how to get out of starvation mode?

FaryRochester

weight: 132 pounds
height: 5'5"
age:18
gender: female

ok so im not sure if i am in starvation mode or not...I count calories but I don't really know the exact calories of the stuff i eat, so i do an estimate and i usually undercount. anyway, i think I've been eating somewhere around 1000-1200 everyday, expect on saturday when i let myself eat whatever i want (i guess it's binging for a day?) i have s small meal every 3 hours and I eat healthy foods and haven't cut out any food groups. so i've been doing this for a year now and I've only lost about 7 pounds. now I'm obsessing over wether i've been starving myself or not! i don't want to mess up my metabolism (i genetically have a slow one to begin with) oh and I get hungry; like I'm not always satisfied with what i eat. but thats a good sign, right? it means my body isn't in starvation mode where it's learnt to survive on low energy?

so what can I do now? I want to lose weight nit maintain by eating so little. should i up my calories? how much weight will I gain if I do? would this weight gain actually fat or would it just be water weight which i can easily loose again?

Hendrix7

so what can I do now?

Start by logging your calories accurately.

How can you make adjustments when you don't know exactly what you are consuming now?

Angie1366

Errrr..... Your ideal weight is only 2lbs lighter than what you are. You are only 18 so your body is still changing.... I think you should try and stop obsessing, seriously or you will be one more statistic...

Sorry that it may sound harsh but seriously what are you trying to achieve?

Amellej

Errrr..... Your ideal weight is only 2lbs lighter than what you are. You are only 18 so your body is still changing.... I think you should try and stop obsessing, seriously or you will be one more statistic...

Sorry that it may sound harsh but seriously what are you trying to achieve?

Errrr....She is asking for advice not an ear bashing.


I would say upping your cals abit and log your food correctly and see how you go from there

Noor13

Make sure you eat enough. Log your food properly and go from there.
I would at least net over my BMR. If you want to lose weight TDEE-10-15% is better though. If you want to stay where you are calculate your TDEE and eat at it. You might gain in the beginning a bit if you have been under eating, but once your body realizes that it will be fed, it will not store anymore. This it he way to revv up your metabolism!

JesterMFP

Errrr..... Your ideal weight is only 2lbs lighter than what you are. You are only 18 so your body is still changing.... I think you should try and stop obsessing, seriously or you will be one more statistic...

Sorry that it may sound harsh but seriously what are you trying to achieve?

Actually, she's well within the healthy range for her height. There is no static "ideal weight" for a certain height. I agree with the rest of what you're saying though.
OP - I doubt you're in starvation mode, but what I would recommend is log consistently and accurately, and eat more. I'm not surprised you are binging every so often, because you are restricting your calories too much. See if you can find out yout TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) - this is the amount of calories your body burns in a day, and the amount that you would need to eat to maintain y our weight. You can google TDEE calculators. I tried one and, if you were completely sedentary (which I doubt you are), then your TDEE came out to be around 1730 calories.

If you want to lose fat, which may not be a good idea at your size now, then you would need a very small calorie deficit. You are already a healthy weight, and it is unhealthy and unrealistic to expect to lose fat very quickly (more than about 0.5 lb a week). If you're trying to achieve more of a "toned" look, then it would be better to forget about weight altogether and start doing some resistance/strength training.

Instead of obsessing about whether or not you're starving yourself, just eat more, and log consistently, and then you will be sure that you're not. Your body may will still be growing and developing, and even if not, it's really not worth messing around with things like this. Don't set yourself up for a lifetime of yoyo dieting and an unhealthy relationship with food.

Angie1366

Thank you you say it much more eloquently than I could.... I just despair when I see a young lass obsessing over weight when there is no need... Sorry if I offended - and I know she was asking advice... But I still didn't know what she wishes to achieve? Therefore I cannot give advice except to stop worrying and eat proper food!

Errrr..... Your ideal weight is only 2lbs lighter than what you are. You are only 18 so your body is still changing.... I think you should try and stop obsessing, seriously or you will be one more statistic...

Sorry that it may sound harsh but seriously what are you trying to achieve?

Actually, she's well within the healthy range for her height. There is no static "ideal weight" for a certain height. I agree with the rest of what you're saying though.
OP - I doubt you're in starvation mode, but what I would recommend is log consistently and accurately, and eat more. I'm not surprised you are binging every so often, because you are restricting your calories too much. See if you can find out yout TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) - this is the amount of calories your body burns in a day, and the amount that you would need to eat to maintain y our weight. You can google TDEE calculators. I tried one and, if you were completely sedentary (which I doubt you are), then your TDEE came out to be around 1730 calories.

If you want to lose fat, which may not be a good idea at your size now, then you would need a very small calorie deficit. You are already a healthy weight, and it is unhealthy and unrealistic to expect to lose fat very quickly (more than about 0.5 lb a week). If you're trying to achieve more of a "toned" look, then it would be better to forget about weight altogether and start doing some resistance/strength training.

Instead of obsessing about whether or not you're starving yourself, just eat more, and log consistently, and then you will be sure that you're not. Your body may will still be growing and developing, and even if not, it's really not worth messing around with things like this. Don't set yourself up for a lifetime of yoyo dieting and an unhealthy relationship with food.

neandermagnon

Errrr..... Your ideal weight is only 2lbs lighter than what you are. You are only 18 so your body is still changing.... I think you should try and stop obsessing, seriously or you will be one more statistic...

Sorry that it may sound harsh but seriously what are you trying to achieve?

I agree. stop obsessing about how much you weigh and stop dieting. You're at a healthy weight already. #

do whatever exercise you enjoy and eat healthy so you stay fit, healthy and active. Lack of activity and eating junk is the main reason why adults get fatter as they get older. Stay active and eat healthy and you'll avoid that. And forget dieting. You're at a healthy weight and if you don't like how your body looks, then lift weights to firm up and get a little more definition (no that doesn't have to be ripped, just get however much definition and firmness that you want because muscle definition doesn't happen by accident). If your body fat percentage is in the healthy range, that's the best way to improve how you look, because trying to diet down into being underweight doesn't give you the body that most women would want.

Seriously, so many youngsters think they're fat when they're not, then get to my age and look back and think "wow, I looked so hot back then with a great body, but I couldn't see it" - stop comparing yourself with women in magazines, they're all airbrushed, some of them to biologically impossible shapes. Look at real women (and by real women, i mean women of any body shape and body type who have not been airbrushed) and learn to love yourself for who you are. Don't do like so many of us and fail to do that until we're in our 30s or 40s. Love yourself for who you are now, and try to be the healthiest version of yourself. Healthy and confident = hot. No-one's perfect, and no-one can see your imperfections but you, (and even the airbrushed models have them too, they're just airbrushed out) so forget about them and enjoy your life.

_HeartsOnFire_

So in one post it was gained 9 lbs in 4 days and another it was gained 9 lbs in 5 days...and the stories in both of those are completely different...so which story is it? Not trying to be mean, just asking.

Then one post is about fasting but the other is about getting out of starvation mode? But in one of your weight gained posts you've been binging...

Please see a medical doctor to help you. No one on these boards are qualified. I'm sure you've heard all this before...

And before anyone tries to "slam" me...here ya go...

TOPIC: gained 9 pounds in 4 days!? HELP! Sat 08/17/13 01:57 PM
so for 4 days i ate more than i usually do. I didn't count calories but I didn't binge or anything. i did have things i never do though, like cookies, donuts, cheese and chocolate. its been a week since my last day of over eating and my weight still hasn't returned to where it was before! I have been constipated for about 2 weeks and my periods is kinda all over the place, could any of these be contributing to me not losing the weight?

oh and before when i used to have one binge day, i would gain about 2-4 pounds but i would lose it in like 5 days. so I'm kinda panicking now!
FaryRochester
Joined Jan 2013
Posts: 4

TOPIC: I gained 9 pounds in 5 days! help! Sun 08/11/13 09:03 PM
my doctor put me on concentrated estrogen pills and she never explained the side effects. apparently one side effects is weight gain! it does though water retention and causes the body to store fat by inhibiting thyroid function and other ways that i don't care to type out. also, I have been over eating for the past 4 days cause it the pills increase your appetite too. I usually eat around 1300 calories and wen i have a free day where sometimes i binge eat, I gain like 3 pounds the next day but it goes away in a couple days. but ive never gained 9 pounds! and im worried taking the pill for 5 days is going to make it stick. i was 135 before and now im 144. will the weight go back down if i go back to eating like before? any advice? im kinda panicking here! oh and im 5'5" if that matters.
FaryRochester
Joined Jan 2013
Posts: 4

TOPIC: intermittent fasting? Thu 07/25/13 08:30 PM
so I just found out about this IF diet and the more i read about it, the more confused i get! there are so many different ways to do IF and each one has mixed reviews. IF goes against everything I've read about weight loss and metabolism and its messing with my head. anyway, I've stopped losing weight with restricting calories (i eat around 1300 cal a day) and ive been stuck at 134 pounds for 2 years now. so my goal is weight loss, I'm not necessarily looking to build muscle, i just want o get rid of excess fat.

so I'm just looking for advice on which IF style diet to try out. any review/info on these diets would help out cause my head i just spinning from all the search i did on all the different kinds. lean gains seems to focus more on the muscle gaining aspect rather than weight loss, right? I was leaning more toward eat stop eat. has anyone tried ESE?
FaryRochester
Joined Jan 2013
Posts: 4

TOPIC: how to get out of starvation mode? Thu 01/31/13 05:03 AM
weight: 132 pounds
height: 5'5"
age:18
gender: female

ok so im not sure if i am in starvation mode or not...I count calories but I don't really know the exact calories of the stuff i eat, so i do an estimate and i usually undercount. anyway, i think I've been eating somewhere around 1000-1200 everyday, expect on saturday when i let myself eat whatever i want (i guess it's binging for a day?) i have s small meal every 3 hours and I eat healthy foods and haven't cut out any food groups. so i've been doing this for a year now and I've only lost about 7 pounds. now I'm obsessing over wether i've been starving myself or not! i don't want to mess up my metabolism (i genetically have a slow one to begin with) oh and I get hungry; like I'm not always satisfied with what i eat. but thats a good sign, right? it means my body isn't in starvation mode where it's learnt to survive on low energy?

so what can I do now? I want to lose weight nit maintain by eating so little. should i up my calories? how much weight will I gain if I do? would this weight gain actually fat or would it just be water weight which i can easily loose again?

_HeartsOnFire_

One post you are 18, your profile says 19...I'm thinking you're underage...

Oh and in another post you're only 2 lbs from your goal weight...so yeah, there's that too.

Your weight is 134 in one post...132 in another...and your profile says you want to lose 17 lbs.

Please see a medical professional to help you with this. You probably don't need to lose any, you might just need to tone up. But a medical professional can help.

ken_hogan

One post you are 18, your profile says 19...I'm thinking you're underage...

Oh and in another post you're only 2 lbs from your goal weight...so yeah, there's that too.

Your weight is 134 in one post...132 in another...and your profile says you want to lose 17 lbs.

Please see a medical professional to help you with this. You probably don't need to lose any, you might just need to tone up. But a medical professional can help.

Plus, in another post your doc put you on estrogen pills with a side effect of gaining weight. Maybe talk to your doc again saying you are trying to lose weight. So, hold are you?

xapril77x

Errrr..... Your ideal weight is only 2lbs lighter than what you are. You are only 18 so your body is still changing.... I think you should try and stop obsessing, seriously or you will be one more statistic...

Sorry that it may sound harsh but seriously what are you trying to achieve?

I agree. stop obsessing about how much you weigh and stop dieting. You're at a healthy weight already. #

do whatever exercise you enjoy and eat healthy so you stay fit, healthy and active. Lack of activity and eating junk is the main reason why adults get fatter as they get older. Stay active and eat healthy and you'll avoid that. And forget dieting. You're at a healthy weight and if you don't like how your body looks, then lift weights to firm up and get a little more definition (no that doesn't have to be ripped, just get however much definition and firmness that you want because muscle definition doesn't happen by accident). If your body fat percentage is in the healthy range, that's the best way to improve how you look, because trying to diet down into being underweight doesn't give you the body that most women would want.

Seriously, so many youngsters think they're fat when they're not, then get to my age and look back and think "wow, I looked so hot back then with a great body, but I couldn't see it" - stop comparing yourself with women in magazines, they're all airbrushed, some of them to biologically impossible shapes. Look at real women (and by real women, i mean women of any body shape and body type who have not been airbrushed) and learn to love yourself for who you are. Don't do like so many of us and fail to do that until we're in our 30s or 40s. Love yourself for who you are now, and try to be the healthiest version of yourself. Healthy and confident = hot. No-one's perfect, and no-one can see your imperfections but you, (and even the airbrushed models have them too, they're just airbrushed out) so forget about them and enjoy your life.

So tru! I remember always thinking I was fat when I was younger & now I wish I was that "fat"... lol