900 calories and gaining weight

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  • NWCountryGal
    NWCountryGal Posts: 1,992 Member
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    Food is our bodies fuel, you need more fuel it sounds like. Only you know for sure though. I eat at least 1200 calories a day and have steadily lost weight in the last 40 days except one week and I am still not convinced the scale was right. Anyway, if I exercise and burn say 400 calories, my MFP diary calculates that in and shows me how much I can eat and still lose weight. It is working for me to eat back about half of what MFP calculates. If it says I have 4 hundred extra, I eat more, but sometimes even though I am not hungry, I will drink another water and do a smoothie to add a few calories.:) Hang in there and make a few changes to test out the theory. If it doesn't work, try something else:) Take care of you:)
    please help I hate this 900 calories of cardboard for four days and gained two pounds!!! not really carboard eggs protein bars etc
  • myofibril
    myofibril Posts: 4,500 Member
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    My doctor says eat less calories than you burn loose weight he said just eat less calories and less fat . I have 90 pounds to loose i hate this body.

    The fact that you have a relatively high starting weight means your body will be able to handle a steeper calorie deficit than leaner folks and you will lose more fat than muscle despite how large your deficit is currently. As such, I don't think you done much harm in 4 days. You can forget about the starvation mode hysteria as well for the time being (whilst I do think it is very real people always seem to forget the context of the individual.)

    The problem with VLCDs is, unless you are taking medically subscribed meal replacements, that it is unlikely you are providing enough essential nutrients to your body for health (as opposed to fat loss) unless your diet is immaculate. VLCDs can be used to great effect but mostly it is a medically supervised short term measure to get weight down quickly because of upcoming surgery, potential imminent organ failure etc.

    You simply do not need to eat at such a level of calories to be successful though. It is actually counter productive in the long run. I suggest finding out what your BMR is and eating that. Alternatively, a very quick method of determining a calorie deficit goal is to take your body weight in LBs and multiply by 10 and eat that amount (eg I weigh 198 lbs so I would aim for 1,980 or so calories per day)

    Fill your calories with plenty of veg, lean meat, fruit (don't believe the hype ;) good fats and so on. A little junk here or there is fine if you want it.

    The most important part of any diet is adherence - finding something you can stick to. You are far more likely to succeed if you actually enjoy the process and don't feel deprived.
  • NWCountryGal
    NWCountryGal Posts: 1,992 Member
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    Excellent!
    When I first joined, I made it a point to eat less than my suggested number of cals... AND I didn't loose weight! I WAS exercising at the time as well. When I did a little research and figured that I had probably only succeeded in putting my body in survival or starvation mode then I saw the light. I increased my intake to the reccommended amount and sometimes go over as much as 300 cals a day BUT I'm steadily loosing the weight now.
  • alexis831
    alexis831 Posts: 469 Member
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    ^^This

    HAH! What they said! If I was in starvation mode I wouldn't have my abs! HAH!
    [/quote]
    Everyone has abs sweetheart, and they start to show when you have low bodyfat regardless of how you got there.
    [/quote]

    Yes they do... However their are alot of "skinny" people who are skinny with no abs because they have no muscle. Low body fat helps you get their and it is critical and the number one thing to start showing your abs however, you also have to have the muscle their too. You need both. Well you need actually 3 things a balanced diet, good cardio and weights, and core exercises, abs included 3 times or more a week.
    [/quote]









    and enough food to fuel all this 900 cals is not enough when the body doesn,t get enough it starts on the muscle to give it fuel go away with your stupid advise
    [/quote]

    I never said 900 was enough for her... I said 1200 calories as a baseline for everyone in the entire world from 6 foot tall to 5 foot tall to keep them out of starvation mode I don't think is accurate. My husbands baseline is 1500 since he is tall. Mine I have set at 1100 since I am short. One of my friends is 4'10 and hers is set to 1000 calories a day. I even said she might need to eat more based on her height and current weight and asked her for her numbers. :) The original reply was to the poster who said that everyone has to eat a minimum of 1200... well not necessarily based on your stats.
  • lmc2728
    lmc2728 Posts: 2
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    I'm currently working with a personal trainer and like you, wasn't eating enough and balancing out my foods. Eat small meals at least 5x a day and eat healthy. Watch your carb and sugar intake and eat more protein. Also, if not already, add some exercise to your routine. You will see a difference.
  • Poorgirls_Diet
    Poorgirls_Diet Posts: 528 Member
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    You have to eat AT LEAST 1200 a day, otherwise your body will go into starvation mode and it will store whatever it gets.
    Eat good healthy food every couple of hours to keep your digestive system active and make sure you don't starve yourself.

    Absolutely not true. I eat between 6 and 800 calories a day and I'm just fine and I've done this for going on 4 months now. I have tons of energy and work out almost everyday. And I'm really tired of this "starvation mode" word being flung around as a way to scare people into eating more. Yes she may need to eat more calories, it could be what her body needs but she will NOT go into starvation mode. Doctors put people on 500 calorie a day diets for months on end and they don't go into this made up word to scare people into eating more, give it up already. "starvation mode" is really just a plateau. She has something else going on.

    Agree! I eat no more that 800 calories per day, I'm NOT in starvation mode..I feel great, work out EVERY day, have a lot of muscle AND guess what?! I'm LOSING weight and have TONS of energy! I'm so sick of this "starvation mode" bull *kitten*!

    I am the same too and have lost 30lbs, oh wait maybe that was air!! Seriously stop with the starvation mode crap. My doctor has now put me on a vlcd and he said the starvation mode is a myth. If you are on a protein diet increase your water to flush out your kidneys. Like the above two posters I have tons of energy. If I stuck to the recommended 2430cals a day that mfp recommended for me I would never lose weight!!
  • ConstableOdo
    ConstableOdo Posts: 104
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    Don't listen to them. 900 calories is fine. I am eating between 600 and 1200 a day and I am doing really well. It might per any number of things. Is it you TOM? Or that inbetween TOMs bit? I gain weight both times. It goes away after a little while.
  • kmuree
    kmuree Posts: 283 Member
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    ^^This

    HAH! What they said! If I was in starvation mode I wouldn't have my abs! HAH!
    Everyone has abs sweetheart, and they start to show when you have low bodyfat regardless of how you got there.
    [/quote]

    Yes they do... However their are alot of "skinny" people who are skinny with no abs because they have no muscle. Low body fat helps you get their and it is critical and the number one thing to start showing your abs however, you also have to have the muscle their too. You need both. Well you need actually 3 things a balanced diet, good cardio and weights, and core exercises, abs included 3 times or more a week.
    [/quote]









    and enough food to fuel all this 900 cals is not enough when the body doesn,t get enough it starts on the muscle to give it fuel go away with your stupid advise
    [/quote]

    I never said 900 was enough for her... I said 1200 calories as a baseline for everyone in the entire world from 6 foot tall to 5 foot tall to keep them out of starvation mode I don't think is accurate. My husbands baseline is 1500 since he is tall. Mine I have set at 1100 since I am short. One of my friends is 4'10 and hers is set to 1000 calories a day. I even said she might need to eat more based on her height and current weight and asked her for her numbers. :) The original reply was to the poster who said that everyone has to eat a minimum of 1200... well not necessarily based on your stats.
    [/quote]

    I'd like to point out that the rule is 1200 for women, 1800 for men according to The American College of Sports Medicine (and various other researched sources).

    http://www.livestrong.com/article/492846-is-eating-1-200-calories-a-day-unhealthy/
  • mrsjennifermaffei
    mrsjennifermaffei Posts: 469
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    This is called starving yourself. Your body is holding onto the water and other nutrients because you aren't giving it what it needs. Try upping your caloric intake. Add more protein.
  • NWCountryGal
    NWCountryGal Posts: 1,992 Member
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    Your body needs food, a variety of food to help build muscle and burn fat. Depriving your body of it's needs will only harm your body.
    Yes drink more water! You could be gaining muscle though. I went from 107.2 to 110 over the last couple of days. Man does it suck looking at the number go up! YES! However I also went from 18.9% body fat down to 17.7% over the last week and lost an inch. So what does that mean??? Muscle!!! I have been eating around 900-1100 calories too... minus yesterday so eating more might not be the answer. Drink plenty of water, it actually helps you loose water weight! You are taking in ALOT of protein, you might have gained some major muscle with that. Throw the scale out.... easier said then done I know I have the same issues, and go to how you look in the mirror, inches loss or body fat %. Its more accurate. I bought a body fat tester on e-bay 6 years ago for like 25.00 with shipping the electronic kind.... SOOO worth it. Every time the scale goes up my body fat goes down so I don’t feel so bad! :) Hang in their too and power through it.... Whenever I go up eventually I go down if I don't get too depressed because of a stupid scale and remember to look in the mirror!! Remember girls cycles…. We go up and down throughout the month too depending about where we are at. :) You are doing AMAZING! Keep it up girl!

    What???? she gained muscle by eating 900 calories a day????She gained muscle by just eating protein? What????? SMH

    I know. Such BS!!!

    Uh no its not and don't call me a liar either.

    Bad advice - this may have worked for you, but its not correct. Your body needs calories to burn calories. The more excercise you do, the more calories your body burns. Ask any nutritionist or personal trainer, they will tell you this.
  • averrill1980
    averrill1980 Posts: 5 Member
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    Your body needs more the 900 calories a day to survive and burn fat. your body is going to start eat at your muscle if you dont start eating more.
  • morgansmom02
    morgansmom02 Posts: 1,139 Member
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    kmuree, thanks for that link! Very helpful!
  • kmuree
    kmuree Posts: 283 Member
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    kmuree, thanks for that link! Very helpful!

    My pleasure! :flowerforyou:
  • beckajw
    beckajw Posts: 1,738 Member
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    please help I hate this 900 calories of cardboard for four days and gained two pounds!!! not really carboard eggs protein bars etc

    Easy answer: No you didn't. The 2 pounds you are seeing was cause by something you ate prior to starting the 900 calories. While some people will eat a big salty meal and see "weight gain" the next day--that is just fluid retention. In reality the weight you gain/lose from eating/not eating won't be seen for at least 7 to 10 days.
  • jeffrodgers1
    jeffrodgers1 Posts: 991 Member
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    Weight loss is not just a measure of calories consumed, but also calories exhausted. Most people require substantially more than 900 calories to meet there basic metabolic needs.

    I'm not going to throw any facts or figures out there and talk about starvation mode etc. Please, I implore you to eat a balanced diet and increase your activity levels. Your weight is just a number, your general health is a far more important figure.

    By continuiing at a 900 Calorie per day diet, I have serious concerns that you may be damaging yourself in a similar way that bullimic's or anorexic's do.

    Please be safe.
  • NWCountryGal
    NWCountryGal Posts: 1,992 Member
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    ditto!
    I'm currently working with a personal trainer and like you, wasn't eating enough and balancing out my foods. Eat small meals at least 5x a day and eat healthy. Watch your carb and sugar intake and eat more protein. Also, if not already, add some exercise to your routine. You will see a difference.
  • BamaGirl_Tricia
    BamaGirl_Tricia Posts: 70 Member
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    You should never eat below your BMR. Check out www.fitnessfrog.com
  • marycmeadows
    marycmeadows Posts: 1,691 Member
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    that's not enough. I've plateaued several times since I started..... Each time I upped my calories to break the plateau. I'm at 2000 calories a day now (on average, give or take) and I'm still losing. I work out 6-7days a week - strength 3 -4 days a week and cardio 6 days a week. I eat very healthy for the most part, I consume on average 150g of protein a day..... with a good mix of other nutrient rich foods - lots of veggies, limited fruit. I watch my sodium closely. And drink 15-20 cups of water a day.
  • nehushtan
    nehushtan Posts: 566 Member
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    My doctor says eat less calories than you burn loose weight he said just eat less calories and less fat . I have 90 pounds to loose i hate this body.

    Four days is not enough time to see the authentic results. The beginnings of real results take a few months. You have to keep at it and not give up for at least 30 days straight without a break.

    And you need to re-learn how to eat from the ground up. It's going to take 6 months to a year to reach your goals, so take the long view. Take the long view. I mean the long view. How long are you thinking of? Not long enough. I mean take the long long LONG view....

    When you were 5 years old your parents sent you to school. If you didn't keep going for 12 more years, you would be a drop out.

    Whatever you do, keep trying and changing what you are trying. For example, for now you need to eat more calories. But you also need to figure out how to simultaneously expand and narrow your food choices.

    There are two aspects to this business: the daily, even hourly, attention to what you are eating, and the 20+ year span between now and old age and death.

    I lost my 90. I was sick of it. I was sick of losing some of it and then having it come back.

    It's not coming back any more.

    Here's rooting for you.
  • beansprouts
    beansprouts Posts: 410 Member
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    please help I hate this 900 calories of cardboard for four days and gained two pounds!!! not really carboard eggs protein bars etc

    EAT REAL FOOD not processed junk!!!

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