When many people embark on a weight loss journey or take a new approach with their eating habits, their first step is to Google how many calories they should eat per day. Unfortunately, this number is often way too low. Many women will see a recommendation of just 1,200 calories per day, while men find one of only 1,500 to 1,600 calories per day. 

If you follow these recommendations, you’ll end up decreasing your metabolic rate — a topic we discuss frequently on our blog. You may also notice other signs and wonder if they’re a normal part of weight loss and diet changes. Before we dig in, it’s important to note that these symptoms — although they are also common for patients with eating disorders — do not indicate that an individual has an eating disorder or even disordered eating habits. They simply show that, in an effort to improve their health, these individuals ultimately restrict their calories too severely.

For today’s blog post, let’s look at five common signs that you’re not eating enough.

1. Persistent bloating

As dietitian Elaina Efird, RDN, CD, CEDRD, CSSD explains in a video on our YouTube channel, this problem is one that patients bring up constantly. When you’re not taking in enough food, your gut responds and slows down. Then, when you do eat, you experience bloating. 

Additionally, your body may stop producing enough digestive enzymes. Your body needs energy to make these enzymes, and when it doesn’t get enough fuel, it slows down this production. Then, when you eat food, there aren’t enough enzymes to break it down. 

2. Loss of your period

People tend to normalize this symptom as a typical part of weight loss, but it’s not normal at all! “Losing your period is not a normal response to losing weight if you’re doing it healthfully,” Elaina explains. “If you are losing weight at a slow pace and focusing on controlled fat loss, you should not lose your period.”

Similar to the decrease in digestive enzymes, your body just doesn’t have the energy to make those hormones and expend it on your period. To get your period back on track, you have to start eating more food — which, yes, may lead to weight gain. The longer you go without your period, the more at risk you are for developing other issues, such as osteopenia and osteoporosis (low bone density). 

3. Hair loss or dull and brittle hair

When you restrict your calories, you inadvertently starve your body of important nutrients and vitamins. Without enough nutrients, your body cannot fully function and begins to only send these nutrients and vitamins to the most essential systems (like cardiovascular and respiratory). Other non-essential body functions, including hair health, growth, and retention, don’t receive the required nutrients and stop working. 

4. Poor energy and sleep

Poor energy and poor sleep are both a result of not fueling your body enough. When you’re not eating enough calories, specifically enough protein, your energy is likely going to drop. “Your body simply doesn’t have the fuel to expend on day-to-day activities,” Elaina shares.

Poor energy goes hand-in-hand with poor sleep. Even if you don’t feel hungry, your body may wake you up in the middle of the night, hoping that you’ll eat something. If you consistently wake up hungry, that’s a good indicator that you need to increase your calorie intake, specifically in the morning.

5. Always feeling cold

This symptom indicates that your metabolic rate has dropped too low. Your body doesn’t have energy to warm you up, so you feel cold all of the time. 

Now that you know the symptoms of not eating enough, how can you ensure that you do eat enough?

Remember that your calorie deficit should be off of your total caloric need for the day. You need to consider your resting metabolic rate (RMR), your general movement (going to the bathroom, cooking a meal, etc.), and your exercise expenditure. You should only subtract a very small amount — just 200 to 500 calories. “What I find is, people often create a deficit of 1,000 calories or more,” Elaina shares. “That will result in these symptoms, as well as other issues, which serve as a really good sign that you need to take in more food.”

Subscribe to our YouTube channel to see our video content. To talk to a professional about eating disorder treatment, please reach out to our staff or schedule an appointment at The Kahm Clinic today.