More calories wasn't the answer for me

GoddessG

I hear so many saying that if there is a problem losing, the problem might be caloric intake that is too low. This confuses me.

I lost 18 lbs, my first month on the diet, but let's skip that because it was expected. I was staying under 1,000 calories a day.

My doctor told me that I should be somewhere between 1,000 and 1500, so I upped my caloric intake to an average of 1100 for the next month. I lost 8 more pounds. OK, YAY! - sort of. I hoped for more but I am trying to be reasonable here.

At that weigh-in, my doctor said that I should take in more, so I upped it to 1300. I only lost 3 pounds the next month.

Am I to believe that taking in more will increase my weight loss? The facts seem to differ.

I'm doing a keto diet (less than 10g carbs/day), taking in more than adequate water and macros adjusted to my weight and fitness/activity (mostly sedentary) level. I exercise at least 5 days a week - but a my weight, I'm not out running marathons.

Should I make another appointment with my doctor or should I trust my own body to tell me how it works? I'm for trusting my own body, but having never being fat for the first 50 years of my life, I don't know how fat bodies work. If my body works great at about 1,000 calories, why should I stuff it even when I'm not hungry?

HMVOL7409

Why? Because you had such a drastic loss the first month and now you expect that every month? It's not going to happen. You still lost weight, that's a success to many on this site. This isn't a race and you won't lose the weight over night as you didn't put it in overnight. Be patient and proud.

TavistockToad

starting weight, height, age, goal weight....?

threeohtwo

You are trying to lose 120 pounds? I'm assuming that means you are well over 200 pounds. Though your BMR is lower due to your age it is not 1000. Additionally if you are working out 5x a week you are simply not fueling your body with enough food. Period.

I would stay at 1300 or bump up to 1500 and see what happens. You had an extremely drastic loss in the beginning. Your body is probably just trying to re-adjust.

Good luck!

ladyraven68

I hear so many saying that if there is a problem losing, the problem might be caloric intake that is too low. This confuses me.

I lost 18 lbs, my first month on the diet, but let's skip that because it was expected. I was staying under 1,000 calories a day.

My doctor told me that I should be somewhere between 1,000 and 1500, so I upped my caloric intake to an average of 1100 for the next month. I lost 8 more pounds. OK, YAY! - sort of. I hoped for more but I am trying to be reasonable here.

At that weigh-in, my doctor said that I should take in more, so I upped it to 1300. I only lost 3 pounds the next month.

Am I to believe that taking in more will increase my weight loss? The facts seem to differ.

I'm doing a keto diet (less than 10g carbs/day), taking in more than adequate water and macros adjusted to my weight and fitness/activity (mostly sedentary) level. I exercise at least 5 days a week - but a my weight, I'm not out running marathons.

Should I make another appointment with my doctor or should I trust my own body to tell me how it works? I'm for trusting my own body, but having never being fat for the first 50 years of my life, I don't know how fat bodies work. If my body works great at about 1,000 calories, why should I stuff it even when I'm not hungry?

It's not just about weight loss, it's about the quality of the loss, with too large a defict you are more likely to lose a higher % of lean mass.

Also it sounds like your doctor is trying to ensure you get adequat enutrition, which is unlikely at 1000 calories.

RunHardBeStrong

Why? Because you had such a drastic loss the first month and now you expect that every month? It's not going to happen. You still lost weight, that's a success to many on this site. This isn't a race and you won't lose the weight over night as you didn't put it in overnight. Be patient and proud.

This. It is normal to slow down. Why wouldn't you want to eat a bit more and have a sustainable weight loss? Also the bigger deficit the more muscle mass you're going to lose in turn slowing your metabolism even more. Then when you do up your calories again more than likely you will struggle to keep the weight off, starting the yo-yo dieting effect, making your life miserable.

eowynmn

How much do you weigh right now or what is your BMI? the safe amount of weight to lose is anywhere from nothing to 2 lbs a week. I'm going to assume you are a little less than where I am at from your wanting to lose 120 lbs, and if you went from nothing to 1300 or 1500, you still are not raising your calories enough. that's not raising your calories. My base is about 1700 calories, and if I exercise, it's a lot more for losing 2 lbs a week, and I am - when I hit that target and eat about half of my exercise calories, for the past two weeks 2 lbs each. and I'm already on track for another loss this week, and I eat way more than you it looks like.

Another good way to do it would be to compare the 'roadmap' calculator that everyone here talks about. I couldn't imagine a doctor telling someone with a bmi of 35 or higher to only eat 1300 calories.

WaxMama

:huh: Seriously? You've lost 30 lbs since January and that isn't enough?! I've been at this since April and I haven't even hit 50 lbs. You need to slow down, trust your body, eat a bit more and not stress the numbers on the scale.

imchicbad

If your trying to convince us that starving yourself is the way to go, your wrong. DEAD WRONG. As stated in an above comment, you might have drastically dropped in the beginning, not going to be a constant when you shock the body, and working out 5 times a week is not sedentary. Your body is like a car, it needs fuel to run, but know this- the more you starve the more your body will eat your muscle FIRST, and hold on to every bit of fat, known as starvation mode. As far as you stating because you were skinny your whole life, you don't under stand how a fat body works suggest you've been heavy for quite some time( I doubt that you don't). I'm petite wear a size 3 and work out 5-6 times a week eating 1800 calories, at 1200 I was starving and going no where. You need to eat more. But you don't mention your stats.

There is no quick fix. Hard work and research. Do the math and do yourself a favor and stop starving. Building muscle will replace fat. One pound of fat and one pound of muscle will weigh the same, but fat is more fluffy. Muscle is lean. Pay attention to measurements and don't put all your faith in a scale.

quirkytizzy

:huh: Seriously? You've lost 30 lbs since January and that isn't enough?! I've been at this since April and I haven't even hit 50 lbs. You need to slow down, trust your body, eat a bit more and not stress the numbers on the scale.

This.

Eating under a thousand calories is not healthy or sustainable for an adult, no matter the weight loss results. Most everyone will lose weight at a dangerously low calorie count, at least for awhile. That does not make it a good idea.

Greenrun99

The more you have to lose the bigger the deficit you can create to lose weight, since you have 120 lbs to lose you can continue eating 1200-1300 calories until you stall.. probably 30 lbs from your goal.. but your BF% will be high but I would definitely consider adding some strength training during your progress..

For the person that has 30 or less lbs to lose.. eating correctly is your solution.

erg2013

:huh: Seriously? You've lost 30 lbs since January and that isn't enough?! I've been at this since April and I haven't even hit 50 lbs. You need to slow down, trust your body, eat a bit more and not stress the numbers on the scale.

Totally agree here! My goal is to loose 30 lbs in 6-7 months!!!

Sw33tKnees

All these previous comments are 1000% Correct!!! Take the advise they are offering you!! These are some smart ladies!!!

donna_glasgow

over 3 months you lost 29lbs ... well done you should be proud of that, weight loss slows down the closer you get to your goal weight ... you doctor has given you advice and each time you have lost weight over the month, id go see the doc again and see what he recommends now

dvelocity

Just be patient. Don't mess with your calories so much. Pick a number and stick at it for a while. 1-2 pounds a week loss is great. Your diary is empty so I am not sure how you are tracking calories. I would think you do need to eat at leat 1300 calories a day. Good calories.

vinniesooner

:huh: Seriously? You've lost 30 lbs since January and that isn't enough?! I've been at this since April and I haven't even hit 50 lbs. You need to slow down, trust your body, eat a bit more and not stress the numbers on the scale.

YES!

myofibril

Seems like your Dr has a sensible approach to your weight loss.

Given you seem to have a lost to lose an initail sharp deficit and rapid weight loss isn't too much of a problem. This gives you impetus to pursue your goals and is a nice psyhological boost.

However, as time goes by it is better to up your calories until you achieve a more steady and realistic rate of loss (1% of total body weight per week as a rough rule of thumb) for various reasons (preserving lean mass, keep metabolic rate reasonably high and avoiding a down regulation of various hormones etc etc...)

Patience, grasshopper.

ami5000psu

Your doctor is right and you should listen to him about upping your calories. Eating 1000 calories or less is not healthy or sustainable. Are you going to eat less than 1000 calories a day once you reach your goal? No. Be patient and lose the weight in a healthy way, eating a healthy amount of food. You didn't put it on overnight so don't expect it to come off overnight either.

Bumdrahp

:huh: Seriously? You've lost 30 lbs since January and that isn't enough?! I've been at this since April and I haven't even hit 50 lbs. You need to slow down, trust your body, eat a bit more and not stress the numbers on the scale.

Lol, this.


I have been at this for a YEAR come April... I literally am brushing upon 50 lbs.

There is NO over night fix.. YOU NEED to feed your body! I learned this year, the hard way. I went through hair loss, hunger, mood swings....you need to fuel your body or you're going to end up miserable...I DID.

Now my weight loss is much slower, but I feel MUCH better. I eat a bit more, I work out when I have time, but I stay at my goal. I'm healthier, fitter, and much much happier.

It's not a race, this is a new lifestyle.

ChangingAmanda

Weight loss isn't linear but the fact you've lost what you have in just a short amount of time is great. Check out this link to help you determine you're BMR and TDEE: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12. Also, it can take time for your body to adjust to a new higher calorie intake especially when you've been eating very low cal. Make sure you're weighing & measuring everything so you know how much you're taking in and log it so that when you ask for advice, folks can look at your diary and make suggestions. Good luck.

cmriverside

^^ What they said.


Mostly about nutrition. Unless your doctor has you on some sort of supplemental nutritional magic. At 1000 calories, you'd better be rigidly focused on hitting all your nutrients. I suppose it could be done if you are juicing and eat only clean foods. But, regardless, you need a nutrition plan.

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trhops

I tried the more calories too and I kept gaining. I had a metabolic assessment done (New leaf fitness equipment) and found out my resting metabolic rate is 907, add on my desk job I am at 1179 calories a day I burn. So I have a very low metabolism. So I am working with the person who did my testing to build my RMR back up. It was no wonder why I was gaining on eating more. Goes to show that formulas and calculations are not accurate for everyone.

JenRunTriHappyGirl

I am not going to down you... your method has worked for you and that is awesome. There are some questions that you need to ask yourself though. Is a 1,000 cal/day diet something that you can maintain for the rest of your life? Probably not. Your doctor probably wanted to shock your body to get those first pounds off. He did a good job at that! A healthy amount of weight loss is an average of a pound a week.... some people loose more some less. But 1 pound a week is realistic. This is because we are human, we have bad days and binge and we have lazy days and do not work out. If you are only at the beginning of this journey and lifestyle change, you might not understand that yet. There will be a day where you get frustrated and you give into that McDonalds cheeseburger or dominos pizza or whatever your weakness is. It happens. So, if you are expecting to loose 18 pounds a month, then you are expecting too much. Expecting too much from this journey will lead to failure. That is why people who do fad diets almost always gain the weight back. They do not really learn anything, they just want instant gratification. I wish you luck and I hope this helps.

savithny

I did this math for someone else, so your BMR and TDEE will be different, but I think it really illustrates the issue with dropping below BMR:

If you don't believe you're not eating enough, I did some math:

Your BMR if you're sedentary is 1435, TDEE is 1722. **(this was calculated from that person's age and height)
On a 900-calorie day, you are 37% under BMR. That's enough to slow your metabolism, or "starvation mode."
(I know, you can find "starvation mode is a myth" posts all over. The fact that your metabolism slows down significantly if you cut calories too fast has been repeatedly confirmed with research. You may burn up to 40% fewer calories).

So, lets say you have slowed your metabolism down through regular starvation.
Lets use that 40% number, just for fun.
If your metabolism is running 40% slower, "Starvation BMR" is actually about 860.
Which means you can actually maintain weight at only 900 calories a day.

Is the answer to go even lower? No. The answer is to eat enough that your body isn't slowing down your metabolism. It may take awhile for your body to adjust to getting what it needs to run properly, though.

The math shows that the 40% is really kind of a big deal.
You could keep your metabolism slowed and eat 800 calories a day, which would be only a 100 calorie a day deficit -- and no fun.
Or you could try to help it recover, and you could eat 1400 calories a day while creating a 300-calorie deficit!
Suggesting weight could come off 3x as fast while eating 500 calories more every day.

gypsyrose64

I did this math for someone else, so your BMR and TDEE will be different, but I think it really illustrates the issue with dropping below BMR:

If you don't believe you're not eating enough, I did some math:

Your BMR if you're sedentary is 1435, TDEE is 1722. **(this was calculated from that person's age and height)
On a 900-calorie day, you are 37% under BMR. That's enough to slow your metabolism, or "starvation mode."
(I know, you can find "starvation mode is a myth" posts all over. The fact that your metabolism slows down significantly if you cut calories too fast has been repeatedly confirmed with research. You may burn up to 40% fewer calories).

So, lets say you have slowed your metabolism down through regular starvation.
Lets use that 40% number, just for fun.
If your metabolism is running 40% slower, "Starvation BMR" is actually about 860.
Which means you can actually maintain weight at only 900 calories a day.

Is the answer to go even lower? No. The answer is to eat enough that your body isn't slowing down your metabolism. It may take awhile for your body to adjust to getting what it needs to run properly, though.

The math shows that the 40% is really kind of a big deal.
You could keep your metabolism slowed and eat 800 calories a day, which would be only a 100 calorie a day deficit -- and no fun.
Or you could try to help it recover, and you could eat 1400 calories a day while creating a 300-calorie deficit!
Suggesting weight could come off 3x as fast while eating 500 calories more every day.

I read somewhere that if you were over-eating and then severely dropped calories, your metabolism is like a machine that suddenly has the emergency brake pulled. Everything slows down to accommodate the new lower intake. I wouldn't call it starvation mode, but I believe it's a survival trigger built into our bodies. I also read it takes up 4-8wks for our bodies to catch on that it's ok to burn (with intake increase) and the uptake of metabolism isn't as fast as the initial slow-down.

October last year, I started this mission @1200 /day and lost 18 that month.
November @ 1200 = stalled out
December @ 1200 = stalled out
January @ 1500 = 7 lbs lost
February @ 1500 = stalled again

I just increased my intake AGAIN to 1700 and already gained a pound. My TDEE is way higher than I originally thought (upwards of 2500), so that initial decrease was a HUGE deficit (+50%). Now that I'm eating more, I expect a small gain until I level out. It sucks to not have the immediate loss I wanted, but I'd rather do this right and be able to live with it a lifetime!

You are older than me, and have already lost more than me in less time. Cut yourself some slack and stay with the program.

The benefits of eating more will pay off long-term with more energy(to get up and move), better health(isn't that our goal?) and sustainability. I was never a big eater before this, and lived a sedentary life at a desk. The more I gained, the less I ate.

I now realize THIS IS WHY I'M FAT! I trained my body to conserve energy 80% of the time, and then a few regular eating days mixed in piled it on over two decades. You can't undo that kind of bad programming overnight.

Hang in there... IT WILL HAPPEN!

GoddessG

Also the bigger deficit the more muscle mass you're going to lose in turn slowing your metabolism even more. Then when you do up your calories again more than likely you will struggle to keep the weight off, starting the yo-yo dieting effect, making your life miserable.

I don't understand. I am on a high protein diet. About 100g a day. This should feed the muscles. I generally take in less than 5 carbs a day (though I don't berate myself if it occasionally goes up to less than 10). Those tiny bits of carbs comes in the heavy whipping cream that I use with coffee plus the mayonnaise that I make with real egg to make meat salads. That means that I am not offering my body any quick energy from carbs, thus forcing it to burn the abundant stores of excess fat that I carry around. If a body doesn't have abundant fat stores (if I'm only 10-20 lbs overweight) , it will feed off muscle, but that isn't the case for me - even if I didn't take great pains to feed my muscles their daily requirements. I've got about 80 pounds of excess fat stores that my body can utilize to its heart's content.

As for yo-yo dieting, I was never fat until I entered menopause, quit smoking, and sold my house - buying a motorhome - to travel, tasting all of the delicacies from all of the unique and interesting places I visited or stayed at. (Too much too fast). I doubt that I will yo-yo because until life happened, I maintained constant and strict control over my weight. If 8 pounds went on, 8 pounds came off. It wasn't through dieting. It was through self-discipline and a desire to have a beautiful body. If I could go for 50 years without being more than a few pounds overweight for a short amount of time, I doubt that I will start doing it when my body has returned to ITS normal. I don't have any memories that would support yo-yo.

As I said, I've never been fat before, so I don't know how fat bodies work.

I will recheck my BMR with my HRM to see if my BMR changes with reduced calories. That will be good to know. I wonder how long I should stay on more restricted calories before I see if there is a reduction.

Unknown

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Alamo0809

At our age 3 lbs a month is realistic especially after that first chunk of 18 lbs. In addition your metabolic rate will adjust to lower calories which will make losing harder in the long run so I think your doc is looking out for your well being . Is your doc well versed on weight loss programs? That is really low carb! I am trying to do low carb but I never go that low. What are you eating and does your diet have a program name? I did Ideal Protein last year but did not for the first 3-4 months... they did not emphasize exercise.... in fact kind of discouraged it so though I lost a lot of weight I lost a lot of muscle. I would like to know more about your program.

Good luck.

Rivmage

Also the bigger deficit the more muscle mass you're going to lose in turn slowing your metabolism even more. Then when you do up your calories again more than likely you will struggle to keep the weight off, starting the yo-yo dieting effect, making your life miserable.

I don't understand. I am on a high protein diet. About 100g a day. This should feed the muscles. I generally take in less than 5 carbs a day (though I don't berate myself if it occasionally goes up to less than 10). Those tiny bits of carbs comes in the heavy whipping cream that I use with coffee plus the mayonnaise that I make with real egg to make meat salads. That means that I am not offering my body any quick energy from carbs, thus forcing it to burn the abundant stores of excess fat that I carry around. If a body doesn't have abundant fat stores (if I'm only 10-20 lbs overweight) , it will feed off muscle, but that isn't the case for me - even if I didn't take great pains to feed my muscles their daily requirements. I've got about 80 pounds of excess fat stores that my body can utilize to its heart's content.

As for yo-yo dieting, I was never fat until I entered menopause, quit smoking, and sold my house - buying a motorhome - to travel, tasting all of the delicacies from all of the unique and interesting places I visited or stayed at. (Too much too fast). I doubt that I will yo-yo because until life happened, I maintained constant and strict control over my weight. If 8 pounds went on, 8 pounds came off. It wasn't through dieting. It was through self-discipline and a desire to have a beautiful body. If I could go for 50 years without being more than a few pounds overweight for a short amount of time, I doubt that I will start doing it when my body has returned to ITS normal. I don't have any memories that would support yo-yo.

As I said, I've never been fat before, so I don't know how fat bodies work.

I will recheck my BMR with my HRM to see if my BMR changes with reduced calories. That will be good to know. I wonder how long I should stay on more restricted calories before I see if there is a reduction.

The problem is fat storage is one of the last things the body likes to burn if you aren't giving it enough fuel.

Alamo0809

WOW... these are very interesting and helpful posts!!! Thank you for all the study... research that has been shared here!!