Minimum calorie intake

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kalamb
kalamb Posts: 2 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I try to do 1200-1400 calorie/day. I understand that 1200 should be a firm minimum. But some days I get to 970 or a little above and I just don’t want anymore. I’m not hungry! Do I really have to force myself to eat what I don’t want?

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  • lastpioneermusic
    lastpioneermusic Posts: 4 Member
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    Its fine if one or two days, but i would suggest you have a pig out day as well one day a week so you don't "plateau" with your weight. Either way, try to keep it above 1100 always.
  • eenix0
    eenix0 Posts: 8 Member
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    Hi there! I'm also running at a 1200 goal per day. My main thing is intuitive eating and really listening to your body. So, without knowing anything else about you, my first two thoughts are the following;

    1) Do be sure you are tracking correctly! I don't know if you have a lot of experience calorie tracking or if you are completely new to it, but most people underestimate ingredients and portion sizes. So your 900+ might actually be more calories than you're logging - if I was routinely capping out at 900 but otherwise feeling fine, that would be the first thing I would check.

    2) As others have said, every now and then, you might just have a low day. I've had that - I recently had a VERY low day (300-500!!!), which had me worried...but it turned out I was actually fighting off a stomach bug, so obviously I wasn't very hungry! I wouldn't worry unless it's consistently too low.

    So the BIGGEST thing I watch day to day is energy levels - if I feel weird exercising, I *definitely* need to eat more. I also recently had a day where I just couldn't stop thinking about food, so I chose healthy foods, but ate my whole daily recommended maintenance of 2200 calories that day and felt great about it. I'd much rather maintain for a day than restrict myself indefinitely and crash.

    Tl,dr; If it doesn't feel like a restriction, check that you are logging correctly. But otherwise, keep careful note of how you feel (especially when exercising). If you feel good, a low day here and there isn't anything to worry about though!

  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,598 Member
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    There's some really good advice above. (FWIW, I also disagree with that "pig out" idea, though it's fine to eat a little more some days, up to maintenance calories and maybe even over it occasionally, if it helps with overall sustainability and progress.)

    The one thing I'd add would be to take a look at your weekly net daily calories, and try to keep that in the ballpark of your goal calories for a sensible weight loss rate. If you intentionally eat a little above goal (on average) but still below maintenance, you'll still lose weight, just a little slower. Sometimes that tradeoff is worth it.

    But if you're averaging well below a sensible net calorie goal, that can be counterproductive: Fatigue, increased health risk, lower energy, etc. No one needs that.

    If your average is low, consider adding some calorie dense but not very filling foods. Things like nuts, nut butter, seeds, more oil in cooking or on veggies, full-fat vs. low fat dairy - those work for many people. If your nutrition's in good shape, it's even fine to have some less nutrient-dense treat foods, IMO.
  • AliceMadHatter89
    AliceMadHatter89 Posts: 6 Member
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    When I first attempted weight loss a few years ago my calories were similar to yours. What was happening to me was I could go days at scary low calories with no hunger or fatigue...but then out of nowhere I would feel like I was starving and absolutely overeat.

    On the days that I was overeating I didn't realise how many calories I was having, but it averaged out to over my daily goal for the week. Once I knew that, I started trying to find ways to keep closer to my calories every day. Sometimes that meant just having a spoon of peanut butter or some cheese.

    As I went on trying to stick to my daily goal, plus losing weight, my hunger slowly became more 'normal' and I was able to reach my goal every day. I ended up falling off the wagon and gaining it all back, BUT it worked at that time.

    I'm not saying you are doing the same thing I was, but it might be something to keep in mind just in case. Even if you're not doing that, finding small things to eat with a good amount of calories might help you stick to your goal without feeling like you're needing to stuff yourself just to reach them.
  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 17,959 Member
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    I calorie cycle. There are some days where the foods I choose leave me quite short of my goal, and then on weekends I may eat out, or have a little more decadent meal at home. It keeps me sane.
  • njitaliana
    njitaliana Posts: 814 Member
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    You need to eat more, but that doesn't mean forcing in unwanted food. You can do things like adding butter to your food, or using milk instead of water in oatmeal, or marinating meat in salad dressing, or dipping your chicken in blue cheese dressing, or adding olives and cheese to your salads.

    I would definitely do what you need to do to get in the calories that MFP says to have. If not, you'll start stalling in your weight loss.

    I eat 1600 calories a day.

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