Eating a few calories everyday?

Question

I'm trying to tone down and lose a few pounds, I work nights, so I sleep during the day, when I'm awake, I eat maybe a bagel or something and drink a large coffee, I'm sleeping during the the day, so breakfast, lunch and snacks are not consumed, I'm probably consuming like 500 calaries at night, probably not even close to that, how would this effect my plans to lose weight? Please note, Having an eating disorder or anything like that is not my situation, I just have to rest during the day to pull a 9-12 shift at night, with the exception of my days off. When I do eat, what I eat makes me full, so I'm not starving myself or anything, but on a daily basis this what I consume, nothing more than tea or coffee and some type of bread.( bagel,toast, english muffin, a croissant ) or maybe a chicken salad or something, basically I barely have a full meal on my schedule, what do u think about this routine? I'm 5'7, 200lbs, most of my weight (large breast), I'm a large frame female, but curvy.

Advice please......

Answer 1

The problem that you are having is that you are not eating ENOUGH! In order to lose weight you must eat. It sounds absurd, however, food is fuel for the body. Your caloric intake is too low. When the body does not receive enough food to maintain itself, it goes into a mode, that sends a signal that it is "literally starving". This is a mechanism that the body uses to protect itself, and holds onto the fat that ones body has stored. That is a scientific fact. In order to get your metabolism up(the rate at which a body burns calories)is to eat 5-6 small, healthy meals a day. It is not easy, with your schedule, I understand that, but that is what you have to do. You need to get some exercise incorporated into your day, even a little walking would help a lot. Just because you work at night, that has no bearing on your weight loss. You need to consume X amount of calories a day(24hr.)no matter what your work schedule. At your weight, if you follow a sensible eating program and do some cardio, you could consume between 1200-1500 calories a day. Good Luck!

Answer 2

When you eat late at night, your body slows down its calorie burning because it is preparing to sleep, despite all evidence to the contrary. Therefore, eating 500 calories or less at night really is not helping your diet very much.
The best thing to do is to eat normal portions throughout the day, however this is quite a challenge to those of us who work late hours.
What I would suggest is, regardless of when you eat, try to spread out the time period... i.e. eat something at nine and then again at two, or something to that effect. It needn't be something large, just several small snacks if that's what works and satisfies you. By doing this, your metabolism will start to speed up, enabling you to burn more calories and fat than you would by just having one single meal everyday.

Answer 3

Even if your eating a few calories a day it seems like most of those are fat calories, replace with protien and then workout, you'll lose more weight. "Hint" Take healthy snacks to work so you don't have to drink that large coffee and any other fatty foods.

Answer 4

I think you are fine. You are currently shrinking the size of your stomach naturally. Your stomach is like a rubber band.. It will go back to its original size when not stretched. Your stomach should be the size of your fist. Most people don't realise that. As long as your stomach is not growling..I think you are fine. Remember to drink water because your organs need water to function. You might want to keep a protein bar on you incase you get light headed for some reason.

Ignore those people who say your metab..slows down at night..If your sleeping during the day..than your clock is not the same as them and neither is your body.