eating 1000 cal and feeling great

I have been there, WAY under calories and not hungry. I was anorexic for a number of years then bulimia started. I have battled them both for the last almost 20 years although I am doing very well now.

One thing that I can say, an anorexic will tell you, and it is true most of the time, that they are not hungry and that they don't need to eat if they aren't hungry. Many times they are lying and fighting the hunger is empowering....but eventually, the body adjusts and the hunger diminishes.

Should they listen to their own bodies? Is it different for them? At what point is the line drawn?

Yes!!! eat more, your body needs it :-) I am certified in fitness and nutrition and your body will eat your own muscle and you will pay for it later in life, beleive me!!!! If you want to know more just ask, I don't want to overwhelm you. Best of luck to ya :-)

first of all i want to thank all the people who are not being rude and mean and those who gave me advices and shared their storys with me.
and for the people who are being rude and mean this is what i have to say - i'm very happy person. i have good parents,i have long - term boyfriend and supportive friends. also i'm a college student and i'm having lots of fun. and most important - i'm very happy with my life. i'm not frustrated with anything. but if you are - don't express your rage on me. i haven't done anything to you and if you think i'll get ill or something okay but remember i'll get ill-not you.so there is no need for you to be so rude to me.
oh and we're not all the same - something that is working for you doesn't mean it's going to work for me.
i rest my case.

So are you going to try increasing your calories? I think I saw you reply to someone saying you might try that.

Honestly, for everyone who is berating her for her calorie intake, you need to get the facts before telling her what and what not to do. If she feels full and is recieving sufficent amounts of neccessary nutrients, she is not harming herself. Depending on personal bmi ratios, her body could simply be using excess fat for fuel rather than food if she has already over come the first stages of hunger. That being said, she is speeding up her weightloss progress. Granted, for any individual at a healthy weight or bmi, this can lead to a dangerously low bmi or being under-weight, however, if her body has the excess to burn- it will burn it and be fine. Also, for individuals who believe this will train her body to gain wieght anytime she eats more than the thousand calories, that's a misconception because her body will simply burn those extra calories rather than burning the excess food sources that lies hidden all over our bodies.

The verbal abuse that the young lady had to face because of her simple question is frankly embarrassing. The whole idea of this website is to reach out towards others and provide them support through a friendly community. If a user posts something that you don't feel is correct, by all means put your two cents in, however do it a respectable matter. Constructive critism is one thing, being outright nasty is another.

That's nice for you. I feel absolutely grotty on under 1500 cals a day.

http://www.livestrong.com/*******/329930-what-does-diet-do-to-organs/

that's a content farm, of no credible standing. Find us a better reference please.

That 'content farm' is backed by acclaimed medical doctors and is an official partner of the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

You're crazy. Keep it up and you'll be crashing and burning. Force yourself to eat so you stay healthy

Good GRIEF you guys are MEAN!!! omg, I would be TERRIFIED to ever ask a question on this forum! Surely there's a way to express that we disagree with the OP without degrading her and half the other people who've posted replies. She's a HUMAN BEING, guys. Come on!! I don't like the idea of such a low cal diet either but there are more important things in the world, like treating each other with dignity and respect. Sad, sad behavior

Well said.

Anyways.. to the OP, I suggest putting smoked salmon in your intake to get a good dose of nutrients/proteins. It's low cal and has a good bit of protein for a 1000 cal diet. So yeh, good luck.

My two cents: You are not bragging you are asking the community for information and feedback. As you have seen, some of it is not as content-rich as others.

Perspective: You did not go to bed last night weighing 100lbs and when you awoke weighed 200lbs. It went on slow, so take it off slow. Healthy foods, better choices... an apple instead of a candy bar. You said you are eating tons of veggies and several meals a day. From what I have read - that seems like a very sound approach. Increased physical activity, that too is a very good approach.

I don't know very much about nutrition but from what I am learning, as others have encouraged about eating more protein I would also. Sprouts... all the bloody protein you could want, roughage thrown in for free - and almost no calories. Learn to love them as much as they love you - 12oz = 12g of protein for 120 calories.

Keep on your path, but as many friends have suggested spending the money on nutritional advice is much cheaper than spending the money on medical cure. As Jillian said on one episode of "The Biggest Loser" - food is medicine. If you eat the right food. Research your foods... your body will let you know if you're doing it right.

Peace

This is probably my favorite response in the whole thread.

OP - I'm 5'6.5" and started at 159lbs. I started here in February. I knocked off nearly 5lbs in a couple of weeks when I started tracking food, telling MFP I was "sedentary" and wanted to lose 1lb a week. At that time, MFP told me to eat 1400ish cals/day and I was suddenly so food-conscious that I rarely got up to that number. Then I started working out and lost another pound. I told MFP I wanted to lose 1.5lbs/week and it dropped me to 1200cals recommended intake, then, I plateaued HARD. Gained back a couple of pounds of water weight and saw the scale hovering within about 0.2lbs in either direction from 155. I was eating less and losing nothing.

As an aside, I'm a vegetarian who never ate well to begin with - so even though I was starting to sub out some sugars and carbs for peanut butters or protein powders, my diet still wasn't great. I did and still do need to add more veg, so you're doing better than I am on that part. I'm not a nutritionist, but have a close friend who is, and who's given me a fair amount of scolding for not balancing my nutrient intake... so I've been working on that, too.

I was contacted by a few people after I posted something about not losing any more weight - some giving very good advice about better foods to eat, and someone else who gave me a TON of really insightful information and tools regarding BMR (basal metabolic rate, which is the amount of calories you actually need to live at your current proportions not counting exercise and everyday activity). Because I was really pretty interested in understanding more, I read up on a lot of this and spoke to others about it and learned a few things: first, a healthy weight loss journey starts with identifying your current caloric needs and comparing those needs to what they'd be at your "goal"; second, eating below your BMR is a very detrimental thing to do as your body will attack muscle instead of fat reserves for its energy; and third, the adage "eat more lose more" is really true. Eating back exercise calories is essential, as is eating good quality foods.

I discovered that the amount of calories I *should* be eating given how much I'm working out and my goal weight is much higher than I thought: about 1875cals/day. YIKES. (Then again, I probably ate 2000 before I started here.) I adjusted my MFP goals to reflect that I'm "active" even though I have a desk job because I am working out that often, and stuck with the 1.5lbs/week loss goal... that was just last week. I set a goal of 1315 plus exercise calories; that's what my BMR would be at my goal weight. (My current BMR, if I wanted to work at "maintenance" levels, is about 1450.)

For the MFP tool, given that I burn about 200--300 a day exercising (when I do), that puts my goal at 1515--1615. Eventually I'll adjust the tool to reflect the 1875 mark. FYI the 1875 would be goal BMR + cals burned from everyday activity + exercise cals. Each calculator I've tried puts my average daily activity cals around 560, so that, plus exercise, plus BMR.

All that math aside, the principle is this: higher-calorie nutritional foods are necessary for good health. Just eating lower calorie amounts WILL knock your weight down initially, but will not sustain your *healthy* weight goals.

I'm really still a novice in this journey, so if you'd like some supportive friends (as I would) who can walk the path with you and maybe offer some halfway decent advice, feel free to send me a friend request.
:flowerforyou:

Very best of luck.

Severe calorie reductions actually program your body to burn fat at a slower rate. When you deprive your body of the calories and nutrients it requires, you begin storing more body fat while simultaneously losing muscle mass...

:flowerforyou: I decreased my calories to 1000 also and I am rarely hungry, I am only 5'1" and I noticed on MFP no matter how short I told it I was it would not decrease my calories lower than 120:drinker: 0. I think 1000 calories are fine as long as you are making sure you are eating healthy foods and a vitamin couldn't hurt. Even at 1000 calories MFP says I can't loose more than about 1.7 pounds a week:sad: . In order to loose 2 pounds a week it said I could only have 800 calories a day, but that's too low for me to function. I also did not include my activities, because even when I exercise, I don't seem to loose more weigh:smooched: t. I am averaging about 1.6 pounds a week on 1000 calories. How tall are you?

1.6 lbs per week is awesome ) if i may ask how long have you been losing weight ?
i'm 5'5

I'm 4ft 11, I'm losing over 1lb a week on 1600 net.

It's quite telling that of all the posts advising you to eat more, the one you have chosen to respond and get animated over is another person on 1000 calories.

It seems that you have already made up your mind and that no matter how many people tell you that it is a bad idea, and you could do it in a healthier way, you will stick to your 1000 calories regardless.

Good luck anyway. keep us posted on your results.

Hunger is irrelevant. Your body will eventually adapt to any form of eating, no matter how disordered.

If you plan to eat 900-1000 calories per day for the rest of your life, then continue what you're doing. (Expect health problems, though.)

Again, the issue here isn't whether or not you'll lose weight. Of course you'll lose weight on a calorie-restricted diet -- that's a given. More importantly: is your diet healthy? Is it sustainable? Does it allow you to live life the way you want?

A simple but very good piece of advice is "eat like the person you want to be." Find out what your maintenance calories would be if you were at your goal weight, and eat roughly that amount.

Thats really good advice. Thanks for sharing

Only because I've been keeping up with this since page one and I REALLY cannot take it any more, how about we direct this conversation over here:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/537858-rant-mfp-forums

What I find most amusing is that looking at the "join dates" on the predominate number of posters on this thread have dates this calendar year (or late last year). So mostly "New Year's Resolutions" type people.

And in these 6-12 weeks since joining we are to take as gospel that they really know what they are talking about and it is right cause they found religion this year?

Sorry - I wil read what everyone has to say - but then process it through my own BS filter and decide if it can be backed with some real science.

I will say the one that sticks as true (having been down this same path some 20 years ago) is a comment made occasionally on here by a gentleman with the handle Eric*** (don't have the full name) - "diet alone makes you look good with clothes on - resistance training makes you look good without' (something like that Eric - you know who you are).