Eat more to weigh less?

janae7613

MFP says that I should eat 1,510 cal a day to lose 2 lbs a week. I want to lose more, so I'm only eating around 1,000 cal a day. I've also been watching my carbs. I've only been doing this for 3 weeks but I've lost 21 lbs. I've weighed the same for the last 5 days. Do I need to eat more to lose weight faster? I'm not able to do exercise yet, like walking a mile, but I'm working up to it.

kbgwilburn

You are not eating enough. Your body lost weight quickly but has come to a point where it's realized it's not getting much so your metabolism is starting to slow down. An inactive female should never go below 1200.

kimny72

You've lost 21 lbs in 3 weeks??? That is dangerously aggressive.

Weight loss isn't linear, some weeks you'll lose some weeks you wont, even if you do everything perfect.

There is a reason mfp won't let your goal be higher than 2 lbs per week, they don't want you to hurt yourself. Losing more than 1% of your body weight per week means losing muscle mass, plus be in undernourished, your body needs fuel to do all the important stuff like breathing, cell repair, heart beating.

Eat your 1500 cals and lose weight in a healthy and safe manner, please.

Ready2Rock206

Eat more to not sacrifice your health. You're not going to lose weight faster but do you just want to be skinny or would you rather be healthy?

rileysowner

I hope you have medical people monitoring you while eating so little. 1000 calories, especially when 1510 is your goal, is crazy low, especially since you lost 21Lbs in 3 weeks. I understand the desire to lose fast, but what you are doing is unsustainable. As for not losing weight, the reason is weight loss is not linear. Some weeks will be big losses, some small losses, some no losses, some gains all while a person is in a calorie deficit. I suggest you go to your actual calorie goal, and take some more time.

Jmatievich

You cannot sustain 1000 or likely even 1200. What is your hurry? Take your time, enjoy your meals exploring new foods. Eat nutritionally healthy food for the most part, enjoy your favorite foods in moderation, stay within your calories. Always keep your activity set at sedentary and add activities as able. I use a Fitbit that automatically uploads data and extra calories to MFP. I've rarely eaten more than 1/2 of the extra calories. Best of luck and success!

gamerbabe14

What's the rush? I don't know what your starting weight is but even if you're very obese, I'd suggest what the others have said. Slow down. You should eat more calories and just accept that weight loss doesn't happen over night.

estherdragonbat

Agreeing with everyone so far. How much weight do you need to lose? 2 lbs per week is the maximum safe weight loss (assuming no medical oversight), and that's really only a good idea if you have over 75 lbs to go. Eat a bit more, get the nutrition you need, and lose weight without feeling tired and hungry all the time.

snickerscharlie

How do you know you're only eating around 1000 calories per day?

At the start of a low(er) carb diet, people tend to lose a lot of water weight along with a bit of fat. That 'whoosh' doesn't last. And five days without weight loss is not uncommon. Your weight will fluctuate from day to day (even from hour to hour) bouncing around all over the place.

I suspect (and sincerely hope) you're actually eating more than you think. What is your height and current weight? What is your goal weight?

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snickerscharlie

kbgwilburn wrote: »

You are not eating enough. Your body lost weight quickly but has come to a point where it's realized it's not getting much so your metabolism is starting to slow down.

Metabolic adaptation doesn't happen that quickly or that dramatically. "Starvation mode" isn't a thing.

my_akownt

How tall are you? What kind of stuff are you eating? 1200 calories isn't a magic number...it's just at the low range of what is considered safe; 1000cals/day isn't inherently unsafe. If you're supplementing with vitamins and otherwise eating healthy you could be in a better place, nutritionally, than people eating twice as many calories.

Weight loss occurs through energy imbalance: input - output = Δweight. If output (i.e., exercise and day to day movement) stays constant then more input (i.e., food) equals less weight loss.

However, as others have said, your expectations are absurd. 7 pounds a week requires an average daily deficit of 3500 calories which, if you're only eating 1000 calories, would require you to run a marathon every day to produce the required deficit, but you couldn't do that because that type of activity REQUIRES eating a lot more than 1000cals/day.

tl;dr - 1000 cal/day might be fine, but ~7lbs/wk loss unsustainable.

Derf_Smeggle

Janae7613,

Few questions to start. Age? Height? Starting weight? Goal weight? Describe your level of activity.

How are you measuring your calorie intake? Food Scale? Measuring cups? Eyeballing it? Are you consistently using the same method for each intake of calories?

Understand that weight loss is a combination of water loss, fat loss, and muscle loss. Too much calorie restriction leads to the body basically cannibalizing too much muscle mass for energy use. Too much calorie restriction potentially ties into nutrient deficiencies because severe calorie restriction can correlate to limited variety of foods.

Muscleflex79

you've lost 21 lbs in 3 weeks and want to know how to lose weight faster???????????????????????

amtyrell

Eat more to not have your hair fall out, heart and muscle issues, and for long term loss

RodaRose

Eat the carbs. Don't eat the carbs. They will not make a difference either way.
Make sure that you are getting enough calories, protein, and fat.

vivelajackie

Thank you, society, for cultivating a community that wants things convenient and fast. You realize that the same mentality you're having toward loss is often what got people to gain, correct? Weight loss is not a race. Weight loss isn't going to happen overnight. What you are doing is dangerous without doctor supervision and you're not treating yourself right. 2lbs a week is agressive, but still sustainable weight loss. Unless you started out at 400lbs+ you shouldn't be dropping 21lbs in 3 weeks.

Eat at the deficit you've been assigned. You are going to feel better, be nourished, and keep off weight you lose better than crash dieting. If you can't exercise yet you certainly aren't going to build toward it by underfeeding.

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