Calorie Intake; Daily

Im finding it hard to eat/drink/consume more then 1000 Calories daily. Is this too low for being a 21 year old male who works out everyday, and is my body going to think im starving?

[CuteNsweeT]

Short answer: YES!
It's not advised to go as low as 1000 cal/day without medical supervision.
Just wondering though; if you find it hard to consume calories, how did your weight end up at 230?

[Soggymoggy]

Absolutely that's too low; even if you weren't exercising that would be far too little.  Your body will be catabolising muscle to get the energy it needs, which will lower your metabolic rate - this is commonly referred to as a body in starvation mode.

I see from your profile that you are overweight and working to correct this - well done for making the decision, and congratulation on your progress so far! Calories and monitoring your weight can only help you so far though; if, for example, you were to eat 1,800 calories per day you would lose weight... but if all those calories come from starch with no protein you would have nothing to support your muscles so the weight loss you'd see would be the result of burning muscle, not of burning fat. Personally, I pay not the smallest attention to my weight or my calorie intake - I avoid foods that cause the body to lay down fat reserves (about which more in a minute), eat plenty of protein to protect my muscles, and use my measurements to monitor my progress.

How much do you know about your body chemistry? Very simply, anything that causes your blood sugar to spike will cause you to lay down fat reserves unless the sugar is used instantly. Foods like pasta, bread, potatoes, rice and anything with sugar in them are high-density energy sources (ie, contain a lot of calories) BUT are also very easy to break down. This means that they dump a lot of sugar into your blood in one go; in response your body releases insulin, which causes you to convert the excess energy into fat. Foods based on protein, fibrous carbohydrate (chewy veggies, basically) and fats, on the other hand, take a long time to break down and therefore you don't get the same sugar rush - so they don't get converted to fat.

The best diet for burning fat consists of quite literally AS MUCH lean protein and fibrous veg as you can eat, along with a smaller amount of good fat. People tend not to like this idea (the perception is that to lose weight you must go hungry - in fact, long term the opposite is true!) but protein cannot be converted into fat AND supports your muscles while you lose fat, the veggies are essential for energy and digestive health, and you need unsaturated fats to transport fat from your cells - it's a complex chemical equation, but basically without unsaturated fats your body can't release your own fat to burn.  Good fats include olive oil, some nuts (check the label), all fish, avocados and vegetable spreads, but you can also buy supplements of omegas 3, 6 and 9 to take a couple of times a day which makes it easier - keep them in the fridge, though, or they don't work as well. You should take a multivit and mineral as well, and check the label for the GDAs - you may find you need additional calcium, magnesium and vit D.

There are smart ways to exercise too (although of course any exercise is better than none). For optimum fat-burn, heavy weights training is your friend - your muscles use fantastic amounts of energy, and the great thing about a weights session is that the post-workout burn continues for up to 48 hours after you've finished. Building muscle will also increase the amount of energy you burn at rest; top body-builders require up to 8,000 calories per day even when they're not training, simply because their muscles use so much energy.  A heavy weights session should HURT, and it's not practical to do it every day until you're stronger, and you know what you're doing and can start to alternate muscle groups.  I would recommend that you exercise every day (as you already are), alternating weights sessions with interval training. A lot of people will recommend cardio training (and certainly that's very good for you), but the fact is that your body requires oxygen to burn fat so if you're working anaerobically you're not actually working off fat. Interval training's best (after weights training) because you are able to constantly replenish your body with oxygen, which allows you to keep burning fat - you shouldn't be going flat-out, that's actually counter-productive.

After exercise, you'll need a good dose of protein as soon as possible; it's best to have a protein shake ready in your bag to drink before you even leave the gym. I don't know what's available where you are, but you need a good quality blended protein shake with low carb and low sugar - get a blend of milk, egg and whey proteins if you can (although just milk and whey will do). Myprotein.com have some very good products like Impact Blend if they deliver where you are - if not, something like Promax Diet is decent too, although more expensive. Don't be tempted to cheap out on protein shakes, by the way - cheap ones are prepared at higher temperatures, which denatures the protein and makes it less dense and less effective.  If you've done weights, you'll also need a small amount of starchy carb (the only time you should be having it, really!) to enable your muscles to process the protein - the simplest way for me is just to mix a scoop of ground oats (also available at myprotein.com or health-food shops) into my shake.

Sticking to this regime long-term can be difficult, but even in just one month I lost three inches around my hips. If you're going to try it, though, forget your weight; with the increase in muscle mass, it's likely you'll actually get heavier. Take your measurements before you start (and your body fat % if you can) and use them to compare; you should find you lose an awful lot of fat in a relatively short time.

Best of luck, and if you do decide to use this feel free to message me with any questions!

Soggymoggy.

[saskguy89]

This is new for me to be under 1000 calories, only since the start of my work out/diet.
a normal day for me is a cereal bar, (100 cal)
dinner (400 cal)
supper (400 cal)
But I'm not hungry any more, my apatite has fully suppressed this past week.

Before all this:I  would of consumed closer to 2500 a day.

Thanks for the info @Soggymoggy (im definitely gonna ad a protein shake to my routine.

[OytheGreat]

Try aiming for calorie dense foods that are high in protein and fiber. Something like almonds or peanut butter for example.

Also, eat a bigger breakfast, preferably protein. This may help regulate your appetite enough so you can up your calories to 1800 - 2000.

It wouldn't hurt to check with a doctor. Sometimes a suppressed appetite is due to an illness of some kind. Or it could be a new medication. When I was on tetracycline, I had no appetite to speak of.