Question about Calories...
 

Is it bad to eat too few calories, even if it is just once in awhile?

I'm supposed to be eating around 1200 calories a day, and normally, I overeat and land in the 1600-1800 calorie range. However, today I only ate 900 and I feel full. It seems low to me, so I was thinking of eating more, but right now I can't imagine eating anything else because my stomach feels stuffed. Is it okay to drop so low in calories every once in awhile?

It's fine to drop below your calories every once in a while. If you're full, you're full! I'm trying to train myself to stop eating when I'm full as it's a bad habit of mine to keep eating just because there's still food on the table. So for me, if I dip below a little bit every now and again there's no harm in it. Plus i usually end up a little bit below as I would rather be slightly under than slightly over. Like today I will be about 80 calories under...and that's perfectly fine.

You just don't want to get into the habit of doing it bc then your body will go into starvation mode and will get accustomed to the lower amount of calories (so when you start to re-up your calories to a normal level, you'll just gain it all back). So yeah, it's alright.

my nutritionist told me that as long as your weekly average calories is at your target cal range you should be good. thats what i try and aim for is the average because i can go up a little some days and under a little some days.

I had days like that during the first month of my diet, when I just didn't want to eat after the afternoon. But be careful! 1200 calories is the cut off line before your body goes into starvation mode! Your body will start storing all the calories it gets. There are some doctor supervised diets that go below that (like physician's weight loss centers), but doing it on your own is dangerous.

There have been many days where I've forced myself to have a decent sized dinner, but its worth it.

thanks all

I would say every once in a while is fine but if you find yourself doing it more and more often...or hoping that today will be one of those days...you may want to monitor yourself a bit more closely.

I have a problem with this. According to thedailyplate I should be eating about 1324 calories a day, but I usually stop eating when I'm about 200-300 calories below that. Even if I am really craving something like popcorn, and I would still be under, I usually don't have it because I don't like getting too close. It's bad though I know, I am just so paranoid that if I eat those extra 200-300 calories I won't lose any weight. I am working on it though...However..on Fridays I usually go way over and I do tend to have slip ups now and then.. So maybe it all evens out?

I think you just have to be very honest with yourself and be able to recognize when you're playing counterproductive mind games with yourself. It can be a slippery slope. If you tend towards disordered eating habits and thoughts, going too low is sometimes a place you can't let yourself get. If it happens once a week or less, and you're really only doing it when you're not hungry, it may not be an issue, but if you find that once a week leads to twice a week or more, or find that you're not really listening to your body and ignoring hunger in order to eat that low - you've got to be reexamine your motives and be willing to recognize signs of it becoming an unhealthy habit, and nip it in the bud.

I agree with Landonsbaby. If ur not doin it all the time u should be okay. I usually eat between 1200-1500 cals a day and every once in a while I'm below 1200. Just monitor like Landonsbaby said and u should be okay.

too few calories, often quoted as less than 1000 or 1200 depending on your height and metabolic rate, can be dangerous as well as ruin your hard work. Lack of calorie intake initially leads to fat breakdown and muscle breakdown. Many "experts" say this is ok because in the obese person more fat than muscle is lost. However, in refeeding or high calorie intake days calories go preferentially to fat formation. See your doctor or a board certified nutritionist

My appetite varies from day to day. That's normal and I see no reason to fight it.

If I had to force myself to eat to reach a certain calorie level, I'd be visiting my doctor to find out why.