Frustrated and really need some advice

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  • albayin
    albayin Posts: 2,524 Member
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    Have you been on diet before? Like restricting calorie intake to a very minimum level?
  • Lesa_Sass
    Lesa_Sass Posts: 2,213 Member
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    Yup you are not eating enough so your body is holding on to everything you do eat! I didn't lose a single pound at 1200 calories but at 1600-1800 the weight was coming off fast!


    ^^^ this is exactly what happened to me too.

    The hardest part about eating more is wrapping your head around it. If all these people are telling you it works, it does. I promise it is not a conspiracy to make you gain weight.

    I am 44 years old, 5'3 and now weigh 108 by eating more. Feel free to take a peek at my diary but I do want to say that I have been incredibly sick this weekend and did not log.

    I also have a healthy cooking page on facebook with some good tips and recipes if you want to check it out: https://www.facebook.com/TheSassyGourmet
  • sgcadola
    sgcadola Posts: 35 Member
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    Ok all, so the gist of what I am getting is that I'm not eating enough. :) Funny how when you start to change your eating habits you automatically want to stop eating all together because you think that's the issue. I don't feel like what I am doing is a diet. This is a lifestyle change and that's how I want to keep it! The only thing I am restricting are the foods I used to eat all the time. Pizza, burgers, breads, etc. I have a desk job so I am sitting for 7+ hours a day. I try to eat very little while I am stationary. I will do my best at eating a higher calorie breakfast with smaller meals throughout the day, and adding in a protein shake after my workouts. Hopefully I will begint o see a change in my body. Thank you to EVERYONE. I really do want to see some changes. I don't want to give up. Frustrated or not I am determined and want my old gymnastic figure back!!!
  • andreakursten
    andreakursten Posts: 13
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    Have you been on diet before? Like restricting calorie intake to a very minimum level?
    I was going to post that I have the exact same problem (really, I'm 5'2" and weigh 128 pounds as well) except that I've been on a 300 to 400 kcal diet for about two months (I know this wasn't the right way and I've stopped now) during which I lost about 20 pounds. As soon as I bumped up my calorie intake to 1200 kcal, my weight has been the same for the past three weeks. Could you give me any advice if you know a way out of this?
  • albayin
    albayin Posts: 2,524 Member
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    Ok all, so the gist of what I am getting is that I'm not eating enough. :) Funny how when you start to change your eating habits you automatically want to stop eating all together because you think that's the issue. I don't feel like what I am doing is a diet. This is a lifestyle change and that's how I want to keep it! The only thing I am restricting are the foods I used to eat all the time. Pizza, burgers, breads, etc. I have a desk job so I am sitting for 7+ hours a day. I try to eat very little while I am stationary. I will do my best at eating a higher calorie breakfast with smaller meals throughout the day, and adding in a protein shake after my workouts. Hopefully I will begint o see a change in my body. Thank you to EVERYONE. I really do want to see some changes. I don't want to give up. Frustrated or not I am determined and want my old gymnastic figure back!!!

    The reason I asked if you were on diet before was because from my personal experience and others who proved it true as well once your body learned how to adapt to the low calorie intake, when you try a second around, the same method that works before seems less effective this time. I didn't mean or imply anything else. :)
  • albayin
    albayin Posts: 2,524 Member
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    Have you been on diet before? Like restricting calorie intake to a very minimum level?
    I was going to post that I have the exact same problem (really, I'm 5'2" and weigh 128 pounds as well) except that I've been on a 300 to 400 kcal diet for about two months (I know this wasn't the right way and I've stopped now) during which I lost about 20 pounds. As soon as I bumped up my calorie intake to 1200 kcal, my weight has been the same for the past three weeks. Could you give me any advice if you know a way out of this?

    I don't know, if you were asking me for answer. :) However, I personally bumped up my calories to normal for a few weeks and then start restrict it again and it seems breaking the plateau, but still much slower than the first time around.
  • ChrisRS87
    ChrisRS87 Posts: 781 Member
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    Don't listen to the people spouting starvation mode. The body adapts to everything we throw at it, starvation mode is just an extreme example. It's not starving, but it has adapted to using fewer calories because that's what it expects, which is why you aren't hungry for more.

    You may gain a little weight, but spend a weekend or a week eating at a surplus of your TDEE, but with HEALTHY FOODS, and mostly protein and good carbs (like grains) and low fat. This is actually called a refeed. Leptin levels in your body will respond to the increased amounts of carbs and calories and increase, which subsequently increases your metabolism. Then go back to dieting, and you'll find you'll begin losing weight again. You may eventually need to refeed if you plateau and want to keep losing.

    Check this out:
    http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/sclark60.htm

    You're saying the same thing in different words. So you want to dispel the idea that it's starvation mode but explain starvation mode using more technical terms, yeah, that's helpful. "Starvation mode" as conventionally used is synonymous to the event you describe as..." It's not starving, but it has adapted to using fewer calories because that's what it expects, which is why you aren't hungry for more." I do agree with you but you weren't ACTUALLY disagreeing with the people who alleged starvation mode--you disagreed with the terminology.

    No, I still disagree. The physiological processes are similar but "starvation mode" is the extreme of what causes a regular plateau. For example, what I said explains how I could plateau and stop losing weight consuming 2800 calories a day. But to argue that my body is in starvation mode would be ludicrous.

    The problem with the term "starvation mode" is how casually it's thrown around when it may in fact just be a plateau.
  • alana_swiss
    alana_swiss Posts: 31
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    Hi I'm new to MFP and really need the support when resetting my metabolism. I'm an 18 year old female, 4' 10" (yes, I am very short), Asian, sedentary and weigh 90lbs/41kg. I have been on my weight loss journey since last June when I was at my heaviest at 70kg.

    I am finally ready to stop losing and changing to maintenance. The only problem is, I have constantly been told to eat less to lose weight. I didn't know anything about BMR or TDEE while on my weightless journey and just drastically cut my calories to lose weight. It was so easy for me. I never got hungry anymore so I thought my body was completely fine and I continued to lose more and more weight.

    Over the last 3 months I have been eating only 700-800 calories. I lost weight so quickly and everyone complimented me on my weight loss. But then i started noticing things in myself like fatigue, loss of concentration, constantly feeling cold, purple nails, no periods and hair loss! So even though i looked skinny, i felt so unhealthy. That's when I knew that I had to make some changes.

    After researching articles and MFP forums I know now that living off of 700 calories a day is terribly unhealthy and I really want to get to a healthy maintenance diet without losing or gaining any weight. I would like to remain around 41-44kg.

    I have no idea what to do... Do I have to eat my BMR calories (1234.5 calories) or my TDEE (1475 calories)? I'm so confused...

    I increased my calories by only 200 everyday for the past week because I want to increase to my BMR calories slowly. So I've been eating around 900-1000 calories a day. I plan to increase it slowly by 100-200 calories a week until I reach a daily net calorie intake of about 1300.

    I would like to get some feedback, tips or support from anyone who has experience with this issue. I would also like to know if there is any dramatic weight gain during the reset process. For someone who has been losing weight for more than a year, it's so hard to grasp the concept of weight gain even though I know it's better for me in the long run.

    Please help!
    -Alana

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