I ate mostly protein and 700 calories for two years -help pl

Kristendcampbell

I will give you a quick synopsis. For the last part of 2008 thru 2010 I at mostly protein and approx 700 calories a day. I was trying to lose weight, and managed to get 30 off. I would eat an occassionaly piece of pizza, or cookies, I don't binge, I am not bulemic. I have learned that I deprived my body for so long, and was ready and at the point to really learn to do things right.

Dec. 1 2010 I started seeing a nutritionalist, who wanted me to start trying to eat more, healthy foods and at regular intervals. I did and by mid Jan I was up to 1100 calories a day. She did say there would be some weight gain. Everything I read said maybe 7-8pounds.

Needless to say I gained 15!! sooo unhappy, but wait everything said 98% would be water weight and to stick with it keep up excercising and by no more than 8 weeks I would be dropping weight and my metabolism would be back. WRONG- what is wrong with me??

I am excercising 4 days a week about 40 minutes biking and walking. MFP says 1700 with no less than 1200 calories a day, I have not in 15 days of being here been up to 1700, I am not hungary after 1250. I may not be perfect on the eating, but I don't think its bad.
However, I can see when I am more depressed my choices are lack luster for sure.

I am slowly getting more depressed. I think I may be gaining again, but wont step on the scale.

Oh I forgot I did have breast cancer and had a double mastectomy in April 09 last surgery Mar of 2010, and everyone says take it easy. I am fine! I feel fine, my husband decided to leave two months after my last surgery and as of this last friday I am divorced (which may not seem like it, but was a blessing) I am in school, I will be done next year.

I am now ready to start life again, and I am hiding in my home when I am not at school, I don't go out with my friends, I am embarrassed. I can't buy clothes or even wear the dresses I have to feel pretty.

I need some advice. What am I doing wrong? Why is this taking more than 2 times longer than I have read. I am worried that if I eat more I will get heavier. If I eat way more veges and cut out any sweets will that help?

I would greatly appreciate the help. Kristen OH I am at least 70 pounds overweight

greeneyed84

All i can say is don't give up. No 2 bodies are the same so maybe you just need a longer time to adjust. Try to find joy in life and not focus on food and the scale so much.
Make sure you are getting enough sleep and lots of water

WarmDontBurn

I am not real sure but it could be that you screwed up your metabolism being so low cal for so long. I am pretty sure there was another person on here recently that posted about her battle with starvation mode.

I will see if I can find it for you.

beastmode_kitty

Sometimes being stress can prevent you from losing weight. When you are stressed you either over eat or under eat. Myself, I under eat. The stress of a divorce can be overwhelming. Just keep doing what you are doing and don't give up! If you find you can't make up those extra calories, try having a protein shake with your meals. I do that to help and I feel so much better for it.

elizafred

Kristen,

I think you have the answer by eating more fruits and vegetables. But I think you should start going out again. Put on your favorite dress and tell yourself, in front of the mirror that you are" beautiful and sexy and that you deserve to be happy". Do it every day as many times as you need to. Guranteed, you will begin to feel a lot better about yourself. Words have power!
You can do it!:flowerforyou:

alacarte

Totally agree with greeneyed84, plus you say you have no stress, but you have been through a lot. No concrete answers here, but know that patience and determination will pay off. Good Luck on your journey!!!

fitterpam

Everything I've read is that you have to ease into the new eating slowly - and expect until you have sat at the correct calories for it to take up to 6 months to stabilize. It's not going to be easy to do it for the first little while, it's going to be horrible. Try and focus on inches and body fat%. Your body has gotten used to do with less and now it's going to try and save everything for the next time it needs to run on 700 cals. If you're only eating 1250 and exercising off 500 cals, then you're still only taking in ~700 calories which is still not enough.

Don't beat yourself up. Slowly start upping your calories until you can get to the 1700 you need to have a net of 1200. Try and make sure that you're using whole foods. Veg and stuff don't have a lot of calories but will fill you up quickly. You may have to resort to shakes and stuff to help get your calories up without making you feel overfull. Once your body is used to how many cals you should be eating, you should be able to ease off the shakes and onto other food sources that are better for you.....

Hope that helps!

WarmDontBurn

Found it : http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/174065-starvation-mode-is-real-and-ugly?hl=starvation+mode


Now I am NOT saying that is what I think as I really have no clue but eating 700 calories and not losing made me think of these posts: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/3047-700-calories-a-day-and-not-losing

This might help as well : http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/209559-metabolic-damage-starvation-mode-article?hl=starvation+mode#posts-2766870

crystal_sapphire

maybe integrate more calorie dense foods such as nuts, olive oil, avocado into your diet

best wishes on your journey

Autumn1206

I'm sure you're nutritionalist took this into account, but chemotherapy treatments can also change your metabolism. I know most people think that everyone loses weight when they undergo treatment for cancer, but that is really not always true - in fact, in my experience it is rarely true. I watched my mom dad, several other family members and friends battle weight gain after their treatments, and for the survivors it has taken them more than a year after completing treatments for their metabolisms to get back in order. Now, none of my family and friends suffered from breast cancer, but with the lung, kidney, colon and non-hodgekins lymphoma, the doctors advised that their bodies were retaining alot of extra water around their internal organs because the body viewed the chemotherapy as an attacker, and went into protection mode. It may be something that you should talk to your oncologist or hematologist about when you have your next check in to find out if the weight gain you have experienced since changing your diet is something that could be attributed to your cancer treatments.

Best of luck to you,

Leigh_D

Everything I've read is that you have to ease into the new eating slowly - and expect until you have sat at the correct calories for it to take up to 6 months to stabilize. It's not going to be easy to do it for the first little while, it's going to be horrible. Try and focus on inches and body fat%. Your body has gotten used to do with less and now it's going to try and save everything for the next time it needs to run on 700 cals. If you're only eating 1250 and exercising off 500 cals, then you're still only taking in ~700 calories which is still not enough.

Don't beat yourself up. Slowly start upping your calories until you can get to the 1700 you need to have a net of 1200. Try and make sure that you're using whole foods. Veg and stuff don't have a lot of calories but will fill you up quickly. You may have to resort to shakes and stuff to help get your calories up without making you feel overfull. Once your body is used to how many cals you should be eating, you should be able to ease off the shakes and onto other food sources that are better for you.....

Hope that helps!

^^^^ What she said!!! ^^^^



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jennasan

So your new to MFP and want all the answers immmediately. I understand, but it wont happen instantly. Give your self
TIME and enjoy the ride. Give yourself credit. you survivie breast cancer and you will survive your divorce. It takes time and patience. Start by tracking your calories and exersice and then go back and evaluate. Even if you just eat anything you want. do it for a week and see what you are putting into you body. Seeing it in black and white can be a big eye opener. Also dont go to low on the calorie intake. Your body needs to food to work properly. If you open up your diary the people on MFP will take a look at what you are doing and give you thier opinion on what you can change and improve. Eat healthy foods. limit the junk and drink more water to get rid of the toxins.
Move some every day whether it is just walking or sit ups or push ups or squats. Move 15 minutes a day to start and stop being so hard on your self. Life is journey to enjoy not be held back by a number on a scale. Learn to feel good about your self. Two months ago I could not walk up a flight of stairs without gasping for air. Now i can do four flights and my breathing is back to normal in seconds rather than minutes. All from waliking a little bit more everyday. Baby steps. It works!!

mkennedym

try to work out more and stay at 1100 calories a day net. your metabolism will increase over the course of a few months and you'll start losing again.

bolton05

Ok, I am not a nutritionalist......but look at your body this way:

In a perfect world, the body is composed of the greatest employees in the world. Their primary duty is to keep you alive and healthy at a predetermined blue print. However, in order for your body to do the work--you have to do a few things, i.e. provide the fuel. Over the span of years when you consumed only 700 calories a day you put your body into was it known has "survival mode" or "starvation mode." By eating so few calories for such an extended amout of time, you essentially said, "Body, there is a famine going on--and I don't know when it is going to end."

So now your nutritionalist says, "you have to up your calories in intervals and there is going to be some weight gain." Yes, there is going to be weight gain associated with this until you prove to your body that there is no longer a "self-induced famine."

What you need to do, as stated, is up your calories in intervals. Your food choices should be dense and healthy. You should also be taking a multi-vitamin. I mean, you should shove your body with rich veggies, lean meats, healthy omega's....to send the signal to your body that everything is okay...you have found an "oasis."

Now for the exercise portion: You should incorporate resistance training at the MINIMUM 3X's a week. You can do this through resistance bands, body weight, free weights, or machines.


If you are starting out, a full body workout will be best. The more you move the big muscles in your body the more calories you will burn. In addition, the more lean body mass you add, the more calories you will burn while you are just "chillin". And the best reason, you get super sexy muscles in the process, build healthy bones, and decrease the chances of osteoprosis (sp?).

As for cardio: I would start with intervals (do a google search or search through the forums). Interval cardio is no longer than 30 min. You can do this 3 times a week max. Slowly increase your intensity as you feel yourself getting stronger. You can do this on a stationary bike, tready, elliptical, rowing...ect.

Resistance training & Cardio Blend (my favorite): Google or search through the forums for dumbell circuit training, body weight circuit training, ect. These workouts are money!! They burn a lot of calories, and you get the resistance and the cardio in.

Now, if you work at a good intensity--and give it everything you have...um....your body will respond, and it will ask for nutrients. And of course, you will feed it nutrients (nod your head w/ me).

It may not be easy...I was skinny fat for awhile, and actually gained weight purposely to add muscle and speed up my metabolism (my go to meal was bread...yeah...too lazy to cook...I would just eat bread). Then, after my body got the hang of it...weight started to fall off. And mind you...I am little...so losing a lb is a tough thing to do...

As far as counting calories, In this case you need to count your cals to make sure you are getting enough. The only way you should enter a deficit is through exercise.

In addition sweet heart, have fun. There are many gyms with a lot of super fun classes. Try things like spinning, kickboxing, shoot..even pole dancing...have fun, eat well, and surround yourself with ppl that will support you. You survived breast cancer...enjoy the blessing of life!!


**HUGS**

Kristendcampbell

Thank you so much. I will look at those links as well. All very good advice, but sometimes its hard to get rid of the stinkin thinkin.

I have been taking a multi vitamin, I take a soluble iron ( I was enemic for 5 years and this new pill fixed it), I started taking Fish oil, st johns wart and D3 in the last month.

I think I will try to stay around the 1200-1300 a day for a bit and start changing up the excercise. Even amidst my depression I did sign up for triathlon training that starts late may early June. I have always wanted to do one, and the Danskin is yearly, so if not this year next for sure.

Thank you again for the great suggestions, I know I will come back and re read. Kristen