trouble eating 1200 calories...

I know how you feel..Except I am supposed to eat 1600 cals a day....When I work out it bumps it up to 2000 cals !!!...I know its important to eat your calories...


Not only do I not feel hungry , but i run out of options of what to eat??....

Eating less than 1200 calories over a prolonged period of time will basically cause your body to start limiting its functions so that it can survive on those 1200 calories. You'll get fatigued quicker, your metabolism will begin to slow down, etc. It'll also start to feel satiated on less because it HAS slowed down.

When I first started I used to eat maybe 1-2 meals every other day - no lie. It felt like I was gorging myself when I'd eat regularly, but it really did help.

not to everyone tho.... 1200-1400 is more my maintaining calories to eat....but yentasdoitbetter i wouldnt recommend going under those cals until talking to a nutrionist and seeing where they think your bodies at and how many a day u should be eating.....just cook with some EVO until the time comes :bigsmile: its good healthy fats that are also good for ur skin

Toss back some almonds or cashews. Very healthy, high in healthy calories.

What does a typical day of eating look like for you.....

but what if your 1200 calorie intake is nothing but protine... suck as the adkins diet. Wouldnt your body have to find the fat first to burn insted of the muscle?

just curious?

but what if your 1200 calorie intake is nothing but protine... suck as the adkins diet. Wouldnt your body have to find the fat first to burn insted of the muscle?

just curious?

This is a very specific diet type (assuming you really are on nothing but protein and fat) and is called a Ketogenic diet. It's a very specific diet that needs to be ahered to very strictly. Atkins is NOT Ketogenic, and you do actually use carbs. Whole differerent situation.

But yes, the body will use ingested protein before muscle, but only if there is enough protein, and only if it's in a form that can be digested quick enough to use, otherwise the body will look for the fastest available source of energy that it can use, sometimes that's ingested carbs and fat, sometimes that's body fat, sometimes that's muscle tissue.

Natural peanut butter is 210 calories for 2 Tbsp! Avocadoes, almonds, walnuts are higher in calories and also have the good fat just be sure you don't go over your total fat intake for the day. Which on a normal diet is no more than 30% of your total daily allowance. Brown rice, potatoes have a good amount of calories, too.

I looked at your food diary and I would suggest you switch to whole grain wheat bread vs the wonder lite bread, regular cheese vs the weight watchers cheese, and really look at all of your food labels, alot of low calorie processed foods have alot of stuff that does nothing for you nutritionallhy.

You can take a look at my food diary to see what I eat for my 1200 calories.
hth,
Demetria

I looked at your food diary and it doesn't look like you are eating enough. Try adding some fresh fruits and veggies. Especially fruits will add healthy calories and nutrients your body needs.

i think i'm keeping a really good diet but somedays i have trouble eating 1200 calories, like yesterday. i'm eating 6 small meals a day and drinking plenty of water...which is leaving me not hungry but not full all day long. i feel great! completely energized, not weighed down, and thinking more clearly.

what could be so unhealthy about not eating 1200 calories a day if i'm eating all day long, healthy balanced meals, and drinking plenty of water?

Hi, there....

I think most people that have responded to your question are right. Specifically, it sounds like your metabolism has downgraded and gotten used to reduced calorie consumption.

I looked at your food dairy...it is definitely NOT balanced - I didn't see any fruits, vegetables (or very little) or the like. You have got to get your calories up.

Your breakfast is concerning. Not nearly enough calories (this should be your biggest meal of the day) and light on protein. You are also eating lots of processed, simple carb foods, which do nothing for you nutritionally. Switching to 100% whole grain bread, brown rice, 100% whole wheat pasta and other complex carbs should help.

I would start to add some healthy, complex carbs to at least 3 of your meals, protein with every meal, and some vegetables with your meals. You also need some good fats (like olive oil), which you can get from nuts like walnuts and almonds or fatty fish. You can do this easily by making a salad w/olive oil and vinegar for dressing.

It is very important to get enough calories, especially if you're working out. You need them. If you're on a weightloss plan, it can be scary..but it needs to be done. You need food to burn fat (sounds like a contradiction, I know). But if you're not eating enough, and you're burning lots of calories through exercise, your body will start to get stingy about giving up the fat, because it thinks your starving it - and it wants to make sure it has enough energy to survive. So by not eating enough of the RIGHT things, you are actually sabotaging your efforts.

because if your deficit is too great, your body will hang on to its fat reserves.

I could go on and on, but the link really has everything listed so much better than I could say it.

my ticker is proof, I have been eating back my exercise calories from the start!

this very informative post should clear up questions regarding exercise calories


http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo

First, let me say great, informative post and I love this site. But there's something not quite adding up for me. Maybe my numbers/situation are unique but I don't think so. I burn about 1747 calories a day just living. So, I subtract 500 calories a day to lose 1 lb per week. So far so good, MFP and I agree. Next, I try to burn 250-500 calories a day from exercise. That would still put me in the 500-1000 safe deficit range (according to the post and my nutritionist) so why would I eat those exercise calories when I am trying to lose weight?

It really depends, maybe you are within 1000 calories from maintenance by exercising. That doesn't mean you SHOULD be at a 1000 calorie deficit. Remember, what you set your goal at is what MFP (and us) assume you want to be your loss per week. If you don't eat back your exercise calories you're in effect attempting to lose more than your plan. While this might work for some people, generally speaking, you're becoming very aggressive by doing this, and this aggressive attempt will possibly throw your body into a reduced metabolic scenario if you do it more often then not. Remember, it becomes even more important to keep your calorie deficit at a reasonable amount as you approach more healthy weights and BF%, because the closer you get to a healthy BF%, the less body fat you have to make up the difference between maintenance and your deficit, and inevitably in that case, you will start burning protein from muscle, and eventually, if that protein is not enough, your organs will begin to slow down, and your glands and organs will start producing less hormones, and hormones are what tell the body to burn calories. It becomes a vicious cycle of eating less because you need less so you eat less to try to lose weight which doesn't work anymore because your body is now in fat storage mode because of lack of sufficient calories taken in...etc.
See where this leads? This can all be prevented by staying within a reasonable caloric deficit.

I tried setting it to lose 2 lbs a week but it still gives me 1200 calories (vs 1230 losing 1lb per week) and it says you'd lose 1.1 lbs per week. I have 25 lbs to lose. I completely see what you are saying and understand why not to go too crazy. I just wanted get clarification on the eating your exercise calories part. For my situation it seems like maybe I should eat part of them but not all. Thanks for the response.

I seriously doubt your body can sustain a 2 lb per week weight loss with 25 lbs to lose. That's a very aggressive weight loss strategy usually reserved for people who have a lot of weight to lose. I'm not even sure 1.1 lbs per week isn't too much.

i think i'm keeping a really good diet but somedays i have trouble eating 1200 calories, like yesterday. i'm eating 6 small meals a day and drinking plenty of water...which is leaving me not hungry but not full all day long. i feel great! completely energized, not weighed down, and thinking more clearly.

what could be so unhealthy about not eating 1200 calories a day if i'm eating all day long, healthy balanced meals, and drinking plenty of water?

Do what makes you feel good and healthy, thats all that counts! :flowerforyou: