What Are The Consequences To An Athlete's Health If They Don't Increase Their Caloric Intake?

Athletes need plenty of energy to perform at their best, and if they fail to ingest enough calories, they probably won't be getting the energy they need. They also risk starting to burn muscle instead of fat, which can decrease their athletic performance further. If you want to lose weight, you can decrease your calories some to achieve that goal, but be careful not to go too far.

Recommended Caloric Intake

As an athlete, you should eat three moderately sized meals spaced fairly evenly throughout the day plus three smaller snacks in between meals, according to the State University of New York at Plattsburgh. To determine how many calories you should consume to stay at an even weight, you first need to know your body fat percentage, which a trainer can help you determine. Once you know that, you can figure out how much your fat weighs. Next, determine the weight of your lean mass -- your total weight minus the weight of your fat -- and multiply that by 16. The result equals your total daily caloric needs as an athlete.

Losing Weight

If you stay even with calories, consuming the same amount even while exercising more, you potentially will start to lose weight. For example, if you run between 20 and 25 miles every week, you'll lose weight slowly, at about 1 lb. per week, if you consume about 1,800 calories per day. A total of 1,800 calories every day would represent enough calories for a smaller, sedentary person to remain at the same weight without gaining or losing, according to the NetWellness website.

Physical Effects

Increasing your training to extreme levels -- for example, running 8 to 10 miles per day -- without also increasing your calories potentially can harm your health and performance. Your body, if starved of calories, will start to burn your own muscle tissue for fuel, which will slow you down and even affect your heart muscle. In addition, your metabolism will decrease and you'll feel more tired. You'll probably continue to lose weight, but your weight loss might decelerate because your body requires fewer calories overall to stay even. You may even risk injury, because your muscles won't be as strong.

Considerations

As an athlete, you still could carry too much weight. If you want to lose weight, you don't need to increase your caloric intake to offset all the calories burned by your training regimen. But you need a certain level of calories to prevent the negative effects that can occur if you start to burn muscle tissue instead of the food you eat. Shoot for a compromise caloric intake that allows you to lose about 1 lb. every week, and monitor your performance carefully. If you start to feel weak or you can't work out as fast or as long, try bumping up your caloric intake a little to see whether you feel better.