Not hungry and weight loss too fast?

kathiesmith13

Hi,
I'm new to this MFP community but not new to trying to lose weight. I started a low carb lifestyle change on Tuesday of this week. The first three days I experienced moderate hunger, a few cravings, and ate plenty of calories (well MFP says I should be eating 1700 but those days I think I got at least 1400-1500). I'm having trouble getting to 1700 because MFP says I can have 200-some carbs and I want to keep my carbs around 100 or less.

Anyway...yesterday I just did not feel hungry very often. What a blessing right? But it's so weird to me as someone who is always hungry. That by itself just seemed like a surprise blessing but then before I went to bed last night I looked at my calories for the day and I was sitting around 1000 calories! I ate a cheese stick and some celery with hummus before bed just to bump those calories up at least over the 1200 mark. (I think that got me close to 1400).

AND, I've lost 6 lbs in 4 days. Can that all be water weight? I'm really concerned that I'm doing something wrong and that my body is going to feel it's starved and I'll mess up my metabolism. I've never had these problems before, usually when I've tried to stay within a calorie limit (albeit, I've never cut back so much on my carbs before) I struggle with hunger and eating too much.

Ideas???

kelly101386

If you're new to calorie counting then I would say some of it is water weight, at first the weight does slip off.

JCThayer85

If I don't workout, then I'm always under 1200 calories; when I do workout I'm usually around 1300 but never about 1500. You're body would tell you if you needed to eat more. I lost 2.5lbs my first week, and that was strictly due to the change in my diet, so if your diet change was somewhat drastic, that could be what you lost the weight quickly. Congrats on the great start!

DancingMoosie

Since you are new, the weight will drop more quickly at first. Also, the first few days can be water, and your weight fluctuates daily regardless. Some days you will not be as hungry as others. One day of 1000 calories will not harm your body. Heck, I think I had a couple of Saturdays where I ran 5 miles, then took a nap, and never reached my calories, maybe netting 600 or so. It happens. As long as you eat well the other days, you should be fine. On the other hand, there will be days when you are extra hungry, and those low calorie days will allow you to over eat a bit on the hungry days. It evens out. Just try to be sensible about it and when you are under, feed your body healthy fuel, not just junk to make up the difference

JDBLY11

You can change your food goal percentages I think if you go up to the home tab and then goals and then select custom goals and adjust it to what you would like to follow ( less than 100gms carbs and probably more fat and protein.)

Koldnomore

When first starting off on this journey people have a tendency to try and do everything all at once.. low carb, cut calories, start exercising and everything else they can think of. For your situation and the amount of weight that you wish to lose a drastic calorie cut (which is what you are doing) will be fine for a couple of months. I think I dropped about 25 lbs my first couple and you have a little more to lose than I did.

What will happen eventually though, after trying to keep up with all these things and the low carb/low calorie lifestyle on top of it is that you will get TIRED..amazingly and unbelievably tired. The weight loss will slow down (and eventually stop all together for weeks/months if you go long enough) This happens because everyone needs a minimum number of calories for just our basic functions. Our bodies require a certain amount of calories to turn into energy. When you don't feed your body enough energy it starts to slow down, it starts to complain by making you tired, it stops burning fat stores and you stop feeling hungry. Not feeling hungry is NOT a positive thing..it means your metabolism is damaged.

Best thing you can do is read everything you can around here from people who have been where you are now and adapt a method that works for you without causing damage to your metabolism or plateaus. Some good threads to read are:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/952996-level-obstacles-lose-weight-target-fat-easy
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10665-newbies-please-read-me-2nd-edition
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/931670-bmr-and-tdee-explained-for-those-needing-a-guide
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/975025-in-place-of-a-road-map-short-n-sweet?page=7

Good luck and welcome to MFP!

lauren3101

Yes, 6lb in one week is perfectly normal and is just water weight. I know someone that lost 14lb in their first week.

One day of 1200 calories is not going to harm your metabolism. Your metabolism is only affected after prolonged, serious undereating.

You should try and eat all your cals, though. The aim should be to get that number as close to zero as possible. There's no need to do low carb.

kathiesmith13

Actually I do need to do low carb--I have prediabetes and if I eat as many carbs as I was allotted automatically by MFP, I'd never lose weight. And my weight would yo-yo all the time.

I am eating carbs, but I'm sticking to around 100 carbs a day and only 36 sugars.

Which is why I'm having trouble getting to my calorie limits, I need to up my protein and fat even more.

psuLemon

There are plenty of ways to add more calories, peanut butter, cooking foods in EVOO, avocado's or adding cheese to things. Heck, if you need to, drink some of your calories.

Also, I have seen some studies that suggest that weight training along with diet can help improve or eliminate diabetes II.

55in13

One day of 1200 calories is not going to harm your metabolism. Your metabolism is only affected after prolonged, serious undereating.

The studies done found the real spikes were in people with almost no fat reserves (BF% under 10). Lots of people worry about that here but my weight loss is pretty consistent based on how much I cut back and I have had stretches where I was below 1200 for several days in a row and I did not get any huge drop in metabolism that caused me to lose less. For me the early quick loss was important; it is a mental thing, but having that "lead to protect" helped me stay on course. The reason that this time is the time I am really losing the weight is because I made it far enough to prove to myself and others that I could do this.

lauren3101

Actually I do need to do low carb--I have prediabetes and if I eat as many carbs as I was allotted automatically by MFP, I'd never lose weight. And my weight would yo-yo all the time.

I am eating carbs, but I'm sticking to around 100 carbs a day and only 36 sugars.

Which is why I'm having trouble getting to my calorie limits, I need to up my protein and fat even more.

My apologies - I should have said 'there is no need to eat low carb unless you have a medical reason to.'

In that case, you can bump up your calories using things like peanut butter or avocado - or cook in oil. At 100 cals a tablespoon, that should help a lot.

kathiesmith13

Thanks! That's a good tip!

SpazQ

You will always drop water weight when going low carb.