit dynamically adjust to faster or slower pace correctly for each step.

    So that could be throwing off the Fitbit daily burn, which could make that adjustment wrong.

    There adaptations your body will make in the face of a deficit bigger than it wants - but the common myths that go with undereating too much aren't true, like holding onto the fat, gaining fat (water weight perhaps yes), starting if you skip breakfast, preventing fat loss.

    But studies have proved your body can slow itself down so you don't burn at the same higher level you used to or could unrelated to lost weight or muscle - and that sort of stressed out body sure doesn't benefit from workouts and transforming as well as it could if not as big a deficit.

    Lose 5 lbs but body appears to have lost 10 because it improved from workouts, or lose 10 lbs but barely look like you did. Rarely do people see your scale weight, but they sure see you.
  • mikeofeconomy
    mikeofeconomy Posts: 29 Member
    Bonking during cardio (long bicycle rides, runs, or rows) is one possible indicator of eating too little, but it could also be just meal timing. I find if I skip breakfast before a morning ride or row, or lunch before an afternoon ride or row, that will definitely make for worse performance. If I'm also not getting enough calories over a week, I will bonk completely. I've reset my targets at least 4 times in the past 2 months. I started at 1500; it was too low. Raised it to 1800; that was too high. The current setting (est. BMR) is 1461, and I eat some, but not all, of my exercise calories (use Polar Flow.) Depending on the day, I may hit 2000, 2500, or higher, but I try not to be under BMR for days on end. This seems to work; I'm losing fat .. for now. Remember that we're all different, we're changing as we go, and trackers estimate. Track your results and tweak accordingly.
  • Russjass1
    Russjass1 Posts: 5 Member
    Thanks for your replies, some good advice and guidance.
    I am not really noticing a lack of performance in cardio, but I am also not really going gung ho at it either, just starting out to be honest. With my bodyweight workout I am noticing consistent improvement in my exercises, particularly push-ups, but....who knows? I am so new to exercise I have no way to see what is improving properly and what is being hampered with not eating enough.

    Have increased my activity level on here to "Lightly active" and have re-set my goal to 1.5 pounds a week rather than 2, and will keep an eye on that. But I am going to treat exercise added calories on here lightly and eat them if I am hungry, some of them if I am a bit hungry etc, and just see what happens for a couple of weeks.

    Thanks all!
  • hroderick
    hroderick Posts: 756 Member
    I'm proportionally about the same as you. I have a desk job so use sedentary setting. I try to be precise in my calorie measurements both in and out. I don't use fitbit, but do use the best exercise calculators I can find online. My minimum base of 1500 projects 1.7 per week. I do about 800 worth of cardio each day for a total of 2300. I eat 1800 and leave 500 uneaten. This gives me room for imprecision and where that isn't needed, an extra pound off each week. It feels like plenty of food. All the food is clean, balanced, and nutritious. I've been doing this all year with great results, no illness, no negative side effects.
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,463 Member
    You can add in a few calorie dense foods like nuts, PB, butter, olive oil, avocado to get the extra calories easily and healthfully.
  • Russjass1
    Russjass1 Posts: 5 Member
    lorrpb wrote: »
    You can add in a few calorie dense foods like nuts, PB, butter, olive oil, avocado to get the extra calories easily and healthfully.

    Was exactly my thinking, gonna make up a few "Snack bags" of mixed nuts etc
  • gpb2066
    gpb2066 Posts: 4 Member
    I recently started using this app again within the last 3 weeks, I am going to the gym and doing cardio and weights with a personal trainer. My personal trainer said I should be set at 1500 calories per day and finding it hard to consume so much food. (never thought I would have this problem!) I have about 50 lbs to lose. Yesterday without the exercise calories added, I only ate about 1000 calories. help!!
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    gpb2066 wrote: »
    I recently started using this app again within the last 3 weeks, I am going to the gym and doing cardio and weights with a personal trainer. My personal trainer said I should be set at 1500 calories per day and finding it hard to consume so much food. (never thought I would have this problem!) I have about 50 lbs to lose. Yesterday without the exercise calories added, I only ate about 1000 calories. help!!

    Are you using a food scale? Double checking that the entries you are using in the database have accurate calorie info? 1000 calories is just not a lot of food. These threads might help:

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10012907/logging-accuracy-consistency-and-youre-probably-eating-more-than-you-think/p1

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1234699/logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide/p1
  • amy19355
    amy19355 Posts: 805 Member
    edited October 2018
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    Russjass1 wrote: »
    Thanks for the replies, will aim to reach my adjusted goals each day, I think.
    As to stats, very very overweight, 5"7, 206 pounds. Aiming at 2lbs a week.

    I too aim for 2lbs a week, HOWEVER, with the caveat that if I only hit 1lb a week it is ok.

    It took me 7 years to pack on an extra unwanted and unhealthy 60 (sixty) pounds; it is unrealistic to believe I can accomplish a permanent lifestyle change AND lose all 60 pounds in a short period of time. 60 lbs at 2lbs a week goal is a little over six months to change a 7-year habit.

    I weigh myself daily but I don’t stress over the daily ups and downs as long as I see a downward trend over time equal to a pound a week. I don’t want to lose too fast because it’s my desire that this is the last weight loss diet I ever have to go on.
  • solieco1
    solieco1 Posts: 1,559 Member
    Make it sustainable. You don't want to have to do this more than once if possible.
  • Noreenmarie1234
    Noreenmarie1234 Posts: 7,492 Member
    quiksylver296 wrote: »
    gpb2066 wrote: »
    I recently started using this app again within the last 3 weeks, I am going to the gym and doing cardio and weights with a personal trainer. My personal trainer said I should be set at 1500 calories per day and finding it hard to consume so much food. (never thought I would have this problem!) I have about 50 lbs to lose. Yesterday without the exercise calories added, I only ate about 1000 calories. help!!

    You usually get better answers if you start your own thread, rather than hi-jack someone else's.

    That said, do you use a food scale to weigh everything? I'd start there, to make sure you aren't overestimating.

    It is common to find undereating easy in the first few months. It's doing that long term that you would find unsustainable. I can undereat a few days here and there easily. Most normal people who don't calorie count have lower days just by chance. If you aren't overestimating I am sure you will find 1000 calories unsustainable after a prolonged period of time.
  • MelanieCN77
    MelanieCN77 Posts: 4,047 Member
    If you're feeling full and generally well fueled, I would double check logging and also examine what Fitbit is saying. Sometimes devices provide some "burned" calories that are already accounted for in the MFP number based on its estimate of your BMR plus activity level.

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