A week away from 365 days on MFP and performing worse than ever, HELP :(

AnonymousWoman

Hi everyone.

Today is day 358 on myfitnesspal and I have been trying to stick to 1200 calories per day every day since I started. Obviously there have been loads of days where I have gone over my calorie limit but all in all its been really effective and I am the smallest I have ever been.

I'm 27 years old and I started out this journey as a dress size 18-20 and I am now a dress size 12 (sometimes even a 10 depending on the shop) and having been overweight since childhood, I still get a surprise when I look in the mirror. I still have about 10-15 kilos left to lose so will continue on the 1200 a day until I hit that goal and will then up my calorie intake in order to maintain.

The problem is, I have found the last 3 months or so incredibly difficult, back last summer when I started this I was so strict, I was incredibly careful with what I ate and made sure I rarely went over my 1200 calories, I found it a lot easier than I do now. This is odd to me as I would have thought with such great results it would get easier and easier, but it seems to be the opposite. Food seems to be playing on my mind more and more.

Since the beginning of the year as I have gotten smaller I have become slightly obsessed, I know this isn't good so I try and chill out when I feel the obsession rising. I have also started having bouts of binge eating where I'll consume 4000 calories or so in one sitting and then feel really guilty about it. Luckily I haven't put on any weight from this (which has now become one of my biggest fears) but if I carry on with this I no doubt will. I am also feeling pressure which only I am applying on myself about hitting my 365-day mark, its technically an arbitrary date and it shouldn't matter that much but I just want to be in a really good place when I get to that date.

I just don't understand where it all went wrong in terms of becoming obsessed, feeling pressure and having binge eating bouts because as I say, I was so good at sticking to it last year. Up until this year, I didn't feel so much pressure even though I was losing a lot of weight week on week and I certainly didn't feel the temptation to binge eat on a regular basis like I do now.

I have always been overweight so being this size is new to me and I had always assumed that as I got smaller and felt the benefits of being so I would become way less obsessed with food, but its the other way around and I am struggling to deal with it.

Has anyone else had a similar experience?

Lots of love xxx

TavistockToad

Decrease your deficit, stop making life more difficult than it needs to be.

cmriverside

Exactly. You're binging because you are under-eating.

Set your goal at "Lose 1/4 kilo" (or whatever the equivalent is) and eat back calories when you exercise.

1200 is way too low for you at your current size, and your body will fight you for nutrition. You can make this a huge mess if you keep trying to continue.

joythompson08

Because 1200 calories is isn't enough.....your body is basically saying you've been starving me for a year. Allow yourself one cheat meal a week and up your calorie allotment.

AnonymousWoman

Thanks for your honest opinions guys I just thought because it worked so well for the best part of a year and I didn't start struggling until recently it was more of a psychological/will power issue. I feel a bit stupid now lol.

I will look into upping my calories. I should add most days I walk and earn about 100-200 extra in walking which can make a bit of a difference in regards to how much I am allowed to eat too.

amusedmonkey

The thinner you are the less able your body is to tolerate undereating. You have been chronically undereating and getting away with it because you were heavier, now that you're lighter you are no longer able to tolerate dieting abuse. Take a maintenance break for a couple of weeks (set your calories to maintain weight). This will help your hormones and make further dieting more pleasant. After that, set your weight loss to 1/4 kg a week. Don't forget to eat back your exercise calories in all cases.

To know more about maintenance breaks, check out this thread:
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10604863/of-refeeds-and-diet-breaks/

Leannep2201

I agree with what the others said. I’d up the daily calories too, it will mean a smaller deficit but may make things more manageable. I’ve kept my calories at 1600 since the beginning of the year (although at times I’m closer to 1500 a day)- I find that if I eat less, I get too hungry and then am more likely to make dumb food choices or overeat later in the day. I’ve continued to lose just fine on 1600, even though MFP tells me I “should” eat less.... I’m more active than I was a couple of months ago, so that probably helps, too.

I’d also suggest a diet break/ maintenance period. There’s plenty of evidence on the above linked thread that a couple of weeks eating at maintenance can have great benefits if you’ve been restricting for a long period of time.

malibu927

A two week diet break followed by changing your deficit to .5 kg per week sounds good

AnonymousWoman

Thank you so much, everyone, I am so grateful for the eye-opening advice here! I am so glad I posted.

I feel like I have been so naive, I just assumed that I had become weak with my willpower and that the smaller I was the easier eating fewer calories would become.

Whilst I thought under 1000 would be, I never really thought that 1200 calories a day would be classed as chronic undereating or dieting abuse so it's really interesting but also slightly concerning that I have been unknowingly putting my body under this strain for the past year. I will definitely look at changing things up so I can make it to my goal! xxxx

amusedmonkey

AnonymousWoman wrote: »

Thank you so much, everyone, I am so grateful for the eye-opening advice here! I am so glad I posted.

I feel like I have been so naive, I just assumed that I had become weak with my willpower and that the smaller I was the easier eating fewer calories would become.

Whilst I thought under 1000 would be, I never really thought that 1200 calories a day would be classed as chronic undereating or dieting abuse so it's really interesting but also slightly concerning that I have been unknowingly putting my body under this strain for the past year. I will definitely look at changing things up so I can make it to my goal! xxxx

For some people it isn't too low (if you are very short, very small, very inactive, older...etc). For the average person of average height and activity, it's likely too few calories, especially if you also exercise and don't eat that back.