is not eating enough cals stalling my weight loss??? HELP ME

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daddysgrl
daddysgrl Posts: 29 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Howdy folks,

I wanted to offer a brief explanation for the locking of this thread.

The forum guidelines include this item:
3. No Promotion of Unsafe Weight-Loss Techniques or Eating Disorders

a) Posts intended to promote potentially unsafe or controversial weight loss products or procedures, including non-medically prescribed supplements or MLM products will be removed without warning.
b) Profiles, groups, messages, posts, or wall comments that encourage anorexia, bulimia, or very low calorie diets of any kind will be removed, and may be grounds for account deletion. This includes positive references to ana/mia, purging, or self-starving. Our goal is to provide users with the tools to achieve their weight management goals at a steady, sustainable rate. Use of the site to promote or glamorize dangerously low levels of eating is not permitted.
c) Photos intended to glamorize extreme thinness will be deleted.
d) Those seeking support in their recovery from eating disorders are welcome at MyFitnessPal.

If you would like to review the forum guidelines, please visit the following link:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/welcome/guidelines

At our discretion, this locked thread may be deleted entirely in the near future.


With respect,
Joshua
MyFitnessPal Forum Staff
«13

Replies

  • jezzydoll
    jezzydoll Posts: 12
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    trust me it HELPS! Otherwise you are putting yourself in starvation mode. it isn't healthy. you need to re enter your weight into MFP and see what it says you should be eating now that you have lost so much weight. :) hope this helped. add me if you want
  • delilah47
    delilah47 Posts: 1,658
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    If you were eating extremely low calories, your body entered starvation mode. It's fine for losing weight fast, but after you start eating ANYTHING, your body is going to store, store, store! It's afraid you will starve again. You need to start eating healthy meals with at least 1200 calories a day. Eventually your body will sigh in relief and start dropping pounds again.
  • witchy_wife
    witchy_wife Posts: 792 Member
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    Your body is trying to tell you something, please listen to it.
  • nicolemarie1978
    nicolemarie1978 Posts: 53 Member
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    I think you're eating way too few calories! Your body has probably gone into starvation mode.
  • AmberJo1984
    AmberJo1984 Posts: 1,067 Member
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    With that extreme of low calories, your body will go into starvation mode and hold on to all of the weight you do have for energy. Your body needs the nutrients.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    Wow. Instead of worrying about a plateau I would seek help as a VLCD such as yours with exercise added, is or may be the beginning of an eating disorder.

    Not eating enough can lower your metabolism, but you should still lose eating that little, just less than you would expect to lose based on a caloric deficit from the TDEE that MFP calculated for you. And a larger % of your loss will come from lean muscle vs. fat, the larger your deficit is (the less you eat)
  • Stpjudge
    Stpjudge Posts: 129 Member
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    It sounds like you may have hit a plateau. I recommend maintaining your exercise program but increasing you calories to 1000-1200 (or more) for a few weeks and see if anything changes.
  • ErinBeth7
    ErinBeth7 Posts: 1,625 Member
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    I'd start at 1200 at the least. You can lose on more calories if you're making healthy food choices.
  • hiker359
    hiker359 Posts: 577 Member
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    Everything works; nothing works forever. You've got to do something different and eating *less* isn't it since you're at the dangerous end of how much you're eating at anyway. What kind of life do you expect to have only eating that much every day? Do you plan to eat this way for the rest of your life? How do you expect your body to get he nutrients it needs from 500-700 calories a day? Think a little and maybe your eyes will open.
  • MSeel1984
    MSeel1984 Posts: 2,297 Member
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    I ended up adjusting my weight loss goal to 1/2 lb/week instead of 1 lb/week, which provided more calories.

    It was counter-intuitive for me too but now that I increased the calories, I'm seeing my body looking more toned and less "flabby"...it hasn't even been that long.

    I'm also less grouchy and more energetic. It worked for me. Whether or not it will do the same for you, I don't know.

    I didn't have a lot to lose to begin with but it's made all the difference for me.
  • SheilaN1976
    SheilaN1976 Posts: 266 Member
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    wow that is nowhere near enough calories consumed for healthy weight loss.
  • amculver1
    amculver1 Posts: 36 Member
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    I have been on a low calorie regimen for several years and I have stopped loosing weight also. I read all the message boards about the starvation myth and that we need to eat more to weigh less. Okay, I started upping my calories and I have gained about 5 pounds. Some say that is to be expected. So now I am going to go back to low calories and see what happens. The problem I had with low calories was I was waking up at night starving. Really don't know if the starvation thing is true.
  • killingtheantagonist
    killingtheantagonist Posts: 178 Member
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    Here's the thing, you need to be eating at least your BMR in calories everyday.
    If anything, eat 1200 calories a day.
    To figure out your BMR, y ou can check in the tools section on this site or check here: http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/
    Better safe than sorry.
  • prismperfect
    prismperfect Posts: 24 Member
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    Yes, that's just not healthy. To compare I lost 30 lbs in 9 months, and that's just by going on MFP as a guide and exercising a couple of times a week. I do cheat days all the time as well, I could have worked a bit harder and lost more but I need to keep my sanity/happiness.
    I know it's not as much as you lost, but it's only 17 lbs off, just proves that you don't need to go to extremes to still lose weight.
  • thoeting
    thoeting Posts: 89 Member
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    I've been EXACTLY where you are - and I do mean exactly. I refused to eat more than 700 calories a day - and I would only eat in the morning and early afternoon. My reasons may not match yours, but I was working on developing a pretty solid eating disorder. As it is, I got away with a minor one.

    You have to eat. YOU HAVE TO EAT.I cannot say it any plainer.

    I PROMISE you that you will not gain weight in the long run. Not with the amount of exercise you do.

    Look at my diary ( I know I haven't logged much in the past few days - I was away and internett was sketch) but look at my July/August. I lost about 10 pounds in 10 weeks. Weight that I hadn't been able to lose on a restricted diet. Some days I'll eat 1800 calories, some days 2000 -- it depends on my TDEE

    Say screw it and go up to 1500 calories of good quality food - don't cheat your way up with chips or sweets. Good stuff, as much as you want. You will be so surprised at how awesome it tastes and how full you get. You might gain a couple three pounds in the first week, MIGHT, but it will come off after that

    And you will be so surprised at how great you feel and how much better your work outs are

    Seriously....go eat
  • runningfromzombies
    runningfromzombies Posts: 386 Member
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    I've lost 47 lbs in 8 months through extreme low cals (500-700) and exercise. I've stopped losing completely! I exercise 6 days a week for about 50 mins. I know I'm being stubborn but I just don't see how eating MORE can help

    If you don't see how eating more can help, consider this: you have stopped seeing results. You are probably hungry, tired, grouchy, and sick of not seeing results. (I know I would be. I would be ready to eat my own FEET if I had been living on 500-700 calories a day.) Since you've spent all this time and energy to NOT see results, you might as well try something else, even if you're not convinced it can work. I would go to this group here and read the sticky threads, especially about TDEE and BMR, and for you, I would really suggest a metabolic reset, too: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/3834-eat-more-to-weigh-less.

    Alternatively, I would also suggest seeing a doctor. 500-700 calories a day? For 8 months? While exercising 6 days a week for 50 minutes a day? You are defining an eating disorder. Please seek help.
  • hiker359
    hiker359 Posts: 577 Member
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    The problem I had with low calories was I was waking up at night starving. Really don't know if the starvation thing is true.

    *laughs* Wait...are you serious?
  • lizziebeth1028
    lizziebeth1028 Posts: 3,602 Member
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    I've lost 47 lbs in 8 months through extreme low cals (500-700) and exercise. I've stopped losing completely! I exercise 6 days a week for about 50 mins. I know I'm being stubborn but I just don't see how eating MORE can help

    I just posted to good articles on the forums regarding this topic - 'eat more to lose weight' and 'eating too few calories'. I would encourage you to read them and rethink your calorie goal!!!!!
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
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    I've lost 47 lbs in 8 months through extreme low cals (500-700) and exercise. I've stopped losing completely! I exercise 6 days a week for about 50 mins. I know I'm being stubborn but I just don't see how eating MORE can help

    I'm not sure why it makes sense to think you can function as a human being while starving. :huh:
  • ObtainingBalance
    ObtainingBalance Posts: 1,446 Member
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    http://www.active.com/nutrition/Articles/Eat-More-to-Lose-Weight.htm
This discussion has been closed.

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