Minimizing weight gain after eating below 1500 calories

bcattoes

I agree with those suggesting a slow but steady increase in calories. Because your metabolic rate has likely slowed due to very low calories, the calculators are not going to give an accurate reading for you.

Increase strength training as you can. That way, if you do go into a surplus you can use that time to build muscle, which will also help repair your metabolic rate.

khyuma04

You've still been eating 600-800 calories, I see. Why are you asking for advice if you're dead-set on your ED ways?

I've been logging what I eat for a while and dinner is usually the same everyday so I know how much calories are in that meal. (around 300-400). I think a lot of the low weight is due to the depleted glycogen stores because I wasn't eating many carbs, I could probably put on 5lbs in 2 weeks easily.

cwolfman13

I started cutting weight at 1500 calories at the start of the year and then slowly started eating less and less till I got the the point of around 1000 calories per day. I find with water weight fluctuations I weigh in around 135-140lbs at 6'0. I think my metabolism may be shot, how do I bring it back up to speed without putting on tons of fat?

I train cardio 3 x a week and lift 3x a week as well. Cardio consists of a boxing routine which lasts for an hour and the weight training routine is starting strength - is this considered lightly active or active on here?

6'0 male at 135 lbs is quite underweight. You don't want to minimize weight gain. You want to gain weight.

Just add 100 calories to your goal every week until you start gaining weight. Then keep your calorie target there.

This^^^

C'mon man...I'm 5'10" and I maintain right around 2700 calories...that's with a desk job and jogging 3 miles 2x weekly, doning some walking and lifting 2x weekly. When I was losing weight I was grossing in the neighborhood of 2200 calories. Eating 800-1000 calories is absolutely ridiculous. I personally think you should seek some professional help here...not saying that to be mean, but one dude to another, all things point to, at minimum, a lot of disordered thinking if not a full blown eating disorder.

Increase your calories a couple hundred daily per week...i.e. this week is 1,000 every day...next week is 1200 everry day and so on. With your activity level and size, my guess is you would maintain around 3,000 calories per day easily...but yeah...you probably need to fix your metabolism first.

jonnythan

You've still been eating 600-800 calories, I see. Why are you asking for advice if you're dead-set on your ED ways?

I've been logging what I eat for a while and dinner is usually the same everyday so I know how much calories are in that meal. (around 300-400). I think a lot of the low weight is due to the depleted glycogen stores because I wasn't eating many carbs, I could probably put on 5lbs in 2 weeks easily.

Your body only carries around a few pounds of glycogen.

Your low weight is because you've starved your body so long it's consumed a large fraction of its muscle and fat mass. It's time to dramatically increase your calorie intake.

RiannonC

Some of you here are pretty judgy. OP has already said he wants to eat more. 135 is probably a little low for the stated height, but you don't know anything about this person's bone structure or body type. 135 is technically .2 below what is considered healthy on the BMI scale. If someone came here with a BMI .2 OVER what is considered healthy and someone gave them a hard time, they would get no end of grief. Everyone would be screaming about how worthless BMI is, etc etc. Yes 1000 calories is pretty low but OP recognizes this already. Comments like "eat a sandwich" are useless.

OP, the best way to up calories is usually to do it gradually anyway, because it's easier on digestion and gives your body time to adapt. Someone recommended upping by 200 calories a week. You could probably up it by a bit more than that at first, but that seems like a reasonable place to start. If you continue your exercise routine and up calories gradually, you're not going to put on a lot of fat anytime soon.

what chart are you looking at?:noway: are you sure you are looking at the one for MEN?

The one I was looking at is the one on the website of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, and it doesn't differentiate between women and men. 18.5 is considered the lower limit of healthy for men and women both. I checked a couple of others and that one seems to be pretty standard. 140 is considered in the healthy range for a person who is 6 foot. Of course there are certainly body types who would not be healthy at that weight and height, but without knowing body type you can't tell.

RiannonC

Some of you here are pretty judgy. OP has already said he wants to eat more. 135 is probably a little low for the stated height, but you don't know anything about this person's bone structure or body type. 135 is technically .2 below what is considered healthy on the BMI scale. If someone came here with a BMI .2 OVER what is considered healthy and someone gave them a hard time, they would get no end of grief. Everyone would be screaming about how worthless BMI is, etc etc. Yes 1000 calories is pretty low but OP recognizes this already. Comments like "eat a sandwich" are useless.

OP, the best way to up calories is usually to do it gradually anyway, because it's easier on digestion and gives your body time to adapt. Someone recommended upping by 200 calories a week. You could probably up it by a bit more than that at first, but that seems like a reasonable place to start. If you continue your exercise routine and up calories gradually, you're not going to put on a lot of fat anytime soon.

He wants to eat more WITHOUT gaining weight. Hence everyone telling him that he needs to gain the weight. And his weight is incredibly low for his height, regardless of his frame build.

It's lower than most people would be healthy at, for sure. I don't disagree there. But my 25 year old brother eats healthy and lifts weights and is 140 at 6'1. He's not skeletal, doesn't try to be thin, just really small framed for a guy. So it is possible. I just hate to see some people jump straight to assuming someone has an ED without giving the benefit of the doubt.

perfect_storm

I am a woman at 5'11 and at 135 a size 4 or a small shirt size with a VERY tiny frame. I think the judging is not fair, He wants to gain so the 135 140 thing is where he is starting at. If he is healthy and his Dr. has no problem with it I can not see even at that weight why there is a problem. For the OP I think going up by 200 calories a week is a good idea as previously mentioned and adjust from there if you find that 200 is not enough go to 300 ect. until you start a gain. Good luck.

nxd10

My son has always been very very thin. He had the lowest BMI in his whole high school. He is now 25 and 6'2" and returned from two years in the Peace Corps where he lost a lot of the muscle mass he had on his upper body. He weights 150 right now and is trying to gain. That's about where you are, since you're shorter. However, I'd estimate (since he was living here all summer) that he's eating 2700 calories a day and has only gained 5 pounds since June (muscle).

How about relaxing a little and eating a lot of healthy protein to help your body build some muscle? Or, better still, concentrate on eating HEALTHY FOOD and not worry about the calories for a month? See where you are. I share everybody's concerns about your weight.