Is it save to lose extra calories next to (max) food cutting?

Cheryl_mbc
Cheryl_mbc Posts: 8 Member
edited December 19 in Health and Weight Loss
Hello!

My maintainance level is at 1500 calories and I read everywhere that you shouldn't go below 1200 cals. At the moment i'm cutting with a 200/300 deficit. Is it fully responsible to lose for example 300 cals on top of my food cutting with cardio or weight training? Or could this have any negative effects? I make sure to match my macros and I go to the gym 3 times a week to work my muscles. So far im eating back the calories that I lose through gym but if it's fine to leave those cals I will

Last year I did IF with Keto and ended up with extreme hair loss. I did eat way too little calories though. Obviously I want to prevent this and do it properly this time.

Is it responsible to get rid of EXTRA calories next to food cutting through training? For example 300 with cutting food and 300 with cardio/weights.

Thanks!

Replies

  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    what are your stats to maintain on 1500? that's very low unless you're tiny and sedentary?
  • Cheryl_mbc
    Cheryl_mbc Posts: 8 Member
    edited March 2019
    TavistockToad wrote: »
    what are your stats to maintain on 1500? that's very low unless you're tiny and sedentary?

    I'm very short indeed.

  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    Cheryl_mbc wrote: »
    TavistockToad wrote: »
    what are your stats to maintain on 1500? that's very low unless you're tiny and sedentary?

    I'm very short indeed.

    you don't want to share your stats? no one can comment on your calorie goal without knowing them
  • Cheryl_mbc
    Cheryl_mbc Posts: 8 Member
    TavistockToad wrote: »
    Cheryl_mbc wrote: »
    TavistockToad wrote: »
    what are your stats to maintain on 1500? that's very low unless you're tiny and sedentary?

    I'm very short indeed.

    you don't want to share your stats? no one can comment on your calorie goal without knowing them

    I calculated this with MFP and in the past other sites came to the same conclusion that my maintainance is at 1500. My stats are: height: 150cm weight: 43kg
  • Cheryl_mbc
    Cheryl_mbc Posts: 8 Member
    edited March 2019
    Thanks for the replies

    I will continue to eat the calories back that I lose with training.
    In order to get lean I do need to lose a little more fat and gain some muscle. My goal now is to cut and maintain my current muscles as much as possible and in a while ill clean bulk to gain some more muscle.
    middlehaitch wrote: »
    If you are unhappy with your body composition look into doing a recomp.
    I have no idea what a recomp is :D

    With a caliper I get a higher body fat percentage than the simple online BMI calculators btw. (about 20.5)

  • Cheryl_mbc
    Cheryl_mbc Posts: 8 Member
    Thanks for the explanation
    Is cutting 200/300 calories close enough to maintenance level? or should it even be closer to my 1500 calories to recomp properly?

    I understand that my stats could be suprising because i'm very lightweight. I am good in proportion though. I have no visual bones anywhere and nowhere near underweight for visability. I just want to get rid of the last bit of lower belly fat so my stomach will be flatter.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,454 Member
    edited March 2019
    200-300 cut off maintenance is indeed the recommended amount for the lowest level of weight loss (1/2 pound per week.)

    I agree that eating at maintenance and doing a progressive weight lifting routine (recomp) is probably where you need to be right now. It will give you the look you want without going too low with your weight. 20 BMI is low enough to stop losing.

    On this site the calculation is done with the understanding that you will eat more on days you exercise. So enter your exercise into the Exercise tab on the days you exercise and eat more on those days. The hair loss is just the visible part of under-eating.

  • Cheryl_mbc
    Cheryl_mbc Posts: 8 Member
    cmriverside wrote: »
    The hair loss is just the visible part of under-eating.
    Yea you're right, this happened last year and i'll never eat like that anymore. Also Keto isn't for me but thats another subject.

  • MikePTY
    MikePTY Posts: 3,814 Member
    I would not eat at anything less than maintenance + your exercise calories. Both your BMI and bodyfat are already very low (20.5% BF is low for a woman who isn't very fit/an athlete). I would focus on working out and achieving your fitness goals. That will hopefully make the gains that you seek without going any lower.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    OP, these posts might be useful to you as well:

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10177803/recomposition-maintaining-weight-while-losing-fat/p1

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1161603/so-you-want-a-nice-stomach/p1

  • RelCanonical
    RelCanonical Posts: 3,882 Member
    I think it's important to note, on top of what the others above have mentioned, that a pound means more on us shorties than a pound on a taller person. Losing "slower" doesn't mean you're seeing impact slower than a tall person. You don't need as big of a deficit to get the impact.
  • apullum
    apullum Posts: 4,838 Member
    middlehaitch wrote: »
    With a BMI of 19 you are already close to the bottom of the normal BMI range. Losing more weight, especially by underfuelling by not eating back exercise calories, isn’t really advisable.

    If you are unhappy with your body composition look into doing a recomp.

    Cheers, h.

    This all the way. I'm your height and I would not recommend weight loss with your stats. Recomp is much more likely to give you the results you want.
  • Cheryl_mbc
    Cheryl_mbc Posts: 8 Member
    kimny72 wrote: »
    OP, these posts might be useful to you as well:
    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10177803/recomposition-maintaining-weight-while-losing-fat/p1
    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1161603/so-you-want-a-nice-stomach/p1
    apullum wrote: »
    This all the way. I'm your height and I would not recommend weight loss with your stats. Recomp is much more likely to give you the results you want.
    MikePTY wrote: »
    I would not eat at anything less than maintenance + your exercise calories. Both your BMI and bodyfat are already very low (20.5% BF is low for a woman who isn't very fit/an athlete). I would focus on working out and achieving your fitness goals. That will hopefully make the gains that you seek without going any lower.
    Thanks! I'm interested in recomp now that I know and read about it. I'll gather some more information and stories about it.

    kshama2001 wrote: »
    Have you seen this thread? https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10689837/does-this-uterus-make-my-stomach-look-fat/p1
    Thank you. I know there's nothing wrong with my belly. I already look fit but I do want to improve it a little more. I don't want to go extreme on it.

    RelCanonical wrote: »
    I think it's important to note, on top of what the others above have mentioned, that a pound means more on us shorties than a pound on a taller person. Losing "slower" doesn't mean you're seeing impact slower than a tall person. You don't need as big of a deficit to get the impact.
    That's indeed a nice fact that I never really stood still at :smile:


  • mfpiifym2019
    mfpiifym2019 Posts: 23 Member
    Some great examples of body recomp - it's not always about the number on the scale!

    https://www.health.com/mind-body/before-and-after-weight-loss-social-media
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