You're not eating enough!!!!

You're not eating enough!!!! I wasn't and most aren't. Here's what I've learned. Hopefully sharing will help some of you with a similar struggle.

We were told to lose weight we need to eat less and exercise. At least that’s what I always remember hearing. But that's just not 100% accurate. Not really. Not anymore. We’ve now discovered to lose weight, and get healthy we have to eat more. And better.

“But I exercise and I drink lots of water. I just don't pay attention to my food. I'm sure I eat well enough. I'm just not losing.”  

Sound familiar?

How do you know you're eating well enough or eating enough in general if you don't know what you're eating? Sure you “know” what you’re eating, but perhaps it’s not as much as you think, or too much of the wrong thing.

“I'm eating under 1200 calories a day? Why isn't the scale moving????”

Sound familiar?

Not eating enough is just as bad as eating too much. Your body won't let go of anything because it doesn't know when more food is coming so it goes into “caveman” survival mode. Guess what, you won’t get hunger pains eating this way either. It doesn’t mean you’re not hungry. It means your body is trying to keep you alive until you go hunting for that Mammoth or saber tooth tiger again.

When I started out with this whole weight loss getting healthy stuff, I skipped breakfast. I ate a late lunch and dinner would come around 9 or 10 at night. Usually my lunch was light because I wasn't hungry (caveman survival mode). And dinner was a huge meal. I probably gave myself a total of 900-1000 calories a day and most from late night dinner.

I didn't lose. I maintained my nearly 300 lbs size 3XL body for years. I thought if I wasn't hungry I didn't need to eat.

I was wrong.

Once I changed how much I ate and when I ate I noticed something happen. I got hungry. My stomach growled. What was happening? I was changing my metabolism. Now my body was working with me. I was no longer in caveman survival mode.

Guess what? After a few weeks of eating a LOT more I lost 11 lbs. I wasn't even exercising. I was eating better. I was eating MORE.

It's all about eating better.

What does that even mean? It means learning what to eat, how much to eat and when to eat. It all comes into play here.

If at all possible, I encourage you to meet with a dietician/nutritionist to help with getting your nutritional needs set up correctly. They can review health histories and recommend ideal foods appropriately; as what works for me, or her, or him, will be different. We all have our own unique health histories and need to adjust our nutrition accordingly.

For instance, someone anemic might need an iron rich diet. I have ulcerative colitis and do well with a fiber rich diet. Someone with high blood pressure might need a low sodium diet.

Most people set up myfitnesspal incorrectly. Did you know that? It’s TRUE!

The majority of people I chat with have theirs set up to lose 2 lbs a week saying they're not very active, maybe they’ll workout 2-3 times a week, so myfitnesspal allows them no more then 1200 calories for their day. Not enough!!! Especially if they're also working out!!!!

1200 is the minimum a human needs to survive a day with zero movement, like sick in bed and only getting up to use the bathroom kind of activity.

I'm guessing you move more then that? If yes, you need more food/fuel in your tank!

So why does myfitnesspal do this? It does this because it’s a computer, not a person. It takes all the information it’s given and does calculations. If you tell it you’re VERY ACTIVE and want to lose 1 lb a week, it’s going to give you a lot more calories per day. If you tell it your sedentary, and want to lose 2 lbs a week, it figures if you aren’t burning calories with exercise, then the only way you can lose weight this fast is to stop eating. Again, not correct, but this is a computer just calculating numbers based on the data it’s given. In fact, if you start out with it set to lose less a week, and it gives you a higher calorie goal, it has somewhere to go. If your starting calorie goal per day is 2000, and you lose 10 lbs, myfitnesspal automatically adjusts your daily calorie goal and lowers it. BUT if your daily calorie goal is already at the lowest amount, 1200, it has no where to go and you a likely going to stall out.

For beginners, I generally recommend setting your loss goal to a 1/2 lb a week. Remember at that rate that would be 26 lbs in a year, which is brilliant.

You will have to eat more then you think you will need. And working with a dietitian and/or setting up myfitnesspal correctly makes a huge difference.

Why??

Because if you're trying to eat 1200 cal or less a day you will most likely not lose any weight. When I weighed 288 lbs I had to eat around 2000-2400 calories a day. BUT every time I lost 10 lbs. myfitnesspal dropped how many calories I could eat. So don't panic. Realistic goals will yield success. 

Today I am down 135 lbs from when I started on myfitnesspal on September 11, 2012. On average I’ve been losing about 1.18 lbs a week. Some weeks more, some less, this is my average.  Today my daily calorie goal is at 1640. Yes, that’s right, 1640. I still have to eat more to continue with losing. And I’m a LOT healthier then I was when I started out. I don’t imagine I will EVER eat just 1200 a day. It’s just not enough. My body needs fuel, and food is my fuel.

Want to discuss this further? Shoot me a question in the comments. Let's get a dialogue going.

For those that want to be myfitnesspal friends, this is me: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/profile/bwarsh73

I also started a facebook group for Ladies Only using MyFitnessPal. It's a safe place for super users to help mentor the new users. We're a lot of fun, and would welcome you to join us: https://www.facebook.com/groups/MyFitnessPalLadies/

Follow me on my Facebook page: fb.com/UnderConstructionWithBwarsh 
Join my Ladies MFP Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/MyFitnessPalLadies.