Research shows that being underweight is MORE harmful to your body than being overweight. If you're not eating enough energy, you're literally starving yourself. If you're severely under eating, your body functions will eventually start to shut down and it will likely lead to serious health complications.
Remember: eating too little is just as unhealthy as eating too much. Find the right amount of food that works best for you, and don't be afraid to experiment with eating more if your health and performance aren't where you want them to be!
Meal frequency and chronic disease
Early epidemiological studies suggest that increased meal frequency can improve blood lipid (fats) levels and reduce the risk of heart disease. As a result, many experts advise against eating fewer, larger meals a day.
Over and undereating are common ways to cope with feelings like stress, anxiety, and being overwhelmed. Undereating tends to be a common response to acute or temporary stress, while overeating is linked to prolonged stress.
While the logic is solid, results have been mixed. Participants in a study who ate six small meals showed no metabolic advantage over those who ate three large meals. What did separate them from the three-meal group was that they reported higher levels of hunger and an increased desire to eat.
Theoretically, eating 10,000 calories in a single day can make you gain up to 3 pounds (1.5 kilograms) of weight. That's quite a lot, and depending on your age, height, weight, etc., you'd need around 10 hours of intense exercise to burn it off.
Some people may choose to restrict their daily intake to 1,500 calories. While factors such as age, gender, and activity level can cause caloric needs to vary, a 1,500-calorie intake is typically less than the average person requires. As a result, this diet may help some people lose weight.
Consuming at least 1,200 calories per day has often been touted as the minimum for basic bodily functions and to stay out of starvation mode, but the amount is actually too low. A healthy amount of calories for adult women ranges from 1,800 to 2,400 calories per day and for men it's 2,000 to 3,200 calories per day.
Overtraining and undereating can not only cause you to lose efficiency, but it can also cause you to lose muscle mass. If you have weight loss goals, eating less may sound like a good idea, but if it doesn't align with your fitness goals, you won't see the results you're hoping for.
Why am I gaining weight while eating less than 800 calories a day? 800 cal is very little, so you put yourself in a starvation mode, where your body tries to save energy. Whatever you eat that exceeds your metabolic rate, will therefore turn into fat.
Foods that are loaded with low-calorie vegetables and fruits can be included in a 500-calorie diet. You can make vegetable soup, vegetable salad, fruit salad with low-fat yogurt, or a portion of grilled chicken or fish with grilled veggies for lunch or dinner to satisfy your hunger pangs.
However, calorie intake should not fall below 1,200 a day in women or 1,500 a day in men, except under the supervision of a health professional. Eating too few calories can endanger your health by depriving you of needed nutrients.
You don't absorb every calorie you eat.
However, as you may have noticed the last time you took a number two, not every parcel you eat is entirely digested. Some foods, particularly those high in fiber, make their way through the digestive system without being completely broken down.
Generally, the recommended daily calorie intake is 2,000 calories a day for women and 2,500 for men.
You Might Get Malnutrition
Following an unbalanced 700 calorie diet for long enough can lead to malnutrition. You may not notice that your diet is unbalanced. For example, you may cut out calories from fats to meet your daily target.
Eat More Meals More Often
If you're active and train hard, you likely burn a lot of calories each day. It's very difficult to eat clean foods that replace all the energy you've spent in just three meals. That's why bodybuilders—competitive and recreational alike—eat 5-8 meals per day to support mass-building.
The most serious of bodybuilders know that consuming six or more meals per day is essential to not only massive gain, but makes it easier for your body to efficiently digest the food, and keeps you topped off with nutrients.
Pitfalls. Unwanted weight gain if portions or frequency of snacking is too much, adding excess calories. Too much snacking can reduce hunger at meal times or cause one to skip a meal entirely, which increases the risk of losing out on important nutrients.
Most people who have difficulty losing weight are simply eating too many calories. An important factor in weight loss is how many calories you're eating versus how many calories you're burning. It may seem easy, but if you're not tracking your calories each day, you may be consuming more than you think.
Too few calories can hamper your metabolism, sabotaging any goal to lose weight. Although some combinations of macronutrients or types of foods may affect weight loss synergistically, when it comes to dropping pounds, there's no denying that calories matter.