Always Significantly Under Calories

Mr_Knight

Yes, it says that I should be eating 1880 calories and an online calculator said my BMR is 1930.

I'm a 6'1" active male and my BMR is only 1900ish - you are likely overestimating your needs by about 500 calories/day. Most of the online calculators don't work well for people with a great deal of fat to lose.

lalee93

That sounds pretty legit. If your calorie estimates are on, which it sounds like they could be given your description, my guess is that you may have something else going on below the surface that affects your body's digestion/absorption of food or decreases your metabolism.

And, such things aren't that uncommon. For thyroid and insulin resistance alone (I know about these as I have them), they're far more prevalent than many believe. For thyroid, according to the American Thyroid Association they estimate that as many as 20 million Americans have a thyroid disorder, of which 60% are unaware/not diagnosed, and 12% of Americans will have a thryoid disorder during their lifetime. For insulin resistance, there are estimates as high as 80 million Americans or 25% of the population.

And having something like a hypothyroid condition would explain why you feel totally fine at such a low calorie amount (as I'm sure there are others too).

I do have an insulin resistance issue. About a year ago, my insulin resistance levels were about double what they should be. How is this supposed to effect my weight loss? I have lost 20 pounds in a month and a half.

Well, if you're losing that much, it may not. I just know that it can. Generally, it means that your body has abnormal insulin response to carbs (especially high glycemic carbs) because our cells don't take up glucose from the blood stream as they should -- they're resistant to insulin's effect in that manner. So, as a result, our bodies pump more insulin into our bodies to make them take up the glucose as they should. This ultimately usually results in increased hunger/cravings and/or body storing more carbs/glucose as fat and a depressed metabolism. It's one of the reasons why low carb or keto diets are often recommended to those with insulin resistance (it was to me). Also, another common treatment is metformin -- it's a drug that helps with this issue. If you look to boards where insulin resistance is common (diabetes, PCOS, thyroid), you'll see them discussing this drug a lot.

I always had very high calorie deficits and was losing weight very, very slowing (less than 3 lbs in 3 months) or not at all. But, I have both insulin resistance and thyroid issues. I got both of them back on track and started to lose according to my calculated deficits. But, since I treated them both at the same time, it's hard to say which was the bigger problem, though it's likely a combination of both.

Thanks for all your input! I was put on metformin and recommended a low carb diet. I am trying to finally switch to that low carb diet finally, a year after it was recommended. I am trying to cut down on pasta, bread, potatoes, etc. but keep fruits and veggies with carbs. I quit the metformin because of bathroom issues. Paired with not having a gallbladder, metformin wreaked havoc on my bowels and that just isn't compatible with being a college student.

Once again, thanks for your input! I appreciate it.

sarafischbach9

Yes, it says that I should be eating 1880 calories and an online calculator said my BMR is 1930. I am also eating chicken and lean pork chops. I do eat carbs occasionally. Maybe I should include more higher calorie items? I have been trying to avoid them.

If you are eating under 1,200 calories a day, when your goal is almost 1,900 calories a day, you're going to have a bad time. Everyone wants to lose the weight as quickly as possible, but it's just not smart. Smaller, sustainable, deficits are healthier and more maintainable for long-term success.

Make it a goal to eat between 1,700 and 2,000 calories each day. Treat those are upper and lower limits (as much as reasonable... being over or under by a tiny amount once in a while is fine). Fuel your body with the best food you can in the right amounts. There really is no need to suffer when losing weight. If you're suffering or find it greatly challenging, you're probably not doing it right.

Agreed!

lindsey1979

I do have an insulin resistance issue. About a year ago, my insulin resistance levels were about double what they should be. How is this supposed to effect my weight loss? I have lost 20 pounds in a month and a half.

Well, if you're losing that much, it may not. I just know that it can. Generally, it means that your body has abnormal insulin response to carbs (especially high glycemic carbs) because our cells don't take up glucose from the blood stream as they should -- they're resistant to insulin's effect in that manner. So, as a result, our bodies pump more insulin into our bodies to make them take up the glucose as they should. This ultimately usually results in increased hunger/cravings and/or body storing more carbs/glucose as fat and a depressed metabolism. It's one of the reasons why low carb or keto diets are often recommended to those with insulin resistance (it was to me). Also, another common treatment is metformin -- it's a drug that helps with this issue. If you look to boards where insulin resistance is common (diabetes, PCOS, thyroid), you'll see them discussing this drug a lot.

I always had very high calorie deficits and was losing weight very, very slowing (less than 3 lbs in 3 months) or not at all. But, I have both insulin resistance and thyroid issues. I got both of them back on track and started to lose according to my calculated deficits. But, since I treated them both at the same time, it's hard to say which was the bigger problem, though it's likely a combination of both.

Thanks for all your input! I was put on metformin and recommended a low carb diet. I am trying to finally switch to that low carb diet finally, a year after it was recommended. I am trying to cut down on pasta, bread, potatoes, etc. but keep fruits and veggies with carbs. I quit the metformin because of bathroom issues. Paired with not having a gallbladder, metformin wreaked havoc on my bowels and that just isn't compatible with being a college student.

Once again, thanks for your input! I appreciate it.

Sorry to hear about the metformin -- I know that's a common issue for a lot of people. I luckily was able to tolerate well enough. But, for me, I went Primal (more permissive version of Paleo) and felt a lot better -- not sure if that was due to insulin resistance or thyroid issues -- but it helped my big fatigue bouts most of all (before that, I hadn't found anything that helped with the fatigue). But, I still was having difficulty taking the weight off. Then, then when I started to restrict my carbs as well, I felt even better (this was probably insulin resistance) and slowly able to lose weight (really slow -- less than 3 lbs over 3 months). I just didn't know about any of these issues when I was changing my diet - I found out about it after the fact, but it certain made a lot of sense. Then, I got on medication for my thyroid and metformin for insulin resistance and the weight started coming off like a normal person.

If you check out PCOS boards, you'll see a lot of talk of insulin resistance as it's very common with PCOS. That's how I started learning about metformin and the low carb diets for those with insulin resistance after the fact.