Accidentally starving myself...

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domitom
domitom Posts: 10 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello guys. Recently I've noticed that I've lost a significant amount of weight. Not sure how much because I don't own a scale, but even my tight pair of jeans are fitting loosely. When I last went home, I was 137.5 (5ft 1). Anyway, my problem is that I've lost the weight by barely eating anything in the past week or so due to the stress of finals and a loss of appetite due to some mild depression. No more than 1000 calories/day. But, I'm going home and I'm gonna try to eat more, and I know I'll have to gain all the weight back. I also want to start exercising, something I really can't fit into my schedule at college. My question is, if I start exercising while eating more, will that help the weight stay down? Or should I just let my weight go up and then start over trying to lose weight the right way?

Also, sorry for any typos, writing this on my phone.

Replies

  • Ed98043
    Ed98043 Posts: 1,333 Member
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    Why do you have to gain all the weight back just to lose it again?
  • domitom
    domitom Posts: 10 Member
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    Sorry, instead of "have to" I should've said I'll probably gain it back because I'm eating so little now that going back to eating normally would have that effect...I think.
  • JustKelsey19
    JustKelsey19 Posts: 1 Member
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    Hi! I'm not a nutritionist or dietician, but from experience, I'm much more hungry when I'm exercising. The reason? I'm burning calories! Everyone is different but you're going to want to eat more while you're exercising. If you don't, you're not going to have the energy to stick with it. I'm sorry about the mild depression... been there... hope it goes away soon. :) To answer your question, yes, I think that exercising while eating more will help the weight stay down. And your body may change more than you know! :) Also, exercise does help with the depression. And if you focus on eating the right things, you may not have to eat more. But you can if you're hungry, and if you're eating the right things, you don't have to feel guilty. Just my thoughts :)
  • JAllen32
    JAllen32 Posts: 991 Member
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    I'm sorry, but this post makes no sense. If you know how many calories you are eating, then you are not accidentally doing it. It takes effort to count calories.
  • domitom
    domitom Posts: 10 Member
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    Well I used to use the MFP app religiously when I was trying to lose weight so I know many calories are in certain foods. And when I'm only eating one or two things a day it's not exactly hard math. And thank you for the advice KWilliams, it is hard but I've been trying my hardest to stay optimistic.
  • whitebalance
    whitebalance Posts: 1,655 Member
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    Yup -- More calories in, more calories out, it will work. Maybe not immediately, but ultimately it will. Expect a gain of a few pounds soon after you raise your intake. Give it a few weeks or a month to level out, as it probably will in that time.
    Worth reading if you haven't already: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/993576-why-you-gain-weight-if-you-eat-more-than-your-cut

    Based on the numbers you mentioned, it looks like your TDEE at a sedentary level is around 1700 calories -- I would try to work up to that number as a net calorie target, eating exercise calories on top of it. If you want to lose weight, you could add in a modest deficit -- say, a pound or a pound and a half a month -- for a net calorie target around 1500-1600.
    TDEE calculator: http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/tdee-calculator.html
  • Mokey41
    Mokey41 Posts: 5,769 Member
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    You don't have to gain anything back. You should be able to quite easily adapt to eating what it takes to maintain your current weight or even lose more if that's your goal. No one is starving on 1,000 calories a day. You are still alive, right? Eating normally doesn't mean eating too much.
  • cafeaulait7
    cafeaulait7 Posts: 2,459 Member
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    If calories in vs calories out is really completely true, you won't gain the weight back if you eat at maintenance (or under) for your new weight now.

    I phrased it that way because I think I'd gain it back, too, if this was at the beginning of your diet (so that would be my 'setpoint' weight, which does seem to have its own rules, lol). I think exercise will only help. That seems to be of huge importance in my losses, anyway, especially at the beginning :)
  • gigglesinthesun
    gigglesinthesun Posts: 860 Member
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    what you usually gain back after coming off a restriction is water and glycogen, not fat

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