calorie intake question !!!

missymugs
missymugs Posts: 13
in Health and Weight Loss
so i have slowly been reducing my cal intake over the month , i have not gone over 1400 in a month . 5 other than my one cheet day a week , so i been going from 1400 to 1200 to 1000 last week ( roughly..some times it was in around those numbers) now i want to try and maintain it at 800 so 2 100 cal snacks and 3 meals of 200 so i constantly have something in me , with lots of water and supplements... do you think this is ok , will i harm myself????

Replies

  • ElizabethRoad
    ElizabethRoad Posts: 5,138 Member
    Yes, you will harm yourself. That is far too low.
  • Lesa_Sass
    Lesa_Sass Posts: 2,213 Member
    You HAVE to eat at least 1200 calories per day. This is a must believe it or not! If you do not eat 1200 calories a day, your body will go into starvation mode and hang on to your fat.
  • busyPK
    busyPK Posts: 3,788 Member
    That is far too low. Don't go below 1200.
  • errickab24
    errickab24 Posts: 25 Member
    Hey you,

    I dont think that you should go to 800 that seems pretty low. If you dont mind me asking how much do you weight now? I think your body would be in shock and your still going to be hungry..

    I drink alot of water... I drink a glass of water before EVERY meal even snacks, and thena glass after the meal.. Sometimes we confuse hunger with thrist.. Stay at atleast 1000 for now and try the water thing before every meal...
  • ElizabethRoad
    ElizabethRoad Posts: 5,138 Member
    I drink alot of water... I drink a glass of water before EVERY meal even snacks, and thena glass after the meal.. Sometimes we confuse hunger with thrist.. Stay at atleast 1000 for now and try the water thing before every meal...
    I don't think we should give appetite suppressant tips to someone who is trying to starve herself...
  • bms34b
    bms34b Posts: 401 Member
    I say stick with the caloric amounts you're at right now, but switch up some of the foods. Also, try walking. I don't know if you said you work out or anything, but if you can walk for 45 minutes a day (not so hard, believe it or not) I bet it will jump your body into burning those extra calories right up.
  • jellybaby84
    jellybaby84 Posts: 583 Member
    You HAVE to eat at least 1200 calories per day. This is a must believe it or not! If you do not eat 1200 calories a day, your body will go into starvation mode and hang on to your fat.

    Of course it won't! How many fat people do you know wandering around who eat below 1200 calories a day. People who consistently eat that little are skinny.

    However, you should eat 1200 a day to be healthy and skinny as oppose to ill and skinny.
  • laurabarden
    laurabarden Posts: 79 Member
    Im afraid you will go into starvation mode....if that happens, your body will work against you. Its best to follow the caloric intake that myfitnesspal sets for you. They take in to account your level of activity, your weight, your pounds per week u want to lose, and your basic calories burned per day just by being alive. It tells you where you need to be to lose weight healthy and safely. Anything under 1200 calories a day can eventually hurt you.

    When you are way below calorie intake for 6 days, your body thinks its starving and when you binge one day and go way over, it hoards those calories and turns it to fat right away. Thats why, amazingly, if you stay at 1200 calories a day then only slightly binge to 1400 calories once a week you will lose more weight. I think the key is to work out. If you wish your daily calories to be 1000, eat 1200 and work out to burn 200. calorie intake-calories burned= net calories. You are supposed to eat back your workout calories, but sometime its hard for me to do that.

    It takes 3500 calories to make a pound and a deficit of 3500 calories to lose a pound. If your basic calories for just being alive is 1700 per day then you eat 1200 per day, you have a deficate of 3500 calories per week, or one pound lost per week without working out at all.

    Hope this helps. You can always talk to your doctor and they will set an intake and exercise goal for you to follow. I hope you safely reach your weight loss and fitness goals!! :wink:
  • Shanna_Inc86
    Shanna_Inc86 Posts: 781 Member
    Yea, do not go below 1200...infact depending on how much you are working out...you could be eating a lot more and see results.

    Food = Fuel
    Need Fuel for your body to function properly

    Best of luck
  • missymugs
    missymugs Posts: 13
    thanks for all the help , i walk about 2 hours every night and with my work at job I usually burn about 900 calories a day , which i know that you have to burn off what you put in to lose weight which is why i was reducing it.. i drink lots of water before and after meals , and i also am the type that use to go all day without eating or , eat once a day or just nibble threw out here and there , so I WOULD NOT BE STARVING myself , i would be putting something healthy and small in me every 2 hours , with lots of water aswell . if 800 is to low then i will remain at 1000-1200 i did not think it would be harmfull to me so thats why i asked.
  • mallory3411
    mallory3411 Posts: 839 Member
    Some other posters have written a great response. When you don't eat enough your body will go into starvation mode, pretty much holding onto everything you put in it. Seems weird but if you don't eat enough in a day you can actually gain weight.

    Are you eating less to try and lose more weight? If so, it may work temporarily but once you start eating what you should again you will gain most, if not all of the weight back. It's not healthy to go too low calorie intake wise. I'm sure we would all love fast weight loss but you didn't gain it all overnight so I wouldn't expect to lose it all quickly. Slow and steady weight loss is what will keep you on the right track.
  • ElizabethRoad
    ElizabethRoad Posts: 5,138 Member
    thanks for all the help , i walk about 2 hours every night and with my work at job I usually burn about 900 calories a day , which i know that you have to burn off what you put in to lose weight which is why i was reducing it.. i drink lots of water before and after meals , and i also am the type that use to go all day without eating or , eat once a day or just nibble threw out here and there , so I WOULD NOT BE STARVING myself , i would be putting something healthy and small in me every 2 hours , with lots of water aswell . if 800 is to low then i will remain at 1000-1200 i did not think it would be harmfull to me so thats why i asked.
    Yes you would be starving yourself. 800 calories is 800 calories, no matter if you drink gallons of water or how often you nibble on something. The TOTAL calories is what matters.
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
    That sounds awfully low - do you know what your BMR is?
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
    thanks for all the help , i walk about 2 hours every night and with my work at job I usually burn about 900 calories a day , which i know that you have to burn off what you put in to lose weight which is why i was reducing it.. i drink lots of water before and after meals , and i also am the type that use to go all day without eating or , eat once a day or just nibble threw out here and there , so I WOULD NOT BE STARVING myself , i would be putting something healthy and small in me every 2 hours , with lots of water aswell . if 800 is to low then i will remain at 1000-1200 i did not think it would be harmfull to me so thats why i asked.

    When you say you have to burn off what you put in to lose weight... do you mean if you eat 1000 cals you have to burn 1000 cals?
  • missymugs
    missymugs Posts: 13
    well yes that is what i mean , thats what i have been doing and thankfully i have not been losing anything and my bmr is to be 1800 and i have never went over 1400
  • 4theking
    4theking Posts: 1,196 Member
    well yes that is what i mean , thats what i have been doing and thankfully i have not been losing anything and my bmr is to be 1800 and i have never went over 1400

    I would suggest raising your caloric intake to closer to your bmr and have a spike day of around 3000 calories one day a week. My guess is you have lost quite a bit of fat but water is masking it. The spike day will encourage a water woosh and the scale will drop quickly for you.

    You can't speed up weight loss or bad things happen. Slow and steady!
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
    Then you're REALLY misunderstanding the whole concept of calories burned and calories in vs calories out.

    Your body burns calories constantly, regardless of whether or not your are working out or not. Those calories burned throughout the day PLUS the additional calories your burn during exercise must be less than the calories you consume in order to lose weight.

    BMR calculations do a reasonable job estimating the calories your body burns on its own. That is what the 1800 means... it means your body burns approximately 1800cals per day just doing your normal stuff... getting up, running errands, goign to work, cleaning the house, etc etc. When you add exercise to the conversation, your body burns more than the 1800.

    So what you should do is something like this...
    Use 1800 as your BMR.
    Set your daily calorie goal to be slightly less than that to create a calorie deficit (so you'll start losing weight). Something like 1500 cals. That will be you goal for each day.
    When you exercise, you increase your body's need for calories, so you should get in the habit of eating back most/all of the calories your burn during exercise.
  • missymugs
    missymugs Posts: 13
    ty ty ty , very help full ,

    quoting this statement "My guess is you have lost quite a bit of fat but water is masking it. The spike day will encourage a water woosh and the scale will drop quickly for you.

    You can't speed up weight loss or bad things happen. Slow and steady!".........................


    I have not lost anything on the scale , but down in pant size...... how do i get rid of the water weight?????????like the so called bloating ??

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