Eating too little? Need advice.

What effect will eating too little have on my body? For example, today i tracked EVERYTHING I ate (including mayo and dijon) and the calorie counter says I only ate approx 890 cal's. In addition, I worked out for a total of 335 burned.

There's mixed opinion on this. Obviously you don't want to be too extreme for too long, because it can cause your metabolism to slow down and over time, you could develop critical nutrient deficiencies, but in the short term, there is some medical benefit to short-to-medium fasts or mini-fasts (ie consuming not a lot of calories). As long as you are feeling fine (not dizzy, light-headed or too weak to perform your usual daily activities), I wouldn't worry too much if your calorie intake on some days is lower than your "target."

thank you for your reply! very helpful. I didnt know any of that! I am extremely hungry today - go figure :)

You don't want to starve yourself, but you also shouldn't worry about having a low intake. Unless you are taking it to a drastic level (not eating at all for days) you will be ok, especially if you are above your "target" weight, since your body can always tap into stored fat. In fact, you want your body to do just that.

If I am trying to lose some weight, what I do is drink protein shakes, since they keep cravings at bay, are low in calories, and they make sure I have enough protein. Also, I take a vitamin pill to make sure I get all the nutrients I need, since I'm not eating as much.

Also, in my diet, instead of flat out starving myself, I just cut little things, and they add up to a lot. For instance, I won't have mayo or mustard on my sandwich. It is a little thing, I still get to have the sandwich, but over time it adds up. I just cut out things that I call "extras". I try to think of those things as having no purpose. A little thing here, a little thing there, and at the end of the year it adds up. Always look to the big picture. I look at the thing I want to eat, think about how happy that will make me now, for the next 5 minutes, and then I think about how happy being in shape will make me for years and years.

Only concern I would have is if your body decided to go into conservation mode because it felt undernourished. That could definitely work against any weight loss goals you have. Under 1000 cal seems pretty low. I realized how little I was eating (I was hungry too!) and I'm going to carry more fruit with me to work because it travels well. Good luck!

What did you actually eat? If your excercising on a regular basis 890 is a pretty low number of calories. If your not careful you'll start lacking in energy and depriving your body of the nutrients it needs.

I have said this before,

When you "starve" yourslef your body tends to start storing ANY FOOD it takes into fat becuase it knows it will not have food for quite some time


Try snacking throughout an entire day, taking a few calories until you are at your goal for the day. This way you do not get hungry and you obiously wont gain any body fat.

I have to pipe in the same as some of the other replies. I definitely don't think you should go below your 1200 cal. Everything I have read supports the idea that if you take in too few cal. your body goes into starvation mode and hangs on to fat. Also, your body will start taking what it needs from your muscles and this also leads to a slower metabolism, which in turn sabatoges your goals of weight loss. The more muscle you have the higher your metabolism. You don't want to do anything that will eat away your muscle. If you don't already add weight lifting into your exercise routine, it is a good idea. You burn calories for a longer amount of time with weightlifting than with cardio. So a combination of both will keep your body burning calories long after you have stopped working out. A little off the subject, but just a suggestion.

I agree with the others, that 890 calories doesn't seem like much, but I have been there, I don't get hungry often, and when I eat healthy, I am very lucky to hit the 1200 mark let alone try to make it to the 1500 so I am not sure what effects it has, but for those of you saying 890 is "starving" please take into consideration that we are not all built the same. For me 890 calories is just a little below normal (when eating properly) going to 1200 and over I feel like I am overeating and want to throw up from being too full. I know this doesn't answer your question, just wanted to offer a different opinion on the 890, your body will tell you if it needs more, just listen and feel for the hunger pangs :)

From what I've heard and read is if you restrict your calories, you body slows down it's metabolism and conserves fat. This is just human-nature's way of dealing with famine. Your body is trying to conserve energy and your metabolism slows down. So when you get back to eating normal, you gain the weight back and some.

But I've also heard, if and when you body does this, it's not by much. If you severly restrict you calories you metoblism will slow down by 50 - 100 calories not by 500+.

So when you get back off your diet, do it slowly and let you body adjust to the new foods. More than anything a healthy diet is best long term.

A way to compensate for the lowered metabolism is to gain muscle since it uses more energy and thus burns more than fat.

Hope this helps. Good question, and I wondered a lot about this too.

Trouble is, with a calorie intake of less than 900cal you're not gaining any muscle, your body is eating it away. If you like some low calorie days just be sure to add some higher calorie days into the week. Many people find that by juggling your calorie intake around during the week, some low days, some medium and at least one where you eat the amount you should for maintenance the weight comes off faster. Lots of people use that method when they reach a plateau. It seems to work and because the over all weekly calorie intake isn't drastically low the metabolism keeps right on working.