Correcting Metabolism

SpiritBunny

I have a history of a eating disorder but has been in my past for 12 years. I have a bmi of 30 and around 200lbs
I've been eating about 800-1000 calories daily when I should be eating 2500 calories my doctor wants me to 'just eat more' which would be around 1800-2000 calories. I am eating 1400 calories and I get very full and even sick and tired, I'm also gaining weight (6lbs of fat) so far..

I eat very cleanly, vegan, non refined foods, no sugar etc. I am trying to increase my protein intake as well as I have been eating high carb but low gi foods till recently. I however only eat about 800-1100

My question is what changes did you see in terms of weight did you see, did it plateau? How did you know your metabolism was functioning as much as it can be? How long did it take for you?

I am going to see the doctor in about 2 weeks but the idea of gaining 15lbs because of my 'increased' caloric is a scary thing to contemplate. What has your experience like for you?

parisallez

I'll give you real story. A gym where I was a personal trainer, one of our employees was exercise addicted after putting on 90 lbs in a pregnancy. When weight loss slowed or stopped, she cut food. Then she'd cut more food. Then she'd add even more cardio. She was not losing weight and was ramming her head against a brick wall. My boss told her she needed to eat more food to repair her metabolism. That's really hard to wrap your head around, isn't it? It seems so counterintuitive. However, she begrudgingly gave in. Soon thereafter her body responded. She started to lose weight and shed a lot of that weight.

your body is trying to reach homeostasis at all times. if it has been chronically underfed, there are a host of physiological adaptations your body has probably initiated which you are up against as your body attempts to preserve itself. follow what your doctor says.

I dieted for 5 months and my calories got down to 1600 (I'm now at 3600) after being lowered whenever progress slowed. But at a certain point, my body didn't want to lose any more weight at that calorie level. So I started to raise calories and progress continued. It's counterintuitive but it works. As you eat more and move more, your thyroid levels will increase metabolism.

matt6050

your body is trying to reach homeostasis at all times. if it has been chronically underfed, there are a host of physiological adaptations your body has probably initiated which you are up against as your body attempts to preserve itself. follow what your doctor says.

It's counterintuitive but it works. As you eat more and move more, your thyroid levels will increase metabolism.

Agreed. I know it's weird, but increasing calories will increase your Thermic Effect of Food (TEF), allowing your body to burn more. Totally counter intuitive, but eat more to burn more when you have plateaued

SpiritBunny

Thank you for both your input, its' good to hear from others when I'm trying to deal with all this screaming that's going on in my head.

I know i shouldn't be looking at my daily numbers but want to show the dr that I am trying to do my best. I am however having problems eating more than I do I just feel so full. At this point does it matter if I eat fat to make up the caloric amounts? I normally eat 1/3 of my calories as fat.

Being vegan I believe I'm short of EFA's so I take a Omega-3 suppliment to compensate. I also have limited funds so I can't go be eating lots of nuts /vegan or other better sources of caloires. Should I be eating oil just to get the calories in?

ninerbuff

Metabolic rate slows when the body senses less consumption. Eating less doesn't increase it. If you really want to increase your metabolic rate, exercise intensely and eat at least your BMR.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

SpiritBunny

Doesn't it matter if I have PCOS/FIbro? I have a bmr and TDEE (seditary activity) of ~2180 ? I've been told that metabolic problems are very rare but I'm fearful of how long it will take (hence why I'd like to know if there are any signs as I get confused messages with my fibro and my lack of energy from that. I've read I will increase in fat but no where does it say how long.. 2 weeks or 2 years) I've had a seemly lifelong habit of eating very few calories and I would love to have some sort of guideline based on my conditions.

I have about 6 more days before I see the doctor again and don't want to freak out if I've added 15lb fat if it's to be expected. (I've gained ~6 or so in the last 4 days.

serindipte

How accurately are you logging your calories?
How are you determining what to log?
Weighing/measuring cups/guesstimating?

SpiritBunny

As accurate as you can do it in a home environment. I use a food scale, and have been using everydayhealth.com to log my food and exercise. I don't eat out. I have done so since Nov 2013 I also have a fat scale that uses the pretty old and established Bio electrical impedance.

I should also add that I don't emotionally eat and I don't have 'easy' foods to have on hand because of how limited the budget is.

My weight is currently 133 LLM and about 66 of fat. I have roughly 30lbs of fat to looose to get to about 20% bf (from 34%)
Historically I've recorded as high as 38% but that was some time ago. I now hover around 33-34%

What makes tracking difficult is that fibro and pcos usually makes me tired. I'm constantly stressed and the medication that has been recently given to me typically just makes me want to sleep all the time. Frequent excercise for now is not an option because of the resulting pain. In the past I used to run a lot which helped loose the weight although I realize it's probably not a good way to do it because it was also combined with ultra low calories.

patricekerstetter

I believe my metabolism is way too fast I have an awful time gaining and keeping on weight. I did my first day`s log in of food, twice the sugar and I was good and over calories by 500. Need more protein and salt. Help anyone?

ninerbuff

bump

SpiritBunny

I've been told it's very rare to have a metabolic disorder (which I have to assume could be up or down), has your doctor officially gave you a label?

I take very careful records of what I do and how I do it but how it's interpreted I can't make a medical conclusion on it. It's guess work but if you are eating badly it's usually pretty self evident. Excess calories is excess calories, you have to find out where your setpoint is. It's likely that you get full before you get fat.

Each person will have a different setpoint, muscle mass, amount of energy etc. So what I'm experiencing won't be a generic thing for everybody because it's so unique.

I'm basing my actions that I don't have a metabolic issue other than not eating enough but it's a very tough sell. I've gained a lot of fat recently and it worries me. I can't lie about that. but it's under doctors orders.

For me my fibro always causes my body to be in pain and I am beginning to think that because my body tenses up that is a form of exerise (which is why I'm physically tired and building muscle when I eat more. But that's a shot in the dark.

Showcase_Brodown

your body is trying to reach homeostasis at all times. if it has been chronically underfed, there are a host of physiological adaptations your body has probably initiated which you are up against as your body attempts to preserve itself. follow what your doctor says.

It's counterintuitive but it works. As you eat more and move more, your thyroid levels will increase metabolism.

Agreed. I know it's weird, but increasing calories will increase your Thermic Effect of Food (TEF), allowing your body to burn more. Totally counter intuitive, but eat more to burn more when you have plateaued

I need to jump in here. It's true that eating more calories increases TEF. TEF is usually about 10% of the calories consumed, so if you ate 2000 in a day, about 200 of those get spent on TEF (essentially energy used for digestion and processing). However, the idea of eating more to "burn more" based on TEF is nonsensical. If you eat another 100 calories, you're netting 90.

The thing to consider here is not TEF. What we have to look at is adaptive thermogenesis. If you're underfed, things may be slowed down to a small degree to try to compensate for the lack of energy coming in. Keeping the deficit small should avoid this.

bpotts44

your body is trying to reach homeostasis at all times. if it has been chronically underfed, there are a host of physiological adaptations your body has probably initiated which you are up against as your body attempts to preserve itself. follow what your doctor says.

It's counterintuitive but it works. As you eat more and move more, your thyroid levels will increase metabolism.

Agreed. I know it's weird, but increasing calories will increase your Thermic Effect of Food (TEF), allowing your body to burn more. Totally counter intuitive, but eat more to burn more when you have plateaued

Your advice is a little misguided. TEF will not make up for consumed calories.