Really dumb question re weight loss/muscle loss?

ans785

I feel extremely stupid asking this but I'm perplexed on weight loss over this past year and why I'm not gaining weight back with everything I've recently been eating. I pretty much know nothing about losing muscle, losing fat, weight in general, etc.
I know a lot of people wish they had this problem but I feel like I can eat whatever I want now (never used to be the case) and not gain anything. For me this is bothersome because I don't understand it. I wouldn't like to gain weight back as I'm at my goal weight but it seems like I'm eating more calories than I should be without exercise yet, still maintaining...

Long story short:
Planned on losing weight for my wedding this past September. I started mid-January 2013 and probably stopped trying to lose at the beginning of August. I've lost around 15 lbs overall. I only exercised from January to March and then quit my gym and really didn't exercise after that. I was eating probably 1200 - 1300 calories (way too low, I know), almost everyday until July and then upped it to 1500-1600. I'm confused why I never plateaued while eating so few calories/not exercising and why after I upped my cals I didn't gain anything back...?
I've maintained my weight since August until now eating 1600-1800 calories. 1800 on most days (and not the best foods either...McDonald's, Panera, etc.) My measurements around my waist (or whatever spot I consider my waist when measuring) and hips have been the same since June, however, in the past couple of months my pants have been feeling a bit looser.

This is what's bothering me most. How can my pants be a little looser? I'm the same weight and my measurements are about the same. Makes no sense. Am I losing muscle? Has body fat shifted?

Other info that may be helpful, 28 year old female, Type 1 Diabetic (blood sugar control isn't fantastic but it never has been so I know it's not from high blood sugars), Hypothyroidism from Diabetes (take medication and get it tested every 3 months so I know it's not that...). I believe a lot of this could be caused by anxiety...? Wedding stress started in May and have been extremely anxious about other things the past two months. I haven't lost my appetite and I don't overeat when stressed/anxious. My doctor doesn't seem concerned as I've basically maintained my weight and am not losing.

So confused.

Holly_Roman_Empire

So...what's your question?

TR0berts

This is what's bothering me most. How can my pants be a little looser? I'm the same weight and my measurements are about the same. Makes no sense. Am I losing muscle? Has body fat shifted?

Define "about the same."

emilyisbonkers

do you wash your jeans often? weird question but i find mine get bigger if i wear them longer than i should before washing! (ew soz)

jennegan1

hope this helps. http://www.aworkoutroutine.com/weight-loss-plateau-myth-muscle-weighs-more-than-fat/

ans785

I guess my question is, does this seem normal? To not have gained any weight back at all? I always read about people losing weight and then once they up their calories (even for maintenance) and stop exercising they gain back their weight. I guess everyone is different. Perhaps my metabolism changed? I don't know.
Re: "about the same" - hips sometimes change from 37 to 36.5...that's about it.
Re: washing my pants, my family members have mentioned the same! I do wear jeans 2-3 times before washing (I know, gross) but even after wearing them once out of the washer/dryer they are looser by the end of the day on the first or second wear.
Thanks for the link, I'll check that out!
I appreciate the replies!

ans785

Oh, and why my pants may be fitting looser if I'm not exercising and basically eating 1800 cals a day (including junky type foods)...?
Thanks again!

aetzkorn14

Your metabolism may have simply sped up with the calorie increase. There is a thing called reverse dieting which forces your metabolism to speed up when your calories are gradually increased. It could also be that you have lost muscle weight and gain fat weight.

emilyisbonkers

maybe you have been bloated in the past, and now you arent. this could make your trousers fit better

Siansonea

What you're describing is perfectly normal. The only reason you're confused is because you've been bombarded with the "starvation mode" myth, the idea that if you eat 1200 calories a day, you won't lose weight, because your body will somehow "hold onto every calorie it gets", as if that's something that could actually happen. Notice no one who repeats that little chestnut can ever explain HOW the body supposedly does this, or how an overweight person can be in the same metabolic state as a person who has no fat reserves to draw upon.

As far as not gaining the weight back, congratulations! You've found your maintenance calorie range. Maybe it's higher than you thought it would be, and feels indulgent, but if you're not gaining weight and not losing weight, you're in maintenance. My maintenance range is similar to yours, and yes, some days I indulge a bit more than the math theoretically allows. But we all know that one day of dieting won't make you lose weight, and conversely one day of overeating probably won't make you gain weight either.

Siansonea

Your metabolism may have simply sped up with the calorie increase. There is a thing called reverse dieting which forces your metabolism to speed up when your calories are gradually increased. It could also be that you have lost muscle weight and gain fat weight.

This sounds like broscience to me. Care to actually explain what this is? :huh:

ans785

Thanks, all! I never post on message boards - glad to see so many people reaching out for a better understanding.

lynn_glenmont

To have only lost 15 pounds from January to August suggests you only had a 215 calorie deficit per day, on average, so I think it's likely either you weren't logging accurately (weighing and measuring everything and taking care to use accurate entries from the database), or neglected to log things when you had a "cheat day" or knew you were going over 1300 calories, or that your memory of how often you were in the 1200-1300 range and how often you went over that amount and by how much isn't completely accurate. (I'm not accusing you of lying or anything horrible, just suggesting that you're human and that, in fact, your average intake doing the January to August time frame was probably more like 1400-1500, once you take into account logging or memory errors--plus, if you eat much packaged food, there's the whopping 20% inaccuracy food manufacturers are allowed in labels.) That would get you to about 200 calories a day below the 1600-1800 you say you've been eating since August, which makes perfect sense if maintenance is somewhere between 1600 and 1800 and you lost weight from January to August at a rate that indicates an average daily 215 calorie deficit.

It's really not that mysterious. Why would you expect to gain weight at maintenance? You might experience a little initial gain from water retention and glycogen repletion if you had an abrupt large boost in calories in shifting from loss to maintenance, but it doesn't seem like you did.

I don't know what to tell you about the pants, since you say your measurements aren't changing. It sounds like somebody is playing tricks on you (taking them at night and letting them out :laugh: )

Edited to fix typo.

livingleanlivingclean

Your metabolism may have simply sped up with the calorie increase. There is a thing called reverse dieting which forces your metabolism to speed up when your calories are gradually increased. It could also be that you have lost muscle weight and gain fat weight.

This sounds like broscience to me. Care to actually explain what this is? :huh:

Pretty sure Layne Norton isn't broscience..

The plan is to add macros in very small increments (say 10g carbs a week) to try and get your body to adapt to higher cals whilst maintaining weight/mass.

Siansonea

Your metabolism may have simply sped up with the calorie increase. There is a thing called reverse dieting which forces your metabolism to speed up when your calories are gradually increased. It could also be that you have lost muscle weight and gain fat weight.

This sounds like broscience to me. Care to actually explain what this is? :huh:

Pretty sure Layne Norton isn't broscience..

The plan is to add macros in very small increments (say 10g carbs a week) to try and get your body to adapt to higher cals whilst maintaining weight/mass.

Who the f___ is Layne Norton? :huh:

jennegan1

Your metabolism may have simply sped up with the calorie increase. There is a thing called reverse dieting which forces your metabolism to speed up when your calories are gradually increased. It could also be that you have lost muscle weight and gain fat weight.

This sounds like broscience to me. Care to actually explain what this is? :huh:

Pretty sure Layne Norton isn't broscience..

The plan is to add macros in very small increments (say 10g carbs a week) to try and get your body to adapt to higher cals whilst maintaining weight/mass.

http://www.shreddednation.com/preventing-and-recovering-metabolic-damage-layne-norton/
Layne Norton as in who says that a metabolism gets damaged?

ldrosophila

Why would wearing jeans 2-3 times be gross?

prattiger65

Your metabolism may have simply sped up with the calorie increase. There is a thing called reverse dieting which forces your metabolism to speed up when your calories are gradually increased. It could also be that you have lost muscle weight and gain fat weight.

This sounds like broscience to me. Care to actually explain what this is? :huh:

Pretty sure Layne Norton isn't broscience..

The plan is to add macros in very small increments (say 10g carbs a week) to try and get your body to adapt to higher cals whilst maintaining weight/mass.

http://www.shreddednation.com/preventing-and-recovering-metabolic-damage-layne-norton/
Layne Norton as in who says that a metabolism gets damaged?

Yes, as well as the nih and ama. Hit up google, tons of stuff.

ETA....OP, assuming you aren't trolling yourself, do your own due diligence. There is some very trolling posting in this thread already..

TR0berts

Re: "about the same" - hips sometimes change from 37 to 36.5...that's about it.

OK. As such, your pants *should* feel a little looser. I don't know if you've taken other measurements, and what they are - but it's likely your other measurements are a little less, too. So, again, things should seem a little looser. If you have enough measurements that are less/smaller, your clothes will seem even looser.

It sounds like you've found your maintenance Calories and are undergoing a slow body recomp - or maybe a slight deficit, but are retaining some water. My guess is the latter, but it's very difficult to say.

Francl27

You're not gaining weight because you were eating way too low at 1200, and you're now eating at maintenance.

Mr_Knight

I was eating probably 1200 - 1300 calories (way too low, I know), almost everyday until July and then upped it to 1500-1600. I'm confused why I never plateaued while eating so few calories/not exercising and why after I upped my cals I didn't gain anything back...?
I've maintained my weight since August until now eating 1600-1800 calories.

1200 is not, for most people trying to lose weight, "way to low", so don't sweat that. Weight loss is normal at that level. And a maintenance level of 1800 calories/day is entirely plausible, so I don't see that an expectation of weight gain is necessary.

Mr_Knight

Some of y'all are misinterpreting Layne Norton. It's not the increase in calories that revs up BMR, it's exercising vigorously in the presence of a calorie increase that revs up BMR.

Doing the calorie increase part without the exercise part will only accomplish weight gain.

WalkingAlong

I was eating probably 1200 - 1300 calories (way too low, I know), almost everyday until July and then upped it to 1500-1600. I'm confused why I never plateaued while eating so few calories/not exercising and why after I upped my cals I didn't gain anything back...?
I've maintained my weight since August until now eating 1600-1800 calories.

1200 is not, for most people trying to lose weight, "way to low", so don't sweat that. Weight loss is normal at that level. And a maintenance level of 1800 calories/day is entirely plausible, so I don't see that an expectation of weight gain is necessary.

I agree.

And, OP, the fact that your calories come from Panera or McDonalds is irrelevent for weight loss/gain.

One thing to watch out for... I can gain and lose in large chunks, so if you wake up one day and you're up 2 lbs and then 2 more three days later, that's not particularly unheard of, if you are actually overeating. But it sounds like you know how to re-lose it, if that happens.

If your wedding is getting close, you're probably doing more than you think, even it's just more fidgeting.

mproestakis

You could be getting hyper. You say you are hypothyroid, but I want to know if you have hashimotos? The stress, anxiety you've been feeling could affect your thyroid levels and to make it more confusing your thyroid levels could also be affecting your moods, stress and anxiety. I'd get a full thyroid panel of blood tests done (TSH, Ft4, Ft3). What meds are you on? Are you taking synthroid? Cytomel? NDT? They might need to be adjusted.