Am I eating enough calories?

jcx13

Hi. This is my first post in about 10 years. Glad to be back. Man in my 40s. In 15 weeks I lost 52 pounds. Went from 276 to 224. Did this by getting down to 80 to 120 carbs a day and 80 to 120 g of protein a day. i’m somewhere between 800 and1200 calories a day. I am around 5‘6“. It’s amazing how much I’ve lost. I basically stopped eating carbs, junk food, and anything I really loved. My weight was killing me.
Then in weeks 16 and 17 I stopped. Just totally stopped. I’ve added more water my eyeballs are falling out. I added extra fiber through Benefiber and vegetables, but nothing is happening. I’ve been so hungry for so long. I can do this, but why am I not losing? I just ordered some resistance bands, maybe that will help. Should I be cutting calories even more? I am starting to get discouraged and I know that’s dumb. I’m open to any and all advice. Eat more, eat less, do something different? I’m willing to do what it takes. Please help. Thank you.

jcx13

Some days I may only eat around 600 calories.

Retroguy2000

Congrats on the initial loss.

Your intake of 800, sometimes 600, is not healthy though. As a 5'6" male, you should be on at least 1,200 maybe 1,500.

I usually say, if in doubt return to maintenance for a while. Let's assume for you that's about 2,500, based on a daily average of say 1,000 ingested, and weekly loss of 3 pounds. Go to maintenance for at least half as long as you were dieting, so at least two months. You'll initially gain some weight from water, and maybe a couple pounds more, that's OK. Give yourself a nice physical and mental break. Enjoy the holiday season. You'll probably be more active due to having more energy.

Then resume your weight loss journey, but with a more realistic deficit this time of 1,000 per day, which would put you at around 1,500 daily.

I'd also recommend you consider lifting weights, and if you do, increase your protein to maybe 140g.

frhaberl

jicole75 wrote: »

In 15 weeks I lost 52 pounds. Went from 276 to 224.
I basically stopped eating carbs, junk food, and anything I really loved.
I am starting to get discouraged

A few things I’m noting from your post - you’ve lost, on average, 3.5 lbs/week. That’s higher than the recommended rate of weight loss for someone of your size. That alone is not too concerning, but you’ve sustained that rate of loss for nearly 4 months, and you’ve done so by eating so few calories that it’s highly unlikely that you have been getting the necessary nutrients to maintain muscle mass among other baseline biological processes. And you have also done so by eliminating any food you “really love”.

Your question was “am I eating enough calories”, but I think you would benefit from asking yourself “what is my goal”. If your goal is to lose weight as quickly as possible, then an argument could be made that you are eating too many calories. If your goal is to have sustained weight loss and maintain muscle mass and develop a healthier relationship with food while building a healthier body then you are not eating enough. The 1200 calorie minimum used by MFP (and numerous other programs) is there for a reason. It is very difficult to get sufficient nutrition to maintain a healthy body with fewer than 1200 calories. Drastically limiting your calories for fast weight loss also deprives you of the opportunity to learn SUSTAINABLE changes that will be necessary to prevent regaining the weight.

My recommendation would be to take the win of losing a big amount of weight in such a short time but refocus your efforts on learning how to fuel your body in a sustainable way. That should include eating enough calories to include foods you love and want to eat (even if less frequently) after you have reached your weight loss goal. It should also include finding activities that build your strength, agility, flexibility, and cardiovascular health that you enjoy enough to continue doing (even if less frequently or for shorter periods of time) after you have reached your weight loss goal. And it should include learning where your relationship with food and your body are unhealthy and developing new thought patterns and coping techniques that you will use even after you meet your weight loss goal. The great thing is that weight loss can happen all through these learning processes. It will happen a bit more slowly, but you are less likely to be back here in another 10 years asking if you’re eating enough.

Where to start with that? I suggest setting your calories at a level that has you losing no more than 1% of your body weight per week. You may even want to take the approach of setting your calories at the level it would take you to maintain your target weight. Find the things you like about the way you’ve been eating for the past 15 weeks enough that you can see yourself eating that way for the rest of your life and keep those. Then look at how you were eating previously and reintroduce the things you miss and plan to resume when you hit your target weight. Reintroduce those things now, but within your lower calorie level. This generally means you’ll need to adjust your portion size and/or the frequency of having those foods. Then do a similar analysis on the time and type of exercise.

This process is a process. You will have periods of discouragement. Things will pop up that derail your plans. Life will happen. And you will learn how to maintain or build new healthy habits when life happens.

Let me know if you’d like more details on any of the suggestions I’ve made. I’m 7 months in and 56 lbs down and have learned a lot about what it will take to lose the next 25-30 lbs and keep it off.

tomcustombuilder

How long has it been since no loss? If it’s been less than 3 weeks you may be retaining homeostatic water

no1racefan2

There are so many red flags here. I urge you to consult with your physician and/or therapist to address possible ED behaviors before you go too far. They can help you figure out what to do in a healthy way.

jcx13

Thank you everybody for your advice. I’m overwhelmed.

PAV8888

Take it easy man. The goal is to lose weight and be healthier. NOT to get sick.

Eating at ANY level below actual maintenance means you are pushing towards losing weight. Above means you're pushing towards gaining. In a narrow band around maintenance... you're pushing to maintaining.

The above is a very powerful concept. It helps you frame whether what you're seeing on a scale is reflective of changes to your fat levels or something else is at play.

It also frames that weight management does not HAVE to be "do or die".

And yes, purely on glycogen and extra food transiting your system I would expect you to show an uptick when you start to eat more normally.

But if you don't transition to eating more normally you will get sick.

As simple as that.