Calories

[Cherry-Blossom]

I've recently restarted and I've been logging what I'm eating on my fitness pal (helps me keep track and I find it far easier to use than the SW tracker). Since restarting I've been eating plenty and I'm not hungry, however, I've only been having around 1,000 calories a day. Seeing as I've been working almost half of that off as body magic I'm concerned that I'm not eating enough to keep myself going without getting ill. Has anyone else had this problem?

 

[FloralFlower85]

You need to eat more! You need at least 2000 a day, if you under eat your body will go into starvation mode and you will find it hard to loose weight. I had this problem a little while back before I started SW.

 

[Stackhead]

You need to eat more! You need at least 2000 a day, if you under eat your body will go into starvation mode and you will find it hard to loose weight. I had this problem a little while back before I started SW.

If you needed 2000 calories per day to not go into starvation mode nobody would be able to lose weight!

OP - You do need to eat more. Though I note you've come off a VLCD? So your maintenance calories will be lower than the average person anyway (because you slowed your metabolism down by doing the VLCD). Why are you SWing if you're CCing at the same time? The point of SW is that you don't have to track calories, just HEX's & syns. Slightly off topic, but was just wondering - seems like a pain in the bum to do both!

re. intake, some days on SW my intake hovers around the 1200 mark, sometimes it reaches 2000 (when I looked out of curiosity). It averages out. However, if you're consistently logging 1000 cals, then a few things:

1. Are you eating your HEA & HEB? Its 240 cals for the two so that'll be instant increase
2. Are you eating syns? Try for a minimum of 5 per day (100 calories)
3. If you are doing the above, try adding a fruit to your breakfast (fruit is high cal than veggies), have a banana (instant 100 cal hit)

You only really need to bring yourself up a couple 100 cals (maybe more, depending on height & CW), but generally try to stay above 1200.

 

[FloralFlower85]

Oh really?? But on most places it says average intake a day for average adult is 2000. I know I don't eat that much. I was calorie tracking on my fitbit and most days I was under 700 calories a day. I struggled to loose weight after a few weeks. I upped it a bit before coming to slimming world and the weight started to come off again. You need to eat a certain amount of calories to loose weight.

 

[Stackhead]

Average calories someone needs to maintain their weight is 2000 calories. Which is average. My maintenance calories are 2300-2400. To lose weight you have to create a calorie deficit, so eat below maintenance. But its a fine balance, too low and the body adjusts and stops responding, too high and you won't create a big enough deficit to see a loss every week.

If you had carried on at 700 calories the weight would've started moving again BUT you would have been seriously unhealthy, malnourished and would have lost muscle mass and bone density as well as fat (VLCD/ketonic diets are totally different before anyone jumps in) Which is why you shouldn't go too low on a normal calorie restricted diet

SW designs their diet to average at 1500 cals a day, so a 500 cal deficit per day for the average person = 1lb per week loss. Smaller people need fewer calories, larger people need more = it's all in the numbers.

 

[FloralFlower85]

Okay, that makes more sense!!

 

[Cherry-Blossom]

I'm not calorie counting as such. I just happen to be logging my food and exercise on My Fitness Pal as I find it better then the SW log and that tracks calories.
I've made sure I have both my Healthy Extras each day and eat almost my full count of syns each day. I also eat more fruit than veg.
I've found that the more exercise I do the smaller portions I want and so the less I eat. Though the more calories I probably need! For example I just had a small plate of sausage and mash and an apple and feel like I'm going to burst. Before I was dieting and exercising I would have eaten double and still probably eaten some junk after.

 

[Valentine_N]

I calorie count on myfitnesspal as well as follow the principles of slimming world. A slimming world consultant told me off and told me I needed to throw myself into the slimming world plan & forget about calories... But old habits die hard I guess. My calorie intake over my a first 3 days has been 1200-1500 calories a day.

 

[Browsie]

So long as you are eating till your satisfied and not going hungry then carry on as you are. Don't just eat for the sake of it that is not the SW way. As others have said so long as you are getting your HEX's and 3rd plate superfree then you are still following a healthy diet. You also need your syns but you have already said you are eating these. If your weight loss slows or stops then its something to look at though.