Am I eating enough? Please help!

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AmandaB4588
AmandaB4588 Posts: 655
in Food and Nutrition
Hello all! I have had weird weigh-ins the past couple weeks and wanted to know what you guys think. I recently started eating a meat-free diet, and I do not eat many processed foods (do not know if this is relevant or not.) I eat a lot of greens, and I feel really great about my diet. The problem is that THE SCALE ISN'T MOVING!!

I am eating 1000 calories or less a day even though my goal is 1200. I am wondering if the problem is that I am not eating enough. I feel like I eat enough and am never hungry so I am not intentionally cutting calories. It is just difficult to eat 1200 a day on a plant based diet. The thing that makes me think I am not eating enough is that I happen to go a little wild on the weekends. After behaving myself all last week, the scale did not budge when I weighed myself Saturday. Then I ate a heavy pasta dish and apple pie on Valentine's Day. When I weighed myself Monday to assess the damage, I had lost a pound. The same thing happened this week. No weight loss by Friday morning.... ice cream and a not-so-nice dinner Friday night.... lost a pound on Saturday morning.

What do you guys think is going on?

Replies

  • plussized
    plussized Posts: 72 Member
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    I believe that you aren't eating enough and that is your problem. When you eat below 1200, your body, by default, starts to go into starvation mode and stores the food that you do eat, making it harder to make the scale move. Your body isn't getting enough nutrients to function properly, not to mention, push to lose weight. You need to up your caloric intake somehow.

    Nuts are a great way to add calories to your diet because they are high in calories but most have good fats, protein and fiber. You could also eat avocado. It is also high in calories but has a lot of good fat in it.
  • hmwth
    hmwth Posts: 25
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    You have to eat at least 1200 cals a day or your body thinks it is starving and it will hoard. You need to eat meat, your body needs the protein.
  • lotusfromthemud
    lotusfromthemud Posts: 5,335 Member
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    Try adding in some calorie dense foods like nuts or avocados to increase your calories. Nut butter on an apple is about 300 calories, and doesn't feel like a lot of food.

    Make sure you're combining your foods to get complete proteins.

    HTH.:flowerforyou:
  • AmandaB4588
    AmandaB4588 Posts: 655
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    You have to eat at least 1200 cals a day or your body thinks it is starving and it will hoard. You need to eat meat, your body needs the protein.

    I track my protein everyday to make sure I get enough. I eat a lot of nuts, beans, eggs, etc. If I am ever lacking, I add a little vanilla protein in my smoothie. I think I will start doing that everyday though because it's extra protein AND more calories.
  • melders30
    melders30 Posts: 2
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    Heya - I'm Debs - nice to electronically meet you! I think that your instincts are correct - you need to eat more - stick to your limits because if you don't eat enough calories your body will store fat - this info was confirmed by the nurse that a saw a month ago!

    I had the same issue, I was cutting back loads and I have reccently given up wheat and cut back loads on dairy too. My diet has a lot of chicken, fish and veg and so I don't naturally clock up that many calories either.... and then I found I lost weight after a big night out, or consumming a little more than normal.

    As long as you don't go over 2000 cals you shouldn't gain weight, but if you even go up to 1500 you will still lose weight, just probably 1lb instead of 2.

    Here are some tips to keep ya cal count up...

    Try adding some little good for you treats into your day e.g. nuts and dried fruit also try lindt 70% cocoa ( if you like dark chocolate) and one square is 50 cals - I alow myself a square a day - it takes away sweet cravings and dark chocolate is quite good for you, it has antioxidants, iron and vitamin c!

    Why not have a small glass of wine - red wiine is full of antioxidants and thought to be very good for the heart (in moderation!)

    Advocado is calorific but it has good fat in it and is very good for you and it is lush in a sandwich with prawns, or guacamole to dip carrot sticks in!

    Houmous is another great one - I never by the lowfat because they usually pad them out with lots of alien things that I don't even know what they are. Houmous is fairly high in cals but low in fat and it's a great source of protein which is great if you are avoiding meat!

    That's all I can think of for the moment!

    Hope it helps

    good luck

    debs :-) x
  • AmandaB4588
    AmandaB4588 Posts: 655
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    Thank you all for responding so quickly. It is a hard idea to wrap you mind around--- eat MORE to lose weight--- but I have been thinking this is the problem and am happy you guys agree. The friends I talked to about this were making me feel crazy when I suggested I should eat more, saying that "it makes no sense."

    Now I feel much better about going into this week knowing I must reach my calorie intake.
  • courtney_love2001
    courtney_love2001 Posts: 1,468 Member
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    Head over to the newbie threads on "general weightloss." They are the threads at the top. There's one called "700 calories a day and not losing." You will get some real insight here, so I encourage you to check them out...they're written by some really knowledgeable people! Summed up: starving yourself slows your metabolism so anything that you do eat your body holds on to. Eat 1200 a day and you will lose...I have!
  • jmichel
    jmichel Posts: 3
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    I use MyFitnessPal to help me track carbs to protein to fat. In order for me to lose weight, I have to have the right balance of all three. On weeks when I succeed, I drop weight. If I don't meet these guideliness, the scale won't budge. I find it hard to eat meat, too, but that's okay - just add whey protein. Whey protein is fat free, very low in carbs and high in protein. Stay away from the canned stuff and make your own shake. My morning breakfast is 1/4 cup protein oatmeal (which is only 9 carbs and 12 protein), 1/2 cup ff cottage cheese, one scoop whey protein 23 grams protein, and 1/2 cup blueberries -- plus about 2 t fiber. I find this breakfast very yummy and keeps me full until noon -- serve it warm, by the way. So, equal out your protein grams to your carb grams -- I do 100 protein and 100 carbs -- and try to get your fat down to 25 grams a day. I work on these three issues and don't worry about the calories. I will tell you, though, my daily calorie count is about 1,200 when I meet these guidelines and I am not hungry, either.
  • dogmeat
    dogmeat Posts: 83
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    I'll echo what everyone else has already stated, your problems are quite likely related to not eating enough. I'd advise adding more nuts throughout the day to pad the calories. They're good for you, dense enough to fit in anywhere, and full of delicious calories.

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