For those who think eating under 1,000 cals/day is OK

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michelleherinckx
michelleherinckx Posts: 63
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey! I know a lot of people on this site are posting topics about not eating enough calories/going into starvation mode. I wanted to post this so maybe people can see what a healthy amount of calories per day can do for your weight loss.

So this entire month of September I have not lost a single pound.....not even a half of a pound! In mid-August I got down to 168 and was so excited I started cutting out more things from my diet to try to keep the weight loss momentum going. Suddenly I weighed in at 170....I was so upset that I gained, so I decreased my calories again, and increased my exercise and worked ridiculously hard on getting back into losing. Every week I weighed in at 170 and finally started looking on the community posts for advice. I saw a lot of posts about eating at least 1200 calories a day. It seems completely backwards to eat more to lose, but I looked at my diary and realized I was only eating about 700-800 calories/day. I decided this week to try to increase my calories to see if that was my problem. Last Friday I weighed in at 170, and this week I added a lot of protein to my diet and a few healthy snacks and got my calories up to about 1100 a day. I weighed in this morning and guess what! I weighed in at 167.4!

I post this not just because I am super excited that I had a loss, but to (hopefully) help people to see the importance of eating enough calories every day, you really do need to fuel your metabolism. This week I am going to work on eating closer to 1200-1250 a day. I hope this motivates some people who are on the fence about whether or not eating less than 1200 calories a day is healthy for your weight loss.

Replies

  • tayniicole
    tayniicole Posts: 9
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    Yes! I was eating around 500 calories a day for a month and I did lose about 15 pounds in just that month, which is not healthy for me at all since I'm not overweight. Well, I ended up gaining back that 15 pounds and more, so it does pay off to eat AT LEAST 1200 calories a day.
  • crobinson53
    crobinson53 Posts: 164
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    Great post!! I hope people will take your advice!!
  • karinaes
    karinaes Posts: 570 Member
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    congratulations on your success! :D
  • EMc4452
    EMc4452 Posts: 187 Member
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    Great post. Thank you.
  • lizkubbie
    lizkubbie Posts: 11 Member
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    Thanks for posting that because I am getting very discouraged
  • AngelikaLumiere
    AngelikaLumiere Posts: 862 Member
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    I lost my first 40 pounds on my own. I was eating around 1000cal/ per day. Then I found MFP, I rebelled at the idea of eating 1200 for a while, but decided to try it. My weight loss is exactly the same, even though I hurt my knee and had to cut back my exercise from two hours a day to one hour. It has only been a couple weeks, but I am thinking there might be something to it.
  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
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    I post this not just because I am super excited that I had a loss, but to (hopefully) help people to see the importance of eating enough calories every day, you really do need to fuel your metabolism. This week I am going to work on eating closer to 1200-1250 a day. I hope this motivates some people who are on the fence about whether or not eating less than 1200 calories a day is healthy for your weight loss.

    based on your weight you could likely even lose weight on 1500-1700 cals a day
  • michelleherinckx
    michelleherinckx Posts: 63
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    I have heard about eating 1500 calories/day, my plan for now is to just slowly work on increasing my calories until I am at a healthy amount and still able to lose. I want to do it slowly because it is difficult to jump from 700 calories/day to 1500 haha :) I am just going to add things in slowly as I go. But definitely NOT going under 1200 calories ever again.
  • Prettyasmi
    Prettyasmi Posts: 72
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    great post
  • wendybird2
    wendybird2 Posts: 46 Member
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    Congrats on your success!

    I'm eating 1400 net calories a day (usually between 1500 to 1700 total) and I'm doing SO much better than when I was torturing myself at 1200. I know I'm eating too few calories when I'm thinking about FOOD all day long, collecting recipes, planning what to eat for dinner etc. Intense peanut butter cravings are also a tip-off. When I'm eating more, I don't have to fight the desire to go on a crazy binge...

    I've been in starvation mode once before (not by choice, it was winter survival training in the military) and it messed me up good. that was almost 7 years ago and I still have a hard time telling when I'm full. My body freaks out when it doesn't think it's getting enough to eat and that it's going to have to go through that again, making me both lethargic and ravenous. Horrible. Don't ever starve yourself on purpose.
  • jellybaby84
    jellybaby84 Posts: 583 Member
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    I'm pleased for you but just because YOU couldn't lose weight on less than 1000 doesn't mean that others can't. You've found a healthy way that works for you and that's great but your story doesn't prove or disprove anything.

    I've been eating 900-995 calories a day for the past 5 weeks. I haven't weighed myself in that time because I'm scared to but judging by the shock of work colleagues and the way my clothes fit I am certainly not sticking at the same weight.

    Depending on your weight and height around the 1000 mark is not that low. 800 cals is a starvation diet. I wouldn't advocate going below that to anyone. But, for me personally I classify 900-1200 as diet level eating and anything above 1200 to be normal eating - for a small female that is.
  • jocraw66
    jocraw66 Posts: 52
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    Taken from Medline Plus (as well as my nutritionist)

    Just because you have the ability to ingest only 1,000 calories per day doesn't necessarily mean that you should. Medline Plus notes that the lowest per-day caloric intake recommended for women is 1,200 calories. For men, the limit is 1,500 calories. If you drop below these levels, there's a good chance you're not giving your body all the nutrients and calories it needs just to get through the day.

    Starvation Mode

    When you don't provide your body with the calories it needs, it may go into "starvation" mode. In "Fundamentals of Sport and Exercise Nutrition," author Marie Dunford notes that very-low-calorie diets usually do more harm than good. The weight you lose is most often muscle mass, she notes --- not fat. Your body slows its metabolism to conserve calories, and, Dunford notes, it remains slow long after you end the starvation diet. Plus, these diets are very difficult to maintain; once you stop dieting, it's very likely you'll gain back whatever weight you lost.


    Now personally, good for you! I'm glad that you figured this out before you did some serious damage to your metabolism which will happen if you eat too few calories.

    I lost a lot of weight (over 120 lbs) doing a very low calorie diet (I'm a small person too) and then when I went on maintenance to not lose anymore weight I actually started to gain weight. I should have been able to add the additional 300 calories per day w/out gaining but my poor body was starved and when I began to eat a little more I held on to every ounce I took in. Eventually after regaining about 15 pounds I realized what had happened through a certified nutritionist who worked with me to get my metabolism back in working order. Now I eat on average 1600 calories a day and I can't tell you how much better I feel.

    If you are eating under 1000 per day I challenge you to do an honest evaluation of your workout performance, the quality of your nails, skin and hair. Even your BM as gross as it sounds. Chances are that those things aren't in as tip top shape as they should be...
  • tkmarble
    tkmarble Posts: 5 Member
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    Just wondering if you eat the calories that you gain by exercising or not. I wanted to eat 1200 but they add extra when you exercise???
  • jayb0ne
    jayb0ne Posts: 644 Member
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    Medline Plus notes that the lowest per-day caloric intake recommended for women is 1,200 calories. For men, the limit is 1,500 calories

    I lost 32lb eating around 1320 a day and am maintaining it for about 6 weeks so far on a 400-500 calorie surplus of 2600 (to gain lean mass).

    Doesn't prove or disprove anything... Just saying ;)

    Jay

    Edit: I do actually recommend eating the minimum 1200 and eating back your exercise calories if you're at or near the minimum.
  • Giantess
    Giantess Posts: 213 Member
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    To the previous poster: I eat about half the calories I gain from exercise, even though you're supposed to eat all of them.

    The reason I only eat half is that I figure I underestimate my calorie intake and overestimate my calories burned (I don't have a HR monitor).
  • Rice27
    Rice27 Posts: 29 Member
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    really needed to see this today - I am at the same point - work out 40-60 min a day - calories set at 1390 a day but I have gained 4 pounds since I moved it from 1200 to 1390! So I should up my calories??
  • suzanneec
    suzanneec Posts: 16 Member
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    Congratulation on your success!

    If some of you are eating less calories and losing weight, great. However, I think this is an excellent thread for anyone who might be eating too little calories and not seeing the losses they would like. It's important to switch things up in some way when you get stuck.

    If I've learned anything in my weight struggles, it is that there is not just one way to lose weight.

    Congrats again and thanks for sharing your experience!!!!
  • angisnee
    angisnee Posts: 236 Member
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    Just wanted to share my recent experience with this.

    I'm a 5' 9" female, currently weigh 186.

    I've been NETting 1800 to 2000 calories per day for the last month, and I've finally started losing again after 4 months of going from 193, down to 190, back up to 193, etc.). I also scaled back on the intensity of my workouts a bit.

    Not saying everyone will have this experience, but it's worth considering. You don't have to starve yourself to lose!
  • JOANIE69
    JOANIE69 Posts: 132 Member
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    :happy: this has helped me lots thanks

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