What shall I do?

TheShadyR59

I'm 18 and have been overweight since about 11, making my high school years hard. I've decided to really lose weight this time, and have developed an incredible will power, so much that I can actually go a few days without eating. I have actually read that going without eating is very unhealthy (and I actually passed out twice!) so I decided I have to eat SOMETHING, however now I'm in the mode where I don't even feel like I should be eating. Today I have had one apple and lots of water. I walked for 20 minutes, did 40 press ups and 60 sit ups. I ran up and down the stairs 50 times as well. This is going to be my daily routine as I have no time for any other activities as I have college and a night job. I can't afford the gym either. I also have no confidence to go jogging in fear of people laughing at me. I do about 45 minutes of football every Thursday and Friday. I'm kind of getting off point now, but what I'm saying is, since I don't WANT or NEED to eat much anymore (the thought of food makes me feel almost sick) can I survive (and lose weight healthily on say less than 1200 calories? (Such as a few healthy snacks during the day and my main, average meal at night.) Which would probably be around 800 calories total.

Greenrun99

Really?? No.

kr1stadee

Umm.. Welcome to MFP Mr. Shady..

Yeah, everything you just said, no. Just.. no.

TheShadyR59

So I'd actually lose MORE weight eating 1200 instead of 800?

graceire

To answer the original question of "What shall I do?" -- get professional help as your thinking is very unhealthy, let alone your eating habits. I also question that you're actually 18.

OllyReeves

Yes mate, you certainly can. If I was you, I would just hang about for a few days and lurk on the threads, have a look at some people's diaries and see what they eat and the exercise they log. Starving yourself won't help you at all.

Once you get some idea of how things work around here, start having a look at nutrition information and exercise plans and stuff.

A lot of the people on this site will tear you to pieces as soon as look at you when they read a post like this. Just lurk, and watch for a bit!!

Think of this as a long long journey. nothing at all will change overnight. If you have a chocolate bar you won't explode, and if you run 100 miles a day for three weeks, then do nothing, your weight won't change.

It's a long journey, good luck.

1PatientBear

So, you're playing football, doing stairs, pushups and staying active and NOT EATING???? Good grief man. You HAVE to eat more. You don't say how tall you are or how much you weigh, but I am 5'8, 175 and eat 1900 calories a day. I have had no problem losing and/or maintaining my weight. You are not feeding yourself properly. You probably need 2000+ daily. Not eating for a few days is NOT willpower; it's lunacy. You're running the risk of getting yourself an eating disorder. Educate yourself, EAT and lose weight in a healthy manner!!!!

daftthoughts

You have an eating disorder.

Please seek professional help as soon as you can.

andiechick

Your body needs food to work properly and 800 is way to little for that, you may even need to eat more than 1200 depending on your body's needs/activity level etc.

Please take proper advice and follow a healthy balanced plan (I refuse to use the 'd' word). To lose weight successfully you don't need to deny yourself anything but you do need to treat your body with respect

heybales

You are setting yourself up for a perfect program of weight loss.

You'll lose some fat and muscle, probably 50/50 with that extreme a deficit.

With that much less muscle, your metabolism will plummet.

You'll also be living with depleted glucose stores along with associated water, and with muscle gone less room to store it anyway. That also lowers your LBM, and lowers your metabolism.

You'll also being lowering your metabolism because your body has to for the limited energy it is getting from your food.

So now you'll lose weight, all good beneficial needed weight (might as well just cut off a leg and arm actually) that keeps your metabolism up.

With a metabolism that low, if you have a vacation week, or a big family meal, or the binge we know is going to happen eventually, you'll put on fat mostly from those times.

If you actually reach goal weight (big if), you won't be able to eat much more, if you do you'll gain more than just normal water weight, you'll gain fat. And that will likely happen slowly but surely.

You'll repeat this in 2-3 years to lose the same or probably even more weight now.
But with less muscle mass, you'll find it much harder to do.

You'll end up 50 years old wondering why you've wasted your life away with yo-yo diets and being super concerned with food, real unhealthy relationship.

Ask many of the women on here how it feels to reach older age and realize what you've done to your body for most of your life. You can read their comments all the time.

Yes, you are setting yourself up for a perfect weight loss program. I mean, for all the businesses selling weight loss products to what will be a long-time customer.

ImSoOTired

Already deactivated?

bethannien

So I'd actually lose MORE weight eating 1200 instead of 800?

Well, you'll probably lose LESS muscle mass. Eat to fuel your body. Find a calorie calculator, say you want to lose 1 lb a week and letit tell you how much to eat. Food is not the enemy. You've traded one bad extreme for another.

1PatientBear

Already deactivated?

Don't waste your breath people. He's gone.

heybales

Already deactivated?

Hopefully they realized that despite being in college, they were ignorant about how the body works.

actually, at a certain point, ignorant isn't the word either ...

ascrit

I'm 18 and have been overweight since about 11, making my high school years hard. I've decided to really lose weight this time, and have developed an incredible will power, so much that I can actually go a few days without eating. I have actually read that going without eating is very unhealthy (and I actually passed out twice!) so I decided I have to eat SOMETHING, however now I'm in the mode where I don't even feel like I should be eating. Today I have had one apple and lots of water. I walked for 20 minutes, did 40 press ups and 60 sit ups. I ran up and down the stairs 50 times as well. This is going to be my daily routine as I have no time for any other activities as I have college and a night job. I can't afford the gym either. I also have no confidence to go jogging in fear of people laughing at me. I do about 45 minutes of football every Thursday and Friday. I'm kind of getting off point now, but what I'm saying is, since I don't WANT or NEED to eat much anymore (the thought of food makes me feel almost sick) can I survive (and lose weight healthily on say less than 1200 calories? (Such as a few healthy snacks during the day and my main, average meal at night.) Which would probably be around 800 calories total.

Since you go to college, I would assume there is a health center on campus. Go there and ask to speak to a dietician or someone who is knowledgeable about nutrition. Once you learn how to eat properly the weight will fly off.

Fabfitgirl5

That is so unhealthy as to be seriously dangerous. You attend college so you need to go and speak to a nutritionist at your school, which should be free.

First, you are doing a disservice to your body by not giving it the protein, vitamins, overall nutrition it needs to survive.
Second, any weight loss you will have will likely not be lasting, as when you start to eat again, and you will, your body will immediately put on fat since it will think it will have to do this to survive another starvation episode, such as what you are doing now.

You need to EAT! But eat HEALTHY! You can eat over 1200 a day and it can be very healthy. In fact, you can eat 1800 calories a day and be healthy. Your are still young, and actually likely still growing in some ways, so you need to make sure you EAT a full and balanced breakfast, lunch and dinner. Even if you eat a protein bar for breakfast, you need to eat something.

While I think this might be a not so genuine post, if it is real, you seriously need to talk to someone who can help you lose weight in a manner that will allow you to keep it off, someone who can help you make a SUSTAINABLE life style change for the better, which does not include what you are currently doing. If you keep doing what you are doing, you will likely damage your body and your metabolism.

QuietBloom

OP, use the MFP macros to figure out how many calories you should be eating to maintain a healthy weight loss. The most you can lose healthfully is 2 lbs per week, if you eat correctly and exercise. 2 lbs is actually very aggressive and only recommended if you have a lot to lose. Also, don't forget to log your daily exercise and eat back those calories, you want to avoid cannibalizing muscle tissue.

melindafritz1976

U know you need over 1200 cals a day
anyone does

samammay

Let me tell you what happens when you dont eat enough.

You stop being hungry. Its wonderful... you eat 7 or 800 calories a day and cant imagine eating more. You look at a bowl of ice cream and want to throw up. You start sleeping deeper. You sleep longer and harder than you have since you were a kid. You soon find its harder to wake up and get moving in the morning. You figure its just because you slept so hard. You go to workout, but dont really feel like it. Its is hard to motivate enough to run or bike your normal distance... but what the hell... you have lost weight so what difference does it make? One afternoon you fall asleep in your chair at work. Your boss notices and jokes "rough night, huh" You laugh it off because it was your boss. Later that same week your boss calls you in and says "I notice you havent gotten much done this week... is everything ok?" You say "yes... its just been a weird week... no worries". Time passes and you dont realize it... because you are totally out of tune. Then it happens... you come *this* close to dropping your son because your legs suddenly collapse under you walking up the stairs. The world starts spinning. It doesnt stop spinning.

Get the point yet?

OllyReeves

Wow it must be so nice being cleverer than everyone else. What a bunch of idiots.

padams2359

I did the same thing when I was about your age. 5'9", and got down to 125 lbs. The problem occurs when you try to stop. It takes a long time to be able to eat more and stop the mass loss. I don't completely support the Starvation Mode equals no weight loss theory. You don't put enough in, you will lose no matter what. However, you may be losing things you do not want to lose. Aka. Muscle mass.