Great success!! But, getting a bit confused (BMR)

racinghoss

Hello all, first post.

In September 2013 I started a low carb diet, similar to Atkins, but with a few tweaks to suit me better. I started at 286.5 and got as low as 207 a couple weeks ago. I look at feel great!

All that time, I was eating 1800 calories/day, exercising 250-700 calories per day, and not eating them back. I started at 20 carbs/day, and slowly increased to 35. I have been at 35 for about 3 months. I also drink a minimum of a gallon of pure water/day - sometimes closer to 2 gallons. I take vitamins.

I had great success and felt great...until about 3 weeks ago. I started to feel sluggish, had problems finding enough energy to finish my workouts, and occasionally felt a bit light-headed. My workouts have progressed and become much more strenuous and longer. I was also feeling hungry much more often than before. Some research led me to discover that I had been eating way below my BMR, which is currently about 2050 calories; and I concluded that this caused my sluggishness and hunger. So, I upped my caloric intake to 2250. I still dont usually eat back my exercise calories. I sill exercise everyday, but rest once every 2 weeks. I run 3-4 miles, 2 or 3 times per week and incorporate HIIT. If the weather is bad, I ride a spin bike and do HIIT. All other days I have a circuit training routing that involves weights and takes about 25 minutes.

Anyway, I weigh once per week - on Tuesday when I wake up. The first week of increased calories resulted in a weight gain of 3.5 pounds. The second week resulted in another 1.5 pound gain. The increase in calories was the only change to my routine.

I want to attibute the gains to my body recovering from "starvation mode". I am very patient, and dont want to make any knee-jerk reactions, but the gains are a bit discouraging. Am I right in my thinking? After another week or two, can I expect to begin seeing weight loss again? I have also added an inch back to my gut (measured around the navel).

I dont want to continue unhealthy levels of eating, but I dont want to gain any more weight back. I am still about 15-20 lbs from my goal of 193 pounds or 10% body fat - whichever comes first.

Any input? Thanks.

youngestadult

Hello!

The good news is that you do not gain 3.5 lbs and then another 1.5 lbs of fat in that amount of time. It's most likely just water weight and the increased waist size is likely bloat since you still have to get used to eating more than usual.

Also you might want to be careful with online BMR calculators since they do not take into account a history of weight loss. There have been studies indicating that a person who has lost significant amounts of weight will have a lower metabolic rate than a person who's the same height and weight with no history of weight loss. Still, it sounds like you're very active so a deficit that's too big will likely make you feel sluggish and weak.

How do you have your goals set on MfP? 1 lbs per week, 2, 0.5? How do you feel after upping your intake?

terbusha

Congrats on the weight loss, that's awesome!

I agree. It is most likely a bunch of water. What I would do is start to slowly increase your carb intake. You need carbs. They are your body's energy source. The lack of energy and dizziness is probably due to too few carbs. 1800 cal/day is ok, but I wouldn't go any lower than that. What are your current macro ratios? Usually, I have people do 50/30/20 or 40/40/20 (protein/carb/fat) macro ratios while trying to reduce body fat.

Allan

racinghoss

I don't really follow the goals that mfp sets up. Its too simplistic and I found better results using my own numbers and using mfp to keep track of what I ate and my macros.

After increasing my calories, I felt normal again. Better than normal, actually, because I had more energy and got to enjoy eating more food.

I am also diabetic, so I'm not going back to a high carb diet. I have nearly rid myself of all my meds, and eating more carbs would likely require me to increase my meds too. I will slowly increase them until I get to about 50 of so, as long as it doesn't cause my blood sugar to rise and/or cause weight gain.

My macro goals are 55% fat, 30% protein, 15% low glycemic carbs. The more fat I eat, the better I feel, since I am keto adapted.

racinghoss

BTT. Anyone else? I need to know if this is normal/expected, or if I should make changes.