Recovery after severe calorie restriction diet, please help

lovesthesunsine

Hey all
For the past 5 months I have been eating around 650 calories a day and doing a lot of exercise on top of that.
I am now at 119 lbs which I am happy with, but I appear to have lost a lot of muscle tone. I think the term is skinny fat.

I realized the damage I could be doing to myself and this is day three of trying to eat more, but I am terrified of gaining the weight I worked so hard to lose. I just want to gain muscle tone.

This is what I was eating before:

Breakfast: A banana or usually skipped
Lunch: Cereal bar
Dinner: 2 Sandwiches or something


and this is what I eat now

Breakfast: Oatmeal and a banana
Lunch: Yogurt and an orange
Dinner: Chicken, brown rice and lots of veggies

With exercise I used to focus mainly on cardio but now I am doing one day cardio and the next day weights and yoga to build back my strength.


Does this sound healthy? Will I get fat again? I feel like I am eating too much and am getting worried. Please help

gogogulliver

It still sounds like you'll be eating a very low amount of calories. A heartier lunch might be in order?

myofibril

You probably don't want to hear this but....

the best thing you can do is to put on some weight (yes, that includes fat) whilst following a programme focused on muscle building. Once you have put on a reasonable amount you then cut back down whilst retaining as much lean body mass as possible. You will probably end up weighing the same or even more but your physique will be much more pleasing to the eye.

For a detailed overview see here:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/208407-how-to-repair-a-damaged-metabolism-stavation-mode

Afishcalledwanda

I'd say that you need to come to terms with the fact that you will probably put on some weight. You have been starving your body after all. Aside from looking saggy, think about the potential effects on your health.

We'd all like a quick fix to weight our problems, but often these are to our cost. I've lost over 90lbs a couple of times on very low calories diets and here I am bck where I started yet again. This time I've learned my lesson and am I'm going to take the slow, sensible and healthy route of 1200ish calories a day plus regular exercise.

Wanda

kdiamond

I'm glad you realized the damage you could be doing and are trying to fix it before your metabolism slows down to a crawl and you enter into the eating disorder arena.

If you don't want to lose any more weight you need to eat at maintenance. Figure out your maintenance. You might need to play with the numbers a bit, you might lose a couple more pounds, you might gain a couple pounds...this is all normal as you figure out how to maintain. Stay the course, keep exercising, and you'll be fine.

sgarrard01

You probably don't want to hear this but....

the best thing you can do is to put on some weight (yes, that includes fat) whilst following a programme focused on muscle building. Once you have put on a reasonable amount you then cut back down whilst retaining as much lean body mass as possible. You will probably end up weighing the same or even more but your physique will be much more pleasing to the eye.

For a detailed overview see here:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/208407-how-to-repair-a-damaged-metabolism-stavation-mode

LISTEN TO THIS PERSON! Thats all i can say!

prokomds

Lots of good advice here! My thought is that you should really consider putting the scale away until you know you're eating an appropriate diet. Gradually increase your calories until you are at around your maintenance calories, and maybe do some strength training along the way (cardio is not going to benefit you here, really, because you should be more interested in maintaining and eventually gaining muscle). If you find yourself having real problems putting your health above your weight, perhaps consider talking to a doctor/nutritionist/some sort of professional. Best of luck!