concerned about calorie deprivation

[starovdarkness]

I seriously need to know how falling significantly under the daily required calorie intake for fat loss, which mine is supposedly around 2,200, would affect a persons attempt at losing body fat...

If I were to successfully begin and stick with an exercise routine on a daily basis... would body insist on storing the calories as fat or would they still come off...

The reason why it's not adding up to the amount that it should be is because I never take the time at the beginning of the month to figure out what foods I'll need for the month and how much it'll cost... Though I plan on attempting this for the first time coming up here on the first of April... but as far as March goes... there's just not much in the house as far as eating goes....

Over the past few months weight has been staying steady in the 260's, not going into the 70's or down into the 50's.

Getting nutritional situation straight has been hard... though I'm still looking into things and plan on upgrading account next month to get the daily meal ideas and such... I'm sure that'll help some...

Mainly just worried about the effects of not getting enough of the daily calories... and sorta scared, that, when I do start getting in the reccommended 2,200 calories a day that It'll make me gain weight... though this may be just a fear I have and nothing more... to be honest... I'm totaly afraid of gaining any extra weight... I just want to lose it.

[starovdarkness]

It's just that I'm basicaly in a shared living arrangement which means when we go grocery shopping it's for the entire household and not just for me so I'll have to do best to figure out how much money I need to set aside to get the things I need for nutrition throughout the entire month... Buy for the household, set aside extra for me... equals that it probably won't be easy... Especially seeings how there's not much of a monthly income on anybodies part... even mine.

I'm going to try though... I've been getting so inpired by this site and I feel like I can do this.

I've figured out how many calories I need to reduce on a daily basis which is the daily goal of calorie intake/in conjunction with daily exercise to begin losing fat...

What if I'm just not able to meet that daily goal... as in falling under it... how might that affect a persons progress?

I've read so much about how something like that can cause the body to store anything you eat as fat and I can't have that happen... which is why I was asking.

Here's to hoping for the best ov things!

[Boss Man]

Seriously undereating causes something called a "starvation mode". The body reacts to not getting enough by clinging onto Fat not shedding it. Plus you might increase the risk of Electrolyte imbalances and micronutrient deficiencies.

The body could potentially store some calories however as excess, even if your intake is modest, simply if you increased them a bit from a lower level, because the body would be used to the lower amount, have adapted and and learned to live with it, so increases however small, would be perceived more often than not as excess and converted to Fat.

This would happen for a short time, perhaps a week or two, probably no more than that, as the body recalibrated its metabolism accordingly, to transition the extra calories for functioning purposes, not for conversion to Fat for use at some later date.

The body would need some time to get used to those calories and use or store them as per requirements, or based on their eligability for use.

This should however eventually see any additional stored fat, mostly, if not entirely, utilised for energy and not replaced, once the body has become more efficient at coping with any caloric increase you'd made.

Exercise also will have some bearing on Metabolic function and caloric and fat usage, so you would be fine with 2,200 and I think you could add another 300 onto that.

You've got two ways to do that I feel, based on a 6 meal a day system.

1: 5g Protein, 5g Carbs, 1g Fat, (49 calories), extra per meal

2: 5g Carbs, 3-4g Fat, (47-56 calories approx), extra per meal.

So either system will work, it just depends on what you feel bets doing.

Also 1lb of added muscle will burn an additional 45-50 calories, so you can bear that in mind for the future. That's another bonus to strength type training .

[LozTaylor]

Undereating is just as bad (if not worse) than over eating. Think of your body like a squirrel. If the squirrel is getting a steady supply of nuts, he's going to eat them. If the squirrel however is getting too many nuts, he's going to eat them but also set some aside and store them for later. Also, if that squirrel isn't able to get a steady supply of nuts, he's going to nibble the nut and then set it aside as storage. This is how your body works (albeit a simplified model). It doesn't matter how hard you work yourself down the gym, if you aren't eating enough, you won't be losing any weight. One of the hardest things I had to get over was the perception of how food and the body works. I was undereating for a while when I started and got to a point where I was no longer losing and couldn't work out why. The last thing I thought of was undereating, but that was the problem.

Just make sure you are eating small and frequently throughout the day. Aim for 6 small meals or so as this will keep your metabolism burning throughout the entire day. Like Boss said, putting on muscle means you get through more calories a day.

[Boss Man]

Many people undereat when they start out.

One person came here and admitted to things like Chicken Salads with half a chicken breast, A slice of Whole-grain bread for Breakfast, an Apple as a snack or just a boiled Egg.

The thing is it's good food, but for her all bar the dinner not enough of it.

Many people forget crappy food has good nutrtion. If you analysed a large restaurant chain Pizza with Mushrooms, Olives and Tomato, you'd be getting Vitamins A,B,C,D,E,K, Calcium, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Zinc, Iron, Copper, Potassium, Selenium, Lycopene, Omega 3 and 6 plus one or two other things as well.

If you compare that to a Chicken salad with Tomato, Lettuce and Cucumber in, you've got Iron, Zinc, Calcium, Lycopene, Vitamins A, C and E, Kaempferol and Quercetin, (two types of antioxidents belonging to the flavanoid group), plus one or two other possibles.

So you get much less saturates and possibly Salt, but much less Micronutrient content too. 9 versus 17. This could be mostly rectified with something like Olive Oil, Sesame Oil, Peanut Oil, Nuts etc added in, for more Fat soluables and healthy fats. Though you may still get no Vitamin B.

However cutting way back on calories, can actually leave people getting less than is preferable and running the risk of certain nutritional deficiencies, possibly leading to things like Bone weakening, Anaemia, or other issues with things like Cholesterol elevation, free radical activity elevation etc, if they get significantly reduced amounts of the things in the aforementioned pizza and often they are not aware they may be consuming 1,200 or less calories a day.

Sedentary females need around 1,800 calories a day, men 2,000, so remembering that healthy food needs to be balanced out with sufficient portioning per day is a key consideration, because healthy food isn't too healthy if you're not getting enough of it. Then there's even an arguable case for eating the Pizza and not the salad.

[starovdarkness]

Thanks guys... I totaly appreciate the responses!!!

I have some big changes to make in life...

Quitting smoking and becoming more physicaly active on a daily basis.

This morning when I awoke, I sat there with a cig in hand and took a moment to think. "What if this turned out to be last cig? For I never truly do know what's going to happen or when I could suffer a life threatening incident do most in part to unhealthy habit/s. How long am I going to put myself at more of a risk of something happening to me by putting off quitting this nasty habit?" I've gotta be careful though or I tend to dwell on certain things way too much.

I've been blaming lack of motivation on various things and I know that I need to stop finding excuses to not do anything and I need to push myself to do it...

The first month will probably be the hardest, I've heard that it takes around 28 days to form a habit, so I imagine that if I can stick with some things that long that most of the excuses will be far behind me.

We do have a little grocery store in town so I can set aside funds for the month and start out by figuring out what I'll need for nutrition for the day and just "walk" down to the store and get things...

I'm feeling positive about this and I'm glad I found this site.

I want nothing more than to live long and to feel good about health and body.

[Athene]

I have some big changes to make in life...

Quitting smoking and becoming more physicaly active on a daily basis.

This morning when I awoke, I sat there with a cig in hand and took a moment to think. "What if this turned out to be last cig? For I never truly do know what's going to happen or when I could suffer a life threatening incident do most in part to unhealthy habit/s. How long am I going to put myself at more of a risk of something happening to me by putting off quitting this nasty habit?" I've gotta be careful though or I tend to dwell on certain things way too much.

I've been blaming lack of motivation on various things and I know that I need to stop finding excuses to not do anything and I need to push myself to do it...

The first month will probably be the hardest, I've heard that it takes around 28 days to form a habit, so I imagine that if I can stick with some things that long that most of the excuses will be far behind me.

We do have a little grocery store in town so I can set aside funds for the month and start out by figuring out what I'll need for nutrition for the day and just "walk" down to the store and get things...

I'm feeling positive about this and I'm glad I found this site.

I want nothing more than to live long and to feel good about health and body.

I'm really happy for you, welcome!

[starovdarkness]

Thanks Athene... I'm glad to be here... and hopefully tommorow I'll post again and become more active on here... which is another big step for me for I'm so used to just reading and not posting anything what-so-ever...

[starovdarkness]

Undereating is just as bad (if not worse) than over eating. Think of your body like a squirrel. If the squirrel is getting a steady supply of nuts, he's going to eat them. If the squirrel however is getting too many nuts, he's going to eat them but also set some aside and store them for later. Also, if that squirrel isn't able to get a steady supply of nuts, he's going to nibble the nut and then set it aside as storage. This is how your body works (albeit a simplified model). It doesn't matter how hard you work yourself down the gym, if you aren't eating enough, you won't be losing any weight. One of the hardest things I had to get over was the perception of how food and the body works. I was undereating for a while when I started and got to a point where I was no longer losing and couldn't work out why. The last thing I thought of was undereating, but that was the problem.

Just make sure you are eating small and frequently throughout the day. Aim for 6 small meals or so as this will keep your metabolism burning throughout the entire day. Like Boss said, putting on muscle means you get through more calories a day.

I've been following your progress on here as well and just want you to know that I hope to do as well as you have already.

I don't believe in a thing such as "too" much inspiration...

[Boss Man]

Keep the money saved from the "habit" and use half of it for food and the other half to save for other things like CD's, clothes etc etc, but use this money as a reward system, not for when you feel like it, so it has more positivity attached to it and the spending of it really means something.

Therefore you attach more significance to it and you know you're earning the right to spend it.

I think there's half a chance you can actually do what you say and it's not talk that will be backed by actions that fade and stop in a few weeks time .

[LozTaylor]

Cheers starovdarkness. I've only ever done this for myself, but if journey so far is enough to inspire others to do the same, that's a bonus This forum was a great find for me all those months ago. You're in good hands if you ever need any help as everyone here is pretty helpful.