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Will burning too many calories keep me from losing weight?

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I'm having trouble staying "In the Zone".

 

I'm on the "hard" food plan, which aims to burn 1000 calories less a day than I consume.  I'm a Pre-K teacher, so I chase around 4-5 year olds all day long,  and work out 4-5 times a week doing various activities - cycling, running, stairs, Zumba, weights, etc. Usually my fitbit says I burn between 2,600-3,200 calories a day (depending on if I go to the gym or not).  Well believe it or not, some days it's hard to eat 1,600 - 2,200 calories in order to get the -1000 deficit my plan calls for.  I'm simply not hungry.  I've lost 5ish pounds, but I'm wondering if maybe I'm not seeing the results I want because I'm not eating enough?  I've heard about your body going into "Starvation Mode" and hanging onto fat if it feels like it's not getting enough calories.  Is this true? I don't want to get discouraged.  It's frustrating because when I go to bed, it will say I still have 300 calories or whatnot to consume for the day.  Well obviously I'm not going to eat 300 calories before I go to bed.  Should I eat more at dinner and techincally "go over" calories with hopes that by bedtime I will have burned the extra calories I went over?  Help!

Scarlett
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everyone is different so see what works for you.  unless you've been starving yourself consistenly for a while, your body will let you know if you need food.  do you get hungry and actively deny yourself food?  meaning, if you're hungry, do you think "i'm hungry but i want to lose weight so i'm not going to eat"?  if not, chances are, you're doing just fine.  in the long term, you will probably need to adjust your intake for the obvious reason that your body's needs might change.  for me, i've actually needed to increase my calories a bit.

 

just for reference, i am consistenly under my recommended calorie intake and lose weight.  the recommended intake is just that, a recommendation.  your actual intake might need to be more or might be just fine being less.  the number you see is just a guess based on a few different variables.  there's a whole host of variables that aren't taken into consideration.

 

LCHF since June 2013

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So...essentially if I am going under my recommended calorie intake (which is 5-6 days a week) it's not necessarily bad for me short term, but not exactly good for me either? As in I probably shouldn't plan to keep this up?

Scarlett
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everyone is different so see what works for you.  unless you've been starving yourself consistenly for a while, your body will let you know if you need food.  do you get hungry and actively deny yourself food?  meaning, if you're hungry, do you think "i'm hungry but i want to lose weight so i'm not going to eat"?  if not, chances are, you're doing just fine.  in the long term, you will probably need to adjust your intake for the obvious reason that your body's needs might change.  for me, i've actually needed to increase my calories a bit.

 

just for reference, i am consistenly under my recommended calorie intake and lose weight.  the recommended intake is just that, a recommendation.  your actual intake might need to be more or might be just fine being less.  the number you see is just a guess based on a few different variables.  there's a whole host of variables that aren't taken into consideration.

 

LCHF since June 2013
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Well thank you!  That makes me feel a lot better, actually.  I don't deny myself food unless it's 11 pm and suddenly my stomach growls.  I try really hard not to eat anything too late.  I work weird hours and workout later than "normal", so I eat dinner later than "normal" anyway.  I like to eat, so I don't starve myself, and try to actually eat before I get hungry.

 

Thanks for your input!!

Scarlett
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you're welcome!  and don't be discouraged it you stop losing for a while.  i've gone anywhere from 2-3 days to 2 weeks without losing any weight. then suddenly, i would start losing again.  i'm guessing it's just my body adjusting to the weight loss or something else.

 

oh, and a quick word about hunger.  after completely changing what i eat, i've noticed my hunger levels dropped quite a bit.  i can go from breakfast at 7 to lunch at 1230 or 1 without being hungry.  by lunch, i'm usually a little bit hungry.  whereas before, i'd be ravenous by 10am.  i'm not sure what you're eating, but that might also have to do with feeling less hungry.

 

good luck!

LCHF since June 2013
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If you are working out that much, and running around squating up and down all day with your students, you are probably building lots of dense muscle tissue. Eventually you will weigh the same, but be lean and toned. BUT, you are not eating enough calories for that much activity. 1000 calorie a day deficit is okay if you have heaps to lose like me. but you should aim for 500 less, Eat more Protien and Dairy.

 

Paul (PE teacher)

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Hi, I am really stuck in the 180s.. Been trying to break this dreaded plateau for almost 3 months. I am now at 185 pounds. I tried everything even dieting an exercize, right now, I reach in the 4,000s for the calorie burn from 8 hours of power-walking outside / Jogging in place at home for hours, the highest I ever gone was 5,230 calorie burn in 1 day " I allmost tempted to climb up in the 6,000s though" with 1,800 calorie intake.. I would like to weigh at least 174 or less pounds by New Years 2015. Am I doing too much?

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@MichaelP1234 wrote:

Hi, I am really stuck in the 180s.. Been trying to break this dreaded plateau for almost 3 months. I am now at 185 pounds. I tried everything even dieting an exercize, right now, I reach in the 4,000s for the calorie burn from 8 hours of power-walking outside / Jogging in place at home for hours, the highest I ever gone was 5,230 calorie burn in 1 day " I allmost tempted to climb up in the 6,000s though" with 1,800 calorie intake.. I would like to weigh at least 174 or less pounds by New Years 2015. Am I doing too much?


You are either doing too much for the amount you are eating, or you are eating too little for the amount you are doing.

 

You think your body likes being fed less than 50% of what it burns? It will adapt to cut out that craziness.

 

With less than 10 lbs to lose, reasonable would be 1/2 lb weekly, or 250 cal deficit.

 

Otherwise, just keep kissing your muscle goodbye, keep slowing down your metabolism more and more, and stress out the body so much it retains water.

 

Now, maybe your deficit is not really over 50% because your food logging is terrible.

 

But anything over 10% is a huge stress on your body. You didn't gain it fast, don't attempt to lose it fast.

 

As you and many others have proven out - your body will win in that battle of stress. And you'll lose your mind, and likely gain weight again faster if you even manage to reach goal weight.

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For starters, you should write down and check how much food you are consuming and types of food being consumed. Then have it analyzed with a personal trainer or dietitian.

 

Mostly they advise against these types of food: High in Saturated Fat, Sodium, Sugars, Starches, and a few other key points. And they give you a list of foods you can consume in 3 hour intervals along with a glass of water for 8 hours total.

 

I can't really consume every 3 hours due to limited hours of break times. So I plan on meals and certain extras carefully in the three basic group times. Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. Plus supplements, sports nutritional protein shakes, a sports bottle with fuel burner during my cardiovascular and a 32oz water bottle to refill every few hours.

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On Cardiovascular time, I generally crunch in the first hour on the Elliptical Machine in a 24 Hour Fitness gym. 10,000 Steps Goal, HR Interval Ratio with Polar Strap, 99 Minutes Maximum (I complete it earlier than that). Don't set it as Quick Start. Set it to HR Interval Ratio. You don't want to make it easy or there's no burn whatsoever.

 

Strength Training, trainers or BodyBuilding Sites for example can provide the list of exercises you need to do. But I'm more focused on Cardiovascular Time in the AM and PM for Training in order to get both in everyday.

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The trick to losing weight is not starving yourself. Starvation mode is not a myth from this standpoint. If you are trying to lose weight to quickly your body will try to hold on and conserve. It is simply nature, but you will you will still lose weight. The easy way to lose weight is to know your Prime # and eat 10-20% underneath that.

You can only lose fat so fast anyways. If an obese person does not eat for 30 days they will most likely be dead and still fat.

Coumpounding weight loss is key.

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Cool, thanks. I'll try that.

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Agreed. This happened to me. 500 calorie deficit is the sweet spot. 100 or fewer carbs too.

 

My issues have been lack of sleep (stores fat) and not eating enough micronutrients (crucial for your metabolism to work efficiently and signaling “fullness.”)

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