Maintaining after restricting

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kath4032
kath4032 Posts: 3
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
Hey guys for the last 4 months or so I have been consuming between 700-1000 calories a day which I know isnt healthy. Now weighing 110llbs and being 5'5 (lost 17lbs in total) I want to maintain weight but not lose or gain anymore. Counting calories has become an addiction for me and I freak out when I go over 1000 but I want to consume more but not gain any weight. Help and suggestions please

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  • PikaKnight
    PikaKnight Posts: 34,971 Member
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    Perhaps seek professional help? If you are freaking out and unable to eat more than 1000 cals, you may be suffering from disordered eating. Talk to a counselor, physician and registered dietitian to help you.
  • RobynMWilson
    RobynMWilson Posts: 1,540 Member
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    Unfortunately, if you consumed that low, your chances of maintaining while eating what you should be eating, which is at least 1500cals for your height, may be tough. I would increase slowly, and if you find that you won't "let" yourself eat over 1000 cals, seek help. That isn't healthy or normal!
  • jennifer_417
    jennifer_417 Posts: 12,344 Member
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    What joy_joy said.
  • theoriginaljayne
    theoriginaljayne Posts: 562 Member
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    Perhaps seek professional help? If you are freaking out and unable to eat more than 1000 cals, you may be suffering from disordered eating. Talk to a counselor, physician and registered dietitian to help you.

    Agreed.
  • TheCaren
    TheCaren Posts: 894 Member
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    Hey guys for the last 4 months or so I have been consuming between 700-1000 calories a day which I know isnt healthy. Now weighing 110llbs and being 5'5 (lost 17lbs in total) I want to maintain weight but not lose or gain anymore. Counting calories has become an addiction for me and I freak out when I go over 1000 but I want to consume more but not gain any weight. Help and suggestions please

    Familiarize yourself with EDs and then get in contact with someone who specializes in them to help you out.

    I don't say this flippantly. I say it from personal experience. I started out with a healthy outlook on food and weight loss and by March this year a combination of a health issue and abject terror at the thought of gaining weight pushed me into the EDNOS category. Get it under control before your health goes down the tubes.
  • ddky
    ddky Posts: 381 Member
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    increase calories slowly and consistently until you get to a healthier intake. You may gain just a pound or two, so don't freak out. You can lose that again when you have repaired your metabolism. Good luck to you.
  • Boogage
    Boogage Posts: 739 Member
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    I'm having a similar problem at the moment and I'm trying to take a step back and think about why I started on this journey. I was at an unhealthy weight and wanted to get healthy. By under eating we're just making ourselves unhealthy again and putting our lives at risk!

    I'm thinking that maybe I need to quit calorie counting for a while and go by how my clothes fit rather than worrying about the scale. Could you ditch counting and maybe even your scale for a bit?

    Its a good sign that you are reevaluating the situation and understand that your diet isn't healthy at the moment but what are your new goals?

    If you want to maintain your weight then you need to increase your calorie intake very slowly until you find the point where you start gaining again but bear in mind that your body will take a while to adjust to a higher intake and lots of people believe that if you do gain weight while upping your cals, once you reach your TDEE and continue to eat a that, the extra weight will drop off again. If your new goal is to build muscle and continue to shape your body then you can't eat at a deficit and you need to eat a bit above your TDEE.

    There are lots of online calculators to help you work out your TDEE and your BMR (which you shouldn't be eating below)

    If all else fails don't be afraid to seek help from your Doc.

    (Hoping some of what I've written makes sense and can help as I'm a bit sleep deprived at the moment lol)
  • themommie
    themommie Posts: 4,991 Member
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    I recently reached maintance and after being in weight loss mode for so long feel the same way. I am so scared of gaining back the weight that it is hard to make myself eat over 1250 cals. Just slowly increase your cals and take it one day at a time. You might want to check into getting professional help
  • secretgirl4611
    secretgirl4611 Posts: 474 Member
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    Before I even knew wat or how to count calories my diet was horrible. Then I learned and I obsessed over it. Being over or under
    It took the joy out of just eating food for both pleasure and health and fitness.
    I recently STOPPED counting calories. I dont want to know if Im over or under.
    Its BETTER just to listen to your body!
    Eat when your hungry and stop before your full. Dont eat too little, but dont eat too much either.

    Def. try that and if you start to feel your obsession is becoming more problematic THEN seek professional help ok..

    I know, for me! IT WORKS! I no longer OBSESS over calorie counting. I just eat when I am hungry and stop before I feel overly full
    Hope this helps
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