Hair and skin

vanesanikolowa

Hello everyone,
I'm Vanessa and I'm 23.
I have recently started to track my meals and calories.
My goal is to get in shape and hopefully become more conscious of the body-food-soul relationship.
I have noticed that for the past months my skin has become extremely sensitive and prone to acne.
I'm also struggling with hairloss
For my age I find it very strange, as acne does not run in the family...
Can you share some tips or just let me know if you had similar experience?
*Feeling lost here*

PAV8888

Hi there! How many calories a day are you eating? How much weight have you lost? In what time frame? Let's see if calories are even in play as a potential culprit!

New_me_19

i lost so much hair specially while washing it around 6 months in to my diet/lifestyle i was quite worried but its normal it did calm down a few weeks late, hope this helps

vanesanikolowa

@PAV888 thank you for your answer
I have been losing/gaining weight for the past year due to stress and changes in my personal life
I'm 157cm-43/44 kg and i try to eat 1700 calories per day

koalathebear

vanesanikolowa wrote: »

@PAV888 thank you for your answer
I have been losing/gaining weight for the past year due to stress and changes in my personal life
I'm 157cm-43/44 kg and i try to eat 1700 calories per day

I put your stats into the BMI calculator: https://www.heartfoundation.org.au/your-heart/know-your-risks/healthy-weight/bmi-calculator The skin and hair issues might be because you're underweight. Hopefully things will settle for you when you're eating more and within the healthier weight range?

PAV8888

So I followed @koalathebear 's lead and plugged your stats in a BMI and TDEE calculator and it is certainly possible that your nutrition this past year has contributed to your hair problems, especially if you had a time period of rapid weight loss within the past six months or so.

Your goal of 1700 Cal a day sounds like maintenance level calories for a lightly active person with your approximate stats.

If you are more active than lightly active--a level of activity which is can be reached with as little as an hour and a half of non sitting activity a day--then you would be pushing towards losing weight instead of gaining from your currently under-weight position.

And if you exercise at all then you should definitely be eating back all of your exercise calories.

Take care!

vanesanikolowa

Hi koalathebear, thank you for your concern

I know I'm considered underweight,and I have set up a goal to reach at least 45 kg, but still I cannot seem to gain.
Is it possible that stress affects my metabolism *_*

Lillymoo01

vanesanikolowa wrote: »

Hi koalathebear, thank you for your concern

I know I'm considered underweight,and I have set up a goal to reach at least 45 kg, but still I cannot seem to gain.
Is it possible that stress affects my metabolism *_*

Why is your goal at a point where you are still underweight according to the BMI scale?

psuLemon

vanesanikolowa wrote: »

Hi koalathebear, thank you for your concern

I know I'm considered underweight,and I have set up a goal to reach at least 45 kg, but still I cannot seem to gain.
Is it possible that stress affects my metabolism *_*

You can't gain because you are eating 1700 calories a day. Those levels are often indicative of women losing. More than likely, you will need 2400 or more.

If your goal is to be more shapely than lifting should be a primary focus with your journey. So i would recommend getting on a structured program like StrongCurve

sardelsa

In addition to @psuLemon advice above, he has created a great resource if you have issues getting the calories in once you increase.

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10326769/are-you-a-hard-gainer-please-read/p1

vanesanikolowa

@psuLemon
Hii, maybe I should really try increasing calories .
It's a bit strange, as I'm following the app, and I have already set gain weight as a goal.

@Lillymoo01 I cannot really imagine myself 53 or more kg,as I'm very small and I doubt it will look good
I will try to build some muscle though and maybe I will be closer to that range.


Thank you everyone good luck and take care

lynn_glenmont

vanesanikolowa wrote: »

@psuLemon
Hii, maybe I should really try increasing calories .
It's a bit strange, as I'm following the app, and I have already set gain weight as a goal.

@Lillymoo01 I cannot really imagine myself 53 or more kg,as I'm very small and I doubt it will look good
I will try to build some muscle though and maybe I will be closer to that range.


Thank you everyone good luck and take care

I guess if it's about looking good, you're currently facing a choice between being a healthy weight or having acne and losing your hair.

PAV8888

vanesanikolowa wrote: »

Hi koalathebear, thank you for your concern
I know I'm considered underweight,and I have set up a goal to reach at least 45 kg, but still I cannot seem to gain.
Is it possible that stress affects my metabolism *_*

Let me repeat / quote myself with some explanations because your question: "but still I cannot seem to gain" has already been answered above:

I plugged your stats into a TDEE calculator. 1708 Calories is maintenance level Calories for someone like you who is lightly active. Lightly active is someone who, in general, spends about 22.5 hours a day *not* on their feet.

If you spend more than 1.5 hours a day 'doing things', especially if these things involve you being out of the house and walking around and / or involve exercise... then you're spending more Calories than a lightly active person would and you need more than 1700 to MAINTAIN your weight.

If you exercise, please remember that MFP's 1700 estimate does not include exercise. So you have to separately add on top of your allowance every exercise or activity that was not included in the level you selected!

What you (probably) did is set MFP to 'sedentary' and 'gain half a kilo or less' per week... which gave you a goal that does not include exercise and is suitable for someone who spends LESS THAN AN HOUR doing things other than sleeping in bed, or sitting in front of a computer, or un-moving on their couch.

It is not by coincidence that most re-gain "protocols" talk about 2500+ Calories to start and minimal to no-exercise, especially cardio.

The link above for strength training exercise is awesome. However unless you fuel that exercise with sufficient Calories you will have a hard time regaining your health.

TrishSeren

vanesanikolowa wrote: »

@psuLemon
Hii, maybe I should really try increasing calories .
It's a bit strange, as I'm following the app, and I have already set gain weight as a goal.

@Lillymoo01 I cannot really imagine myself 53 or more kg,as I'm very small and I doubt it will look good
I will try to build some muscle though and maybe I will be closer to that range.


Thank you everyone good luck and take care

You are taller than me by 3 inches and my goal weight is 55kg. 43kg would be underweight for me which means you are underweight and even 45kg for you would still be underweight.

I would say you have hair loss and skin issues because you are undereating and aren't getting enough nutrition. Please see a doctor for advice.

psuLemon

vanesanikolowa wrote: »

@psuLemon
Hii, maybe I should really try increasing calories .
It's a bit strange, as I'm following the app, and I have already set gain weight as a goal.

@Lillymoo01 I cannot really imagine myself 53 or more kg,as I'm very small and I doubt it will look good
I will try to build some muscle though and maybe I will be closer to that range.


Thank you everyone good luck and take care

Its quite possible that you are under estimating your daily activities, you aren't eating back exercise calories or your body is just responding to over feeding. Adding another 300 calories is a good place to start. Eat more to 2 weeks. If you haven't gained, than add an additional 300 calories.

I would also focus more on how your body looks rather than a number. Too often we fixate on a number which won't provide you the results you are often looking for. Heck, i can show you tons of pictures of girls adding 10-20 lbs and looking more lean.

kshama2001

vanesanikolowa wrote: »

@psuLemon
Hii, maybe I should really try increasing calories .
It's a bit strange, as I'm following the app, and I have already set gain weight as a goal.

@Lillymoo01 I cannot really imagine myself 53 or more kg,as I'm very small and I doubt it will look good
I will try to build some muscle though and maybe I will be closer to that range.

Thank you everyone good luck and take care

This woman wasn't happy at her goal weight, started working out, and was happy 18 pounds heavier.