If you have been undereating for some time and notice your weight is not decreasing, I will explain why based on my perspective as a Dietitian.
Key Takeaways
- Inaccurate calorie tracking, incorrect estimation of maintenance calories, and reduced Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT) may lead to weight gain despite undereating.
- A slower metabolism and underlying health conditions, like hypothyroidism, can also contribute to this phenomenon.
- To ensure your approach to weight loss aligns with a calorie deficit, consider reassessing your calorie intake and accurately tracking your calories and macros (at least initially).
- Embrace sustainable practices, avoid drastic calorie cuts, and prioritize a well-rounded approach for long-term weight loss.
Medical Disclaimer: The material presented in this article aims to offer informational insights. It should not be perceived as medical guidance. The views and writings are not designed for diagnosing, preventing, or treating health issues. Always consult with your physician prior to starting any new dietary or supplement routine.

What Is Considered Undereating?

The term undereating is subjective. It will vary from person to person as each individual has different energy and nutrient requirements.
Put simply, undereating is consuming less food than what the body demands to maintain its current weight.
This can be done purposely by following a reduced-calorie diet or unknowingly by increasing exercising and not refueling adequately afterward.
If you are trying to lose weight, your caloric intake (the number of calories you consume) will be less than your calorie expenditure (the number of calories your body is burning throughout the day).
At this point, you are considered “undereating” based on the calories in versus calories out balance equation [calories in = calories out].
From this equation, you can determine whether you are undereating if you are in a negative energy balance. You can use the calculation [(energy intake – energy expenditure) = …].
For instance, if your energy intake is 2000 calories and your energy expenditure is 2200 calories, you are in a negative energy balance. This could be because you eat less than what your body consumes as 2000 – 2200 = – 200.
What is important to understand is that due to the subjective nature of this term, undereating is not considered to be the same as extreme calorie deficits, eating disorders, or illness.
You can decrease your caloric intake in a healthy, calculated way that still allows your body processes to function as needed while reaching your weight loss goals.
Undereating becomes a problem and can affect your weight loss goals when you start to experience certain symptoms related to malnourishment.
What Are The Symptoms Of Undereating?

Undereating might become unhealthy if it is done over a long period (weeks to months) and/or accompanied by days with large energy deficits, which may lead to detrimental health outcomes.
According to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (REDs) models, which depicts low-energy intake in athletes, some of the signs and symptoms of undereating may be:
- Constant feeling of hunger
- Decreased concentration and focus
- Decreased coordination
- Low energy levels & fatigue
- Hair loss
- Depression
- Irritability
- Constipation
“Consequences of this low-energy condition can alter many physiological systems, including metabolism, menstrual function, bone health, immunity, protein synthesis, and cardiovascular and psychological health”
– British Journal of Sports Medicine
So, if you’re experiencing any of these things, you might be undereating in an unhealthy way, which leads us to some of the reasons why you might not be losing weight despite your caloric deficit.
5 Reasons You May Be Gaining Weight While Undereating

1. You’re Not Tracking Calories Accurately
If you are tracking your calories or macros, accuracy might be one of the key components to success.
When tracking calories and macros, it is important to accurately estimate portions and include all ingredients (as opposed to underreporting).
Some of the most common errors made while tracking are:
- Not including cooking oils. Each tablespoon of olive oil has 14g of fat or 126 calories. If you are not counting your cooking oil and using 2-3 tablespoons to saute your vegetables, that’s up to an additional 378 calories you consume that are unaccounted for.
- Estimating portion sizes incorrectly. This can significantly affect the amount of food that you are consuming. For instance, you cut a large slice of bread thinking it’s a medium slice. Or you have a large cube of cheese instead of a small one.
- Not tracking condiments or sauces. These count, too, and typically include more carbohydrates and fats. Think ketchup, mayo, and sweet chili.
- Misinterpreting food packaging labels and nutrition information on menus. This may result in inaccurately tracking nutrient content and underestimating the quantity of food you eat.
If tracking, I suggest taking a couple of weeks to focus on accuracy and consistency to ensure you are consuming enough calories and not overconsuming.
- Related: Eating Below TDEE & Not Losing Weight (8 Reasons Why)
2. You Incorrectly Estimated Your Energy Requirements
Establishing your maintenance calories accurately is important for weight management because it provides a starting point for weight loss or weight gain.
If you miscalculate or overestimate this baseline caloric requirement, you may unknowingly consume more calories than necessary, even while intending to undereat. In turn, this might lead to weight gain.
For instance, let’s say you estimate your maintenance calories to be 2300 and then factor in a 200-calorie deficit, totaling 2100 calories, to create a calorie deficit. However, your accurate maintenance calories are 2000 calories per day.
In this scenario, you would gain weight because you overestimated your maintenance calories, inadvertently failing to achieve the intended calorie deficit.
Precise estimation of maintenance calories is crucial for achieving successful dietary and weight management goals.
3. Your Metabolism Slowed Down
If you have ever been in a calorie deficit, you may have noticed that initially, your body loses weight. Then, as time goes by, you may find that weight loss stalls, making it more challenging to lose weight despite eating less than before.
So why does this happen?
Undereating significantly for a prolonged period of time can result in a decrease your basal metabolic rate (BMR). This is often called your metabolism “at rest,” or the calories needed for basic functions like breathing and circulation.
This might happen because your body tries to conserve energy. To conserve energy, your body prioritizes energy for essential bodily functions, such as respiration and regulating body temperature and blood pressure.
This can result in breaking down muscle tissue for energy, and since muscle tissue contributes to overall energy expenditure (the calories you burn in a day), having less muscle mass can make it more difficult to lose weight and body fat.
For example, if your weight has decreased over time but has stalled, and you continue to undereat the same as before (maintaining a calorie deficit), your body might have adapted to this routine.
So, what does this mean for you?
It means you won’t be burning as many calories or as much body fat when working out.
Even if you spend time exercising every day, you will notice a very slow or unresponsive reaction to weight loss. In such a scenario, it may be necessary to reevaluate and readjust your energy intake and exercise routine.
You can learn more in my article Signs You Need A Refeed Day.
4. Your daily activity (NEAT) is lower
If your NEAT (Non-Exercise Activity-Related Thermogenesis) is lower than before for some reason, this may lead to a reduced total daily energy expenditure (burning fewer calories).
So, if you are undereating, but your activity levels are lower, you might not lose weight.
For example, consider a scenario where you’ve changed jobs.
Previously, you used to walk for 30 minutes to your office every day, but now, with the new job, you drive for 20 minutes instead of walking. This change in your daily routine leads to a significant reduction in your non-exercise activities.
Walking burns more calories than driving, so the shift to a less active commute may result in a lower overall calorie expenditure. As a result, despite undereating, your reduced activity levels could contribute to a challenge in losing weight.
5. You Have An Underlying Health Condition
Some health conditions might also affect your weight, even if you are undereating.
Consider hypothyroidism, where the thyroid gland doesn’t produce enough thyroid hormones (important for metabolism and energy expenditure).
While it can affect the number of calories you burn in a day (resulting in fewer calories burned), it may also cause water retention, contributing to the perception of a weight plateau.
As a result, you may experience a lower calorie expenditure than you estimated for weight loss. Consequently, you might believe you are undereating but not observing any weight loss.
What Can You Do If You Are Undereating & Want To Lose Weight?

1.Evaluate tracking accuracy
Use a reliable app with a verified food database (like MacroFactor), and be meticulous about portion sizes when measuring and logging your meals.
Consider using a digital food scale for precision (at least initially when you start tracking calories and macros until you get accustomed to the amounts of foods you require).
Avoid the common mistake of searching for generic meals; instead, break down your meals into individual components for more accurate tracking.
For example, if you are logging a salad, add all the ingredients, including the olive oil dressing, nuts, and seeds.
If you struggle with consistent accuracy when tracking, you might want to consider planning meals and snacks the night before, utilizing an app with a barcode scanner for quicker food logging, preparing food in advance, and saving frequently used recipes as custom meals in the app.
2. Ensure Energy Requirement Are Accurate
This includes Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) and Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE).
- BMR is the number of calories your body requires to exist without considering your activity levels throughout the day (exercise and non-exercise activity).
- TDEE includes exercise and non-exercise activity.
By determining these numbers, you can ensure that if you reduce calories to lose weight, you are going below your TDEE number (but not as low as your BMR).
This will help ensure that your body is receiving enough calories to function adequately (pump blood through your body, hormone production, proper digestion, etc.), and that you are not creating too large of a deficit.
- Check out our BMR Calculator and TDEE Calculator.
3. Adjust NEAT
Increasing your daily NEAT (daily activities such as walking, standing, fidgeting, gardening, and even carrying groceries) can contribute to burning additional calories without structured exercise and can be done without too much effort.
For instance, if you anticipate a long day at your desk, consider setting hourly alarms to remind you to stand up and take a break, whether grabbing a drink, going to the restroom, or taking a short walk.
If you usually park your car next to your work office, consider parking it further away so that you can get a few extra steps each day.
4.Build Muscle
When aiming to lose weight, building muscle provides benefits such as boosting your basal metabolic rate (as much as 5% over 9 months, according to one study). This means that your body requires more energy at rest, leading to burning more calories.
Other long-term advantages include enhanced strength, improved body composition, and enhanced mental health.
For beginners, consider starting with 1-2 sessions per week and aim to maintain consistency, perhaps by planning your workouts ahead (e.g., focusing on weekly volume and intensity and on which days of the week you want to train).
Once you’ve been regularly resistance training, you can review your progress by checking your weight, body shape, strength, and how you feel.
5. Focus on Sleep Quality
Prioritizing sleep and a wind-down routine and not eating big meals and certain nutrients right before bedtime can help to maintain/improve sleep quality.
How you eat can impact your sleep and hunger hormones, potentially disturbing your sleep, and in turn, poor sleep can impact your eating behavior and, consequently, your ability to lose weight.
Hormones like insulin, leptin, and ghrelin play a key role in sleep regulation along with melatonin, cortisol, and serotonin.
Specifically, insulin regulates blood sugar, while leptin and ghrelin, known as the “hunger and satiety” hormones, regulate appetite.
For example, consuming a high-sugar, low-fiber meal close to bedtime can lead to elevated blood sugar.
In response, the body releases significant insulin to lower blood sugar levels. This may result in a subsequent drop in blood sugars, leading to feelings of hunger and potential insomnia.
The day after disrupted/insufficient sleep, research suggests ghrelin and hunger feelings can be higher leading to an increased desire for more food, particularly high-calorie options.
So, when focusing on quality sleep to assist you in your weight loss journey, try to:
- Eat at least 3-4 hours before bedtime to allow your food to digest before bed.
- Avoid heavy meals rich in sugar and fat, and low in fiber, as these are associated with interrupted sleep. Think foods like sugary drinks, candy, bakery products, fried foods, and takeaways.
- Limit the quantity of spicy meals/foods (curries, kimchi, tabasco, chili peppers, hot sauce) and tyramine rich foods (matured cheeses like blue cheese, or cured fish/meat products).
- Avoid caffeine right before bedtime (have it at least 6 hours before bedtime).
6. Include Stress Management in Your Daily Routine
Stress management will give you a chance to rest and give yourself time to find different ways to manage the stress that do not necessarily add to your already existing stresses.
It’s important to manage stress because stress triggers the release of cortisol, and elevated levels of this hormone are associated with unhealthy eating behaviors (e.g. an increased intake of high-calorie, fatty, or sugary foods), which make it difficult to meet weight loss targets if done regularly.
An example is to find alternate ways to manage stress aside from exercise (although this is important for mental health and overall wellness, it is still a stress on the body). Instead, taking some time to do a passive activity (reading, meditating, drawing, etc.,) can be helpful to manage stress and assist in weight loss.
For instance, dedicating just 5-10 minutes each day or every few days to engage in meditation (including active listening, reframing, and brainstorming) can yield significant benefits in reducing stress and weight.
7. Prioritize Protein
Including 20-40 gram portions of protein at each meal will not only help to maintain lean muscle mass during a period of dieting, but boosting its intake while consuming fewer carbohydrates could assist you in losing weight.
In fact, some studies suggest that eating more protein is an effective weight-loss strategy for overweight and obesity and that high protein diets (30% protein) reduce hunger and provide greater satiety compared to carbohydrates and fats.
Therefore, reaching a daily protein intake of around 2.0 g per kilogram of body weight (0.82g per pound of body) is recommended by the ISSN. This should equate to roughly 25-30% of your total calories.
For an individual weighing 150 pounds and having a protein intake of 0.8g per pound of bodyweight, this would equate to consuming around 123 grams of protein daily. Assuming a daily caloric intake of 1800 calories, reaching this protein target would represent approximately 28% of the total calories consumed.
That said, a balanced plate is a method you could follow on a meal-to-meal basis to include adequate amounts of protein combined with carbs and fat.
At each meal, try to focus on balancing macros on your plate, including protein, complex carbs, vegetables, and healthy fats.
Recommendations for plate planning involve dividing your plate into 3, allocating:

- Half for vegetables, to provide meal volume and micronutrients
- A quarter for protein, to keep your fuller for longer and retain muscle
- A quarter for complex carbs (rich in fiber and starch) to provide sustained energy
- A small amount of healthy fat (unsaturated fats) to support hormones and heart health
Some suggested portion sizes for protein and fiber-rich foods include:
- 2-3 eggs
- 170-200g Greek yogurt
- 100-140g cooked fish, chicken, or lean pork
- 150-200g cooked legumes
- 80-100g raw whole-grain pasta
- 50-60g raw quinoa
- 2 slices Ezekiel bread
Some recommended portion sizes of fats include:
- 1 tablespoon of olive oil or dressing
- 1/4 avocado
- A small handful (about 30g) of nuts or seeds
- 1 tablespoon of nut butter
- A sprinkle of grated cheese
This will help to ensure that you are not only eating enough but that you are getting enough micronutrients (vitamins and minerals), as well as macronutrients (protein, carbs, and fat).
8. Eat Intuitively, Until You’re Satisfied
If you are undereating to lose weight and you find it challenging, instead of excessively cutting calories, try to eat until you’re satisfied, embracing intuitive eating.
While intuitive eating allows freedom based on feelings, awareness of nutrient content and calorie density remains essential.
Try to listen to your body and its hunger-satiety signals, recognizing hunger sensations through physical cues such as tummy rumbling or light-headedness, as well as psychological sensations like the inability to focus on a task.
In the long run, achieving energy balance without the stress of restraint-type dieting is a more sustainable strategy for weight control, body acceptance, and mental health, as opposed to yo-yo dieting and calorie cutting.
This may help ensure that you are satisfied with the balanced plate you are eating but not overconsuming either.
9. Consult A Nutrition Coach
If you are struggling to determine if you are undereating or how to start increasing food, try consulting a nutrition coach that aligns with your values.
There is nothing wrong with asking for help from someone educated and experienced with safe weight loss approaches and nutrition habits.
Connect with us at FeastGood, and we can discuss setting up a personalized nutrition plan that doesn’t involve drastically undereating to lose weight.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does the body store fat even when I’m consuming fewer calories?
If you think you are eating less and consuming fewer calories, you might still not be in a calorie deficit because “eating less” might not guarantee that your body is consistently in a state of negative energy balance.
When the body is consistently in a calorie deficit, the body consumes fewer calories than what it needs to maintain a stable weight and thus does not store fat.
How long does it take for the metabolism to slow down due to undereating?
The body’s response to undereating can vary based on genetics, activity level, and overall health.
However, consistently undereating (to be in a large calorie deficit, e.g. consuming fewer than 1000 calories per day over a week if your maintenance calories are 2000 calories) over a period of weeks to months can lead to significant metabolic adaptations.
A study investigated metabolic and compensations in response to different ways of restricting calories in overweight people over 6 months and found that restricting calories by 25% and following a very low-calorie diet (890 calories per day) resulted in a metabolic adaptation as TDEEs was significantly lower than baseline.
In this adaptive state, the body becomes more efficient, burning fewer calories for the same activities.
This means that even if you maintain the same level of physical activity, you might burn fewer calories than before, making weight loss more challenging.
How does hydration play a role in weight management when undereating?
Hydration is key in weight management, influencing appetite regulation and boosting energy expenditure.
Research indicates that consuming approximately 500ml (equivalent to one large glass or two small glasses) of water right before a meal can enhance satiety by creating a filling effect in the stomach.
Regarding Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE), increasing water intake, especially cold water, has been shown to raise metabolic rates by 30-40% in some cases due to water-induced thermogenesis, leading the body to burn more calories.
What To Read Next
Learn more about weight loss in this article Do Macros Matter for Weight Loss? (Yes, Here’s Why).
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About The Author

Giulia Rossetto is a qualified Dietitian and Nutritionist. She holds a Masters in Human Nutrition (University of Sheffield, UK) and more recently graduated as a Dietitian (University of Malta). Giulia aims to translate evidence-based science to the public through teaching and writing content. She has worked 4+ years in clinical settings and has also published articles in academic journals. She is into running, swimming and weight lifting, and enjoys spending time in the mountains (she has a soft spot for hiking and skiing in the Italian Dolomites).
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