We are pleased to announce that on March 4, 2025, an updated Rich Text Editor will be introduced in the MyFitnessPal Community. To learn more about the upcoming changes, please click here. We look forward to sharing this new feature with you!

My calorie intake

caytee118
caytee118 Posts: 55
edited December 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
I know it's bad to eat under 1200 calories a day (trust me I've heard from plenty of people), but I eat mostly fruits and vegetables and other low calorie foods. I fill up a lot quicker with these foods and so my calorie intake is usually lower. However, since I'm eating all healthy foods is it truly that bad? I mean I eat when I'm hungry I don't deny my system food, I just choose to eat more fruits and veggies, which don't add a lot of calories!

Replies

  • fitby38
    fitby38 Posts: 307 Member
    what about all the other nutrients you need? ... protein, etc. ahhh ... probably need more than fruits and vegetables.
  • Baurus
    Baurus Posts: 27
    If you fit your macros it's ok.
    Also consider that when you eat that low you can't restart eating too much and double your calories when you will get to your goal.
    Just be sure to fit your macros and slowly increase your calories when you're done and i'm sure u will be ok. I'm actually eating 1400kcal @day and i'm a male.

    Years ago i lost 15kg (30+lbs) on 1000kcal diet. I never got this weight back and my health is ok (according to last visit). The important is to be smart when you will get to your goal and to fit macros as i said.
  • Ericat7
    Ericat7 Posts: 1 Member
    It's bad but it's not terrible. :) I do understand how it could be hard to force yourself to eat. BUT if you dont eat at least 1200 calories a day you could be putting yourself into starvation mode which slows down your metabolism and can prevent you from further weight loss.
  • caytee118
    caytee118 Posts: 55
    what about all the other nutrients you need? ... protein, etc. ahhh ... probably need more than fruits and vegetables.
  • caytee118
    caytee118 Posts: 55
    I take B12 vitamins and I eat protein it's just it rarely seems to amount to 1200. I've even tried to eat a spoonful of Natural peanut butter if I'm really low so it won't get to dangerous, but I can't force myself to eat more than I want it makes me sick to my stomach literally not figuratively
  • JesterMFP
    JesterMFP Posts: 3,596 Member
    It's not just the nutrients that you need, you do actually need calories. Do you know what your BMR is?
  • caytee118
    caytee118 Posts: 55
    No I don't. I just eat and when I'm full I stop. Nothing more, nothing less.
  • caytee118
    caytee118 Posts: 55
    By the way thank you all for your input. I'm just trying to do this the healthiest way possible.
  • Ttopeka
    Ttopeka Posts: 151 Member
    Question for clarification - are you having trouble simply eating 1200 calories a day, or NETTING 1200 calories a day?

    I would be more concerned with the former, because I've seen some of the work outs you do on my news feed -- long runs w/ hundreds of calories burned. If you're eating less than 1200 and also burning 500-600+ calories, your body is netting ~600-700 calories. Not good! Your body needs more fuel to work properly.

    I'm a vegetarian, so I know what it's like to fill up on veggies sometimes and have a large amount of calories left...but it's not necessarily the best way to fuel our bodies. I try to get as close to 1200 NET as I can, but some days that's just not possible -- which I think is OK. I just make sure I don't do it every day.
  • caytee118
    caytee118 Posts: 55
    I think it may be a bit of both. Usually netting 1200 but a couple days ago I couldn't even hit 1200 regularly because I wasn't hungry it's odd. I think stress and work load have something to do with it, but like I said if I force myself to eat 1200 when I'm not hungry it makes me sick.
  • Ttopeka
    Ttopeka Posts: 151 Member
    Perhaps try rearranging your meals so that you eat higher-cal foods earlier/first? Instead of digging straight into your veggies, try to eat some peanut butter with them, or another high calorie protein, then eat the veggies until you're full?
  • caytee118
    caytee118 Posts: 55
    I'm willing to give it a try! Because although I wanna lose 10 pounds I wanna be healthy more so it's worth a shot :)
  • JesterMFP
    JesterMFP Posts: 3,596 Member
    I'm not sure if you're actually looking for advice, or just to tell us this is what you're doing. In my opinion though, you're not eating enough. You risk having your metabolic rate slow down which could make it easier for you to gain weight in the future. Your BMR is the number of calories that your body needs to function in a day, even if you were just lying in bed all day. You need those calories for the body's normal processes. You can find it out by clicking on the "tools" tab at the top of this page. You burn more than your BMR every day just walking around and doing normal activities, and doing exercises. Your TDEE is the number of calories you burn in a normal day. A lot of people who know what they're talking about recommend eating somewhere in between your TDEE and BMR for effective, consistent weight loss. This is especially true for someone of your weight. When people are extremely obese, they can get away with very low calorie diets. When you are a healthy weight and only have a few more pounds to lose, you should be eating closer to your TDEE and aiming to lose no more than about 0.5 lbs a week.

    Many, many people think that the best way to lose weight is to eat as little as possible and exercise as much as possible. A lot of people eat very little, like below 1200, or below 1000, and they lose weight. But a lot of them find that they stop losing weight as their metabolism slows down. Read around these message boards a bit and you'll find loads of stories about people not eating enough and finding their weight loss stops, then eating more, only to find they start losing weight again.

    One final thing, I'm not sure of the scientific basis for this, but I have heard that when the metabolism slows down, the body stops sending signals to the brain that it needs food. ie. you stop feeling hungry. I hear people all the time who are eating very little, say "I'm just not hungry". Personally, I have experienced that, so I do believe you. I don't think it means you don't need food though. I find the more I eat, the hungrier I get. One way around not being hungry is to eat more calorie-dense foods like nuts, nut butters, avocados etc.

    I have a feeling none of this is what you want to hear, but if you are serious about doing this the healthiest way possible, I hope you will at least read some of the many, many messages posted here about this stuff. Here's one to start you off:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/546227-for-the-500-000-time-eating-more-works
  • caytee118
    caytee118 Posts: 55
    Alright I found out the my BMR is 1365.7 at my current weight and height and my TDEE, if I did the math correctly, is 2116. Wow! That seems like a lot of calories to eat, but I will give it my best shot :)
  • JesterMFP
    JesterMFP Posts: 3,596 Member
    Aim for somewhere in between the two, but 1365 is a good start. :)
This discussion has been closed.