Barely 1000 calories....

Hello everyone!

I was wondering if I should be concerned. I know not eating enough calories can cause you to plateau, which I am trying to avoid. Literally, I eat every 2 to 3 hours interchanging between a meal and snack. Anyhow, at the end of the day I have MAYBE 1,000 calories in. I'm eating things that are more healthy and not in large portions. As of Friday I had lost 8 pounds in a week, which I suspected would happen. However, I am trying to make healthier choices and eat well, but in the end the calories do not add up. I do not feel hungry or deprived, nor am I craving things. I guess the number is what is scaring me. Today I am at 948 and I've been eating...

I know this is blunt and probably not what you were looking for, but eat MORE. Have a bigger portion of something or add more to your meal. Add some peanut butter in there. ANYTHING. If your calories are low eating before bed to get some extra calories in are not going to make you gain weight that is a myth. As long as your calories are in check you will be fine. Starvation mode is a b*tch and not healthy for your body.

Erm...the reason nutritionists and sites like this one reccommend that people should ALWAYS eat MORE THAN 1200 calories per day isnt just so that you dont plateau. Its so that you do not go into survival mode - during which your body will begin to eat away at your muscles and internal organs. It requires a certain number of calories daily just to let your brain function and your heart beat. If you get below this point, your body will do whatever it can to survive.

Check out the "literature" part of CC - it goes into further detail about survival mode.

Well, #1, eating too little won't cause a plateau.  That word is WAY too universally used at this point.  It WILL, however, cause you to stop losing weight because your body thinks its starving to death.

If you think that what you are eating is good and healthy, then there is a perfect solution to your problem.  EAT MORE of it!  Easy peasy.  Look at how you are dividing it up right now, and add a few calories to each meal.  Tah dah!  the correct number of calories!

from your profile you belong to the "lose 100 lb" club, which would indicate to me that you are above a 35 BMI -- eating less than 1000 calories, while it may help you lose weight rapidly, will eventually have your body shutting down completely.  I don't have enough statistical information to tell you how man calories you should be eating, but your deficit should be no more than 1000 calories -- and you should be losing no more than 1% body weight per week ("larger" people are able to safely lose more than the recommended 2lb per week).

If you have been following "The Biggest Loser" competitions, you should know that they are eating much more than 1000 calories -- they are also exercising excessively, and they are under Dr supervision.

The weight you lose at the beginning of your journey is almost always water weight  -- even if you only cut 500 calories from your "normal" daily diet.  If you continue to eat such a low level of calories, you will stop losing weight -- and you will find it all too easy to put what weight you have lost -- back on -- without even trying

find a way to eat 1700-2200 calories per day -- I'm almost positive you will still lose weight.  It won't be as fast, but it will stay gone longer.  keep up with the water drinking.  Try to eat as "cleanly" as possible.  Try to fit in some extra moving into your daily routine

Just curious, but what are you doing that is causing under 1000 calories to be enough? 

Not to sound rude, but I don't imagine eating that few calories caused you to gain weight in the first place (definitely will eventually stop you from losing though), so I can only assume you were eating more before.  What has changed in a week?

If you need quick fats butter, peanut butter, avacado, and olives (good omega 3's) will help you meet your quota if you literally dont have any space in your stomach for a larger qty of food.  Do what you need to, to meet your calories or you will sabotage yourself in the long run.

Thank you everyone! You have such great advice. I was looking over my food intake over the past several days and I am going to eat more!

I know you are all curious but before, I did not care what I ate and drank soda like a fish. Those helped get me overweight, but on top of all of that I have Hypothyroidism and in a nutshell I have to take a pill to "produce" the hormone that kick starts metabolism. I gained 40 pounds in 3 months, went through 3 depressions, then slept for 5 days straight... all that led me to finding out about my Hypothyroidism. The past couple of years I have been dealing with the changes of that plus has two surgeries last year. Anyhow, I am ok now and just trying to get healthy again.

I try not to use butter on things, do not fry my foods, stay away from chips and unhealthy snacks... I just watch what I eat, common sense stuff. I eat yogurt,  fruits, vegetables, whole grain bread, etc. I do not feel deprived of food cause I still eat normal foods that I did before, like cheesey potatoes, but I eat it in small portions. So, I understand now. I'll add the butter to things (cooked vegetables and such) so that will add some calories, and I'll add more to my snacks instead of just 1 fruit I might eat a fruit and some frozen yogurt. I'll let you know how it goes!

Thanks again.

Plan your meals in the morning or afternoon, so you can find out where your calories stand befroe it's bed time, that way you don't find your self trying to stuff yourself at night. I had the same problem and planning your meals early definitley help.

Since we don't know exactly what you have been eating, I'll just say this.  Some people go to far with the low fat concept.  Make sure you are getting some of the heathier fats.  They keep you full longer.  A gram of fat has 9 calories comparied to the 4 calories in a gram of carb or protein.  you also need enough fat in the daily diet to process certain vitamins that are fat soluable.

And make sure you are getting enough protein too.  If you are getting enough protien and fat and eating enough fruit and grains to make sure you hit a minimum of 25g fiber a day, it is really hard to eat under 1200 a day.

Heck, I've been known to eat 1200 cal in fruits and veggies alone just to get all my fiber.  Add meat, grain and dairy and i'm at 1600 or so if I don't watch it. 

Original Post by amayou82:

Plan your meals in the morning or afternoon, so you can find out where your calories stand befroe it's bed time, that way you don't find your self trying to stuff yourself at night. I had the same problem and planning your meals early definitley help.

 I've had a few days like that.  Only I did plan my meals, but ate less because I wasn't hungry.  There were a few days I really worried about not eating enough.  But when I started checking my weekly averages, I was consistanly inside my target area.  So some days I'm less hungry, some I'm more.  I figure as long as I'm averaging out each week, I'm not going to worry about it and I'm not going to try to force myself to eat more before bed just because I was under my calories.

yes, be concerned. Follow your recommended minimum daily caloric intake to stay healthy

If you have been consistantly eating like this for a few weeks, you won't feel hungry because your metabolism will have begun to slow.  Feeling hungry at meal times is a good thing.  So start eating more and you should get a  healthy appetite back and go from there.

Undereating is not worth the temporary weight loss.

Thanks everyone! All of your suggestions and explanations have been great. I have used all of your advice. I'm planning my meals out so that I know where I'm at and where to adjust things. Also, since this week was my first weigh-in at work I'd like to report I lost 11.8 pounds in 11 days.  I had to weigh in early because I went on a training conference for my job. Anyhow, I wasn't surprised since I just began and know that dramatic loses like that can happen the first week or two. I'm eating more fruits, vegetables, and grains. I'm also paying attention to my protein intake more closely. I wasn't getting enough before. I feel I'm doing quite well with managing my intake. Thanks again for all the help!

p.s. The conference was in reference to childhood obesity. We learned ways to put movements to music for our kids, learned to make healthier nutrition choices, and how it all affects our bodies and brains. It was very fun and educational!

This is great timing. I turned into a "Clean Eating" freak about two years ago, and have lost about 35 pounds in that time. I have ten pounds left to lose that WILL NOT COME OFF regardless of the fact that I've hired a trainer and work out at least 3x a week. Yes, I lost 10 pounds with her pretty quickly, then a screeching hault.

I just found this handy little calorie count tool this week and am learning quite a bit about my eating habits. I really am NOT eating enough. I  had no clue. I am allowed 1600 calories a day per this site, it's almost 4PM and I have over 800 calories left. I used to be on Weight Watchers and using up 18 points in a day was no problem. I'm surprised things are so different with calories.

After becoming so accustomed to my 'lifestyle change', it's going to take a new mindset to adjust and start eating more - staying healthy - definitely. I think adding protein is a great way to add calories for energy considering my work out regimine.

Anyway, I hope this is the trick to give my metabolism the kick in the pants that it needs!!!