[gahundy]

the experts say to eat a certain amount of calories everyday or your body will think it is in starvation mode, but then the same people say to only eat when you are hungry and to only eat until mildly full. if i do that i am coming in way under my allotted daily calories. according to the daily plate to lose 2 pounds a week i need to eat a little over 1500 cals, i have been getting in about 1300, and i have been pushing myself to do that! so should i follow my tummy or should i follow my calorie count? all this is so confusing, i just want to be healthy!

[ddc]

I don't think your body will go into starvation with 1300 calories.
I've always heard to not go below 1000, though.
I've been following Paul Mckenna's techniques that say eat when you're hungry, stop when you think you are full. It is very liberating to not be counting calories anymore.

Good luck!

[yoyonomoreinvegas]

The trouble with those charts is that everyone's body chemistry and actual caloric needs aren't all exactly the same. You also need to take into account your past eating habits. I had the same question a while back because I went from a pretty small amount of such horrid food choices to eating such a HUGE amount of good, clean food that I was just never hungry (sometimes almost felt too full) but kept falling way short on calories. Depending on your activity level, I think if you're getting 1300 and feel good and are seeing a difference in how your clothes fit I wouldn't stress over forcing the additional calories. For me, it's working out really well to just gradually increase the calories in small increments as my body adjusts to the good food. Plan being that I should be able to eat like a "normal" person by the time I get to my goal weight.

[StillTryin]

I think your body will tell you what it needs, all those charts are GUIDES, we are all different! No matter if we weigh the same or not. So do what your body tells you to do...I mean look at kids/babies/toddlers, they eat what they are hungry for and don't worry about the calories.

[pamatga]

I have to straddle the fence on this issue. I know that you should eat only when you are physically hungry but a lot of people who overate (especially for years) have ruined that sensitivity to be able to gauge. Not to mention that some of us overate so much we stretch our stomachs out so it feels like we are more hungry for a reason----our stomachs can hold a lot more food. Again, this is the basic principle behind stomach reduction surgery. The doctors have known this for years. Or has been said, "Nature abhors a vacuum". It just aches to want to fill it.

So, what I do is a combination of both. I keep one eye on weighing and measuring my foods while also gauging my fullness level. If you aren't, I really recommend that you do even for a couple of meals. I think, a lot of people really think they are eating little when in reality they are eating a lot ----a lot of calories that is. When I mean weighing and measuring, I mean everything-----from the condiments on the sandwich to the salad dressing to the size of that chicken breast. Depending on how you "doctor up" a chicken breast it can become very calorie-dense if you aren't careful.

As for being concerned about the future, if you train your body meal by meal you will arrive at your desired goal:" to be able to know when to stop". However, this is a caveat: sometimes, we know when to stop, we just don't. I do not want to stop eating pizza when I am full. Sorry, but I don't. Neither do I with my homemade fudge. I want to eat and eat and eat. That is how you get and stay fat. Eating the foods that you can't or won't stop overeating. Quite honestly, if you gave me unlimited pizza from my favorite pizza place vs unlimited sex, I would say bring on the sausage!!

The choice is simple. Eat to be thin or eat to be fat. Calories are just one marker of what your choice will be. Undereating is not virtuous in of itself. You aren't going to get a gold star because you underate one day. In fact, over the long run you could actually bring on some serious nutritional issues with your body.

Eat to live not live to eat. says Geneen Roth.

Your body needs good healthy food. The reason why I eat more than you is because I have found that in order for me to get all the necessary servings of grains, lean protein, fruits and especially vegetables, I need to eat more than 1300 calories. I never realized that I was undereating protein especially for my weight and body size. My hair was lacklustre and so terribly thin. My metabolism was slower than a centipede on a 5K run. My skin was gray and sallow.

When I stepped up my protein so did my metabolism. My body need for 10 grams of protein is almost 1000 calories right there and you know that I want a little something to go with that. Just by making that one change this past winter I have noticed some great results. The benefits??? Weight lose for one but more importantly. My skin glows. My hair is coming in thicker. My menopause symptoms like hot flashes are almost non-existent. I say my body is getting the amount of food it needs. I hope you will do the same. Your body will thank you in the long run.

[melindad]

I would just listen to my body - it will let you know what it needs! But I agree with ddc that you shouldn't go below 1000 calories.

[aphil]

It honestly depends. Someone who is 5'1", small framed, and 110 pounds probably shouldn't go below 1000 calories a day. On the other hand, someone who is 5'9" and is still very overweight (let's say 300 pounds) shouldn't be going below 1500ish.

I also agree, that many people who have weight problems often have screwed up their internal hunger cues. When you have years of starving yourself to lose weight, and then overeating past the point of full, you don't always have that regulator like an infant or toddler does.

Many overweight women have come here eating 600 or 800 calories per day, and thinking that it is okay because they are "full".

It has to be a combination of eating when you are hungry/stopping when you are full, but also common sense to eat a balanced diet with enough calories to sustain you HEALTH wise.

Even if you are full, eating 600 or 800 (or even 1000 for a long period of time) calories a day isn't healthy. You will be starving your body of fuel and nutrients.

Now, I don't think that there is a huge problem with 1300. If you are like most calorie counters, you might have 1340 one day, 1280 the next, 1500 the next...it averages out. If your calories are too low for an extended period of time, that is when you should do some changing.