Not enough calories???????

tlpayne2203

Hi started this a couple of weeks ago, 1st week lost 1.5lb, 2nd week stayed the same, in 4 day I have put of 3/4lb. Doing exercise and keeping busy doing gardening plus swimming. Making sure I walk at least 7000 steps a day. Each day been under calorie goal, just wondering if im not eating enough and my body in going into starvation mode and making me heavier. Advice would be great. thanks :frown:

JesterMFP

No, that's not how it works. You didn't gain 3/4 lb because of not eating enough.

Not meeting your calorie goal is not a good idea long term because for one thing, you risk losing your lean mass - especially if you don't have a lot of fat stored already, which looking at your ticker, you don't. With only 3 lbs to lose, you should be aiming to lose 0.5 lbs a week, max, or to be honest, even just disregarding what the scale says at this point and focusing on body composition. A pound here or there doesn't make a lot of difference.

"Starvation mode" n the sense that you're describing isn't really a thing, but chronic under-eating can definitely have an adverse effect on your body. You can lose too much lean mass, and it can negatively effect your hormone function too. You will end up reducing your metabolic rate more than you need to, which will have an effect on managing your weight in the future.

It's also not very fun or sustainable! Try to create a lifestyle you can live with long-term, not a strict "diet" that you think you're going to do temporarily to get the weight off. The realy work starts once you're at your goal, unless you want to gain it back.

I would recommend setting MFP to lose 0.5 lbs a week, aim to meet that goal, or get as close as possible to it. Eat back at least a good portion of your exercise calories (because that's how MFP works).

Bear in mind that weight loss is not linear. It will go up and down a bit, regardless of what you're doing. The scale doesn't just measure how much fat you have, but all the fluctuations of fluid in your body. Pay attention to progress over time, and don't get too hung up on what it says each week. Also, use tape measurements and photos to check your progress.

chudsie

I just wanted to post to you, I have been on this MFP and working my very best, with very little exercise to lose my weight.
I wanted to share with you, that I have never been a big eater of foods. My doctors have told me for years, that not eating enough food, will send you in to starvation mode. The body hangs on to the food, because its not getting it the way it should each time so your metabolism will keep moving. I have lost 30 pounds in the past 28 days, by counting my calories. I made my goals 20 for my first, now I am working on my second goal of 20, then I will start on the next once I reach this 20. I am drinking 15 plus cups of water a day, I feel better now, then I have in years.
I am only sharing my knowledge with you. From not eating, I was at 208 pounds. I never ate more then 400 calories a day. Some people gain, some don't. I did.

Dewymorning

Weight loss is not linear and fluctuations of 2 pounds (even more) in your weight is normal.

Continue eating at your calorie goal and get on with it.

tlpayne2203

Thanks everyone, have to say because im feeling better than I have done in ages with the swimming etc, one good thing my body fat percentage on my scales has gone from 28.8 to 26.5 so that has got be a good thing. Also I have lost and inch from round my belly button area in the past month so must be doing something

rachelamber_x

I am only sharing my knowledge with you. From not eating, I was at 208 pounds. I never ate more then 400 calories a day. Some people gain, some don't. I did.

I'm pretty sure that's impossible.
400kcal a day would make you lose a lot of weight, including muscle and deprive your body of all the nutrients it needs.
There is no way your body could hold on to stored fat on such a drastic starvation diet.

owenmhartley

400 calories per day is rediculous, the damage you're doing to your body on a diet this extreme goes without saying, it's not just you're body that needs fats proteins and carbs to function but also your brain and nervous system, you must have been a complete wreck

owenmhartley

I really hope your doctor didn't put you on a 400 calorie per day diet, the long term damage you could cause to your body by trying to lose weight so quickly is astounding, by cutting your calories this much you must be having virtually no fat and probably hardly any carbs whatsoever, your brains function and body's nervous system need carbs fats and proteins to function correctly, if you stick to a healthy balanced diet consuming the correct amount of macronutrients you will make healthy sustainable weightloss, cutting carbohydrate from your diet disables the body's ability to hold water of which we are mostly made hence the drastic initial loss, the majority of it will be water and the rest valuable tissue as you're not eating to supply it what it needs, your body will hold on to the fat like a natural survival instinct, I'd recommend you get proper diet device as this is not a good long term solution

chudsie

Rachel Ambler, Would you like to have my Doctors phone n\umber to verify? I would be glad to provide that to you. some people don't have eating problems like others, some of us gain from not eating. If people cant survive I wonder why I am still living? Trust me, I never wanted to do anything, stayed in the house most of the time other then work. Now I am full of energy and losing weight to. I feel better now then I have in years. I am on a 1200 calorie count right now, that is way more then I use to eat.

chudsie

I didn't put myself on it, I have ate like that all my life. My doctors have been telling me for years that I needed to eat more. My mind never understood the way it worked. I am 48 years old, not a lire, and I am not here to convince anyone of anything. I have never ate more then one meal a day and it was a saucer of food when I did. Now I am eating 3 to 4 times a day, and having snacks all day if I chose to, and I am losing the weight, that I was never able to lose before.

ndj1979

I just wanted to post to you, I have been on this MFP and working my very best, with very little exercise to lose my weight.
I wanted to share with you, that I have never been a big eater of foods. My doctors have told me for years, that not eating enough food, will send you in to starvation mode. The body hangs on to the food, because its not getting it the way it should each time so your metabolism will keep moving. I have lost 30 pounds in the past 28 days, by counting my calories. I made my goals 20 for my first, now I am working on my second goal of 20, then I will start on the next once I reach this 20. I am drinking 15 plus cups of water a day, I feel better now, then I have in years.
I am only sharing my knowledge with you. From not eating, I was at 208 pounds. I never ate more then 400 calories a day. Some people gain, some don't. I did.

you got up to 208 pounds on 400 calories a day? Highly doubtable..

Additionally, you have starvation mode all wrong. you would have to eat nothing for a prolonged period to go into starvation mode, at the minimum not eating for 72 hours would cause initial stages of starvation mode, but maybe not for some.

Think starving people in Africa or the pictures of the people that survived concentration camps….

chudsie

I really hope your doctor didn't put you on a 400 calorie per day diet, the long term damage you could cause to your body by trying to lose weight so quickly is astounding, by cutting your calories this much you must be having virtually no fat and probably hardly any carbs whatsoever, your brains function and body's nervous system need carbs fats and proteins to function correctly, if you stick to a healthy balanced diet consuming the correct amount of macronutrients you will make healthy sustainable weightloss, cutting carbohydrate from your diet disables the body's ability to hold water of which we are mostly made hence the drastic initial loss, the majority of it will be water and the rest valuable tissue as you're not eating to supply it what it needs, your body will hold on to the fat like a natural survival instinct, I'd recommend you get proper diet device as this is not a good long term solution

I am on a 1200 calorie count, that is what I have been doing almost a month now. Before that time, I wasn't on a diet, or watching what I ate. I drank Diet Cokes, drank sweet tea and ate a small saucer of food for dinner. Now I am eating all the time, and losing the weight. I never knew that you had to maintain a certain amount of anything to lose weight. My doctor is very stunned, he did tell me and has told me for a long time, that I needed to eat. There was no diet pill they could give me to help me, I had to learn how to eat again. Now I am doing it.

boshka74

Given that you just started a couple weeks ago I would not be too worried just yet. I would suggest setting one day a week to check your weight on the scale. Make sure you do it at the same time every week be that as you wake up, get out of the shower or before you go to bed. I personally like to do it as soon as I wake up Saturday. From personal experience do not get on the scale before getting in the shower and again after getting out. Unless your scale is not in the bathroom as the humidity from the shower will affect the results. With two scales I have had the difference would range from .4-.8lbs just due to that. Once I realized that it actually became a game for a few days just to reproduce it each time.

Just keep eating good food, getting some exercise in and keep positive you will get there.

tlpayne2203

Thank you, I think I have become obsessed lol. Since Friday I have gained 1.5lb, been putting everything down. Really don't know where im going wrong. I have a party for my 40th in a week and a half and I feel really down about my weight and I know because of the drinks and food I will put weight on and now I haven't even lost any.............not sure what to do from here. Im in the normal weight range but am unhappy with myself. Going out for a meal today and don't even know what to eat for fear of putting on more weight. I need to get positive again and don't know how. Its my middle area I feel really unhappy with and almost feels bloated but isnt

chudsie

I just wanted to post to you, I have been on this MFP and working my very best, with very little exercise to lose my weight.
I wanted to share with you, that I have never been a big eater of foods. My doctors have told me for years, that not eating enough food, will send you in to starvation mode. The body hangs on to the food, because its not getting it the way it should each time so your metabolism will keep moving. I have lost 30 pounds in the past 28 days, by counting my calories. I made my goals 20 for my first, now I am working on my second goal of 20, then I will start on the next once I reach this 20. I am drinking 15 plus cups of water a day, I feel better now, then I have in years.
I am only sharing my knowledge with you. From not eating, I was at 208 pounds. I never ate more then 400 calories a day. Some people gain, some don't. I did.

you got up to 208 pounds on 400 calories a day? Highly doubtable..

Additionally, you have starvation mode all wrong. you would have to eat nothing for a prolonged period to go into starvation mode, at the minimum not eating for 72 hours would cause initial stages of starvation mode, but maybe not for some.

Think starving people in Africa or the pictures of the people that survived concentration camps….

I am not going to argue with you, you think what you want, ill keep doing what I know is working. Its highly doubtable? you call it what you want, I will call it what it is. good day.