Scared eating all my cals will = weight gain :(

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I haven't been well this week and my calorie intake has been very low. ( under 500 due to being sick) But I've also lost a bit of weight over the week. And I'm really terrified of starting to eat back up around the 1200 mark because I wasn't really losing and I'm scared it's going to make me put on weight. I know that 1200 shouldn't make me
Put on weight but I just need some reassurance maybe?
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Replies

  • bowseramanda
    bowseramanda Posts: 58 Member
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    I'd love to give you reassurance but I am right there with you. I didn't even net 400 calories today but I am truthfully not hungry at all right now. I don't want to eat just to eat so I feel for you!
  • HeatherSLosinIt
    HeatherSLosinIt Posts: 79 Member
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    I eat when I am hungry, make healthy choices or just take a small portion if it's not so healthy. Around midday, I look at what I've logged (midday as in 4pm or so) and determine what exercising I am going to do that day. I've been very surprised to find that I am losing quite a bit of weight so far... yeah I know, 6 lbs may not look like a lot, but this is after I was at a standstill for 4 years. I almost always eat between 950-1300 cals/day, sometimes more.

    You are sick right now, but do not let your fears win. Those fears can lead to life threatening eating disorders. 400 calories/day is almost on the border of anorexia, which should be scarier than going back to not losing.

    If you feel you need to do something to get over the hump you've been at, change something up, but don't kill yourself for it.
  • geekyjock76
    geekyjock76 Posts: 2,720 Member
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    This is why VLCD suck for people with not much to lose because it makes them paranoid about upping calories - which they'll have to do eventually. Anyway, think of it rationally. You have to recall what your current adjusted TDEE range is to maintain weight. Let's say it's 1400 calories. As long as you do not end eating above 1400 calories, you will not gain fat. You may gain water weight due to taking in more food, but that's it.
  • ebony__
    ebony__ Posts: 519 Member
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    I want to continue losing weight as well. I've got at least 50lbs to go
  • wlkumpf
    wlkumpf Posts: 241 Member
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    weight loss is trial and error. Just give it time for your body to figure out what is going on before you quit it.
    I just changed mine to 1/2 pound per week because I wasn't loosing at 1-2 pounds per week. I do work out, eat some workout cals back but not all, but decided maybe I don't have enough to lose to make the faster loss possible.
    At around 1450-1500 I am able to lose more. I think because since I don't have to be so stingy I will sometimes have a teaspoon of coconut oil added in to things. I will have more coconut as a snack too.
    If purely cutting calories to super low levels worked more people would do that. At 1500 calories, more than I have regularly eaten in YEARS! I finally have a feeling of hunger instead of just eating at mealtime. I see that as a good thing. My metabolism is burning and working. If you aren't hungry your inernal metabolism is probably shut down. I have an egg white (2 yolk) omelet over salsa at bedtime often and am starving at 4 am, drink water but look forward to 7 when I have my oatmeal (microwave oat revolution) with flax and chia seeds.

    If you aren't hungry, that may not be a good sign. AND you probably will gain some initial weight when you up your calories. Try it 3 weeks. Drink lots of water. Pay attention to how you feel instead of looking at the scale, I can tell when my metabolism must be revved because I have way more energy, no feeling of being weighed down and can work out much longer. I am hungry at regular intervals as I should be :) First time I can ever say I eat when I am hungry and understand the concept at it's greatest!
  • ErinRibbens
    ErinRibbens Posts: 370 Member
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    What you lost this week guaranteed wasn't all fat. Maybe a little bit, but mostly water, maybe some muscle. If you keep up that crazy low calorie diet guaranteed you will lose muscle which will lower your metabolism even more. Not what you want! Eat the calories you should eat every day. It might take longer, but that weight will be much more likely to STAY off, and be actual FAT loss.
  • Pebble321
    Pebble321 Posts: 6,554 Member
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    Perhaps it's time to rethink your goals - we (almost!) all want to see a smaller number on the scales but that isn't the only measure of being healthy and fit and looking good.

    Level of fitness, measurements, general health are all good measures of "success" - and those things won't happen unless you give your body some energy to work with. That means eating enough good food to sustain your body, to make you feel good and to let you do all the things you want to do in your day.

    Stop focussing exclusively on the scale - remember that it is going to fluctuate every single day due to fluid retention, amount of exercise, whether you've just been to the bathroom, monthly cycle - which means that in lots of ways a single daily number is meaningless. It's not untill you can see pattern of measurements over a few months that you can see if the trend is staying the same or going down.

    In a nutshell, what I'm trying to say here is - EAT. And don't be scared of the scale.
  • ebony__
    ebony__ Posts: 519 Member
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    I don't weigh myself every day. Once or twice or once a fortnight.
    I don't want to rethink my goals because I just want to be in a healthy weight range and I think that's a decent goal.
    I don't want to do it in an unhealthy way.

    There's a difference between knowing and being able to do.
  • Pebble321
    Pebble321 Posts: 6,554 Member
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    I agree, there is a world of difference in knowing what to do and actually do it. If we could all do what we know we should do - none of us would be overweight!

    If you are happy with your goals, then perhaps you need to rethink your strategies for getting there - starving yourself and developing a fear of food is NOT going to get you to a healthy weight anytime soon.
  • ebony__
    ebony__ Posts: 519 Member
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    I think maybe part of it is I'm scared that a week of basically not eating has ruined my metabolism and anything I eat will just stick to me.
    My weight and weight loss is such and a notional thing that even though the llogic side of my is trying to get through the other side is struggling to listen
  • Pebble321
    Pebble321 Posts: 6,554 Member
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    I can understand that.... but be kind to yourself, you've been sick, so you have to make sure that you are giving your body good nutrients to help it heal so you can get back to being as active as you want to be. Don't think of calories as a problem, think of them as medicine that is going to help you get back on your feet as soon as you can.

    Eat little and often, don't fret about what kind of food it is at this stage, just aim to get some fresh fruit and veggies in there if you can, chicken soup is meant to be almost as good as antibiotics, avocado on toast sits well with me when I'm not feeling good. Your metabolism isn't going to shut down after a week of being sick, but I would be prepared to see the scale fluctuate a bit due to increased fluid etc as you start eating again. That's quite normal and isn't going to be long lasting.
  • wlkumpf
    wlkumpf Posts: 241 Member
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    you might go up a little. Just stay off the scales like you do and give it a try. The feelings of contentment and like I am doing the right thing to give my body its fuel is really satisfying.
    My food diary is open, although I am not always super consistent at entering it all, but I tried quinoa today for the first time. Can't wait to try it another way ;) But I can see it's pull. If you up your calories and add in a bunch of bleached foods and white bread along with unlimited fruits and treats to up your calories, you would probably doom yourself to fail.
    If you add in some of the go to foods you see on other people's posts, spaghetti squash, almond milk, avacodo, hummus, whey powder, peanut butter, you should see good results after a few weeks.
    Our bodies are great, if you give them the fuel they need they will work really hard for you and you may be surprised by what it is capable of. That is what you are doing, giving it the tools to maximize it. Think of it like a fuel, right now you have a low burning furnace with a pilot light on, burning really slow conserving. If you feed it the right fuel it will burn consistently and let you know when it needs more. It has the energy for a great workout and I feel mentally healthier as well, and I fought for weeks to not up my calorie but was sick and tired of the scale not changing. I figured I would give it a few weeks and it took a few days for my body to catch up.
  • kaylabrianna
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    I'm recovering from anorexia, and I was eating below 300 calories for 10 months, I started just straight up eating 1200 calories, and my net would be around 1000. I gained at first, maybe 2lbs most, but it was water weight and I've gone back down to my original. Just make sure you eat healthy for the first few days, don't cheat at all.
  • VelociMama
    VelociMama Posts: 3,119 Member
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    I hear you. When I started, I was eating around 1000 calories per day. Eventually, I started getting sick and wanting to binge eat. Upping the calories made me gain about 5 lbs initially, but it all came off plus a lot more later, and I felt 100% better.

    VLCD's are not something most people can maintain for life, so don't start down that road. I eventually dropped 42 lbs (pre-pregnancy) and have been able to maintain a very healthy pregnancy gain without feeling out of control.

    My advice is not to look at the goal. Look at it on a daily basis. Hit your calories and your daily goals. Take it one day at a time, one meal at a time. Eventually, you'll get where it's not such a big deal when your body readjusts to the higher intake. You'll feel so much better, and will still make progress though it will be slower. Patience is huge with this. It's the difference between long-term success and failure.
  • kaylabrianna
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    Oh and make sure you drink a ton of water! 2L minimum.
  • tmauck4472
    tmauck4472 Posts: 1,783 Member
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    I personally think that if you that worried then up them but slowly over a couple of weeks. I don't think it will hurt to go back to eating normally. but I don't know. You can't worry about the weight when you need to get back to normal.
  • ebony__
    ebony__ Posts: 519 Member
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    Thanks everyone for your advice and supportiveness :)
  • ebony__
    ebony__ Posts: 519 Member
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    Ok I upped my calories back up to 1000 for 2 days and haven't gained anything so I'm going to go back up to 1200 today and see how I go :)
  • Ravenesque_
    Ravenesque_ Posts: 257 Member
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    2 day gain is nothing.

    My body gained 6lbs in one day last night. Am I bothered? No, that's perfectly normal a human body.

    Your scale only shows your general trend. Don't put too much store by it if it screws with your head too much.

    PS GL =]
  • FlaxMilk
    FlaxMilk Posts: 3,452 Member
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    Have you considered allowing yourself to eat more than 1200 calories so you will have more room for a deficit once you get closer to your GW? I don't know how much you weigh, but if you want to lose 50 lbs, you can probably eat more. I lose weight at 1200 calories when I am at 110 lbs. You would be able to lose weight at a higher calorie intake and then save the 1200 calorie time for when you are working on the last bit of weight.