Chronic Undereater for 4 years and kept gaining. Time to lose!

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Replies

  • devil_in_a_blue_dress
    devil_in_a_blue_dress Posts: 5,214 Member
    hlandry06 wrote: »
    I have been to doctors and been checked out. Thyroid etc all clear! The only thing that makes sense to me is my body preserving..... I gained those 50lbs over a 4 year span. I was very active before that and went to no activity and then eating less..to then eating one meal a day. If I start eating 2200 calories like the calculator says based on my height weight and activty level. Wont I just gain even more?


    That's not how bodies work, short of metabolic disease.
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    edited April 2015
    OP, run your stats here: http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/

    I ran your stats and your maintain weight calories is around 1940, and to lose at a 15% it would be 1650.

    It is not possible to gain 50 pounds eating only 750 calories. I have to debate this unless all your meals were all home cooked, weighed and measured and you have journal of calorie counts.

    I really think you need to re-evaluate your past meals.. perhaps take a meal you eat regularly and enter it in MFP and see if in deed that meal comes up to 750...

    And you do not drink any thing during the day other than coffee???

    There is way over estimation on most of your daily meals. Do you eat the same thing every day... I am trying to wrap my head around this.. sorry for all the questions... ;)

  • ladybarometer
    ladybarometer Posts: 205 Member
    Like others said, go see a doctor. Even is starvation mode was a real thing that kept us from losing at all on very low cal diets, I don't think you suddenly went into it and gained the weight. You shouldn't be gaining at all on 750 calories a day. If it isn't medical, than I believe you are underestimating your calories. I was doing that for a long time, thinking salads were always the best way to go until I found out my favorite ones were around 1000 calories or more (even with grilled chicken). Really pay attention to your portions and eat as you always have, but count and see if that is the case. If not, go to the MD.
  • hlandry06
    hlandry06 Posts: 5 Member
    Hello, Thank you all for your information... You are right!! I went back to my main meal I used to eat every night. Which was taco shells, veggie crumbles, taco seasoning, taco sauce, cheese, and RICE A RONI. Definitely calculated that wrong. The rice a roni alone was 623 calories a night for half a box :-( It looks like my one meal and my coffee's had me around 1440/day!! YIKES. Who would of thought that one meal and coffee could do that ( I really did not snack). Thank you for opening my eyes I never knew..... Okay so im here now and trying. What amount of calories should I eat to lose 2lbs/week or where do I find this calculator? Thanks again everyone
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    OP FYI, the starvation thing you seem to be pointing to repeatedly is a myth.

    If you ask many experienced members here in the MFP community they will tell you the same thing.

    So you need to be looking into other aspects such as the under estimations of your daily calories that caused you to slowly gain this 50 pounds in the past 3 to 4 years. Which can't be right at 750 calories a day..
  • sympha01
    sympha01 Posts: 942 Member
    750 is not really a "big" dinner except for people who are trying to eat at a deficit and lose weight. For the rest of us, 750 can really be a perfectly normal sized dinner. I might even consider it a small dinner, particularly if I hadn't eat all day otherwise. And I actually AM in a deficit and losing weight, so.

    So what I'm saying is I think there's a disconnect between your perception that you're eating 750 calories and your perception that you're eating a big dinner. One of those things is not true. The fact that you're gaining weight suggests that it's the first one that's wrong. You are eating more than you think.

    What makes you certain that this dinner is 750 calories? Are you weighing your ingredients / portions? Are you being careful to verify the accuracy of the entries in the database you are using? Are you making to sure to log even small amounts of calorific things like oils and nuts? Are you in fact even logging all your food at all? Do all those things consistently for 2 weeks then get back to us about how certain you are that you've been eating 750 calories.
  • sofaking6
    sofaking6 Posts: 4,589 Member
    hlandry06 wrote: »
    Hello, Thank you all for your information... You are right!! I went back to my main meal I used to eat every night. Which was taco shells, veggie crumbles, taco seasoning, taco sauce, cheese, and RICE A RONI. Definitely calculated that wrong. The rice a roni alone was 623 calories a night for half a box :-( It looks like my one meal and my coffee's had me around 1440/day!! YIKES. Who would of thought that one meal and coffee could do that ( I really did not snack). Thank you for opening my eyes I never knew..... Okay so im here now and trying. What amount of calories should I eat to lose 2lbs/week or where do I find this calculator? Thanks again everyone

    MFP has one, or look up "Scooby tdee" for the one I used. Remember they will give you slightly different numbers because MFP counts exercise calories as extra to eat where TDEE does not. Good on you for having an open mind and getting out there & doing your research - now you are where you need to be to have some success!
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    OP, run your stats here: http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/

  • liekewheeless
    liekewheeless Posts: 416 Member
    I used to think I didn't eat that much..but I kept gaining... Looking back, sure I would have days where I only ate 800 to 1000 calories..but I would also have days where I would put away 4000 or so in baked goods. Not saying that's what's going on with you, but a couple of bad days in a week can cancel out a deficit in a hurry!
  • LiftAllThePizzas
    LiftAllThePizzas Posts: 17,857 Member
    hlandry06 wrote: »
    Hello, Thank you all for your information... You are right!! I went back to my main meal I used to eat every night. Which was taco shells, veggie crumbles, taco seasoning, taco sauce, cheese, and RICE A RONI. Definitely calculated that wrong. The rice a roni alone was 623 calories a night for half a box :-( It looks like my one meal and my coffee's had me around 1440/day!! YIKES. Who would of thought that one meal and coffee could do that ( I really did not snack). Thank you for opening my eyes I never knew..... Okay so im here now and trying. What amount of calories should I eat to lose 2lbs/week or where do I find this calculator? Thanks again everyone
    50 lbs of fat contains 175,000 calories of energy. In order to gain that much over the course of four years you'd only need to eat an average of 120 calories above your TDEE each day.

    I would start by logging all your food (including weighing/measuring all of it) and seeing how much you are eating, and whether or not you are still gaining, or staying level, or losing. That will tell you your actual TDEE and you can go from there.

    Or you can start with an estimate from one of the calculators as your target number, log all your food (including weighing/measuring all of it) and see if over the course of a few weeks you gain, lose, or stay the same on that amount. Again this will give you an indication of your TDEE.

    If you don't take at least a couple of weeks worth of data, you might just be seeing fluctuations like water weight.
  • azulvioleta6
    azulvioleta6 Posts: 4,195 Member
    whyhelloheart wrote: »
    azulvioleta6 wrote: »
    whyhelloheart wrote: »
    There is no such thing as starvation mode. The reason why you gained 50 pounds is simply because you are underestimating how many calories you are eating throughout the entire day.

    Or she has an undiagnosed metabolic disease and a significant portion of her calories were coming from carbs.

    She said that she went to the doctor and doesn't have a thyroid condition. Calories are calories, no matter where they are coming from. It doesn't make a difference if it was from carbs or fat or protein.

    I eat a boatload of pasta and as long as I'm within my calorie goal, I'll lose weight.

    Metabolism is vastly more complicated than just thyroid.

    By the way, I gained almost 100 pounds eating fruit, pasta and vegetable soup. My pituitary had failed.

    It's rare, but things like that DO happen.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    hlandry, I think you are close to figuring this out. I suggest changing your habits slowly. Reduce the dinner meal while introducing small meals in your day.
  • davis978
    davis978 Posts: 103 Member
    rayneface wrote: »
    Sugar and cream can add up quickly especially if you are using it to fuel yourself all day. A large coffee with 2 cream and 2 sugars can be around 265calories.

    ???

    A tablespoon of half and half (which is what is in the little single serve cup you get at restaurants) is 20 calories. Two of those are 40. A sugar packet is 15 calories. Two of those are 30. Maybe 10 calories for a large brewed coffee, but even that's a stretch. 80 calories tops. Even if she was using heavy cream in her coffee, that would be 140 cals.

    I know OP already clarified that she was off on her dinner estimate, so this is a moot point.

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