i need advice but please don't' slate me.......

khadijak17
khadijak17 Posts: 393 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
i began my journey back in 2011, i started at eating 1200 calories a day with no cheat days at all, i was exercising and felt great!.
last year i began to take my weight loss to an extreme level under eating and taking in only 900 calories and a cheat day once a week, my cheat days were around 2700 calories on these days.
Anyways for the past few months i have carried on doing this but my cheat days dont stay on the one day, they go on for days, then i pull myself together and start all over again!
i found on 1200-1300 calories i dont want to or feel like cheating, so my question is should it be ok if i up my calories to 1200 i will less likely cheat and destroy my progress or will it make me gain weight as i have heard it can damage your metabolism to eat so low however as i did 6 days vlcd and then on the 7th ate more im thinking my metabolism would be ok as the overall calories for the week were fine id appreciate your help :)

Replies

  • lsmsrbls
    lsmsrbls Posts: 232 Member
    It sounds like you probably need to talk to a professional. Good luck.
  • AJ_G
    AJ_G Posts: 4,158 Member
    By eating very low calories most days and having high calorie cheat days, you're probably averaging more weekly calories then if you just ate a healthy amount of calories every day which is going to hurt any weight loss you are shooting for. The very low calorie days are triggering your binges and it is a bad cycle to be on. I can't really give you a solid calorie recommendation without knowing your weight and body fat, but you should never really eat as low as 900 calories
  • khadijak17
    khadijak17 Posts: 393 Member
    bump
  • maybeazure
    maybeazure Posts: 301 Member
    It looks like you should be close to maintenance level (based on your ticker). I would suggest figuring out what your maintenance calories should be and then gradually increase to that. I think it is highly unlikely that you will gain weight if you start eating 1200-1300 calories a day, other than possibly some water weight if you end up eating more sodium too. But that would be temporary.

    I do think it is easier not to cheat when eating a reasonable amount of calories. I don't feel the need for a cheat day, although on special occasions I might pan to increase my calories a little.
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
    1200 calories is the bare minimum for a sedentary woman. And honestly, you probably need to eat even more than that. Your body is looking for extra calories and taking control to get them. Listen to it, do some research, and increase your daily intake.
  • Ann262
    Ann262 Posts: 266 Member
    It seems you were doing fine at the 1200 to 1300 calorie a day range. So why did you change? At 900 calories per day, you aren't feeding yourself enough to maintain your body functions so naturally a cheat day will turn into a days long binge.

    I would say give up the notion of the cheat day and go back to what your were doing. Sure, you may see a pop up on the scale at first, just wait it out.
  • JustMeee333
    JustMeee333 Posts: 233
    I agree, the bare minimum EVERYWHERE states that a woman should eat is 1,200 calories, so I see no harm whatsoever to go to 1,200, or even 1,300.

    Enter your details here: http://caloriecount.about.com/tools/calories-goal (I love this site lol) and see what they say.
  • MQ1992
    MQ1992 Posts: 7
    900 is just very low
  • icandowhateveriputmymindto
    icandowhateveriputmymindto Posts: 602 Member
    I think that your cheat days shouldn't be as high.
  • Birder150
    Birder150 Posts: 677 Member
    It looks like you should be close to maintenance level (based on your ticker). I would suggest figuring out what your maintenance calories should be and then gradually increase to that. I think it is highly unlikely that you will gain weight if you start eating 1200-1300 calories a day, other than possibly some water weight if you end up eating more sodium too. But that would be temporary.

    I do think it is easier not to cheat when eating a reasonable amount of calories. I don't feel the need for a cheat day, although on special occasions I might pan to increase my calories a little.

    I agree wholeheartedly.
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
    Read this:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/3047-700-calories-a-day-and-not-losing
  • steffij100
    steffij100 Posts: 85 Member
    i began my journey back in 2011, i started at eating 1200 calories a day with no cheat days at all, i was exercising and felt great!.
    last year i began to take my weight loss to an extreme level under eating and taking in only 900 calories and a cheat day once a week, my cheat days were around 2700 calories on these days.
    Anyways for the past few months i have carried on doing this but my cheat days dont stay on the one day, they go on for days, then i pull myself together and start all over again!
    i found on 1200-1300 calories i dont want to or feel like cheating, so my question is should it be ok if i up my calories to 1200 i will less likely cheat and destroy my progress or will it make me gain weight as i have heard it can damage your metabolism to eat so low however as i did 6 days vlcd and then on the 7th ate more im thinking my metabolism would be ok as the overall calories for the week were fine id appreciate your help :)
  • whipsmart10014
    whipsmart10014 Posts: 29
    From observing friends, severe calorie restrictions frequently result in over-indulgence on "cheat" days. Eventually, this yo-yo of restrictions and binges develop into bulimia or binge-eating disorder (which introduce additional problems; tooth erosion, mood swings, etc). The desire to so severely monitor your calorie intake or intentionally deprive yourself suggests you may have "control" issues (which is very common in high-achieving, performance-oriented, alpha-type women).

    I recommend speaking with a registered dietician. He/She will likely advise you to return to eating 1200-1300 calories a day and try to find something else in your environment you can "control".
  • steffij100
    steffij100 Posts: 85 Member
    i began my journey back in 2011, i started at eating 1200 calories a day with no cheat days at all, i was exercising and felt great!.
    last year i began to take my weight loss to an extreme level under eating and taking in only 900 calories and a cheat day once a week, my cheat days were around 2700 calories on these days.
    Anyways for the past few months i have carried on doing this but my cheat days dont stay on the one day, they go on for days, then i pull myself together and start all over again!
    i found on 1200-1300 calories i dont want to or feel like cheating, so my question is should it be ok if i up my calories to 1200 i will less likely cheat and destroy my progress or will it make me gain weight as i have heard it can damage your metabolism to eat so low however as i did 6 days vlcd and then on the 7th ate more im thinking my metabolism would be ok as the overall calories for the week were fine id appreciate your help :)

    Sorry, posted too soon!

    I think you answered your own question. You say that on 1200-1300 you don't feel like cheating. And re-read your first sentence- you had no cheat days, you exercised and you felt great. Go back to that- if it takes your body a short while to adjust, it's more than worth it.

    Good luck to you :flowerforyou:
  • Birdiebull
    Birdiebull Posts: 9
    Metabolisms do start to slow when you're in a sustained deficit, but they bounce back really quickly! So don't worry! You should be eating at LEAST your BRM no matter what, and a certain percentage below your TDEE in order to lose weight.

    I ran into a similar problem by accident. I went into a huge calorie deficit for several months after I started a triathlon training program that more than tripled the number of calories I burned with exercise per week.

    Since I didn't start the training with the intention of burning more calories or loosing weight (I just wanted to get faster) it didn't occur to me to increase my caloric intake by much. Just a energy bar sometimes during a training session, but otherwise my diet remained the same. I lost weight at first but then my performance really suffering even though my weight wasn't moving.

    I started seeing a sports nutritionist who said that I was in such a deficit, my body had stopped losing lbs and instead was breaking down muscle (hence performance problems) and slowing my metabolism (hence stable weight). He started me on a diet that increased my calories by 500kcal/day for 2 weeks, then by 700kcal/day for the remainder of my training. After a month of eating more, I'd actually lost 3lbs and had much much much more energy.

    So don't be scared of starting to eat more. You wont lose more weight, and certainly wont lose any weight in a healthy way, if you don't start eating at least your BMR. If you're anxious about your slowed metabolism, you can kickstart it with weight training. And don't weight yourself for at least a couple weeks. You'll be surprised!
  • CollieFit
    CollieFit Posts: 1,683 Member
    Are you actually trying to be healthy or is this just about being thin??

    Work out what your macros should be. I doubt that on your vlcd days your body is getting anywhere near the right amount of proteins and fats that it needs to function properly. And I guess on your cheat days you're not likely to be pigging out on vegetables, so when is your body actually getting any decent nutrition?

    Do yourself a favour and change your mind set. It's not a competition of "starve - you win.... cheat you lose".
  • AlsDonkBoxSquat
    AlsDonkBoxSquat Posts: 6,128 Member
    You are having compulsory cheat days because you are on a very low calorie diet, it's your body's way of telling you "lady, this **** ain't working for me." and preventing you from starving to death.

    eat at a level where you feel satiated every day.
  • lavendy17
    lavendy17 Posts: 309 Member
    In addition, I think if you miss your favorite foods sometimes, have one item once in a while that you really like just so you don't feel deprived. I just had a muffin. I never eat those anymore and I miss them. Yeah, it made my daily calories go up to 1450, but that's a far cry from 2700 that you were having on cheat days.

    So don't make a whole day a big binge, but don't completely deny yourself.
  • Raynne413
    Raynne413 Posts: 1,527 Member
    i began my journey back in 2011, i started at eating 1200 calories a day with no cheat days at all, i was exercising and felt great!.
    last year i began to take my weight loss to an extreme level under eating and taking in only 900 calories and a cheat day once a week, my cheat days were around 2700 calories on these days.
    Anyways for the past few months i have carried on doing this but my cheat days dont stay on the one day, they go on for days, then i pull myself together and start all over again!
    i found on 1200-1300 calories i dont want to or feel like cheating, so my question is should it be ok if i up my calories to 1200 i will less likely cheat and destroy my progress or will it make me gain weight as i have heard it can damage your metabolism to eat so low however as i did 6 days vlcd and then on the 7th ate more im thinking my metabolism would be ok as the overall calories for the week were fine id appreciate your help :)

    I had this problem when I was over-restricting. My nutrition explained that my crazy eating days were my body's way of ensuring it's survival, and I was needing more calories and more fat.
  • khadijak17
    khadijak17 Posts: 393 Member
    thank you all for the responses i appreciate your honesty i am going to up my calories because i need to get out of this vicious circle once and for all :) x
  • Jackie_Paper
    Jackie_Paper Posts: 183 Member
    Yeah I think if you just have a steady day to day of some higher calorie amount you'd be okay, because then it would just feel like every day is an average day and not some weird fight / cycle with yourself. And your body would be come used to it not freaked out and like get confused and stop losing or something.
  • bwogilvie
    bwogilvie Posts: 2,130 Member
    Hey, you're only 3 lbs. from your goal, according to your ticker. You should eat more now, because when you reach your goal, you'll need to start eating at a maintenance level, and it's a bad idea to switch suddenly from a serious deficit to 800-900 more calories per day.

    I agree that the low calorie-binge cycle isn't healthy; it unconsciously reinforces the idea that overeating is a reward for virtue, rather than simply a problem that most of us need to address head on.

    Congratulations on being so close to the end, and good luck!
  • khadijak17
    khadijak17 Posts: 393 Member
    i know its something i need to work on and as of tomorrow i am going to start my new journey good amount of calories and exercise i know has worked before so will work again thanks again guys x
  • NonnyMary
    NonnyMary Posts: 982 Member
    When i read the OP, (first topic) I am hearing the words "cheat days" a bit too much, almost like the focus is on the cheat days. I think a cheat day (or a cheat meal) is supposed to be a day to enjoy some more food, not make it a way of life. Sounds like you're making it a way of life, which means you are not on a healthy way of eating for the rest of your life.

    It might be better to not to from one extreme to another and just every day eat moderately, not starve one day and then binge another.

    Sounds like you could work on better controlling your cravings so that you wont have to have a cheat day because every day will feel like a cheat day because you found a way to make delicious food which you enjoy and you wont look for that little vacation from healthy eating.

Categories