Increasing calories helped--thanks!

Lilith200
Lilith200 Posts: 7 Member
edited December 4 in Health and Weight Loss
A couple of months ago I started on the journey to become healthier by tracking calories and increasing exercise. The first 2 weeks I lost 10lbs then nothing. I apparently hit a wall but held out hope I was doing the right things. My caloric intake was around 1100 calories each day, which apparently was my norm because I didn't really change much...just tracked. My macros looked good and I continued to eat whole foods.

After feeling depressed and frustrated, I noticed I was incredibly forgetful and having a difficult time concentrating. So I turned to this forum to see if anyone else experienced this. And that's when I discovered I wasn't eating enough and apparently haven't been for years despite weighing over 200lbs.

So I took the trusting plunge and increased my calories to 1600 per day...mostly. I gotta be honest, most days I choked down as much as I could and still only reached 1500 calories.

But it worked! I have lost 8lbs since then and feel happier, less forgetful, and have an easier time concentrating. My energy has also picked up a bit.

So thank you to all the wise souls who shared their wisdom about metabolism and who shared deeper insights than the standard "calories in/calories out" advice so common on some forums. Looking at me no one would ever guess it possible that I was a chronic under-eater so I am incredibly grateful for those of you who have shared such helpful information! THANK YOU!!
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Replies

  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,486 Member
    That is wonderful.
    So glad things have turned around for you and you were nice enough to come back and update us.

    Cheers, h.
  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,486 Member
    @goldthistime I had the same thought as you, then re thought and decided general activity levels have probably risen enough that intake, activity and loss are more inline with what is expected, in general, with @Lilith200's stats.

    Cheers, h.
  • courtneyfabulous
    courtneyfabulous Posts: 1,863 Member
    It sounds like you were eating below your BMR before which is never a good idea. Glad you are seeing results and feeling better now on more calories!!

    CICO is the norm, but it IS possible to have a slowed metabolism due to eating too few calories. It's not possible to get to 200 pounds eating ONLY a thousand cals a day, but it CAN stall your weight loss to eat too few calories or too few carbs because it screws up your hormones. People forget this.
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,179 Member

    Yup. If you eat so little that you end up lethargic calories out can plummet.
    BINGO!

  • Dove0804
    Dove0804 Posts: 213 Member
    edited October 2016
    CICO is the norm, but it IS possible to have a slowed metabolism due to eating too few calories. It's not possible to get to 200 pounds eating ONLY a thousand cals a day, but it CAN stall your weight loss to eat too few calories or too few carbs because it screws up your hormones. People forget this.

    Yes, eating too few calories over an extended period of time can slow metabolism. No, it does not stop weight loss. If someone is eating too few calories, it will be unhealthy but they will lose weight.
  • Evamutt
    Evamutt Posts: 2,794 Member
    good to hear how great you're doing. I don't know how many calories i was eating a day, but for years i only ate twice a day & never lost weight. Now i'm eating several times a day & loosing weight & have more energy. Keep up the good work!
  • singingflutelady
    singingflutelady Posts: 8,736 Member
    I don't get what the issue is here. The OP stated that she feels better and is losing weight again while eating more. Why in the world should people be doubting this? Whether it's retained water that's been lost, or increased energy, faster metabolism, or whatever, the fact is that eating more than she was has helped her get back to losing weight. As she said, if she was "eating more than she thought" at what she says was 1100 calories, wouldn't she still be eating even more at what she says is 1600?

    Congrats, OP, I hope you continue to lose the weight and have better energy!

    But you would lose more weight at 1100 calories than 1600 calories not that I am recommending that at all. My verdict is water retention from exercise that she lost when she stopped exercising as much
  • SusanMFindlay
    SusanMFindlay Posts: 1,804 Member
    As she said, if she was "eating more than she thought" at what she says was 1100 calories, wouldn't she still be eating even more at what she says is 1600?

    Not necessarily. We don't know, for example that she's eating exactly the same foods. Maybe, at the lower calorie count, she used a "diet" bread that reported a lot less calories on the label than were actually in a slice. Stuff like that. And a higher goal makes many people less likely to subconsciously "cheat the count" by licking spoons, not log cooking spray, etc.

    That said, I am very happy that the OP made this change and that she's seeing the results she was working hard for. Personally, I cannot imagine living on 1100 (or even 1200) calories/day. I am always amazed when people say they can live on so little.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    edited October 2016
    @Lilith200, congratulations on finding that sweet spot in your weight loss journey. It's true, when we find that sweet spot it's absolutely incredible. We are happier, move more, watch our intake and life is good.

    However, there is not one single person in this conversation who is being rude to you, they are simply telling you the truth in responding to your claim that your were not losing on 1100 calories.

    How can it be that you were 200 pounds and eating only 1100 calories a day? I can tell you, when I was 226 pounds years ago, I was only eating two meals a day, trying to lose weight and convinced I was not eating that much at all and could not figure out why I was growing instead of losing. Well, those two meals a day were not large but they were calorie laden, and certainly well over the 1200 or 1300 I tried to convince myself I was eating.
  • singingflutelady
    singingflutelady Posts: 8,736 Member
    edited October 2016
    As she said, if she was "eating more than she thought" at what she says was 1100 calories, wouldn't she still be eating even more at what she says is 1600?

    Not necessarily. We don't know, for example that she's eating exactly the same foods. Maybe, at the lower calorie count, she used a "diet" bread that reported a lot less calories on the label than were actually in a slice. Stuff like that. And a higher goal makes many people less likely to subconsciously "cheat the count" by licking spoons, not log cooking spray, etc.

    That said, I am very happy that the OP made this change and that she's seeing the results she was working hard for. Personally, I cannot imagine living on 1100 (or even 1200) calories/day. I am always amazed when people say they can live on so little.

    I'm sorry, I don't see how some variance in bread slices (or just about any other food), could account for 1000 calories per day. If she's now losing a lb a week eating what she says is 500 calories more, but everyone claims she must have been eating more than she thought, wouldn't she have to have previously been 1000 calories off per day (eating 2100 calories instead of 1100)? I just got a food scale a week ago, and if anything I had previously been overestimating my calories, not underestimating. And seriously, a few grams off here and there? I've seen maybe about a 30 calorie difference over a range of items, nowhere near 1000. Besides, she feels better and has more energy--I think she MIGHT just be able to tell that she's actually eating more than before.

    I generally hold to the CICO rule, but I think it's highly likely that other factors come into play with weight loss. Why can't people open their minds and listen to others' experiences? Learn from them, don't dismiss them.

    More energy probably has the op burning more. Eating 500 calories more isn't going to magically cause you to lose weight if nothing else changes. It's mathematically impossible unless the weight is water, etc. I am still guess it's water as fluid retention is a pita.

    Oh and I do have lots of experience with chronic undereating. I ate 500 a day for several months and exercised. Yes my metabolism slowed but I still lost over 2 lbs a week.
  • SusanMFindlay
    SusanMFindlay Posts: 1,804 Member
    edited October 2016
    I've seen maybe about a 30 calorie difference over a range of items, nowhere near 1000. Besides, she feels better and has more energy--I think she MIGHT just be able to tell that she's actually eating more than before.

    Whereas, only weeks ago, a scale showed me that a bag was lying about the calories in its bread by 75 calories/slice (or 150 cals/"serving").

    I currently feel better and have more energy than I did six months ago. I'm definitely eating less. But I'm eating *better*. I was only offering the general possibility that switching from a really restrictive diet (which might include a lot of "diet" foods) to a less restrictive diet (which, among other things, might include more healthy fats) could do that. I also think that some of the extra "deficit" has come from feeling better and increasing NEAT.

    I am not saying that this specifically applies to the OP, but it could apply to other people in the same situation - which was why I thought it worth mentioning.
  • stevencloser
    stevencloser Posts: 8,911 Member
    SLLRunner wrote: »
    I'm familiar with how science works, my PhD is in Molecular Biology. The OP never said nothing else changed, nor did I imply that. The fact is that she is eating more and now losing weight, and she was simply thanking people for their suggestion to increase calories. Why does it matter WHY the increase helped? It could be loss of water weight, it could be increase in energy, it could be a boost in metabolism, or more likely all of these. But when I hear these stories, and read the responses in which people state that "it just doesn't work that way", and "you were eating more than you thought" (but magically now at 1600 calories her logging is spot on?!?) the implication is that the OP is ridiculously ignorant and completely unable to manage or understand any of the numbers, theories, or logistics of weight loss. And I don't think that gives these forums a very supportive feel.
    I'm familiar with how science works, my PhD is in Molecular Biology. The OP never said nothing else changed, nor did I imply that. The fact is that she is eating more and now losing weight, and she was simply thanking people for their suggestion to increase calories. Why does it matter WHY the increase helped? It could be loss of water weight, it could be increase in energy, it could be a boost in metabolism, or more likely all of these. But when I hear these stories, and read the responses in which people state that "it just doesn't work that way", and "you were eating more than you thought" (but magically now at 1600 calories her logging is spot on?!?) the implication is that the OP is ridiculously ignorant and completely unable to manage or understand any of the numbers, theories, or logistics of weight loss. And I don't think that gives these forums a very supportive feel.

    Could it be that you are missing the point? People are saying that your weight loss doesn't stall at 1100 calories, then start up again when you up your calories by 400/500 calories. The OP indicated that it was the increase in calories that caused the weight loss, which is scientifically impossible.

    An increase in calories CAN cause weight loss, by any of the reasons stated above (water loss, increased NEAT, etc). Have you read about the Minnesota Starvation Experiment? Once the half-starved men had their calories increased again (under a controlled environment), many continued to lose weight. During the starvation period, any time they had a "refeed" they also lost weight. Likely water weight, but weight nonetheless. So when someone says they've lost weight from increasing calories, I don't care if it's water loss or weight loss due to increased calories out (NEAT), they've still lost weight.

    Water weight matters as much as the weight of the clothes you wear. It has nothing to do with energetic tissue in your body. Which you should know as a biologist.
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