What happens if you do not eat your minimum calorie requirement

Erm... generally you should lose weight ? I suppose if you have slower metabolism or a fairly sedate lifestyle then you may not require as many as the 'average' man or woman?

But surely you only lose weight if you cut down calories, as opposed to just not eating the full amount anyway?

I wonder if actually I am one of those people who go over some days and under others so it evens out?

MrH had a bit of a dizzy spell, which must have been down to not eating, and when we startewd discussing it, it turns out he sometimes only has like 600 calories a day. Hes not thin. Maybe he also has days where he has like 4000.

but then if you ate a super healthy diet (which we don't ?) which consisted of say, fish, pulses, rice, fruit and veg, you probably wouldn't manage 2000 calories a day either would you?

Calories confuse me ?

I think I need your willpower (or whatever it is that causes you to consistently eat so little ?.

I have been told in the past (at WW meetings so not an unreliable source) that if you don't eat your minimum daily amount of calories your body goes into starvation mode and hangs on to everything it can so you won't necessarily lose weight.

Kate

God knows - I don't generally count them except when I'm doing a workout that tells me how many I've burned! It's quite depressing when you're knackered and sweaty (I'm not very fit) and it's the equivalent of a Mars Bar ?

Its not willpower, or paying any attention to it really, probably quite the opposite really. We only realised the other day. It made me think maybe it was like a BMI measure - a good indication but maybe not a target as such....

If it is a target though it would probably be best to try and meet it, our organs could be feeling apart or something....

Depends on your metabolism but generally you tend to use up a bit of fat and a bit of muscle as well. Muscle is kind of a secondary energy source when fat isn't available.

I like the idea of BMR + life. It's silly to assume that 2,000 calories per day for women and 2,500 for men is a one-size-fits-all approach. Hyacinth, you're very slight and not very muscular; also presumably you (and certainly MrH, from what you've said on here) need fewer calories to maintain your bodies - especially given that muscle is v metabolically active and I know you don't have great chunky slabs of it like I do ?.

Then there's the + life thing. If you're active and fidgety or do a manual-type job, your calorie requirements shoot up. Mr H isn't active at all atm.

However, I happen to know that my ex, who was terribly proud of his starved frame which resulted from eating maybe one proper meal a day and doing no exercise, has become a right chubster since he turned 35. Mwahahahaha.

?

I'm sure a lot of it depends on your body type. I know if I eat too little for a sustained period I put on weight because my metabolism slows right down.

Wut? Wut? ??

I've just been looking at BMR- Its the only sensible thing that came from my totally crap googling "what happens if you do not consume minimum calorie requirements" ? it does also state that I don't need the full 2000 cals.

The muscle thing might explain why I'm not very strong? I have a lot of nervous energy which i think makes you less inclined to eat if you're in the middle of something (its also totally stupid to consume the majority of your calories at the end of the day when you've finished everything, thats a habit we both have to get out of)

I must've forgot to tell you MrH has started working! fingers crossed its not another disaster, but its been 2 weeks now. eeek. Not sure if hes eating more regularly, must check.

Hope cnut face ex gets so huge he gets stuck in something small and tight <throws head back and cackles>

so If I'm training for a marathon should I go out of my way to eat more of just see how I get on? so far its a great user of nervous energy ?

Of course, am thrilled re MrH's new job ??

Marathon training is an odd one. Your slight frame is a massive advantage, and you'd probs find your appetite increasing as it needed to during training. But you'll be amazed how much strength a marathon actually takes. My running trianing went pear-shaped as you know, and I did most of my long "runs" on the cross-trainer - and about 20k into my marathon, my arms started to feel really tired - and the next day, they were the only bit of me that was stiff. Go figure.

That is strange! I really need to start some strength and cross training, have to build some muscle up. How is your knee this time?

Original problem knee, fine - other one has gone horribly tits up. Running is a curse ?

OH eats (I reckon) 1900 cals a day, always has done. He's 30, 5'9" with a 36/7" chest, 28" waist and weighs 9st 10lb. He is BUSY. He should eat more, but stuggles to fit it in (his teeny tummy). He looks perfect, so this 2,500 per day per man nonsense holds no water with me.

That said, I seriously think us layyydeeez need 4,000 kcal a day of sugar alone!