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Is my metabolism screwed?

bellarosa223
bellarosa223 Posts: 4
edited February 3 in Health and Weight Loss
2 years ago I was 5’4” and 156 lbs. I did the insulin resistance diet because my Mom had lost a lot of weight on it and I got down to 125 lbs. However, over the course of the year following I gained back 12 pounds. I found MFP, got the standard 1200 calories and began to lose again. When my weight loss slowed, I upped my calories to 1400. When that stopped working, I tried upping my calories to 1600 but was just maintaining. In order to lose weight again, I kept lowering my calories more and more with each plateau. I eat in the 800-1,000 calorie range and I am 113-116 lbs. Any time I have a cheat meal, I gain almost exactly 1.4 pounds and then it takes forever to lose it again! I’m getting so fed up with eating 900 calories a day and not losing! Yesterday I netted below 800 and finally lost 0.2. When I net in the 900s I don’t lose anything. I want to lose about 10 pounds so I know weight loss will be slow but not this slow! Is my metabolism screwed? How can I fix it? My diary is open.

Replies

  • LAW_714
    LAW_714 Posts: 258
    2 years ago I was 5’4” and 156 lbs. I did the insulin resistance diet because my Mom had lost a lot of weight on it and I got down to 125 lbs. However, over the course of the year following I gained back 12 pounds. I found MFP, got the standard 1200 calories and began to lose again. When my weight loss slowed, I upped my calories to 1400. When that stopped working, I tried upping my calories to 1600 but was just maintaining. In order to lose weight again, I kept lowering my calories more and more with each plateau. I eat in the 800-1,000 calorie range and I am 113-116 lbs. Any time I have a cheat meal, I gain almost exactly 1.4 pounds and then it takes forever to lose it again! I’m getting so fed up with eating 900 calories a day and not losing! Yesterday I netted below 800 and finally lost 0.2. When I net in the 900s I don’t lose anything. I want to lose about 10 pounds so I know weight loss will be slow but not this slow! Is my metabolism screwed? How can I fix it? My diary is open.

    How accurate are you about logging? Do you use quick calories? Do you weigh and/or measure your food

    Most people (myself included) have a tendency to underestimate what they've eaten and over estimate what they've burned. It's possible to screw up your metabolsm but I'd eiminate the possibility of mis-calculating what's eaten vs. what's burned first.
  • bellarosa223
    bellarosa223 Posts: 4

    How accurate are you about logging? Do you use quick calories? Do you weigh and/or measure your food

    Most people (myself included) have a tendency to underestimate what they've eaten and over estimate what they've burned. It's possible to screw up your metabolsm but I'd eiminate the possibility of mis-calculating what's eaten vs. what's burned first.

    I would say very accurate. I have a food scale and I weigh everything. I don't even use tablespoons and measuring cups anymore. I don't use quick calories. I have a HRM so I think my calories burned are pretty accurate unless my HRM is really off. I take the number my HRM gives me and log my burn as 80% of that number just in case.
  • samammay
    samammay Posts: 468
    The 11 reasons you might not be losing weight:

    http://www.acaloriecounter.com/blog/why-am-i-not-losing-weight/
  • kr1stadee
    kr1stadee Posts: 1,774 Member
    If you are gaining, or not losing at 900 calories per day, then your metabolism isn't great.

    How long did you give each adjustment before you gave up and tried something else?

    At 5'4, 103-106lbs is pretty low. Why do you want to lose 10 more pounds? Is there a certain look you are trying to achieve? Maybe you should look into strength training (and eating more.. you need to build your metabolism back up and preserve lean muscle).

    I suggest you search out some of the before and afters of women lifters here. There are many that stay the same weight but become much smaller. (and not one of them are bulky!!)
  • bellarosa223
    bellarosa223 Posts: 4
    The 11 reasons you might not be losing weight:

    http://www.acaloriecounter.com/blog/why-am-i-not-losing-weight/

    My diary is open. Like I said before, I weight EVERYTHING. I have a HRM and I take 80% of that number to log. Yes, I do have cheat meals but that happens 1 time per week. The rest of the time I eat 800-1,000 calories. Even on the days where I have a cheat meal, we're talking about 2,000 cals for the whole day which is not super unreasonable and really shouldn't be causing me to gain 2 pounds
  • bellarosa223
    bellarosa223 Posts: 4
    If you are gaining, or not losing at 900 calories per day, then your metabolism isn't great.

    How long did you give each adjustment before you gave up and tried something else?

    At 5'4, 103-106lbs is pretty low. Why do you want to lose 10 more pounds? Is there a certain look you are trying to achieve? Maybe you should look into strength training (and eating more.. you need to build your metabolism back up and preserve lean muscle).

    I suggest you search out some of the before and afters of women lifters here. There are many that stay the same weight but become much smaller. (and not one of them are bulky!!)

    My weight is fluctuating a lot between 113 and 116 but mostly around 115.

    I did 1400 cals for about 5 months before I plateaued. I only did 1600 calories for a week because I didn't lose anything the first few days and then I started to gain.

    I want to get rid of the fat I carry in my thighs and butt especially. I really want to look slim and petite. I think I look like this:
    http://www.mybodygallery.com/photos-11811-body-shape.htm?StartAt=41#.UjIDglPD_IV

    And I want to look like this:
    http://www.mybodygallery.com/photos-35714-body-shape.htm?StartAt=3#.UjIDw1PD_IU
  • kr1stadee
    kr1stadee Posts: 1,774 Member
    If you are gaining, or not losing at 900 calories per day, then your metabolism isn't great.

    How long did you give each adjustment before you gave up and tried something else?

    At 5'4, 103-106lbs is pretty low. Why do you want to lose 10 more pounds? Is there a certain look you are trying to achieve? Maybe you should look into strength training (and eating more.. you need to build your metabolism back up and preserve lean muscle).

    I suggest you search out some of the before and afters of women lifters here. There are many that stay the same weight but become much smaller. (and not one of them are bulky!!)

    My weight is fluctuating a lot between 113 and 116 but mostly around 115.

    I did 1400 cals for about 5 months before I plateaued. I only did 1600 calories for a week because I didn't lose anything the first few days and then I started to gain.

    I want to get rid of the fat I carry in my thighs and butt especially. I really want to look slim and petite. I think I look like this:
    http://www.mybodygallery.com/photos-11811-body-shape.htm?StartAt=41#.UjIDglPD_IV

    And I want to look like this:
    http://www.mybodygallery.com/photos-35714-body-shape.htm?StartAt=3#.UjIDw1PD_IU

    So essentially you want to lose fat. And as much as we'd love it point and it's gone, we can't spot reduce.

    You should really look into strength training (read: lift heavy). You need to eat more to be able to get yourself through the workouts.
    Have you figured out your TDEE and all that jazz? If I were you, I'd slowly work my way up there, stay away from the scale, and start strength training.

    You could benefit from a "reset", and that's where you eat at TDEE for 6-8 weeks (yep, scary. Yep, you'll probably gain, but it's temporary! You need to repair your metabolism). Start strength training - I am doing Stronglifts 5x5 - it's great, and my session is done in 45 minutes. I am not upping the weight as fast as it suggests, but it works for me!

    This is the ultimate thread for women's lifting results. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1045433-women-lifting-heavy-with-pics?hl=women+lifting

    Have a look through, start researching your numbers (I go to Scooby's website), search Heybales here and read his road maps.. Your body will thank you!
  • samammay
    samammay Posts: 468
    It is impossible to gain weight while eating a calorie deficit. If it were possible, it would be impossible to starve to death.

    Is your HRM calibrated properly? Is your TDEE calculated properly? Your BMR? Your scale? Are you missing anything in your log (like your cheat day, which you say is only 2000, but unless you are calculating it, it could be twice that).
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
    It sounds like you're seeing the normal water weight/glycogen increase after a cheat meal and after increasing your calories.

    This might be a beneficial read: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1071202-why-you-gain-weight-if-you-eat-more-than-your-cut
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