Am I eating too little?

ewang111
ewang111 Posts: 1
in Food and Nutrition
I've been using myfitnesspal to count my calories for about two weeks.

With the food log, I'm finding my calorie intake is really really really low.

I'm 99% certain I'm measuring everything right as well, and when I'm uncertain I always add a couple of calories to what it says just to make sure I'm not counting less than I should be.

So my daily food intake goes something like this:

Breakfast: 1 banana (I wake up at about 7:45 and then it's rush rush rush to school and on the way there I eat a banana, not wolf it down though so it has time to settle in my stomach). This usually lasts me until recess...

Recess: Another banana and one celery stalk (chopped into sticks) and a tablespoon or maybe more (not sure) of hommus (and it's not the low fat type. Just regular hommus).

Lunch: Either salad or vegetable soup. (I'm still looking for more lunch options, but for the moment this will do for me.) Salad consists of about half or 1 (depending on size) tomato, 1/2 or 1 cucumber (ditto), mixed salad (the kind you get in the prepackaged bag from the supermarket), 1/5-1/4 can of chickpeas... and once a week I put a couple pieces of lean chicken (cooked without oil and just a little bit of onions and herbs). Veggie soup consists of: 1 tomato, 1 celery stalk, 1 or half a mushroom (depending on size), 1 carrot (medium), 1/4 can of diced tomatoes, 1/5 can of chickpeas, 1/3 or 1/2 an onion (depends on size). I don't put any salt but I do put some pepper and some italian herbs for taste. This serves two. So I have one serving for lunch and one for dinner.

Snack: I usually don't snack because I don't have the time to. But if I'm really hungry after school I eat an apple or some frozen blueberries or a carrot etc.

Dinner: Either one serving of the above veggie soup or 3/4 of a broccoli with a little bit of light shredded tasty melted on top.

I drink about 4-5 cups of water a day.

I do sometimes eat something bad like handful of jelly beans or a few biscuits.. but I make sure to go for a long run afterwards...


I also run-walk about 3-4 km everyday (or every second.. if I'm busy) and according to my nike+ipod app, I burn about 180-250 calories (something like that) but I don't trust it so I always shave off about 50-75 calories when I'm submitting it into myfitnesspal.


So anyway, when I add it all up, for the past roughly two weeks myfitnesspal says my net calorie intake (taking into account what I burn off from running) adds up to about 350-450 calories (when I go for a run) and 550 or so when I don't run.

My recommended calorie intake is 1200 calories.. and I just can't fathom how it's such a HUGE difference.

The thing is... even eating like this, I don't feel hungry at all. Maybe when it gets to about half an 20 mins before lunch or a meal time I will start feeling a little hungry, but I take that as totally fine and normal. I do space out my meals well (school does that for me...) so I don't feel hungry at all. And even consuming about 500 calories a day I can still run 3 km easy.


One last question: After each food diary log I complete the log to get the 'You will weigh________ in 5 weeks" or something like that. Myfitnesspal says I will weigh around 53kg in 5 weeks (which is about 6 kg from my weight now) and I don't know how reliable this is... my guess is not very (but then again maybe it is with the way I'm eating...). But 6 kg in 5 weeks seems ridiculous. So.. anyone out there whose successfully used myfitnesspal and found that these estimates come to be true??

Replies

  • Nikiki
    Nikiki Posts: 993
    Yes you are eating too little. You're going to make yourself sick eating like that long term, for now since you're sinuses to it start adding in a few hundred calories more every few days to help your system adjust. Have a piece of toast with scrambled eggs for breakfast add chicken to your salad every day (and don't be afraid of cooking with oil, your body needs healthy days like olive oil, peanut butter, flax oil ect... to function properly) and put some cheese in there. Add rice to your soup. lots of little things you can do to bulk up your meals without going over and you'll feel a lot better!
  • jaks97
    jaks97 Posts: 179 Member
    I too used to eat like you and wondered why I was heavy, went to WW years ago, and I couldn't even eat all my points once I did the weight started coming off...

    So slowly start adding more, healthy choices, Eat breakfast besides a banana, add protein to your salad. You need to fuel your body.
  • kk4mom
    kk4mom Posts: 13 Member
    I just read your post and it sounds like you are eating too few calories. I have the same calorie goal as you. My day would go something like this: breakfast 1/2 c. Oatmeal, 1 c. Skim milk, 1/2 c. Berries, coffee with 1 T. Creamer. Lunch: 1 bagel thin with 1/4 c. Tuna fish or ham with lettuce, tomato and mustard, 1c. Skim milk, a banana. Dinner: 4 oz. Chicken. Breast, a salad with veggies, water or milk, 1 c. Melon. I also have a couple of snacks a day. I am usually right at 1200. Sometimes I use a little more calories b/c I earned the calories from exercise. So fat I have lost 5.2 lbs. Since Last Thursday. If you eat too few calories your body will go into starvation mode and you will not lose any weight.

    I would not get too worried about what fitness pal says you will weigh in the future. They change my estimate everyday. I think they,re just guessing but they can't predict how everyone's body is going to work. Hope this helps. Good luck!
  • mjsunshine16
    mjsunshine16 Posts: 251 Member
    Add some peanut butter to your apple or celery. Have chicken in your salad more often. Cheese is a great option too.
  • Mell00546
    Mell00546 Posts: 158 Member
    Add more protein to your morning. Hard boiled eggs or oldfashion oatmeal. 1 Banana is not enough for breakfast.

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