Breaking my very low calorie diet

To address your question: If your main concern is not gaining weight (as opposed to health/nutrition), I would probably do what you are thinking and increase calories by about 100/week until you determine your maintenance.

Most will probably tell you increase to 1200 immediately. I doubt you'll be able to escape the lectures.

I would suggest also that you don't modify your diet for a weight swing of five pounds give or take. Five pounds can be water weight and are not a reflection of actual fat gained or lost. Use a weight trending app and adjust your diet just once a week based on your trend line.

Please do get your minimum protein a day in.

eyer0ll wrote: »

To address your question: If your main concern is not gaining weight (as opposed to health/nutrition), I would probably do what you are thinking and increase calories by about 100/week until you determine your maintenance.
Most will probably tell you increase to 1200 immediately. I doubt you'll be able to escape the lectures.

I can't help but notice that you are simultaneously preemptively putting down the people who will "lecture" the OP to increase to 1200 immediately AND very carefully parsing your language to basically state that "if health and nutrition are less important to you than potentially gaining some weight" then I would increase by 100/week.

So congratulations on putting the OP's health at a lower priority level than potentially gaining weight when she is starting at an underweight BMI.

Furthermore, 1200 is not a balance point. For most people 1200 is a LOSING/DEFICIT position. Increasing one's eating to a caloric deficit position can hardly be called an aggressive move to halt weight loss for a person who is currently underweight.

As to the OP it is time you evaluate your own state of physical and mental health.
Eating at maintenance *should not* be such a BIG DEAL.
Gaining or losing 2-5lbs (1 to 2kg) should NOT be a "BIG DEAL", these kind of numbers fall within NATURAL VARIATION.

Just having more POOP in you from eating some extra food will increase your weight by a few grams.
Sodium, exercise, time of the month can all lead to 2+kg variations (actually 3+kg variations but I know that will sound excessive to you).

If you can't deal with this from a position of equanimity then you should seriously consider talking to someone who specialises in eating disorders.

A visit to a doctor and getting some lab tests re plasma electrolytes may not be a terrible idea. Especially if you've been eating sub 1000 Cal for a long period of time.

Ririia wrote: »

Hello, I started my very low calorie diet march this year, I used to eat between 600-900 calories a day and I've done that for the last 6 months and still am however I'm currently eating 900. I am acknowledging that this is a problem so I want to stop this unhealthy way. I went from a size 8 to a size 4, I'm 157.5 cm tall and 45.5 kg. So I've lost about 15 kg. I plan on increasing 100 calories a week, however I'm afraid my size would increase. How can I maintain my size while trying to increase my calorie intake?

Please, I wouldn't want anyone lecturing me about how bad my diet was. I understand that's why I want to break this 6 month habit and revert to a healthy lifestyle. Although I'm still cautious about my size going up. ):

What you need goes beyond what can be given here. As a community, most folks in here want others to be successful.

Your attempt to prevent lecture about how bad your diet was fortunately doesn't prevent the lectures about how bad your diet is. This looks more to me like a disguised plea for help we cannot give.

I'm no expert, but it sure looks like eating disorder style thinking to me. Your perspective on size and calories is not reality.

There are answers to your last question, but if you are truly worried about size at 900 calories per day, you need to increase your understanding of how this works. You need a bigger fix than recommendations on how to maintain size with a caloric intake increase.

See a professional please.

Hi there, we are a similar size. From my calculations, your BMR is around 1150. This is how much "fuel" your body would need even if you literally laid in bed all day or were in a coma. Obviously you aren't in a coma, so you need more food than that to maintain your weight.

Even if you are sedentary, your TDEE (how many calories you burn in a normal day, excluding purposeful exercise) should be around 1382. If you have a job where you are on your feet (or are a student who walks around) it might be closer to 1584.

For minds' sake, I think your plan of 100cal per week is a good bet. I would recommend starting at that 1150 marker, since that is the amount your body literally "needs." And, good on you for recognizing that you needed to make a change and take control of your health. It can be hard, but it's worth it!

And to echo what others said, try not to stress about a few pounds (sorry, kgs?) one way or another. I can easily fluctuate 5 lbs from one day to the next, just based on sodium, mass of food, bowel movements, monthly cycle, etc. But that doesn't mean my actual size changed.

One thing that helps me is using a weight trend app - I use Happy Scale. It helps me not to stress over fluctuations because I can see that even if I'm up a lb from yesterday, my overall trend is consistent. This will be helpful for you in maintenance as well.

People are being kinda silly... OP has already acknowledged their diet is poor. They know this. They are aware they are undereating.

If they seek help it should be just to check their body and make sure they're ok, and to recommend foods to balance nutrition.

Increasing 100 calories per week if you're at 900 is sound. You'd reach a good amount in a few weeks. Ignore the scale if it's a tool that pressures you because, yes, weight fluctuates. Pay attention more to how your clothes fit.