Am I eating enough?

[Ilovesunflowers]

I have 5-6 stone to lose. I have lost 8-9lbs so far. I just want to check I am eating enough.
Yesterday I had:

breakfast - a bowl of porridge.
lunch - pasta, tuna, veg in chopped tomatoes.
Tea - homemade veg soup.
Snack - banana and a natural yoghurt.

Estimate 1200 calories. I also went for a 20-30 minute swim and went to the gym for about 45 minutes (gentle/moderate).

The weight seems to be coming off quite fast which is brilliant but I just want to make sure this isn't just because I'm not eating enough. I wasn't particularly hungry and it felt like enough.

Grateful for your thoughts.

[Ilovesunflowers]

Oh and I know I need more protein! I am working at this but I'm not a fan of protein foods!

[Chopstheduck]

it really depends on the portion sizes, it doesn't sound like very much to me. Have you considered joining My Fitness Pal? There is a really friendly thread on here for people supporting each other on it, and you can log your foods and exercise and see if you are eating enough.

Also, if you have 5-6 stone to lose, really you could ideally be eating a little more than 1200 calories and still lose weight, especially if you do want to lose gradually.


Well done on the loss so far!

[Ilovesunflowers]

The porridge was a fairly small portion. The veggie, tuna, pasta thing was a big portion. The veg soup was a medium portion.

I need to lose a couple of stone fairly quickly and then after that I don't mind how long the rest takes.

I am short so 1200 calories is probably ok for my height but maybe you are right that with so much to lose I should maybe be having a little more. Maybe more fruit?

Thanks.

[BlogOff]

No. In a word

So, let's say you have 6 stone to lose and you start off with 1200 calories a day. You will see a decent loss for a good few months and then you will plateau. The problem with starting at 1200 is that you have very little room for manouvere to get weight loss going again..

I would start with 1500 calories and adjust this to 1400 as soon as your loss halts and so on and so forth until you get to 1200. To do it the way you are is ultimately setting yourself up to fail.

I lost almost 6 stone in a year and now weight 9 stone... I calorie counted and used this method and it worked : )

Good luck

[3monkeys3]

Doesn't sound like it. Try my fitness pal - it will tell you how many calories you need for your height, weight and activity level and you can log your exercise and eat it! You could probably eat quite a lot more and still lose weight. It will also help you with portions - a big portion of pasta is lots of calories, for example.

[Alligatorpie]

Are you hungry? If so, then add more food.

Protein fills you up fast, there must be something you like - if not meat, how about chick peas,lentils, tofu, eggs?

[Ilovesunflowers]

Thanks everyone. Would it be detrimental if I now upped it to 1400-1500? Would I actually put on weight as my body might have got used to 1200?

Alligatorpie the only protein I like is chicken, eggs and tuna. I am a bit fussy!

[BlogOff]

no, you'll be fine. Up your calories to 1500 and try and only eat carbs at one meal. Avoid all white carbs too.

What is your weight and height?

[MyHeadWasInTheSandNowNot]

Good luck - whichever way you decide to do it :)

[Ilovesunflowers]

Thanks.

BlogOff I hate saying my weight and height as it's rather embarrasing but it's just under 5 foot and 14 stone 10.

[reastie]

doesn't sound like much to me. I'd say try and do things sustainable in the long term. IMO you aren't going to manage 1200 kcals most days for the rest of your life. That's how I think about it. I was nearing 18 stone this time last year and just gradually cut down on foods and increased exercise. Even when I was eating over 2000 kcals a day initially I still lost weight. I'm now around 13 stone and still eat 1600 - 1800 kcals a day, sometimes up to 2000, I'm still managing (touch wood!) to lose weight every week. This is a marathon not a sprint, far better to make smaller changes that keep you going for the months ahead than be too strict and struggle to fit it into your life.

[ErikNorseman]

You need to find out your TDEE (the amount of calories you burn in a day) and deduct 1000 from it. Then if you do extra exercise on top you should eat more. If you drop too low your metabolism will slow down.

The only way your TDEE will drop is by losing weight. If you burn 2400 a day then you cannot physically gain weight by eating less than that.

[BlogOff]

Don't be daft woman Just gives a further idea.

Yes, you should not be eating 1200 calories a day just yet. Try 1600 a day for a few weeks and see how you go

[juneybean]

Agree with the others, definitely up it and you'll probably find you still lose this week, work out your BMR and eat that.

[juneybean]

Eating your TDEE will make you maintain not lose

[Ilovesunflowers]

Of my goodness. My TDEE is just over 2600 with moderate exercise and 2300 with light exercise. That can't be right surely. That sounds really high.

So that means I could have 1600 calories and still lose weight fairly easily right? Really appreciate you helping my thought process with this.

[Barbie1]

I agree you need to eat more.

I use mfp and struggle to eat 1200 cals, I'm not a food lover and will easily go without. I lost 7.3 kg, along with a personal trainer and other exercise at leat four times a week.

I'm 9 stone now and just can't shift any more weight, I'm even doing the insanity DVD 6x a week and I'm still struggling.

Having spoken to the doctor and personal trainer they have both suggested that I up my food intake. Also have been told to eat whatever cals I burn

I think my body has gone into starvation mode, so hopefully by eating more my body will soon realise it will be getting more fuel and not to cling onto the fat!

[supergreenuk]

Also recommend myfitnesspal

[BsshBossh]

Agree with everyone on here . I was 15 stones last February. My TDEE was around 2300. I decided to go against MFP's recommended 1200 cals as I'd ever done low-calorie diets before and didn't want my body to get used to so little eating (I love food so knew I'd be miserable). I wasn't in a rush to lose the weight so I did a 10-20% cut of my TDEE (it varied over the year). On average over the year I was eating 1800 cals a day - and I had (still do) a lot of 3000 cal blowouts at the weekend! I lost 46lbs. Never had to go below 1800 cals thank God.

Then this year I've lost a further 5lbs doing 5:2 Fasting. Because I now exercise moderately my TDEE is now 2240 which I eat 5 days out of 2 (500 cals on the other 2 days). Still losing.

Definitely start high in MFP, not low.

[BsshBossh]

*never done

[Ilovesunflowers]

Thanks BsshBossh.

I had around 1400 calories today as wanted to up it slowly. Will have around 1400-1500 tomorrow. I've done too much exercise today and my knees hurt. I am hurting from a class I did yesterday and still did an hour at the gym this morning. Went back to the gym tonight and did 30 minutes. Too much for when I'm feeling sore. What an idiot. I might skip exercise tomorrow or just do an aqua aerobics class.