I lost weight drastically - how do I maintain now?

trunordx · January 2017

So basically I lost about 45 pounds by eating 600 - 900 calories a day for almost 5 months, exercised for an hour a day (burning about 300 calories), and by taking diet pills the last month. I'm 5'6 and 120 pounds now, so I've finally reached my goal weight. And I know I did it in the dumbest way possible, and I've always had issues with my weight and my mindset related to weight, so I guess you could say over time, I developed some sort of eating disorder. I don't want to be so restrictive anymore, because I could literally end up in a hospital if I do, and believe me, I know that. So my question is, if I start eating to maintain my weight (which would obviously be above 1000 calories, I know) and exercise a little less, would I immediately gain weight back?

Should I go about maintaining in a slower way, like start with 100 calories more a week? Please no negative comments, I'm working on making a change for the better, and I realize my mistakes now. Thanks everyone, and happy new year

jennypapage · January 2017

the best thing you can do is visit with your doctor.he will advise you what to do from now on.he might need to nake some tests to make sure you haven't damaged your health in the process of losing the weight because of the way you did it.

GottaBurnEmAll · January 2017

You will have a jump in the scale from your body replenishing diminished glycogen stores. It won't be fat regain.

You will need to understand that maintenance is maintaining a range of weight and that your weight will fluctuate throughout the process.

So you're going to have to brace yourself for the scale moving up. It will move back down, but it could take a month or so (or even more, depending on how long it takes since your approach was so drastic) until your body gets settled).

Plug your stats into MFP to maintain, and see what caloric amount it gives you. If I were you, since your calories are currently so very, very low, please don't take too slow an approach to upping them. You'll still be losing weight. Start with at least upping them to 1200 which is the bare minimum a woman should be eating. You'd still likely be losing weight at that point. Eat that for a week, then keep increasing.

Edit: The loss might be masked by glycogen regain, so the scale might just stall.

livingleanlivingclean · January 2017

You've likely lost a lot of muscle, so your maintenance calories will be a lot less than before you lost the weight.
I would find your new maintenance calories, eat those, and also start resistance training to slowly build the muscle you've lost.

emilysusana · January 2017

I would talk to my doctor if I were you.

snickerscharlie · January 2017

trunordx wrote: »

So basically I lost about 45 pounds by eating 600 - 900 calories a day for almost 5 months, exercised for an hour a day (burning about 300 calories), and by taking diet pills the last month. I'm 5'6 and 120 pounds now, so I've finally reached my goal weight. And I know I did it in the dumbest way possible, and I've always had issues with my weight and my mindset related to weight, so I guess you could say over time, I developed some sort of eating disorder. I don't want to be so restrictive anymore, because I could literally end up in a hospital if I do, and believe me, I know that. So my question is, if I start eating to maintain my weight (which would obviously be above 1000 calories, I know) and exercise a little less, would I immediately gain weight back? Should I go about maintaining in a slower way, like start with 100 calories more a week? Please no negative comments, I'm working on making a change for the better, and I realize my mistakes now. Thanks everyone, and happy new year

Kudos to you for recognizing that what you did to lose the weight wasn't healthy. As a young female, definitely talk to your doctor about this, and get him/her to refer you to a registered dietician. My fear is you're setting yourself up for an eating disorder if you haven't already, based on certain red flags in your post. Without professional help this could escalate into territory that is even more dangerous than where you've already been.

Keep us posted.

amyinthetardis1231 · January 2017

snickerscharlie wrote: »

Kudos to you for recognizing that what you did to lose the weight wasn't healthy. As a young female, definitely talk to your doctor about this, and get him/her to refer you to a registered dietician. My fear is you're setting yourself up for an eating disorder if you haven't already, based on certain red flags in your post. Without professional help this could escalate into territory that is even more dangerous than where you've already been.

Keep us posted.

^^^ I second this, and I'd add to look for a good therapist who specializes in eating disorders. They can help you learn how to cope with food/weight anxiety and the stress of seeing the scale possibly go up for a bit while your body recovers. I wish you the best.

Unknown · January 2017

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cocobot2013 · January 2017

I basically did the same thing losing 60 pounds, I ate between 600-1000 a day and thought eating over that I'd gain a lot back to be "normal", I did gain a few pounds back but I increased my daily goal a week at a time to ease my mind. My lowest weight was 113, I'm 5 ft 9 inches as well. Recognizing what you're doing is a good start. As nervous as I was I knew I couldn't live like that forever. As of lately I'm about 120 pounds but I now also eat between 1700-2400 calories a day. I have more energy to walk longer and do normal activities. What also helped me was getting a fitbit to see numbers of what I am burning a day compared to how little I was eating! Now I'm slowly still trying to trust that it's okay to eat more and not feel bad about it, as I'm also trying to be back to a "healthy" weight, and a healthy mindset. I have a very all or nothing attitude and finding the balance is hard, but it IS possible. I tell myself everyday do what you can do that is sustainable to be healthy for life and to feel good, that there is an inbetween of overweight and healthy and that my life does not and should not be taken over by a number on the scale!

annobrien6175 · January 2017

You need to see your doctor loosing weight eating as little as you did and the exercise on.top is not healthy

I lost weight drastically - how do I maintain now?

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