Can’t get over 900 calories?? Is this hindering my loss?

bedstrom54 · July 2019

I’m 5’1”, 25, and 170 pounds... I’m trying to lose 50 pounds. I’m having a really hard time hitting the recommended 1200 calories. Is that really necessary to lose weight? I just had a baby a few months ago so the only real exercise I’m getting is picking him up all the time. I don’t feel lethargic or sick, I feel fine. For example, I had a banana for breakfast, chicken with veggies for lunch, and a cobb salad for dinner, and peppers for a snack. that seems pretty balanced to me. Hardly hit 850 calories. Is it important I up my intake of calories to lose weight??

lg013 · July 2019

I don’t know portions here, but:

1 banana- 120-140 calories
4 ounces of chicken and a cup of some sort of veggies for lunch let’s say they are steamed I’ll put at 310 calories
Cobb salads are really going to vary based on the ingredients and size—but if it’s got the works—likely 600-700 calories
Peppers: 30 calories

1050-1170 calories

Again, extremely hard to estimate without a lot of details, but make sure you’re accurately measuring all liquids and weighing all other food.

missysippy930 · July 2019

No.
You are hindering your health, and your baby’s if your breastfeeding.

kshama2001 · July 2019

Giving people the benefit of the doubt there are two other reasons:

1. Person has changed to a diet they find more filling, ex, higher protein and fiber, and are in a "honeymoon" period while their appetite adjusts.
2. Person is making common logging errors and is eating more than they think.

@bedstrom54:

1. If you have been doing this for at least month and are not losing more than expected, you are eating more than you think. Please change your Diary Sharing settings to Public: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings
2. If you are losing more than expected, eat more calorie dense foods like peanut butter, nuts, cheese, high fat cuts of meat, etc.

apullum · July 2019

You absolutely need to stop undereating.

Are you weighing all your food using a food scale? If not, then you may be eating more than you think you are.

When you start weighing all your food, if you are still under your calories, add high calorie/low volume food like butter, ice cream, nut butters, and extra oil in your cooking.

If you’re still not able to eat enough, go to the doctor.

lgfrie · July 2019

If you are having a hard time eating 900 calories, you should be consulting with a doctor, not an online forum. No, eating 850 calories per day is unsafe and unsound, and maybe you need to hear that from a medical professional before you go any further with this.

Pipsqueak1965 · July 2019

Well, as others have said, you must have managed to eat a lot more than 900 calories a day over a fairly long period of time to be in a position to need to lose 50 pounds, so I don't really understand why you can't do it now?

jjpptt2 · July 2019

Is it important to up your calories to lose weight? No.

Is it important to up your calories to improve health/nutrition? Yes. Most definitely.
- you're not getting enough protein
- you're probably not getting enough fat
- you sure as heck aren't getting enough/all the vitamins/minerals you need

SchmancyName · July 2019

Actually I ended up here because I was only eating ~900 calories a day. In January of this year I was 328lbs. I'm a 5'11" male. I was/still am, obese. I decided enough was enough, and had seen all these "fake" fasting, low calorie stories online. And decided I'll force myself to do this to drop the weight. Well guess what. I successfully trained myself to only eat 900 calories a day, and have been doing so for 5 months. And here we are in July and I've lost ~50lbs. But I feel like utter crap, all the time. Worse than I did at my biggest weight.

I started having joint issues. Muscle aches all over. Weird pains in my chest. I feel tired all the time. I get lots of headaches as well. So I went to my doctor yesterday finally and he told me its because I am malnourished. I wasn't eating properly. Yes I was losing weight, but it was hurting my body. I lost a lot of muscle as well, which was most of the weight loss. He recommend I get on a site like this to help me better track what I eat, so I eat healthier and not just calorie count. Seeing it laid out he said and not just in my head should help me realize what I'm missing from my diet.

Yesterday was my first day on the site. And I failed to hit the 1,720 calories it told me to hit (based on my weight and wanting to lose 2lbs a week). Because I got so used to so little food, I had a hard time eating much more than I was. I felt like my old self, trying to eat more even thought I was full. Which was a very strange mental thing. But I have to train my stomach to let me eat more again, so I can eat healthier. And this site chastised me for not hitting the target, which will be helpful. I have to do better today. I used to think just eating very little and getting 1-2, 20-30 minute light aerobic exercises sessions per week was healthy. Now I know better. It means losing my last ~125lbs is going to take much longer. But I'll be healthier, and feel better while doing so.

lgfrie · July 2019

^^ @oulzac A hard-won lesson which I also experienced a few years ago. I was almost your exact weight and height when I started back then, and dove into a 1200 calorie diet, but a lot of days I ate less because (obviously) I wanted to lose weight as fast as humanly possible. I did lose a LOT of weight fast but felt really fatigued and just generally bad. And, no surprise, one day I got tired of starving myself and then I gained the weight back. It was unbelievable how fast the weight came back. Faster than I even had a chance to acknowledge and address it.

Lesson learned.

Now I follow MFP's guidelines for 2 lbs/week, eat plenty of nutritious food, get moderate cardio everyday, and feel good. By the way, even the 2 lbs/week is pretty aggressive - that's something you don't realize at first when you're in the highly motivated phase and it all seems so easy, like "why do other people have such a hard time with this?!" but I'm in month 4 now, and when you're staring at months and months of "rinse and repeat" at a 2 lb/week clip, another couple hundred calories a day seems awfully nice LOL I am thinking about ratcheting it down to 1.5 lbs/week after I lose another 10 pounds. Right now I'm at 45 lbs lost in 4 months and I feel good about that but I also feel like enough is enough with the 1,000 calorie deficit every day.

I do believe slow-and-steady with gradual adoption of a better long-term, hopefully permanent, relationship with food is the way to go. When is the last time -- if ever -- you saw someone who did a crash diet keep the weight off? That just doesn't work.

cwolfman13 · July 2019

bedstrom54 wrote: »

I’m 5’1”, 25, and 170 pounds... I’m trying to lose 50 pounds. I’m having a really hard time hitting the recommended 1200 calories. Is that really necessary to lose weight? I just had a baby a few months ago so the only real exercise I’m getting is picking him up all the time. I don’t feel lethargic or sick, I feel fine. For example, I had a banana for breakfast, chicken with veggies for lunch, and a cobb salad for dinner, and peppers for a snack. that seems pretty balanced to me. Hardly hit 850 calories. Is it important I up my intake of calories to lose weight??

You are doing your health a disservice by consuming so few calories. There's no way you're getting adequate fat and protein eating like that, nor are you getting all of your essential vitamins and minerals. Calories are important to your health...they are the unit of energy that our bodies use to function. You burn a crap ton of calories just being alive (hint, it's more than 850)...the average female burns in the neighborhood of 1300-1400 calories merely existing. You might feel fine now, but these this forum is littered with posts from people losing their hair, nails going brittle, losing their menstrual cycles, etc...because those functions require energy (calories)

Eating too few calories can also jack with your hormones and raise cortisol levels which can inhibit fat loss and make things more difficult.

NovusDies · July 2019

bedstrom54 wrote: »

I’m 5’1”, 25, and 170 pounds... I’m trying to lose 50 pounds. I’m having a really hard time hitting the recommended 1200 calories. Is that really necessary to lose weight? I just had a baby a few months ago so the only real exercise I’m getting is picking him up all the time. I don’t feel lethargic or sick, I feel fine. For example, I had a banana for breakfast, chicken with veggies for lunch, and a cobb salad for dinner, and peppers for a snack. that seems pretty balanced to me. Hardly hit 850 calories. Is it important I up my intake of calories to lose weight??

I would guess you are eating more than you think but it still may not be enough. The answer is not to ask if it is okay to eat less the answer is to eat other higher calorie foods. You should not be surprised at the end of the day that lower calorie foods end adding up to a lower calorie day. How else would it end? It is simple math.

Hannahwalksfar · July 2019

Get a doctor to go over you thoroughly.

cbihatt · August 2019

If you have just recently started trying to lose weight, it is not all that unusual to not hit your target. Probably a combination of things like eating more filling foods, being highly motivated to lose weight, and not having the experience or confidence to let the process work. It’s possible that you may naturally begin to eat more as you continue.

That said, if you have been undereating for more than a few weeks, you really should make an effort to increase your intake before it becomes a real problem. Try adding some more calorie dense foods...avocado, nuts, and full fat dairy products are examples.

Don’t be afraid to hit your calorie target or even go slightly over. Sometimes it is helpful to look at your weekly calorie totals to see how you are performing, relative to your goals. Remember that if you are aiming to lose one pound a week, your deficit is 3500 calories under maintenance, per week. And, as long as you are eating under maintenance, you are losing. You don’t have to be under target every day in order to lose.

Can’t get over 900 calories?? Is this hindering my loss?

Replies

Categories