Resetting my metabolism without gaining a bazillion pounds

squimkin
squimkin Posts: 15 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
For the past few... YEARS, even - probably since I started puberty - I was obsessed with losing weight. So I was on some pretty extreme diets. Ultimately, I gained more than I lost, and now here I am, 19, eating 1000 cals a day and maintaining my weight. I mean it - maintaining. I will weight myself weekly, and I always weigh the same (66.8 kg / 147.2 lbs), give or take 200g. Not even an entire kilo, just always, always that.

I am sick of it. I know I don't eat enough. I KNOW. My issue is that I live in a house where everyone eats seriously unhealthily (I am the eldest and I weight the least. My youngest brother is 12 and he weighs more than I do) and I don't have a job (not allowed to get one while I'm still in high school - I graduate in November) so I can't buy my own groceries. I can't move out either.

I feel very trapped. When I cook for myself I get told off for using "their" groceries. If I ask to buy veggies, I get chewed out because I'm apparently trying to 'lord my rabbit food over everyone else'. I'm not making this **** up.

Sorry for ranting, guys. Anyway, is there anything I can do to reset my metabolism without eating badly and without gaining weight? Please, please help :(

Replies

  • geekyjock76
    geekyjock76 Posts: 2,720 Member
    If those extreme diets were very low calorie diets, which caused you to regain all the weight back after eating normally again, then recovering your metabolism/TDEE will unfortunately lead to the same outcome. You'll just have to accept the regain and keep eating the maximum amount of calories needed to maintain your weight when you get to that point. To find what your adjusted TDEE is, perhaps increase caloric intake by 100 every week and monitor progress - just make sure you weigh your food - if possible - and log what you eat as accurately as possible. Since you restricted so long, it may take over a year to fully recover.

    I am more concerned about the fact you admitted to restricting as soon as puberty. This is somewhat unsettling because adolescents who restrict before they fully mature run the risk of never reaching peak bone mass density. Unfortunately, calcium supplementation and estrogen therapy is not successful in recovering this lost bone mass density like it is with older women. Thus, resistance training will be recommended method of recovering your lost lean mass (of which, bone density is included).
  • joshdann
    joshdann Posts: 618 Member
    I mostly agree, except that you don't necessarily have to gain weight to reverse the affects of adaptive thermogenesis (what you're calling "reset my metabolism"). You can help do this with exercise, especially strength training. You can switch to eating a lot more protein (while maintaining your current caloric intake). You can, as the previous poster said, reduce your deficit to something very small or even at your maintenance level... this is tricky, though. You need to be meticulous about your intake logging, and you need to go get your metabolic rate measured to know what your actual maintenance needs are. If you find yourself gaining after increasing calories, reduce them back a little bit. It took a long time to get where you are right now and it will take a long time to get back.

    All of that said, if you still have weight to lose, there's really no benefit from doing this right now. Continue eating at a deficit, perhaps up your training a bit so you can eat more of the stuff the rest of your family eats. There's a really good chance you're eating more than 1000 calories if you're maintaining. Even under the worst circumstances, a 147lb person should lose weight at 1000 calories. Weigh your food, become more careful about your logging, things like that. I bet you find that you're actually taking in closer to 1500.
  • squimkin
    squimkin Posts: 15 Member
    Thank you for your input :)

    I know I messed up metabolism up majorly :( I was actually doing this sort of crap before I even started puberty. Full-blown bulimia from 10 to 14... messed up I know :P I'm recovered now, but I know I at least stunted my height and growth (I'm 163cm/5.35ft tall, as opposed to the rest of my family who are all above 175cm/5.75ft, even the women).

    What is resistance training? Could I do it without any equipment? I can't afford going to the gym (I've been running about ~4-5K 2-3 days a week, but that hasn't done anything either). Again, thank you for helping me :)
  • squimkin
    squimkin Posts: 15 Member
    @joshdann: Thank you! I will buy a food scale ASAP.

    I try to log my food as accurately as possible but I think I'm underestimating the power of a food scale :) As I mentioned, I am at the moment running 4-5K 2-3x a week with the Zombies, Run! app (best $3 I ever spent, it's so much fun!)

    Should I "eat back" those calories burned exercising?
  • joshdann
    joshdann Posts: 618 Member
    Zombies, Run! is a lot of fun :)

    "eating back" exercise calories all depends on your goals. Before you can make that decision though, you really have to get on top of what you're actually eating and what you're actually burning. Given your living/job situation, I can't really recommend having RMR tests done and buying a heart rate monitor (HRM)... but you can do some experimenting yourself. Get the logging straightened out (log *everything* you eat!) and forget about the exercise calories for now. Once you know for sure what you're eating, and for sure that you're maintaining weight at given intake, reduce them a bit.

    I can recommend things all night, but there is one very important thing to note: As you formerly struggled with eating disorders (and at such a young age), you should really consult a medical doctor, then a nutritionist. In that order :). Your weight and your height don't necessarily point to a weight problem. You may just need to add in some strength training and forget about how much you weigh. You probably don't have a lot of fat to burn. Your BMI is right at the borderline of normal and overweight. Again, these are things to discuss with your doctor.

    No offense meant, but you said you have had trouble with these things in the past. I thin it's best to put your health in the hands of the professionals, at least for a while. Find a doctor you trust, get him/her to recommend a nutritionist, then let them control how you handle this. They are way more capable of getting in tune with what your body needs than some anonymous people on the internet.
  • RunEatLift
    RunEatLift Posts: 68
    Hi! Have you heard of reverse dieting? It's basically adding calories very slowly to wake up your metabolism without a huge weight gain. It's usually done by bodybuilders or bikini competitors post competition.

    There's information about it on Layne Nortons blog: http://www.biolayne.com/blog/
    In one article he says:
    "Post diet drop protein by 10% increase carbs by 40-60% and fat by 10%.
    Drop fat burners and reduce cardio to twice per week.
    In the first week you should gain a little but in the second week you should drop a little showing metabolism is kicking in again.
    If so add in an extra 20 carbs.
    For the next 10 weeks each week up carbs by 5-25 grams and fats by 0-5 grams depending on how your metabolism is responding ie are you dropping weight again."

    However when eating 1000 calories per day it's unlikely that you're even getting enough protein, so disregard that first rule. Set your protein at around 110 - 130g/day. Start fats at around 40g and then fill in the rest with carbs.
    I would suggest jumping to 1500 immediately - you WILL see an increase on the scale but it WILL be water. Focus on restoring your metabolism first, then you can focus on fat loss.
    This website might also be of use: http://180degreehealth.com/

    We're actually exactly the same weight and I've dealt with eating disorders in my past, but I'm currently losing fat while still eating 2000 calories per day, lifting heavy weights 2-3 times per week and fitting in some walking. With a history of an eating disorder it's so important that you lose weight under supervision. So far I can say that luckily I've had no disordered thoughts, but it's been great to have someone to talk to about everything. If I can do it, so can you!
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    This content has been removed.

Categories