How much is too little to eat

[Arushofbloodtothehead]

I've started calorie counting and its got me thinking:

• can i really eat anything as long as I'm calorie counting and coming under? Will I lose weight? Eg if I have low cal crisps with my lunch and a kitkat (100 cals) later in the day.

• what is the min amount that should be eaten in a day? I set a target of 1500 to start with but how low can you actually go? I ate 1170 yesterday and am around 1000 today, I really dont think I could fit another 500 in today.

• is my problem all along that I'm just not eating enough so my body has been retaining what I have eaten and storing as fat?

Interested in the thoughts of anyone else calorie counting.

Your target and absolute minimum depend on you

Your height , sex , age, pre or post menopause activity level and body composition ( muscle )

So a typical female would lose on 1500 and probably shouldn't go below 1200

Eating crisps and chocolate makes it harder to get all the nutrients you need when dieting - make sure you have loads of veggies

I Lost 3.5 stone calorie counting.

I ate chocolate, cake, crisps etc but as long as I stuck to 1,500 cals I kept losing. I’m staying at a size 10 now I’ve upped to maintenance cals. I still eat choc, cake, crisps.

is my problem all along that I'm just not eating enough so my body has been retaining what I have eaten and storing as fat?
no.

You say no
Whilst basically true ..

I think there is e evidence that if you eat too little your body and brain will slow down to prevent you a losing too much weight

If you are watching a lot more telly rather than cleaning or exercising for example

Slow down your brain & body, yes.
Store what you are eating specifically as fat, no.

1000 calories is really not much and probably not sustainable. I don't know how someone can have 1000 kcal per day and feel full! You don't want to be losing too fast either as your body will go into starvation mode and make you feel awful. When I was calorie counting, I did 1600 and was losing rapidly.

It is also proven by research that even professional dieticians underestimate how many calories are being eaten. Don't forget that every splash of oil that you cook in, every glass of juice etc all carries calories. So realistically you're probably getting more than you think.

I'm really interested to hear what you've eaten for 1000 calories to make you feel full all day long! I'll probably need some of that when trying to lose my baby weight soon 😀

1. Yes, but see below.
2. Noone can give you an objective minimum but obviously you need to eat enough to get the nutrients you need to sustain your level of activity (the problem with eating kitkats etc. being that they use up calories you can't then get from proper nutritious food, if your total calorie count is to be limited). I'd be listening to your body and whether you feel faint, excessively tired or whatever.
3. No.