Under eating need help and advice

thegrudgel

I have lost 47 pounds in 4 months I'm 6' 4" 297 lbs age 29 male. My problem is I realized that I have been under eating since I started my weight loss journey and now I'm at a plateau and don't want to damage my metabolism if I haven't already. I sit at around 1200-1500 calories a day for my intake. I have found that eating clean (Paleo) I struggle to get more that 1500 calories a day. My lunch is usually 8oz of chicken and 2 cups of spinach, so around 300 calories for my lunch and now I know that's not good so I'm looking for advice, and what I should expect when bumping up my calories to around 2500 calories as my coach suggested. Should I put the scale away for a while so I'm not stressing about it? ( I weight myself every morning to see if things change) I'm very data and number driven. Please any help, or encouragement would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Matt

kommodevaran

Your weightloss hasn't been extreme for someone your size, and eating 1200-1500 calories per day, while not recommended at all, would make you lose steadily at a high rate - so I doubt that you have eaten so little as you say, and you have most definitely not damaged your metabolism.

You don't have to eat "clean" (whatever that means to you) or Paleo, or any other "diet", or any specific number of calories for any specific meal - just eat less than you burn, and do it consistently. More variety would be a good goal also - change up that chicken and spinach with other meats (or fish) and vegetables, have some bread/rice/pasta/potatoes, and eat fruit, nuts and seeds, dairy, add some butter/oil when needed.

2500 calories would be a good goal - but you need to log correctly so that you don't inadvertently eat too much.

To weigh daily or not depends on how you use the data. If the daily fluctuations drive you nuts, then weigh more rarely. If weighing too rarely and not seeing the ups and down drives you nuts, weigh daily.

jgnatca

Come up with some pre-measured high calorie evening snacks ready for low calorie days. This could be some hard cheese or hiker's mix.

PAV8888

trendweight.com or weightgrapher.com; libra for android. Happy scale for iphone. All of these will help you focus on what your weight level is really doing as opposed to focusing on fast changing water weight.

Your weight may temporarily increase when you up your calories before it stabilises and restarts on a down trajectory.

You know it might happen. If it does, DEAL with the issue by continuing to follow the more sensible eating plan you have created with your coach.

If you can't deal with the issue ask yourself whether your current method of weight loss is making you develop "additional issues" that you need to stomp on before they get out of hand.

ETA: of course you should make sure that your food intake is logged accurately and correctly.

Meganthedogmom

I think you may be eating more than what you think. For a person your height & weight if you were really eating so few calories, you probably would've lost quite a bit more. I am hungry just thinking about eating only 1200 calories a day and I'm a 5'3" female

Hamsibian

People who start eating paleo tend to gravitate to eating low carb. Nothing wrong with that (I do both myself), but you don't have to if there are no medical issues. Sweet potatoes, potatoes, yams, pumpkin, winter squashes, dried fruits like dates and apricots are some good examples to increase calories. If too much carbs bother you like me, then increase your fat and/or protein. There are some posts about calorie dense foods if you use the search button.