What should I do?

Ilona_loves_cats
Ilona_loves_cats Posts: 11 Member
in Health and Weight Loss

Hi! I'm back here again to ask another question. I have been eating 1,100 cals for the past week (I know it's low but I am scared to go over 😞) and I haven't had the chance to start working out again so I can't increase it YET. Here's my thing, we'll be Traveling and eating out for a week due to a family member visiting and I don't know what to do, because I'm too scared to eat beyond that number 🥹. Today I ate 1,400 cals and I feel so guilty about it so I don't know what to do in the following days when we actually go somewhere nice. I am genuinely trying to get some advice from here because I don't know what to do anymore. Thank you in advance for the people who're willing to help me out here!

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Answers

  • Strudders67
    Strudders67 Posts: 1,007 Member

    How tall are you, how much do you weigh and how old are you? That info would enable someone who knows about these things to come up with a reasonably accurate maintenance figure, which is probably considerably more than you're currently eating.

    You already know that 1100 is too low, so presumably you know the long term risks to your health. That aside, as you've been under-eating, you have effectively 'banked' some calories that you can use to enjoy your time with your family. As Ann says, don't over-indulge, but don't miss out either. Many of us look at our weekly average via the app rather than trying, so hard, for every day to be perfect. As you're talking about being scared and feeling guilty, I'd even suggest that you don't try to log anything for the duration of your family time.

    Once your family event is over, re-enter your info into the Guided Set Up in MFP, set a sensible rate of weight loss (without knowing your age, height and current weight, no-one can say what's sensible - but don't select 2lb a week if you have less than 20lb to lose), see how many calories are assigned (it'll be at least 1200) and follow that. If you're logging accurately, it works and there's no need to damage your health by trying to eat less. If you know your maintenance calories, anything less than that will see you losing weight if you continue for a period of time, even if it's very slowly.

    I got to Maintenance just as the world shut down for Covid. I wasn't going in to the office (so no endless supply of tempting pastries and goodies to snack on) but I also wasn't able to go to the gym, although I was doing a lot of walking outside. Something in my tracking, either food or exercise, clearly wasn't accurate and six months later I was just above the BMI 'underweight' weight and had to start eating more. After 20+ years of half-heartedly trying to lose weight and a couple of years of actually succeeding by tracking via MFP, being in a position where I had to deliberately eat more was tough. But unless you're particularly petite already, a couple of hundred calories a day really isn't going to torpedo your efforts in the long term.

    Enjoy your time with your family.

  • Ilona_loves_cats
    Ilona_loves_cats Posts: 11 Member
    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/comment/48728680#Comment_48728680

    Should I eat my maintainance calories for the time being? I'm scared I'll gain all the weight back again and won't have the control again after this week 😭

  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 9,948 Member

    Do consider switching to maintenance. Enjoy your time with family.

    If you gain a pound or two, it’s not the end of the world . You can always readjust. You’re in charge, not the fork You’ve worked to create new habits, I hope Now apply them

    I feel ya. I am determined not to regain. It was hard work getting here. I’m invested in the “new me” and the new me has invested in a new wardrobe. Five years into maintenance and it’s still new new new and still occasionally worrisome.


    I am- yet again- trying to bring my calories up. It’d be sooo easy to cave in and have a cookie to bring them up. But I’d rather fish around and find something more nutritious. Always tinkering. Honestly, it’s tiring.

    But not as tiring as undereating and being fatigued and obsessed with how many calories are left in the pot at the end of the day.

    I’ve “gained” on trips with my husband, returned to the habits and workouts that have gotten me here, and shed the travel weight pretty quickly. And I’m betting I’m old enough to be your grandma.

    Sweety, everything you’re saying is coming from a place of fear. It can’t be a good place to be , letting fear and anxiety control your life. Consider talking to someone about all this stress, and concern over food. Read these boards. Do you want a lifetime of this, like a lot of people post about here?

    We should consume food, not let it consume us.

    Hugs to you.

  • Ilona_loves_cats
    Ilona_loves_cats Posts: 11 Member

    Another question, I considered eating maintenance for a week and I am so anxious because I ate OVER my maintainance. My maintenance is only supposed to be 2000 calories and I ate 3,500 today, I am so disappointed in myself because I'm scared this cycle will continue, I can't enjoy anything anymore. Please help me overcome this anxiety im feeling, I'm so sorry I can't ask anyone I know so I just go online hoping for real help.

  • csplatt
    csplatt Posts: 1,411 Member

    These numbers are supposed to be a source of freedom for you, not fear.

    Let’s look at your five day average:

    • under maintenance by 900 cals
    • under maintenance by 900 cals
    • under maintenance by 900 cals
    • under maintenance by 900 cals
    • over maintenance by 1500 cals

    For the week, you are still in a 2100 calorie deficit.

  • Finnigangregory
    Finnigangregory Posts: 1 Member
    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/comment/48729691#Comment_48729691

    OP, please heed this. Ive had anorexia for 19 years and it is SO hard to get out once you've gotten too used to being scared of food.

  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 37,494 Community Helper
    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/comment/48729167#Comment_48729167

    The most important thing that's recommended here is that your very best course now would be to see an experienced professional who counsels people who are on a path toward an eating disorder.

    There should be no stigma in this. When we have a problem with our pipes, we call a plumber; when the car makes a scary noise we visit the mechanic; when we're having difficulty with our thought patterns, we consult a professional counselor. That's why those experts exist, to augment what we know or can do ourselves.

    On the purely practical side, if there were not a complicating situation with thought patterns, I'd suggest you eat at maintenance calories for a week or so, yes.

    Will the scale go up? Yes. Probably there will be a few pounds' jump on the scale. It will be extra water retention needed to digest/metabolize that slightly larger amount of food, and some extra waste in your digestive tract on the way to the toilet. Neither of those are body fat, so there's zero reason to worry about that scale jump.

    The definition of "maintenance calories" is the total number of calories we burn in all ways, but it's also the number of calories that will keep our body weight up and down within the same few pounds range over a multi-week time period. That calorie intake will keep body fat steady when eating true maintenance calories. The water/waste weight will cause some minor ups and downs of scale weight that is not about body fat.

    Will you "gain all the weight back" in a week or two by eating at maintenance calories? Absolutely no way. Can't happen.

    Will you be unable to return to a reasonable weight loss calorie level after that week or so, not able to control your appetite? That's a decision you make, pure and simple. If you commit to do it, you can do it. I understand, though, that anxiety about this is consuming you right now, and you are struggling to see your way clear to make that commitment after a maintenance break. What we believe cannot happen cannot happen, even when in reality we have total control over whether it does happen.

    So: Mainly, seek that expert counseling. That's what will help you align your hopes, goals, beliefs and behavior. It's really, really important. Please take that step.

  • ali3boys
    ali3boys Posts: 85 Member

    It’s okay to enjoy your time with family and friends . Try to make good choices over all , but if you indulge a little out of your norm that’s okay. When vacation is over go back to your routine.
    THIS is life. There will always be something. That’s okay …

  • NikiMAnderson
    NikiMAnderson Posts: 3 Member

    A lot of people and weight loss programs talk about calorie deficit but when I talked to me nutritionist she said there's a weight maintenance calorie range and a weight loss calorie range and to go below weight loss range could do more harm than good and have the opposite effect to what you're looking for.

    For example: based on my hight and weight and activity level for weight maintenance I should eat between 2000 and 2200 calories, for weight loss I should eat between 1800 and 2000 calories, below 1800 could have the opposite effect and be harmful.

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