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need help with metabolsim after very low calorie diet

smooman
smooman Posts: 4
edited February 23 in Health and Weight Loss
Hello everyone,

Recently I've been on an extreme low calorie diet (eating 200cals a day) in order to lose weight (was at 263, now 40 days later I am at 225) and with the 'dieting' period over I'm getting extremely nervous about eating again.

I don't want to gain the weight back, I don't want to be too fat for my clothes again, and I don't want to end up back at 290 lbs where i started a year and a half ago.

over the past year and a half i have alternated eating whatever and starving myself like this when I gain weight back, I'm tired of the yo-yoing with my weight. I just want to fix my metabolism so i can eat at maintenance without gaining weight again.

please help... please.

Replies

  • ravenmiss
    ravenmiss Posts: 384 Member
    Have you considered speaking to a health/medical professional, it sounds like you have an eating disorder and need some help in that respect.
  • donyellemoniquex3
    donyellemoniquex3 Posts: 2,384 Member
    Have you considered speaking to a health/medical professional, it sounds like you have an eating disorder and need some help in that respect.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    You have an eating disorder and should seek professional help not the opinions of people on the internet. Go to your doctor and admit what you have been doing to yourself and ask for their help.
  • Unknown
    Unknown
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  • Annie_01
    Annie_01 Posts: 3,096 Member
    Your profile says that you still have 65lbs to lose...

    You are female and at 225 your still fall in the obese category. Do you not want to lose the rest of the weight?

    Why not ask for advice to lose the remaining weight in a healthy manner?

    First however...maybe you need to consider seeing someone who specializes in eating disorders. They will help you set up an eating plan.
  • mulecanter
    mulecanter Posts: 1,792 Member
    At 225 you can probably eat nearly 2000 calories a day and still lose at 2lbs and week. How about some moderation in your approach? You are setting yourself up for yo yo. Read some threads and educate yourself--why else would you be using MFP
  • sodakat
    sodakat Posts: 1,126 Member
    Or you could start by adding 100 calories a day for a few days then another 100 etc so it is a gradual increase instead of a binge like you've been doing. Once you get to about 1400 calories stay there for a while and see if you start losing again. What does MFP say you should be eating to lose a pound a week?
  • chrisdavey
    chrisdavey Posts: 9,834 Member
    I really hope this is a troll.
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    I just want to fix my metabolism so i can eat at maintenance without gaining weight again.
    It's not about "fixing" your metabolism. You're going to have to pay strict attention to what you are eating - quite possibly forever.

    That's just the way it is, unfortunately.
  • smooman
    smooman Posts: 4
    I'm actually a guy...

    no i'm not a troll.

    i used to be about 200 (in 2001) but then i stayed with some friends for a few years (and they ate mostly pasta, as well as my own bad choices) so my weight balooned to nearly 300 lbs. I was like that until 2013, when i finally got sick of people looking at me funny (at 5'6 295 lbs doesn't look very good) so i decided to just stop eating. did this for 30 days and lost 30 pounds.. first time i had any progress like that for a long time. so i went back to eating normally, though a bit less than before, but before i knew it i was 10 pounds heavier.. so i freaked out and stopped eating again... rinse and repeat until now.

    I realize i probably broke something inside of me. I just want to fix it. that's all. so i can be normal like everyone else.
  • ravenmiss
    ravenmiss Posts: 384 Member
    The way to fix it is to admit you have an eating disorder and seek help with it before you become severely ill.

    Btw people think you're female because that's what your profile says.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    The way to fix it is to admit you have an eating disorder and seek help with it before you become severely ill.

    Btw people think you're female because that's what your profile says.
    This.

    OP, please get professional help. What you are doing is not healthy at all.
  • smooman
    smooman Posts: 4
    that's... embarassing. not good at the whole computer thing.

    sorry
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
    Do you have a medical doctor and can you call tomorrow to make an appt?
  • LaurenBrooke1843
    LaurenBrooke1843 Posts: 73 Member
    I would definitely speak with a doctor about upping your intake gradually. After eating around 200 calories for awhile your stomach has probably shrunk, and it would be pretty difficult (and painful) to suddenly up your calorie intake to a "normal" amount.
  • smooman
    smooman Posts: 4
    I don't really have a doc, bit of an unemployed loser atm.

    again sorry.
  • Iwishyouwell
    Iwishyouwell Posts: 1,888 Member
    You didn't "break" your metabolism. That's not really how the human metabolism works.

    The reason you regained weight previously after a very low calorie diet is because you started eating above your energy expenditure. The reason most people regain wildly after periods of extended fasting or VLC diets isn't because their metabolism, which is quite resilient and adaptable, was broken, it's because they went overboard in eating after the restriction. People who are able to lose on a VLC diet and transition off do so by remaining as controlled during their calorie upping and maintenance as they did during their restriction. Unfortunately for the vast majority of dieters who are stuck in a binge/restrict cycle, that will never be the case.

    Stop worrying about your metabolism. Slowly reintroduce foods, while measuring and weighing everything so you know exactly how much you're eating. You are going to have to exert even more control with upping your calories as you did when restricting them.
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    The reason most people regain wildly after periods of extended fasting or VLC diets isn't because their metabolism, which is quite resilient and adaptable, was broken, it's because they went overboard in eating after the restriction.

    This.

    With the amount you have to lose, you can actually get away with eating extremely low cal. It takes a bit of planning to do right, but it can be done safely and healthily. Your problem is when you're off-diet, you're overeating. There are many ways to go about fixing that, possibly the simplest being to log everything you eat, even when you're in "maintenance".
  • fificrazy
    fificrazy Posts: 234
    Because you DID create such a massive deficit (a minimum deficit of 1,000 calories for 40 days!?), expect a lot of reactive eating. And I don't want to see any follow up remarks about how you've been "binging"- it's not binging. When you're on the restrictive eating spectrum, you can never be on the binging side. You've done a lot of damage internally and in getting energy equal and to make repairs, you will have to eat a minimum of 2,500. You will probably experience bloating, fatigue, soreness, intestinal discomfort, hormone fluctuations but eventually you'll maintain again and it's not until then that you should consult a doctor and begin a proper, monitored diet.

    And contrary to a few of the other remarks, your digestive system HAS probably slowed. In states of restriction, the body will do that in order to suck every last nutrient and measure of energy out of your food. It will also shut off some of the less important functions (hair, reproductive system)- as you probably know. Your heart rate will drop, your internal temperature drops, etc. all of this to conserve the very little energy it's receiving. So actually, yes, your metabolism has slowed.
  • Iwishyouwell
    Iwishyouwell Posts: 1,888 Member
    And contrary to a few of the other remarks, your digestive system HAS probably slowed. In states of restriction, the body will do that in order to suck every last nutrient and measure of energy out of your food. It will also shut off some of the less important functions (hair, reproductive system)- as you probably know. Your heart rate will drop, your internal temperature drops, etc. all of this to conserve the very little energy it's receiving. So actually, yes, your metabolism has slowed.

    Nobody said his metabolism hasn't slowed. His metabolism however isn't damaged or screwed up. A slower metabolism is a perfectly natural, normal, healthy response to a severe caloric restriction. The body is built to endure well both periods of plenty AND famine. Your body will slow down the metabolism in order to reduce energy expenditure and protect it's stores, but this isn't a bad thing at all.
  • EvgeniZyntx
    EvgeniZyntx Posts: 24,208 Member
    With or without the help of a physician you will need to:

    - learn to eat more reasonable, for the long term
    - break the binge / starve cycle, develop a better relationship with food
    - improve your knowledge about food and exercise

    Consider MFP as an information resource, all the heavy lifting is yours alone to do.

    edit:typo
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    To start with I would consider a couple of weeks on a 600-800 calorie VLCD like Optifast, Slimfast etc then transition to one good meal and 2-3 substitutes, then 2 meals a day etc progressively increasing your calories maybe 200/day at a time in 2 week steps.

    That way your mind and body should adapt progressively to the extra calories and food while working towards a "normal" diet of sustainable eating somewhere around 1600-2000 calories at a guess.
  • 89nunu
    89nunu Posts: 1,082 Member
    I agree with the others. You you should seek medical advise to get to the mental reasons of why you ate this little and get you on the right track again.

    But also hae alook at reverse dieting to get your metabolism up again.

    some info here: http://www.coachcalorie.com/reverse-dieting/
  • helsbelshms
    helsbelshms Posts: 93 Member
    I've got to say, this does sound like an eating disorder. Apart from going to see a professional about it, the best advice I can give is to eat 2000 calories a day and DO NOT weigh yourself for at least 2 months (preferably longer). Doing this, you will put some weight back on initially but as your body gets used to eating a healthy and normal amount of food again, it will start to even out and eventually you will start losing weight again. This however will be extremely hard to do if you do in fact have an eating disorder.

    Weight loss is a marathon, not a sprint. You should always eat the most food you can while still in a deficit and losing between 0.5 - 2lb a week. 200 calories is starvation and you can do some serious damage to your body/organs if you keep this up.
  • Unknown
    Unknown
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  • blueboxgeek
    blueboxgeek Posts: 574 Member
    I do hope you can get some help as it certainly sounds like you could do with it.

    Just my two cents which may hopefully reassure you, I lost some weight following a very low calorie diet under the care of my doctor (500-800 cals a day). I was worried when I started eating again but what I did was just straight up 2000 calories. Over the course of 3 weeks I gained around 6lbs (this should have been maintenance calories for me) but for the 4th week I stayed the same. After a couple of weeks of staying pretty much the same I cut my calories to between 1600-1700 and eating back around 50% of exercise calories and I started slowly losing again.

    So I would suggest some professional help, but also wanted to reassure you that with a bit of patience you can be back losing weight in a healthy manner in just a few weeks. Good luck!
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    I don't really have a doc, bit of an unemployed loser atm.

    again sorry.
    Go to your local clinic then, or call the health department. It sounds like you need to get some help.
This discussion has been closed.

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