Worried I'm not getting enough calories

You need to be at at least 1200 cals a day. Simply eat more. If you are actually full or can't figure out what to eat, have a protein bar or a shake or add in a little more in t he servings of what you are eating. I didn't look through weeks back but for the past week, I would say, up your carbs some. Breakfast would be a good place to start. Have some cereal or multigrain toast with what you are already eating. Toss on a tablespoon of nut butter and I agree to start using olive oil. Health oils are important every day.

1200 calories is the absolute minimum a person should have. If you go below that, your body will begin to go into a starvation mode and begin storing fat and not metabolizing it properly. The weight you end up losing will end up being muscle and you will begin to store fat. A lot depends on your height and weight. I'm 5'6" and weigh 153 and my calculated daily calories is 1260 (that's with being sedentary). Also, if you can start off by eating a breakfast that is high in protein in the morning, within 30 min. of waking, that should help control hunger. It could be that you're not getting enough protein. I was in the EXACT same situation you were in when I first started...I was afraid to go over the calories, but you can't be. You're body is telling you something when you feel hungry. If your stomach growls, try drinking water. Make sure you're getting your water in. Try to make it a goal to get in the full 8 8oz. Since I have increased my protein and water intake, I've been staying within my caloric intake and have lost weight and not felt that hunger. I feel satisfied all the time. Did you let MFP calculate your calories? You may want to try to adjust the amount of weight you are looking at losing per week to allow you a few more calories each day. I hope this helps. Feel free to friend me if you'd like.

In reality, you should not be eating any less than your BMR. That is your metabolic rate and eating less calories than that will increase the chances of slowing your metabolism. Also, that is the amount of calories your body needs to function properly. 1200 is an average of a large sample of people. My wife, who is 5'2" and 130 lbs only has a metabolic rate of 1280 calories while a person like myself who is 5'11 and 200 lbs has a metabolic rate of 2080 calories. This means, I need a lot more calories than my wife due to the amount of lean muscle mass.

Also, when it comes to long term success, it is critical that you reduce the amount of muscle loss that occurs. And eating too few calories (or creating large deficits), increase the amount of muscle you burn. So yes, 800 calories is too little. You need to fuel your body. I would recommend using the tool below (or the BMR calc in the tools tab) to figure out what your BMR is and eat around that number.


http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/bmr/

I will tell you this much. I am newer to nutrition, but it seems that everyone says that you have to eat to lose. I eat small meals all the time! Every three hours all the time. Keep the meals small and healthy. You would be amazed how im never hungry. Would I love a pizza? SURE! I'd rather be with the family down the road more though! I know you got it in you to make it! I simply took the amount of calories that MFP gave me and designed around that. go with it and have fun. Dont look at this as a DIET. I dont know about you but DIETS SUCK! Im having fun being succesful! Good Luck!