Eating all my calories to lose weight

[Hopie]

I am currently dieting with my mother, we are calorie counting but we aren't reaching the full amount of calories we are allowing ourselves and on our last weigh in it said we had gained. When we mentioned this to other people they said its because we aren't reaching our calorie allowance per day, we have allowed ourselves 1300 but are eating roughly 850-1000 calories a day.
So I was wondering if this information is correct?

 

[chelly32]

You need to consume at least 1200 cals or your body will go into starvation mode which will play havoc with your metabolism x

 

[Stackhead]

You need to consume at least 1200 cals or your body will go into starvation mode which will play havoc with your metabolism x

This isn't technically correct.

The gain could be a number of things - water weight, hormonal changes and yes also because you're body is reacting negatively to such a low calorie amount.

You don't have any stats up; can I ask why you chose 1300 calories per day? Was it based on something you looked up or just a number you thought was low enough?

850-1000 calories is very low, it's almost VLCD (very low calorie diet) territory; which are usually done with meal replacements which ensure you get all the necessary nutrition. If you're eating 850-1000 calories from food, chances are you're not getting all the necessary nutrients you need.

How do you ensure you're only eating 850-1000 cals per day? Do you use a logging website, or is it old fashioned pen and paper? Do you weigh what you eat to ensure your calorie counts are accurate? Are you sure you're only eating 850-1000 calories per day?

Here's what you risk by eating so low without following a plan designed to lower your calories so much:

1. Malnutrition - as mentioned below. Leading to fatigue, bad skin, hair loss etc...
2. Deprivation - because you're eating so low you run a high risk of bingeing and falling off the wagon
3. Damaged metabolism when you stop 'dieting' - by eating so low your metabolism will slow. Eating low for a sustained period of time means that when you hit maintenance the calorie levels required for maintenance will be WAY lower than normal. Meaning you run the risk of gaining weight very easily afterwards.

And probably a whole host of other things that my mind is drawing a blank at right now.

Unless you're 5" nothing, are aged over 55 and weigh less than 9 stone I can't recommend you eat at that lower level for a sustained period of time.

If you need help working out a decent calorie allowance please ask. But please eat at least to 1300 calories as you've allocated yourself. 1300 is a goal not a limit.

 

[TracyGWill]

Yes, you'll make yourselves ill eeating so few calories unless it's on a properly supervised VLCD. Please don't do it. xx

 

[Hopie]

We calorie count by looking at the packaging and weighting the food, we are eating properly and we make sure we have balanced meals so nutrition isn't a problem but what we eat is just low in calories its not the case of we eat less, we are just buying healthier foods. Although we are now trying to drink at least 2l of water per day as we haven't been drinking enough and think this may be the reason for the weight gain.

Thanks for your reply

 

[TracyGWill]

We calorie count by looking at the packaging and weighting the food, we are eating properly and we make sure we have balanced meals so nutrition isn't a problem but what we eat is just low in calories its not the case of we eat less, we are just buying healthier foods. Although we are now trying to drink at least 2l of water per day as we haven't been drinking enough and think this may be the reason for the weight gain.

Thanks for your reply

But if you're eating 850-1,000 calories every day, you are essentially starving yourself. Believe me, I know because I've done it, and have paid for it with decades of ill health, including heart failure. But obviously at the end of the day that's your choice, as it was mine - we can only advise based on experience.