Wake up call?

jesspen91

I need some advice about my calorie limit. I am 5 ft 3 and 135lbs I've lost around 20lbs since last July and am now at the upper end of a healthy BMI but am looking to lose 5-10 more lbs for aesthetics and to get a more healthy WHR (I'm apple shaped). My initial goal was to lose 2lb per week but once I got to 140lbs (healthy BMI) I decided to slow to 1lb per week. However because of my height and desk job my calorie limit is still the MFP minimum of 1200 calories so nothing much changed.

I tend to net around 1000 - 1100 calories most days by eating at around 1200 plus about 2/3rds of my exercise calories. I am fairly active outside of work I try to get off a train stop early in at least the morning or the evening and sometimes both which gives me a 30 minute walk each time. I also go to the gym or a run most mornings for around 30-45 minutes. Quite often at weekends I will overindulge on both food and alcohol and be at maintenance or above so across the week I am probably netting about the right amount

Yesterday I was stood on a packed hot train and I came very close to fainting. My head was pounding, my legs started buckling and I was getting black dots in my vision. I had to get off before my stop and sit down with my head in my hands taking deep breaths. This has never happened to me before and it was not an unusual day (370 calorie breakfast, 370 calorie lunch, spinning class burning roughly 250 calories). It really scared me.

I guess what I'm asking is,
1) Was this caused by something else (e.g. heat, dehydration and I shouldn't worry and should carry on as I was doing)
2) Should I focus on always netting my 1200 calories everyday (including weekends) and not try to borrow some of my weekend calories during the week
3) Should I change my goal to 1/2lb per week which would give me 1400 calories per day.

Sorry this post was so long but I wanted to give the full information so you lovely people can give your best advice.

uninc57

Your body needs at least a minimum of calories to maintain healthy processes and hormone levels. Since you are probably at relatively low body fat (BMI is not the greatest benchmark) it may be difficult for you to achieve your desired physique (bodyfat level) without exercise. I would try exercising such as weight training and eating more calories to balance it out.

If you're really concerned, I would talk to your doctor.

EDIT: just realized you said you already go to the gym. I would definitely try to net at least 1200. Probably more. Once you're at a certain level the weight just comes off slower, but I wouldn't eat less than MFP minimum if I were you.

My fiancee is the same height and weight as you, and despite my protests she also only eats 1000-1100 per day. She's been getting sick fairly frequently lately and I'm 90% certain she's not eating enough.

nutmegoreo

Could be dehydration, could be low blood pressure, could be low calories. We can only really guess for you. Do you have access to a blood pressure machine? I have spells like you are describing, but my pressure tends to be on the low side. When in doubt, see your physician.

Naruya

I have this happen too if I don't eat enough (low blood sugar), so I'm guessing you're not eating enough and it's now catching up to you. Be careful it doesn't happen again, I got a nasty concussion taking me out for several months because of one of these episodes. When in doubt, visit a doctor.

jesspen91

uninc57 wrote: »

Your body needs at least a minimum of calories to maintain healthy processes and hormone levels. Since you are probably at relatively low body fat (BMI is not the greatest benchmark) it may be difficult for you to achieve your desired physique (bodyfat level) without exercise. I would try exercising such as weight training and eating more calories to balance it out.

If you're really concerned, I would talk to your doctor.

EDIT: just realized you said you already go to the gym. I would definitely try to net at least 1200. Probably more. Once you're at a certain level the weight just comes off slower, but I wouldn't eat less than MFP minimum if I were you.

My fiancee is the same height and weight as you, and despite my protests she also only eats 1000-1100 per day. She's been getting sick fairly frequently lately and I'm 90% certain she's not eating enough.

Well my scales put my body fat at 25% but I have no idea how accurate that is (probably not very). I'm mainly concerned about the size of my waist because it is (although smaller than it was) still quite large in comparison to my lower body. Therefore I think it is healthier for my body fat to be lower because I carry it in a more dangerous place. I go to the gym 3-4 times per week but don't always have the time to do a decent strength training work out so I'm not really following a program. I was aiming to get to 130lbs before I started taking strength training more seriously but maybe this is a sign that the time is now to start eating more and lifting more.

uninc57

You said you drink fairly often on weekends, alcohol tends to be stored more in the abdomen if my recollection isn't failing me. If you drink heavily on those days it could be why your WHR is off. Also if you're doing that much activity (running and walking and the gym) and only net 1100 per day, I'd put money down that you're not getting enough calories. Your body needs those calories to repair itself after exercise.

But like others said, I'd probably go see a doctor.

jesspen91

nutmegoreo wrote: »

Could be dehydration, could be low blood pressure, could be low calories. We can only really guess for you. Do you have access to a blood pressure machine? I have spells like you are describing, but my pressure tends to be on the low side. When in doubt, see your physician.

I was quite prone to low blood pressure as a teenager. It didn't manifest in spells like this but more in general lethargy and immunodeficiency. I saw a doctor for it at the time but he just recommended having an sports drink when I feel tired and it sorted itself within a few years. However, now I do wander because I am about the same weight now as I was then. However, I am by no means underweight so I'm not sure if there's a correlation. I have my blood pressure checked every 6 months when I refill by birth control prescription and it has never been of note.

jesspen91

uninc57 wrote: »

You said you drink fairly often on weekends, alcohol tends to be stored more in the abdomen if my recollection isn't failing me. If you drink heavily on those days it could be why your WHR is off. Also if you're doing that much activity (running and walking and the gym) and only net 1100 per day, I'd put money down that you're not getting enough calories. Your body needs those calories to repair itself after exercise.

But like others said, I'd probably go see a doctor.

Alcohol probably isn't helping (unfortunately craft beers form a large part of my social life and I'm not prepared to give them up) but I think a lot of it is just genetics. My mum (bless her) looks like an egg on a stick and my genes want me to go the same way. It doesn't mean I can't try fight against them though.

I think I'm going to keep my goal at 1200 but eat back all of my exercise calories during the week and stick to maintenance at weekends. That way I know that I am definitely getting enough calories because its so difficult to estimate calories burnt that I probably being overly cautious.

LivingtheLeanDream

sounds like you were about to faint because your body needed more fuel...but it could also have been down to the heat on the train...

definately change your loss to 1/2lb a week - enjoy those extra calories yet still lose those last few pounds, this will make the transition to maintenance feel much easier imo.

Its good to be aware that over eating on the weekend can undo all our hard work during the week so be calorie aware then too. Nothing wrong with banking calories for that, its what I do and it works perfectly

ps I'm 5ft 2 /128lbs and although at maintenance for 4 yrs and I now average gross 2000 cals a day, when I was trying to lose 1/2lb a week that was achievable on 1600 gross cals (that was me averaging 14k steps).