Did I kill my metabolism?

Kayla647

So I've lost 30 lbs which I am proud of, but it's been a learning process, I started off at eating gross 1050 calories a day while exercising 75 min a day, so my net turned out quite low. This went on for over a month I got sick, so I upped my calories to 1200 gross still exercising 75 min a day, I increase intensity about every week so my body doesn't get used to it. I now am at 1440 Cals a day to lose 1.5 pounds a week, and The scale has been a stuck, I'm worried I killed my metabolism, I weigh everything with a scale. On another note I feel very backed up, only go to the bathroom once every 4 days.. so I'm crazy bloated, been on a laxative for 4 days so far not helping. I want to know how to get my metabolism back up, I know I lost the first 30 lbs too fast, but I have a bmi of 38 still so I know I can lose so much more.

kommodevaran

Your metabolism is fine. Log correctly and be patient. You need to stick to a consistent calorie deficit, and do it for real, and for a long time, and measure your progress over many weeks.

StevefromMichigan

If I had to guess, your BM issues are causing the scale not to move. This can easily add several pounds.

stevencloser

You'd know if you killed your metabolism, because you'd be dead.

1houndgal

Are you drinking enough water to get and stay hydrated? If not, start there.

You may want to consult your dr if the constipation worsens, continues, or causes pain. More than one kind of "laxative" out there to try.

Hope you find relief with regards to the bloating, constipation issues. They certainly can cause the scale readings to get higher than expected.

JeromeBarry1

Do without the laxative. It's normal to occasionally skip a few days when consuming very little food.

Consume enough fiber, both soluble and insoluble. Consume enough water and fat. Perhaps you can find some value in a magnesium supplement.
In extremis you can try consuming castor oil, but be aware that it may leak out uncontrolled at a time of it's choosing.

Even vigorous walking/running may help.

diannethegeek

It takes a lot to really break a metabolism in the way people usually mean. You haven't told us how long it's been that you've been stalled. It it's only been a few weeks, you're likely just seeing natural fluctuations masking weight loss. But more details would help.

If you want to be sure, the general suggestion for it would be a refeed or diet break. You can read about them here and see if it's something you want to try: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10604863/of-refeeds-and-diet-breaks/p1

SteamPug

I did sorta the same thing - lost very quickly on a low intake. I found moving to maintenance for between 2-4 weeks very useful. I continued to lose weight during this time and had much more energy. Then after awhile I moved back to a healthier 1,200 range. You just gotta watch those binge cravings when you increase.

But yeah as others have said you haven’t damaged your metabolism. If you did continue such a low calorie intake you would continue to lose until you inevitably died, or increased calories. So you don’t /have/ to go back to maintenance or even increase, but I’d strongly recommend it for your physical and mental health.

lucerorojo

Kayla647 wrote: »

So I've lost 30 lbs which I am proud of, but it's been a learning process, I started off at eating gross 1050 calories a day while exercising 75 min a day, so my net turned out quite low. This went on for over a month I got sick, so I upped my calories to 1200 gross still exercising 75 min a day, I increase intensity about every week so my body doesn't get used to it. I now am at 1440 Cals a day to lose 1.5 pounds a week, and The scale has been a stuck, I'm worried I killed my metabolism, I weigh everything with a scale. On another note I feel very backed up, only go to the bathroom once every 4 days.. so I'm crazy bloated, been on a laxative for 4 days so far not helping. I want to know how to get my metabolism back up, I know I lost the first 30 lbs too fast, but I have a bmi of 38 still so I know I can lose so much more.

This is just not necessary, especially with a high BMI. I started July 2017 at 237 lbs. and I lost my first 20-25 or so 2 lbs. per week, then switched to 1 lb. per week so I could eat more. Currently I eat 1500-1600 net. I weighed in at 196 today and I'm very happy to have lost 40 lbs. without starving myself or being constipated. Eating this way I feel NORMAL. My BMI is 33.6 now, so not that much smaller than you.

You should start over. Put your stats into MFP to lose 1 lb. per week for a month or two, and if you feel better, reevaluate whether you want to lose at a faster rate. Another option would be to take a 2 week diet break and eat at maintenance. Your current program is unsustainable.

inertiastrength

How long did it take you to lose the 30lbs?

Aaron_K123

Kayla647 wrote: »

So I've lost 30 lbs which I am proud of, but it's been a learning process, I started off at eating gross 1050 calories a day while exercising 75 min a day, so my net turned out quite low. This went on for over a month I got sick, so I upped my calories to 1200 gross still exercising 75 min a day, I increase intensity about every week so my body doesn't get used to it. I now am at 1440 Cals a day to lose 1.5 pounds a week, and The scale has been a stuck, I'm worried I killed my metabolism, I weigh everything with a scale. On another note I feel very backed up, only go to the bathroom once every 4 days.. so I'm crazy bloated, been on a laxative for 4 days so far not helping. I want to know how to get my metabolism back up, I know I lost the first 30 lbs too fast, but I have a bmi of 38 still so I know I can lose so much more.

To be blunt that was a pretty horrible diet choice, eating that little while exercising that much is not a recipe for health at all. You need to eat more if you are going to exercise that much or you need to tone down how much you exercise.

You did not "break" your metabolism but you aren't doing your body any favors and you are probably losing lean muscle mass. If you exercise your muscles but don't feed yourself all you are doing is tearing yourself down. If you lose lean muscle mass then your BMR will go down so the amount of calories your body requires will decrease meaning your overall deficit will decrease. That isn't because your metabolism is changing that is because you are depleting your muscle.

Compared to muscle fat is extremely easy to put back on. It is much harder to put on muscle than it is to lose fat so if in an effort to lose fat quickly you starve yourself to the point where you lose muscle you are doing yourself more harm than good in the long term. Never starve yourself like that.

Exercise is only good for you if you fuel your body properly. If you enjoy exercise I'd really recommend upping your calories substantially. Not sure what your stats are but if you are working out with any intensity for 75 minutes a day you probably should be eating more like 2200 calories than 1440. When I went on an exercise kick I was working out 5 days a week for 60 minutes at a time and I was eating about 2500 calories a day to be losing weight....to maintain I would have had to have eaten 3000 a day.

Aaron_K123

Trying a different way to explain.

Your body requires a certain amount of calories to maintain your weight. Muscle requires more calories to maintain.

If you exercise and eat at a modest caloric deficit the exercise will tear up your muscle but your body will utilize its fat stores to compensate for the caloric deficit while rebuilding your muscle. After spending years at that modest deficit to lose the fat you will end up much healthier and with close to the same lean mass (muscle content) as before meaning that your caloric requirements for maintenance will not have decreased by all that much. Sure it took a while to lose that fat but now it will be reasonably easy to keep it off and you will feel much stronger as you have kept your muscle while losing a lot of excess weight.

If, however, you exercise while eating at an extereme caloric deficit the exercise will tear up your muscle and your body will just cannibalize it along with the fat and you will lose muscle along with fat. You will lose weight quickly but you will also be losing your muscle. After spending months at that exterme deficit you will end up much weaker and with a lower lean mass meaning that your caloric requirements for maintenance will have decreases considerably making it much harder to eat reasonably at deficit.

The issue here is that muscle is very hard to build. You have to eat at a caloric surplus and you have to work hard and even then you would be lucky to put on 5 pounds of muscle in a year. A diet for health should really focus on muscle maintenance more than fat loss in my opinion. You must on some level realize that working out 75 minutes a day while eating only 1440 calories (let alone 1050) is not a good idea right?

psychod787

Look up Layne Norton on youtube, he does some interesting videos on metabolic adaptation. Most studies that I have read, show a modest metabolic slow down compared to someone who has always been your new size. Averages about 80-120 cals a day. The biggest difference in calorie burn comes from lost lean mass, including shrinking of organs and muscle loss, your neat goes down as the body tries to conserve energy, and muscle adaptation. The muscles will learn to burn less fuel. sometimes 23-30% less . Best way I heard that explained was, you go from being a big rig to a Prius. Best of luck.

Momepro

Kayla647 wrote: »

So I've lost 30 lbs which I am proud of, but it's been a learning process, I started off at eating gross 1050 calories a day while exercising 75 min a day, so my net turned out quite low. This went on for over a month I got sick, so I upped my calories to 1200 gross still exercising 75 min a day, I increase intensity about every week so my body doesn't get used to it. I now am at 1440 Cals a day to lose 1.5 pounds a week, and The scale has been a stuck, I'm worried I killed my metabolism, I weigh everything with a scale. On another note I feel very backed up, only go to the bathroom once every 4 days.. so I'm crazy bloated, been on a laxative for 4 days so far not helping. I want to know how to get my metabolism back up, I know I lost the first 30 lbs too fast, but I have a bmi of 38 still so I know I can lose so much more.

Two things. No you did not kill your metabolism, as someone else stated, if that happened you would be dead. It is however possible that you thew yourself enough out of balance that your body was resorting to emergency calories from other organs, and now what you eat is going towards repairing damage, which means you are retaining a bit more until you are at a healthy point again. Be patient, it will balance out soon, and then start going down again.

And two, the constipation is probably connected to all that. Likely part of your body's way of trying to compensate for the imbalance and get the most out of every bite. Also poop is heavy. As soon as you get rid of it, you will possibly lose a couple pounds.

joekingjl

First congratulations on deciding to improve your health and the success you have had so far. A lot of really good advice so far, keep your calorie deficit reasonable, eat a variety of foods that keep your macro nutrients in balance, eat plenty of fiber. Fiber helps keep your stomach full reducing cravings and helps with digestion. Be careful with insoluble fiber, some people have digestive distress when eating insoluble fiber.
Remember that getting overwheight did not happen overnight and it cannot be fixed overnight. Take it slow and make changes that you will be able to maintain once you reach your goals.
We all reach plateaus that we must ride out. I have been stuck at 220 for weeks. Finally started losing again last week, total of 65 lbs off so far. The key is I have kept up with my program and I feel healthy; I have energy and the changes I have made are easy to keep up.
If you start having cramps and pain that are related to constipation see you doctor and talk with him/her about your weight loss program. They can tailor treatments for the constipation around your goals and help you make good decisions on calorie intake.
Good luck and be patient!