Will not eating enough cause weight gain??

jkey2004
jkey2004 Posts: 21
edited September 30 in Health and Weight Loss
if Im not eating enough calories will it cause me to gain weight..or at least keep gaining and losing the same few pounds??

Replies

  • vim_n_vigor
    vim_n_vigor Posts: 4,089 Member
    That is definetly possible.
  • SheilaSisco
    SheilaSisco Posts: 722 Member
    yup-
  • ts014
    ts014 Posts: 34
    im wondering the same thing myself. I didn't know how fast your body goes into starvation mode. I have hit a plateau and I thought it was odd because I have been below my daily calories by 100-200 or so for awhile.
  • DolceBlue
    DolceBlue Posts: 1
    yes.
  • Edestiny7
    Edestiny7 Posts: 730 Member
    Yes, it slows your metabolism and tries to hold on to every last pound.
  • sandy729
    sandy729 Posts: 232 Member
    I'm having the same problem. I'm on a 1280 calorie diet but burn close to 900 calories. You'd think cause I'm in the gym all the time, I would be losing, but i'm up and down 3-4 lbs.
  • prtykekedd
    prtykekedd Posts: 48 Member
    You sure will gain weight if you don't eat enough.
  • joejccva71
    joejccva71 Posts: 2,985 Member
    It's possible that you'll either gain a few lbs or you will plateau. Try to eat 500-1000 calories under your maintenance and no more than that.
  • chuckyp
    chuckyp Posts: 693 Member
    You probably won't gain weight, because you have to be adding mass to gain mass, but you will likely stay the same as your body converts muscle to fat, and then you will lose weight as your body gets the extra calories it needs from what little fat stores are left. That's starving.
  • SpaceMarkus
    SpaceMarkus Posts: 651
    Yes. Stick to a min. of 1200 calories.
  • FaugHorn
    FaugHorn Posts: 1,060 Member
    You won't GAIN weight, you'll just lose slower
  • brittanybee07
    brittanybee07 Posts: 39
    If you are not eating enough, initially your body will try to hold on to every calorie and convert it to fat. However, if there is a true calorie deficit it will start translating into weight loss later as long as the calorie deficit remains. This is how anorexia works. So if you are not eating enough, you are essentially starving your body. I do not recommend this, if you bump up your calories a little bit and exercise you will still see weight loss. Another note, losing weight by eating way too little is likely to be loss of muscle mass...
  • myofibril
    myofibril Posts: 4,500 Member
    You won't GAIN weight, you'll just lose slower

    This.

    The problem with keeping calorie levels depressed at a level below that which is suitable for your body composition (obese, overweight, average etc) for too long is that is causes an adaptive reduction to BMR. This means the amount of calories you can consume and maintain weight falls to a greater degree than that expected by a simple reduction in weight. It also causes your body to partition calories in favour of fat oxidation (storage) as opposed to muscle preservation/building etc.

    The upshot is this: when you binge (and everyone binges at some point) or come off your diet you have primed your body towards fat storage as well as artifically lowering the amount of calories you can eat to maintain. Result? Weight gain.

    Theoretically if you kept calories below that necessary to maintain weight you will ALWAYS experience weight loss and keep experiencing it until a surplus of calories comes about. However, it is a slow and massively inefficent process if your deficit is too high for your body composition.
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