Under 1000 calories Per day....

Xbwalker
Xbwalker Posts: 65
in Health and Weight Loss
I am not purposely staying under 1000 per day but it seems to be playing out that way.

I have been working on limiting my carbs to 50 or so per day and supplementing it with plenty of meats, veggies, and fruits. It seems as a secondary result, I am not even hitting 1000 calories in a day. On top of that, I am working out a little under an hour per day pretty vigorously.

Amazingly, I am not particularly hungry. If you check my food intake over the last day, it will give you a better idea of what I eat.

Is this safe? I figured if I was under nourishing myself, my body would tell me but I have plenty of energy and am rarely hungry (except in the mornings as it seems fruits and veggies go right through me).
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Replies

  • becky000
    becky000 Posts: 15
    I'm only eating 800 calories a day, and i'm fine. So I think it's safe. But I don't know if you should make a habit of eating under 1000 calories every single day.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,393 Member
    You just started, right?

    If you continue down that path, you will feel awful in no time. As a man, you should never eat less than 1500 calories, PLUS those exercise calories.
  • astrampe
    astrampe Posts: 2,169 Member
    If it works for you, why are you asking the question? There are tons of threads on this - learn from it, or not...Your choice...
    my personal opinion is that you are setting yourself up for failure....
  • Xbwalker
    Xbwalker Posts: 65
    You just started, right?

    If you continue down that path, you will feel awful in no time. As a man, you should never eat less than 1500 calories, PLUS those exercise calories.

    I have been at it for 2 weeks now. Perhaps its my high intake of fruit? The increased blood sugar? No ill effects yet.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,393 Member
    You just started, right?

    If you continue down that path, you will feel awful in no time. As a man, you should never eat less than 1500 calories, PLUS those exercise calories.

    I have been at it for 2 weeks now. Perhaps its my high intake of fruit? The increased blood sugar? No ill effects yet.

    You can learn now or learn the hard way later. Good luck. Fruit is not saving you.
  • mallory3411
    mallory3411 Posts: 839 Member
    If you find you aren't hungry with that amount what about changing the foods you eat?

    For example, if you normally eat/drink low fat/low cal foods maybe switch to higher cal versions? Or add a handfull of nuts. Nuts are very healthy for you and have tons of calories for the amount so you won't feel like you are stuffed or eating too much. You could also add a protein drink for extra calories that are healthy. a TBSP or two of peanut butter also packs a lot of calories for the amount of food. There are so many ways to increase calories without adding too much bulk to make you feel like you are eating too much.

    1,000 is probably far too low. It is possible for eating too little to hurt your weight loss and harm your body.
  • Joyjmb
    Joyjmb Posts: 221 Member
    Why not trying adding a little flavor/fat to your meals?
    Some drizzled olive oil, dressing, or delicious sprinkled cheese will add flavor without the bulk.
    Especially for men, you can up your dairy to fuller fat - skim to 2%, for example, and still get great results.
    Be well!
  • Xbwalker
    Xbwalker Posts: 65
    Why not trying adding a little flavor/fat to your meals?
    Some drizzled olive oil, dressing, or delicious sprinkled cheese will add flavor without the bulk.
    Especially for men, you can up your dairy to fuller fat - skim to 2%, for example, and still get great results.
    Be well!

    I had linguicia today. Unless you are from the west coast you probably don't know what that is but it is SWIMMING in grease and fat. Oh and yesterday I had a Jersey Mike's sub. Their specialty is soaking your sub with oil and vinegar. Thank's for the advice though. I'll be sure to keep plenty of addons :)
  • mallory3411
    mallory3411 Posts: 839 Member
    Are you measuring the foods you eat and the things you drink? With a kitchen scale, measuring spoons, measuring cups? Or do you "eyeball" it?

    Could be why you are lower in calories but you may be eating more than you think.

    Personally I would increase the cals as 1000 usually is too low for a female so it's far too low for you.
  • Yogie14
    Yogie14 Posts: 14 Member
    I stay under 50 carbs too, hard to get calories! I usually get in around 800 as well. And I burn off several hundred at the gym. BUT I'm 42years old, and 5'2". Really hard to lose weight. When I ate excercise calories I blow up, gained 10 pounds! I think everyone has different needs! Good luck! :-)
  • LoggingForLife
    LoggingForLife Posts: 504 Member
    I suspect you are way underestimating your caloric intake, especially that Jersey Mikes Sub. In two weeks, have you lost weight?
  • leahsevilla
    leahsevilla Posts: 127 Member
    I try to stay under 50g of carbs too, and i can NEVER get enough cals in. i usually net around 500-700 on days where i don't go out.
  • ElliieMental
    ElliieMental Posts: 189
    I am staying under 50g carbs too but my cheese addiction means i always bump my cals right up :) so unhealthy I know b4 any lectures me lol
  • SilentRenegade
    SilentRenegade Posts: 243 Member
    Hmm, so it seems your saying that you're watching mainly your carbs, so when you get close to 50g you stop eating, am I right? But you're not hungry.

    I can tell you I did this game two years ago and lost quite a bit of weight very quickly... but guess what? It came back when I upped my calories.

    I'm a female and eat anywhere from 1500-2000 calories a day and have been losing steadily. As for low carb options... For snacks I like protein shakes with 0 carb chocolate syrup in them. Not only it is filling and about 175 calories, but it tastes like a milkshake so you don't really crave real milkshakes.

    Your carbs are most likely coming from the fruits and veggies you're eating (unless you are also eating breads and pastas). Are you watching your fiber intake as well? If so, you generally subtract fiber from total carbs to give you your daily net carbs.

    It's possible to eat less than 1,000 calories, a lot of people do it, but eventually your body will not like it anymore.

    Good luck! Feel free to friend me or message me if you want any additional food ideas!
  • SilentRenegade
    SilentRenegade Posts: 243 Member
    I am staying under 50g carbs too but my cheese addiction means i always bump my cals right up :) so unhealthy I know b4 any lectures me lol

    Hahaha, I forgot to mention, I eat a lot of CHEESE for snacks too. That is a great way to up your calories and is so delicious!
  • ElliieMental
    ElliieMental Posts: 189
    I am staying under 50g carbs too but my cheese addiction means i always bump my cals right up :) so unhealthy I know b4 any lectures me lol

    Hahaha, I forgot to mention, I eat a lot of CHEESE for snacks too. That is a great way to up your calories and is so delicious!

    :) Cheese is my new chocolate!!! lol
  • Xbwalker
    Xbwalker Posts: 65
    I am staying under 50g carbs too but my cheese addiction means i always bump my cals right up :) so unhealthy I know b4 any lectures me lol

    Hahaha, I forgot to mention, I eat a lot of CHEESE for snacks too. That is a great way to up your calories and is so delicious!

    :) Cheese is my new chocolate!!! lol

    You and me both. Nothing like a simple string cheese snack.
  • Sharonks
    Sharonks Posts: 884 Member
    You should probably be eating more cals. Avocados and nuts are two good ways to up your cals. Cheese too. It is sort of hard to get all your cals in when you are low carb. If I'm not getting enough I make sure to cook my meat in some olive oil rather than spray. Use olive oil for salads, I have some yummy lemon infused stuff right now. And there is always peanut butter. its got a few carbs but is high cal.
  • ElliieMental
    ElliieMental Posts: 189
    oh yeah of course. Peanuts!! They help too :) good idea!
  • cmeade20
    cmeade20 Posts: 1,238 Member
    50 grams of carbs sounds awfully low to me. I usually have over 100 and I'm 5"2 115 lbs
  • Xbwalker
    Xbwalker Posts: 65
    50 grams of carbs sounds awfully low to me. I usually have over 100 and I'm 5"2 115 lbs

    My wife has over 300 a day and she is 110. She also eats 2000-3000 calories a day. Her metabolism is insane. She doesn't even work out and out eats me. I call her "the skinniest cow on earth".
  • ElliieMental
    ElliieMental Posts: 189
    50 grams of carbs sounds awfully low to me. I usually have over 100 and I'm 5"2 115 lbs

    Atkinites eat 20g on induction, this is a carb feast in comparison :)
  • Loseweight1980
    Loseweight1980 Posts: 94
    A lot of the posters on here are saying they stay under 1000 cal a day, also. However, if you look at their profiles, they are tiny little females, 5' or therabouts. You need waaay more calories than that.
    Oh, yeah, and, add protein. You might lose weight, but it's going to be a lot of muscle weight. You're screwing yourself over by 60g protein a day!! That's a lot of freaking muscle!
  • ElliieMental
    ElliieMental Posts: 189
    50 grams of carbs sounds awfully low to me. I usually have over 100 and I'm 5"2 115 lbs

    My wife has over 300 a day and she is 110. She also eats 2000-3000 calories a day. Her metabolism is insane. She doesn't even work out and out eats me. I call her "the skinniest cow on earth".

    I have a hubby like that!! grrrr lol
  • ATT949
    ATT949 Posts: 1,245 Member
    I used a low calorie diet and dropped weight like a stone (95 pounds in 7 months and then 8 pounds in 14 days). Like you, I was rarely hungry - I got hungry 5 times in 7 months.

    Many, many people lose weight very successfully by eating < 1k cals though many folks here express concerns if you reveal that's how you have chosen to lose weight. I haven't come across medical information about "regular diets" vs "low calorie diets" vs "very low calorie diets" so all I have to go on is real world experience (as well as my personal experience, even though that counts for very little.)

    Like any change in diet, if you don't feel that things are going right at a low calorie level, change what you're doing. My fiancée runs one of 40 clinics here on SoCal that use a low cal diet (they've been around for 40-something years) and they medically screen patients before they take them in the program (obesity causes all sorts of medical and other problems) so you might think about having a doc look you over. And, their program does work well — last night, Debbie told me about alumni day where a woman got back from vacation and started her maintenance visits. The wonderful thing about this woman was that when she started the program, she pushed an oxygen cart around but she was able to lose 82 pounds. That's pretty darned good, considering that she is 84 years old!

    Best of luck in your weight loss journey.
  • ReignboMama
    ReignboMama Posts: 10
    50 grams of carbs sounds awfully low to me. I usually have over 100 and I'm 5"2 115 lbs

    My wife has over 300 a day and she is 110. She also eats 2000-3000 calories a day. Her metabolism is insane. She doesn't even work out and out eats me. I call her "the skinniest cow on earth".

    THATS HILARIOUS!! LOL I wish I had a metabolism like that!
  • MB_Positif
    MB_Positif Posts: 8,897 Member
    It's not sustainable for a great length of time. Surely, you will lose weight, but what happens when you get to your goal? You should not teach your body to live on that small of an amount of food, you can't live that way for the rest of your life! That said, basically what you need to do is just up the quantity of the healthy foods you are already eating. Larger portions of meat would surely help up your calories. Healthy fats like nuts would be great for someone like you who is not overly hungry. You can eat a small amount and they pack on some calories. Good luck.
  • xHelloQuincyx
    xHelloQuincyx Posts: 884 Member
    two weeks and you havent lost anything? thats your body saying you need to up your callories.

    instead of eating one chicken breast eat two. instead of one egg for breakfast add another one or have an omlet
    etc. etc.
  • Elleinnz
    Elleinnz Posts: 1,661 Member
    Just had a quick squizz at your last two days - if all your days are like that you can do with increasing the fat in your diet - that way you don't eat much more - but you get the nutrients....

    I have been working at upping my calories per day over 2000 to 2300 - this is how I did it without having to eat loads more bulk...

    "Increasing my calories – I did not do this by eating much more food, but rather by putting butter (yes butter), cheese, coconut oil, almond butter, salmon and avocado back into my daily diet – a really quick way to increase your calorie intake"
  • melbaby925
    melbaby925 Posts: 613
    Eat when you're hungry.

    Personally, I think you're eating too much sugar and not enough healthy fat. But I've gone mostly paleo - I'm not hard core - just have food allergies, so this works best for me. IF you are insulin resistant, and most of us who are overweight are, you should reduce sugar intake below 15g/day. That's what my Dr has recommended and I've found that most advice regarding insulin resistance will advise this.

    Once I dropped the sugar and raised the healthy fats, I found that I get hungry - where I never was before.

    All of that being said, you need to find a balance that fits you and your body. So eat when you're hungry.

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