Damaged Metabolism 1400 calories a day
ilj3
Posts: 4 Member
To give you some idea, I am 103 pounds and five foot three. About a year ago, I was 118 pounds but lost about 20 pounds in a very short period of time through cutting calories extensively. At the time I was eating below 1000 calories a day but eventually ate at a normal 2000 calories again after some time. Over the past few months, I have noticed a very slow weight gain, so I have been decreasing my calories. I now eat around 1400 calories a day but the scale won’t budge and even goes up. I started exercising a little bit but my metabolism is completely broken. I am the heaviest I have been in a while yet I can barely eat 1400 calories a day. I have no idea how to fix this so please help!!!
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Replies
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You're underweight right now. Your range is 107-140.
Source: https://www.rush.edu/health-wellness/quick-guides/what-is-a-healthy-weight
What does your doctor say?19 -
Define "started exercising a little bit" and how long ago? If you are close to sedentary, then 1400 calories is pretty normal for maintenance at that weight - nothing abnormal about your metabolism..you need to move more (and/or opt for a higher weight, which is probably a good idea at 5'3") to eat more.14 -
I understand that I’m a little underweight, but the point is that I used to eat quite a bit more (around 1800-2000) calories a day. Now I am eating less and gaining weight. I have been exercising 30 min-1hr over the past couple weeks.2
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Okay, but why are you trying to lose? Given that you aren't getting enough fuel to power your body properly, odds are you aren't exercising as vigorously as you think since you don't have enough energy. You're probably fidgeting less during the day. You may not be moving around as much when you aren't exercising.
In other words, your metabolism is doing more or less what it's supposed to.25 -
Chronic under-fueling can mess up the hormones.17
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So I should eat more and exercise more???0
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Some great information in the opening post here:
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10604863/of-refeeds-and-diet-breaks/p13 -
Sounds to me that you should not be worrying about gaining weight till you're well into the normal weight range--let's call a BMI of 20 the first time one might start questioning and contemplating addressing a continuing weight gain.... are you there at this time?9
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if you were gaining very slowly on 2000kcal a day why would you immediately cut that to 1400? Did you just panic?
If you have been exercising more and only eating less for a couple of weeks its possible that water retention from exercise or your period or just random fluctuations are hiding a loss. That is a lot less important than why you felt the need to so drastically cut calories when you are already underweight or close to it. Your metabolism isn't broken but your brain might be, a little bit. You don't need to panic, you don't need to suddenly start cutting hard and exercising so much because the scale went up a little bit. I don't think that's a reasonable reaction and I don't think you need to be trying to get back to underweight either.13 -
There we have MFP which provides an extensive calculation system for weight gain, weight loss, calories, macros and what have you. They also provide us with historical information which teaches us about our mistakes. And if that is not good enough, there are plenty more calculations out there on the internet - but to my experience they all add up more or less to the same end - result. Otherwise there is always a dietitian who will make exactly the same calculation - at a price of course. I am trying to learn to listen to my gut feeling as well - i.e. portion sizes, portion control, healthy meal plan, exercise etc.1
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How much did you weigh when you began to notice you were gaining?0
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I didn’t cut from 2000 to 1400. This has been a gradual decrease in calories over the past few months because I am not feeling as hungry as I used to.0
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Are you over 18 and have you seen a doctor recently?10
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I highly doubt your metabolism is "completely broken" or even "damaged". Did a doctor diagnose you with a condition that has a metabolic component?9
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Sounds like you need to see a doctor. There seems to be some disordered thinking with you.8
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I understand that I’m a little underweight, but the point is that I used to eat quite a bit more (around 1800-2000) calories a day. Now I am eating less and gaining weight. I have been exercising 30 min-1hr over the past couple weeks.
30 minutes to 1 hour of what? Taking a 30 minute walk or doing 30 minutes of yoga (under 100 calories each for me at 5'5" and slightly under 130 pounds) is quite a bit different from doing, say, a Focus T25 or Insanity workout in terms of calories burned, and there are lots of values for exercises in between, as well.6 -
You’re underweight yet worried about gaining. You need to talk to your doctor about this.9
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Your metabolism isn't broken...you're underweight and it's *kitten* up your hormones. You need to gain weight...14
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I didn’t cut from 2000 to 1400. This has been a gradual decrease in calories over the past few months because I am not feeling as hungry as I used to.
That's not what you say in your original post. You said you cut because you gained weight.
You're not going to feel hungry the more you undereat -- the body adapts, and stops shooting off those hunger cues.
That doesn't give you a free pass to keep undereating.11 -
Could be puberty depending on your age? 98 would be really light for 5’3 depending on your age and build. 103 still sounds about 5 pounds light for your height. 2k is a lot of cals to maintain that 103 without high activity. But photos would help. Why don’t you try about 1800 for a couple weeks without crazy exercise and see if things stabilize?8
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What happens when your metabolism breaks?5
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musicfan68 wrote: »
This is how I imagine it if mine ever breaks:
https://media.giphy.com/media/FvG2DYjp8RKjS/giphy.gif16 -
musicfan68 wrote: »
This is how I imagine it if mine ever breaks:
https://media.giphy.com/media/FvG2DYjp8RKjS/giphy.gif
OMG, priceless!
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I understand that I’m a little underweight, but the point is that I used to eat quite a bit more (around 1800-2000) calories a day. Now I am eating less and gaining weight. I have been exercising 30 min-1hr over the past couple weeks.
There is a theory called the set point range, and your body will naturally try to defend that range. So although you might be eating less than what you used to, your body wants you back at your set point.
I used to eat 1500-1600 calories a day. And then, I started gaining a couple pounds after 4 years of maintaining my weight by eating the same amount. I increased my calories to 1700-2000, and although I’m heavier, my weight has naturally settled at a BMI of 22-23.26 -
Needtolosefive wrote: »I understand that I’m a little underweight, but the point is that I used to eat quite a bit more (around 1800-2000) calories a day. Now I am eating less and gaining weight. I have been exercising 30 min-1hr over the past couple weeks.
There is a theory called the set point range, and your body will naturally try to defend that range. So although you might be eating less than what you used to, your body wants you back at your set point.
I used to eat 1500-1600 calories a day. And then, I started gaining a couple pounds after 4 years of maintaining my weight by eating the same amount. I increased my calories to 1700-2000, and although I’m heavier, my weight has naturally settled at a BMI of 22-23.
set point is a myth.18 -
CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »Needtolosefive wrote: »I understand that I’m a little underweight, but the point is that I used to eat quite a bit more (around 1800-2000) calories a day. Now I am eating less and gaining weight. I have been exercising 30 min-1hr over the past couple weeks.
There is a theory called the set point range, and your body will naturally try to defend that range. So although you might be eating less than what you used to, your body wants you back at your set point.
I used to eat 1500-1600 calories a day. And then, I started gaining a couple pounds after 4 years of maintaining my weight by eating the same amount. I increased my calories to 1700-2000, and although I’m heavier, my weight has naturally settled at a BMI of 22-23.
set point is a myth.
Are you sure about that? Library of medicine indicates more studies are needed around this. There was an article in US Library of Medicine in July 2018 about it. I am not saying I believe it by the way.
Because if people do have set points, why so often are the set points at an overweight point?10 -
maureenkhilde wrote: »CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »Needtolosefive wrote: »I understand that I’m a little underweight, but the point is that I used to eat quite a bit more (around 1800-2000) calories a day. Now I am eating less and gaining weight. I have been exercising 30 min-1hr over the past couple weeks.
There is a theory called the set point range, and your body will naturally try to defend that range. So although you might be eating less than what you used to, your body wants you back at your set point.
I used to eat 1500-1600 calories a day. And then, I started gaining a couple pounds after 4 years of maintaining my weight by eating the same amount. I increased my calories to 1700-2000, and although I’m heavier, my weight has naturally settled at a BMI of 22-23.
set point is a myth.
Are you sure about that? Library of medicine indicates more studies are needed around this. There was an article in US Library of Medicine in July 2018 about it. I am not saying I believe it by the way.
Because if people do have set points, why so often are the set points at an overweight point?
can you post a link to the study? Im saying though that if we had a set point no matter what people did they wouldnt lose weight beyond their set points. like for me I maintained 140 lbs most of my teen and adult life up until I started becoming sedentary and eating the same amount. I started gaining weight. Most people when they lose a good bit of weight,dont realize that they need less calories than before ,so they eat the same amount of calories. therefore they maintain their current weight. they may do that for a long period of time and think all sorts of things are happening, they dont relize they are either eating the same amount of energy they are burning or they may be a little less active than they were(or a bit of both).
The calorie thing was my issue I thought I could still eat the same amount of calories once I lost some of my weight. I stayed the same weight for months no matter what I did I couldnt lose weight. I found out I was eating more than I thought,once I started eating less It started coming off again. If someone gains weight while they are maintaining their weight then they are eating more than they think, do some searches on the board and look at people asking for weight loss help because they think they have plateaued,have a set weight,have a health issue although tests come back normal and so on. then later on many of those people come back to say that they lost weight again because they realized they were not counting calories correctly,they werent weighing their food,they werent counting everything they put in their mouth.etc.
if people had set points I dont see why they would be in the mostly overweight areas. That makes no sense really.All the set point studies I see were done on animals and not humans. They all mention physical activity,REE and TEE2
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