Metabolism Shutdown?
phatso321
Posts: 2 Member
Hi everyone! I was reading a few posts on here about minimum calories...my maximum is 800 a day if I want to maintain, and if I eat above that (and I recently have been) gaining weight becomes imminent.
I am 34 years old, 153cm short and this past year I've been having real issues losing weight. My usual weight fluctuates within the 44-47kgs range, that's my weight if I maintain an 800 cal diet. My activity level: sedentary.
Recently I've just let myself go and I'm now 55kgs. Everything feels wrong: I am heavy, bloated, moody, menstrual cycle is all of a sudden irregular (since gaining this weight). Not to mention, I feel ugly so it has really shot down my self-esteem. I cancel plans with friends just so that I can stay indoors and hide myself.
Last week I decided to STOP eating unhealthy foods. No more soft drinks. No more pizza, no more burgers. So it's been about 3 days now since I've been having chicken salad (without the dressing) for lunch. I figure replacing my lunch would be a good start. But to my dismay, there have been no change in my weight.
I feel as though my metabolism has completely shut down. This weekend I will make another slight modification to my diet and that's: replacing my fruit drinks with water and green tea (this part worked well in the past, it boosted my metabolism).
Anything I may be missing? I can try to improve my activity level, although I keep trying to make a habit to exercise a bit daily, but the determination eventually wears off.
I am 34 years old, 153cm short and this past year I've been having real issues losing weight. My usual weight fluctuates within the 44-47kgs range, that's my weight if I maintain an 800 cal diet. My activity level: sedentary.
Recently I've just let myself go and I'm now 55kgs. Everything feels wrong: I am heavy, bloated, moody, menstrual cycle is all of a sudden irregular (since gaining this weight). Not to mention, I feel ugly so it has really shot down my self-esteem. I cancel plans with friends just so that I can stay indoors and hide myself.
Last week I decided to STOP eating unhealthy foods. No more soft drinks. No more pizza, no more burgers. So it's been about 3 days now since I've been having chicken salad (without the dressing) for lunch. I figure replacing my lunch would be a good start. But to my dismay, there have been no change in my weight.
I feel as though my metabolism has completely shut down. This weekend I will make another slight modification to my diet and that's: replacing my fruit drinks with water and green tea (this part worked well in the past, it boosted my metabolism).
Anything I may be missing? I can try to improve my activity level, although I keep trying to make a habit to exercise a bit daily, but the determination eventually wears off.
13
Replies
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Your metabolism has shut down? Are you a zombie, a vampire, or just a run of the mill ghost?22
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I'm no expert, but 800 calories seems really low. If you are in fact eating only 800 calories and not underestimating calories it might be worth seeing a doctor to figure out why over 800 calories causes weight gain.
There are some medical issues that can cause people to gain weight with really low calorie intake - though most people tend to severely underestimate their calories if they aren't weighing, measuring and logging everything. Only you know if you have been accurately counting your calories, but if you feel you are accurate and still can't eat more than 800 calories without gaining then, again, I'd suggest checking with your doctor.8 -
See your medical provider. The weight gain and accompanying menstrual irregularity should be investigated. With regard to your decision to change your food intake, three days is not long enough to assess the impact of that.7
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Your metabolism hasn't shut down. You've literally only been at this for 3 days, miracles don't happen overnight. You're also not overweight. At 55kgs/121lbs you're at the high end of normal, but still normal for your height. And unless you've been weighing and measuring everything you've been eating, you have no idea if you actually have been eating 800 cal a day - not that you should be eating that low anyway. Even at your height, you can still manage at least 1200 calories. If things are suddenly irregular, go see your doctor. Eating far below your daily calorie needs has consequences, you may be feeling them now.7
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How do you measure your food intake?
...No more soft drinks. No more pizza, no more burgers....
...replacing my fruit drinks with water and green tea...
If those have been your food choices so far, then unless you're eating only one meal per day it's very likely that you eat way more than 800 kcal.
100ml of coke or similar soft drink is ~ 50 Cal, or average glass of it is 125, average fruit juice about the same. Pizza and burgers can be surprisingly calorie dense. Decent meal with burger, fries and soft drink can we'll be over 1500 calories alone.
Also try to be more active. At least try to go for some longer walks if. Other excercise doesn't feel right yet.
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WHAT!!! 3 ENTIRE DAYS!!6
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Thank you, I appreciate all the responses. 800cal is actually rounding up. 1 boiled egg for breakfast. Boiled white rice half a can of tuna straight from the can, and a portion of green veggies. It will usually be rice or some mashed potatoes, a portion of veggies with either chicken, fish or tofu for lunch. I skip dinner to not surpass the calorie intake.
Sorry, I should add: the pizza, burgers and soft drinks were what I was eating when I went from around 47kgs to the current 55kgs.3 -
Thank you, I appreciate all the responses. 800cal is actually rounding up. 1 boiled egg for breakfast. Boiled white rice half a can of tuna straight from the can, and a portion of green veggies. It will usually be rice or some mashed potatoes, a portion of veggies with either chicken, fish or tofu for lunch. I skip dinner to not surpass the calorie intake.
Sorry, I should add: the pizza, burgers and soft drinks were what I was eating when I went from around 47kgs to the current 55kgs.
You said you were going to replace fruit drinks this weekend. You havent mentioned fruit drinks in your intake at all... They have calories...
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I think 800 calories is too low. Did you use the mfp tool to guide you? Are you logging your food? 1200 calories should be the least amount of calories without exercising.
Please be patient. It will take time to see progress.
If you haven't done so, read these posts at the below link, you'll be so glad you did!
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10300331/most-helpful-posts-getting-started-must-reads#latest0 -
I see you have just joined MFP. Welcome.
Have a read of the stickies at the top of this sub-forum. They will help you get started.
One of the first things to do is get a food scale, and weigh absolutely everything. You, and I, are petite so precision in calorie counting is important.
Put your stats into MFP to lose .5 lbs a week, a suitable goal as you have little to lose, and eat all the calories.
If you exercise, eat those calories too, that is the way MFP is set up. Your deficit is in your basic calories which doesn't include exercise. You may want to eat back 50 or 75%, instead of 100%, and adjust your percentage so you are losing as expected after logging accurately for 4-6 weeks.
I am roughly your size. 5'1 (155cm), and maintain at 100-105 lbs (46 kg), but older.
I lost from 130-105 eating 1200 cals and my exercise calories which were about 200 cals for 60min exercise.
Once you get your calorie counting accurate you will start losing, albeit slowly, but given your size this is the way it has to be.
Cheers, h.2 -
0.1% chance that you maintain on 800 calories. 99.9% chance that your logging is inaccurate, you freak out about natural weight fluctuations, and you haven't given it enough time. Also, green tea does not boost metabolism. It has caffeine which can cause you to be more active due to increased energy. More active means burning more calories. If you ate the same amount of calories and sat all day but drank green tea on one day and water on the other, there would be no impact on your weight loss.16
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It has been a whole of 3 days. At your current height and weight and with your chosen weight goal you should expect to lose no more than 1 kg a month, if that, and it would be considered normal. Don't blame it on your metabolism, blame it on your impatience.9
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Your metabolism hasn't "shut down". That's not how it works. Green tea, aside from the caffeine, has no effect.
You're still within the normal BMI range, you've gone from the very low end of range to the upper end, but still not overweight.
This means you simply need to be patient and maintain a modest calorie deficit. It will be slow and it will help a lot to track your intake carefully and with accurate entries. Use a food scale for best results! It would help if you can increase your activity too. Results will only be very noticeable after weeks, not days.
Honestly, I see some red flags in your post that are concerning. Put your stats into your MFP setup and select a slow weight loss target and see what your daily calorie target should be. 800 is too low.
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If you're concerned that your metabolism is shutting down, you should see a medical doctor IMMEDIATELY. Metabolism shut down is a life threatening condition.3
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I'm sure if you are actually eating anywhere near that low, even if you are inaccurately higher by 200-300 calories - your body is going to be forcing you to be even less than sedentary - for the purpose of conserving calories for your metabolism.
Keep it up it'll also decide not to expend energy keeping you warm - which may not be a problem right now.
Or growing nails/hair as fast, or replacing skin.
It'll also decide that from the food you eat, replacing normal muscle that is broken down daily is not as important to build back up as other body structures that need it, like the heart muscle and other organs that need the amino acids.
Your cycle will end too since a big use of energy.
Now you are effecting metabolism - but still not shutting it down.
But you are causing one unhealthy body that will serve you terribly for life now or in the future.
Go see a counselor about your body imagine, at least you are concerned, but you still seem willing to go down a bad road based on perception - others that you can't possibly know, and your own which is could very likely be distorted.4 -
It takes more than 3 days. Your metabolism does not shut down unless you are dead. You do not need an extreme diet or tea.
You should have been able to maintain 47 kg on about 1300 calories not 800. At your current weight your maintenance should be around 1400. A good rate of loss would be .5 lbs. https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/113609/relatively-light-people-trying-to-get-leaner/p1
So you are wrong about how much you were consuming- which is easy to do if you were not tracking or weighing things- or you have a medical problem and should see a doctor asap. http://symptomchecker.webmd.com/multiple-symptoms?symptoms=fatigue|irregular-menstrual-periods|weight-gain&symptomids=98|128|256&locations=66|32|66
I think it would be beneficial to see your doctor to rule out medical problems first before dieting.
After that my advice is to eat normally and log everything you consume as accurately as you can for a couple of weeks.
Get a food scale and check portion sizes. Check that you are using correct entries from the database. See where you are and then make small sustainable changes.
Log everything- vegetables, fruits, drinks, cooking oils, condiments2 -
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Sorry, but this really made me laugh out loud
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