Help
jamie9138
Posts: 8 Member
I am just starting out, I don’t really understand Macros etc. I obviously know to keep my calories in deficit to lose weight ( my goal ) I have been told to stay under 1500 calories per day, I have some fruit in the morning and a protein shake at lunch and a healthy dinner around 6/6:30. My calorie intake for each day this week has sat around the 1000 mark. I’m only feeling hungry when I should be. However the app is saying try more nutrient rich snacks/food/ beverages. Does anyone have any advice & or recommendations for these? I can’t train for 3 weeks due to injury so atm very inactive. Should I be worried about the lack of calories? What is the best way to increase my nutrient intake? Apologies for the long essay. Just very in the dark with this. Thanks in advance.
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Replies
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For me personally that is NOT enough food at all! Are you saying you aren't hungry after eating these things throughout the day?
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What are your stats (age/height/current weight) and goal weight.
1000 calories is very very low and will not help you recover from your injury.
Who/What has told you to stay under 1500 calories?6 -
1st since you're a male, the minimum amount of calories' 1500.
2nd depending upon if your weight's an immediate danger, to your health & depending upon what your injury's, a deficit might hinder your ability to heal.
Even if you weren't dealing, with an injury but especially since you're this isn't just worrisome, it's dangerous.
Since you aren't hungry, I suggest adding some low volume but calorie dense items such as: olive oil, peanut butter, most condiments & salad dressings.3 -
App is telling you to eat more nutrient dense food because you aren't eating enough food. 1500 is the lowest amount a male should consume and 1200 for female. It won't kill you immediately if you go below it, but your body will begin eating away at things you want to keep. Eat more food, and you'll be fine.4
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Thank you. It’s the app that’s telling me to stick to 1500 per day 🤔 am I misunderstanding it?0
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I use an ANDI chart to help make decisions on nutritional food choices. It's easy enough to find one on the internet. Although this doesn't fit your circumstance, I find that foods that have more nutritional density help me cut down on cravings. As far as nutritional density goes, it starts with leafy green vegetables with beans usually being next.1
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Thank you. It’s the app that’s telling me to stick to 1500 per day 🤔 am I misunderstanding it?
Based on what you input into the guided setup, but you may have selected too aggressive a goal. Or maybe not.tinkerbellang83 wrote: »What are your stats (age/height/current weight) and goal weight.
1000 calories is very very low and will not help you recover from your injury.
Who/What has told you to stay under 1500 calories?
Please answer these questions so we can better help you.
In short, 1000 calories per day is too few and certainly will not aid recovery from injury. Not to mention it is setting you to potentially fail in this diet in the short term or experience long term health problems.2 -
31, 174cm , 107KG goal weight 80-85kg0
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Ah ok, I’ll change that now. Thanks very much everybody for your help and input. Really appreciated3
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Weight loss occurs when you're in a calorie deficit. Sustainable, safe and effective weight loss occurs when you're in a moderate calorie deficit. As far as weight loss is concerned macros don't matter beyond meeting minimums of fat and protein and in regards to feeling 'full' and satisfied as different people find different macros filling.
Weight loss occurs in the kitchen and is by and large determined by what you put in your mouth rather than exercise. I and many others have lost significant amounts of weight with zero exercise so not being able to work out will have little to no impact on your ability to drop weight as long as you're addressing your calorie intake.
1000cal/day is WAY to low unless you're under close medical supervision and even then I'd be questioning the competency of the doctor who recommended such a low calorie target.
You've got weight to lose which means that you've eaten excess calories, consistently, frequently and over a long period of time. So history demonstrates that it's not a case of being unable to eat enough calories, as your situation shows. So only getting to 1000cal/day must come down to something else and since I'm not a doctor I'm going to disregard any of the unlikely medical causes.
This leads me to guess that you've done something I've been guilty of in the past. You've over corrected. So, If you're anything like me previously you've gotten all gung ho about losing weight and made a drastic overhaul of your eating patterns and diet? Be honest, is it that you can't eat more than 1000cal/day because you just can't eat that much no matter what, or is it that you're not allowing yourself high calorie foods that you've labelled as 'bad' or 'junk'?
In the past I would 'cut out the junk' and decided to eat 'healthy'. I'd stopped eating foods I want and like to eat because I labelled them as bad (I mean I got fat eating them so they must be bad, right?) and started eating 'healthy' foods I I didn't hate, but also didn't particularly like, but rather tolerate because I thought it was what I should be eating.
The combination of super low calorie dense "health" foods meant that I had to eat A LOT of them in order to eat enough calories, but since all these "health" foods weren't particularly appealing I had no appetite so would struggle to eat much at all. So low cal foods that didn't appeal to me made me think I was on the right track. I was 'eating healthy' and no longer felt like I had such a ravenous appetite. Awesome, until it wasn't. The problem was eventually I'd get hungry enough that I'd 'fall off the wagon', my body needed energy so I'd lose control, give up and go right back to my previous overeating habits.
One of the keys to the success I've seen this time round (over 50kg/100lbs lost) was the decision to stop moralising food. I stopped demonising foods just because they were considered 'junk' or because they were dense in calories. My successful weight loss has come eating exactly the same food that made me fat with one caveat. I now keep a track and make sure I eat those foods in a calorie deficit.
G'luck7 -
DanP wow! You’ve completely hit the nail on the head.
I have been eating bad/junk food for a long period of time. I could easily hit a higher calorie intake if I ate the same as what I have.
Like you said I think I’ve dived into the deep end with it but completely cutting out junk food. I am trying to eat purely whole food and really healthy stuff and still reach my calorie intake which I’m struggling with.
I knew from the start that the 1000-1500 calories a day was too low for my health hence why I asked for help/advice on here.
I’ll keep at it as it’s clearly learn as you go and do the wrong things before I realise what is right for me.
I just wish there was a ‘ dummies guide ‘ just to tell me what to eat and when and still lose weight to improve my health etc.
Thank you2 -
DanP wow! You’ve completely hit the nail on the head.
I have been eating bad/junk food for a long period of time. I could easily hit a higher calorie intake if I ate the same as what I have.
Like you said I think I’ve dived into the deep end with it but completely cutting out junk food. I am trying to eat purely whole food and really healthy stuff and still reach my calorie intake which I’m struggling with.
I knew from the start that the 1000-1500 calories a day was too low for my health hence why I asked for help/advice on here.
I’ll keep at it as it’s clearly learn as you go and do the wrong things before I realise what is right for me.
I just wish there was a ‘ dummies guide ‘ just to tell me what to eat and when and still lose weight to improve my health etc.
Thank you
Not exactly a dummies guide
but there are Most Helpful Posts threads pinned to the top of each forum with lots of great info! These right here are a great starting point:
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10636388/free-customized-personal-weight-loss-eating-plan-not-spam-or-mlm/p1
Just keep learning, good luck!3 -
Thank you. It’s the app that’s telling me to stick to 1500 per day 🤔 am I misunderstanding it?
The 1500 goal is based on your inputs. If you put in an aggressive weekly weight loss goal, the app defaults to the minimum.
1500 is for short, sedentary and/or elderly men.
Calorie dense foods - nuts, nut butters, roast your veggies in olive oil, avocado, full fat dairy. You want to lose fat yet keep muscle mass.1 -
I would stick to about 1500 calories. Make sure that you minimize complex carbs to about 50 g per day; include 4 cups of veggies and 12-16 oz of lean protein, and 3-4 servings of healthy fat. per day. Minimum of 2 litres per of water day. No sugar. Exercise is great, but overkill will deplete your energy and muscle and you won't lose much weight.0
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JulieMDEmery wrote: »I would stick to about 1500 calories. Make sure that you minimize complex carbs to about 50 g per day; include 4 cups of veggies and 12-16 oz of lean protein, and 3-4 servings of healthy fat. per day. Minimum of 2 litres per of water day. No sugar. Exercise is great, but overkill will deplete your energy and muscle and you won't lose much weight.
That might be your preference, but none of that is necessary for OP to lose weight.8 -
Also, since I haven't seen it recommended yet, get a food scale - if you aren't weighing what you are eating, you may find that you are actually eating more than you think you are - so that 1,000 calories may be more like 1,300.
For instance: I once picked up a banana at the local grocery store as a snack to eat on my way home. Since the receipt has the actual weight, I looked it up to enter it into my log. I was shocked to see that banana actually weighed 8 oz! What I thought was a 150 calorie banana was actually 250.3 -
DanP wow! You’ve completely hit the nail on the head.
I have been eating bad/junk food for a long period of time. I could easily hit a higher calorie intake if I ate the same as what I have.
Like you said I think I’ve dived into the deep end with it but completely cutting out junk food. I am trying to eat purely whole food and really healthy stuff and still reach my calorie intake which I’m struggling with.
I knew from the start that the 1000-1500 calories a day was too low for my health hence why I asked for help/advice on here.
I’ll keep at it as it’s clearly learn as you go and do the wrong things before I realise what is right for me.
I just wish there was a ‘ dummies guide ‘ just to tell me what to eat and when and still lose weight to improve my health etc.
Thank you
No worries man. I've been there and to be honest the more people I can help to avoid making the mistakes I've made the happier I am!
As for a dummies guide. The links provided are a great place to start. Managing weight really is only as complicated and difficult as we decide to make it.
Also, how much effort we put into it doesn't need to stay static. If you're feeling good then go a little bit harder (not extreme! just a bit more) but always remember that when things get tough it's much smarter to take your foot off the pedal and go slow and easy for a while than to keep pushing towards a crash n burn.
In the end it can be as simple as "Eat any food you like in a modest calorie deficit". It doesn't get much more straight forward and easy than that
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