Not eating enough?

BMoynihan

I am quite a tall chap (1.95m, 6'5 in old money) and have a BMI of about 26, so im just over weight. I have been trying to lose about 10Kg for a while now with limited success, however thanks to MFP i think I have worked out why the weight never came off as quickly as it should.

I think my problem was that my calorie intake was too erratic, some days I think I was getting far too few calories (people often commented on how little I ate) and I guess my body was going into starvation mode, then I would have some big days where I ate lots of sweet things, so I wonder if my body would then just store all this extra energy.

Now that I am having a constant calorie intake, I am amazed at how much I am eating and yet my weight is falling off.

So it just goes to show that eating less isn't always the best way to go.

kym117

Well done! I was never a big eater but I was a bad eater, now I have changed my diet and I am eating healthier, I also find that I am eating all day to make up my 1200 cals but I always make sure I get them. More food but better quality.

kimwig

I am quite a tall chap (1.95m, 6'5 in old money) and have a BMI of about 26, so im just over weight. I have been trying to lose about 10Kg for a while now with limited success, however thanks to MFP i think I have worked out why the weight never came off as quickly as it should.

I think my problem was that my calorie intake was too erratic, some days I think I was getting far too few calories (people often commented on how little I ate) and I guess my body was going into starvation mode, then I would have some big days where I ate lots of sweet things, so I wonder if my body would then just store all this extra energy.

Now that I am having a constant calorie intake, I am amazed at how much I am eating and yet my weight is falling off.

So it just goes to show that eating less isn't always the best way to go.

From reading what you have said, it seems that eating less was not exactly the issue, it was more your body did not know what to expect because of the inconsistency of intake, and then the high sugar hits.

The lesson I read from this is more that consistency and good nutrition (ie taking in the right kind of calories - which I assume you are doing) lets your body better regulate itself.

Do you know if you are eating the same total calories (as measured for an entire week) and have the same level of nutrition now as when you were significanly fluctuating your eating, as this would better show what other changes may have occured with your changed dietary actions.

tshahady

Despite knowing the rules of weight loss - I too, went into starvation mode which lasted a good 2 1/2 weeks. I work out quite a bit and sometimes find it REALLY hard to eat all the calories back. I allow myself 1400 calories but w/ a double workout i have an extra 1,000 calories and I HAVE to make sure my NET cal's are at least 1,200 or else i'm in trouble. Finally out of starvation mode took a week of diligent eating - healthy eating. The scale is starting to move in my favor - almost 4 lbs. in about a week
You know what you have to do - EAT!!! Eat healthy too

AnnaPixie

Thanks for posting this. All I've done all week is tell people to eat more.....I feel like a stuck record now....lol

Well done for figuring it out :bigsmile: