Weight is coming back on fast, help!

Sam29a
Sam29a Posts: 201 Member
edited November 26 in Motivation and Support
Hi everyone,

I lost almost 60 lbs over the course of 1.5 years. I've been on here since January 2016. I lost the weight eating around 1000-1300 calories for the most part (with 3 months of eating around 500 calories towards the end - not through choice).

Last May I was 107 lbs, almost at my goal, with maybe just a few more lbs to lose and I also wanted to gain some muscle and change my body composition. I tried sticking to around 1200 calories, but it had become harder, I was always so hungry, often unable to sleep because of it. I took a diet break for 2 weeks, but it didn't really help matters and I remained constantly hungry. This led to binge eating, literally eating so much food I was sick for days after and felt like death. But then a month later, I'd binge again. I was eating well for a month, maybe two months, then binge eating for 2-4 days. This led to me gaining weight, then losing, then gaining, with an overall weight gain.

Earlier this month I weighed in at 114 lbs, despite sticking to 1250 calories, I hadn't lost anything in 2 months, the weight was hovering around the same couple of pounds. I was so annoyed that I ended up having a complete binge for 9 days. I thought if I'm going to stay fat, why not just eat whatever the hell I please. Stupid of course, but I was so upset that after all this time I am still not where I want to be.

I gained 11 lbs over those 9 days. I have since lost 4.8 of those pounds by returning to 1250 or so calories. Now it's Ramadan and I am having one meal, plus two snacks a day, eating around 1000 calories.

I don't want to mess this up more than I have already. What should I do to stop gaining all the weight back? My TDEE is only 1400-1500 calories as I'm short and completely sedentary. Over many years of crash dieting (<500 calories for months, then binge eating) and doing no exercise, I have less muscle mass than usual, with more fat and thus am certain it has negatively affected my metabolism.

Please help!


Replies

  • emmamcgarity
    emmamcgarity Posts: 1,594 Member
    How tall are you?
  • Sam29a
    Sam29a Posts: 201 Member
    I'm 5'2.
  • mulecanter
    mulecanter Posts: 1,792 Member
    "Completely sedentary" is no good. You say "I also wanted to gain some muscle and change my body composition", that's good but you can't do that on the couch. Get off your butt and exercise in order to be healthy! Thin is not the same as fit. Sorry to be harsh.

    You are talking about a pretty narrow weight band. From what I've read in the Maintenance thread, you need to set a goal weight range within which you are content. I think if you up your calorie burn rate so you can eat a bit more you can avoid some of these hunger-driven binges. Examine your diet too, could you up the fiber content of what you eat to stay full longer? Are you eating enough protein?
  • emmamcgarity
    emmamcgarity Posts: 1,594 Member
    My concern is that you stated you were almost at your goal weight at 107 lbs. even for your height that’s pretty low. How did you pick your goal weight?
  • Sam29a
    Sam29a Posts: 201 Member
    mulecanter wrote: »
    "Completely sedentary" is no good. You say "I also wanted to gain some muscle and change my body composition", that's good but you can't do that on the couch. Get off your butt and exercise in order to be healthy! Thin is not the same as fit. Sorry to be harsh.

    You are talking about a pretty narrow weight band. From what I've read in the Maintenance thread, you need to set a goal weight range within which you are content. I think if you up your calorie burn rate so you can eat a bit more you can avoid some of these hunger-driven binges. Examine your diet too, could you up the fiber content of what you eat to stay full longer? Are you eating enough protein?

    I did join the gym last year, went a few months but wasn't able to stick to it. I know I need to start doing some exercise, of course, I realise I won't gain muscle from sitting on my butt all day. As it is Ramadan, I can't exercise this month, but my plan is to join straight after Eid and aim for just 3 days of exercise. My protein is usually very low (30-40g), need to change that too.
  • Sam29a
    Sam29a Posts: 201 Member
    emmamcgarity wrote: »
    My concern is that you stated you were almost at your goal weight at 107 lbs. even for your height that’s pretty low. How did you pick your goal weight?

    I think a lot of the problem is that I have very little muscle mass, so even at that weight, with loose-fitted clothes I looked small, but anything tight would make me look really fat. When I was in my early 20s, I was around 90 lbs, I know that's too small now, so I picked 100-105 lbs as my goal weight. I think that's when I looked and felt my best.
  • rj0150684
    rj0150684 Posts: 227 Member
    Since you don’t really have weight to lose, maybe worry less about losing weight. I’d suggest working on building some strength and, yes, eating at a surplus for a little while until you get healthy. Then, once you’ve put on some muscle (which means gaining weight slowly while lifting as heavy as you comfortably can with good form), reassess how you look and feel and see if you want to (slowly) cut down your weight to lose some fat.
  • Sam29a
    Sam29a Posts: 201 Member
    rj0150684 wrote: »
    Since you don’t really have weight to lose, maybe worry less about losing weight. I’d suggest working on building some strength and, yes, eating at a surplus for a little while until you get healthy. Then, once you’ve put on some muscle (which means gaining weight slowly while lifting as heavy as you comfortably can with good form), reassess how you look and feel and see if you want to (slowly) cut down your weight to lose some fat.

    The thought of putting on even more weight makes me feel sick. I am hoping to workout at least 3 days a week, doing cardio and strength training. Also, want to increase my calories to 1300 or so. Is this not going to help me?? I'd rather lose the last bit of weight, even just get back to 107 lbs, and then try to build muscle by eating at a surplus. I have been told it's a really slow process, I don't want to be this weight for longer than I have to be.
  • rj0150684
    rj0150684 Posts: 227 Member
    Have you ever talked to someone about a possible psychological issue with your body perception? I’m not a doctor, nor would a doctor try to diagnose someone over the Internet, but it just seems like you may not have a realistic interpretation of what you actually look like. If you’re 5’2” and 114lbs, you aren’t fat. Women average around 30% muscle by body weight. That would be about 34.2lbs for you if you had a normal amount of muscle. In order to be overweight, you’d need to gain about 20lbs, which means that unless you have 14lbs of muscle (you don’t - you have more than that or you wouldn’t be able to move around), you don’t have too much fat.
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
    Sam29a wrote: »
    rj0150684 wrote: »
    Since you don’t really have weight to lose, maybe worry less about losing weight. I’d suggest working on building some strength and, yes, eating at a surplus for a little while until you get healthy. Then, once you’ve put on some muscle (which means gaining weight slowly while lifting as heavy as you comfortably can with good form), reassess how you look and feel and see if you want to (slowly) cut down your weight to lose some fat.

    The thought of putting on even more weight makes me feel sick. I am hoping to workout at least 3 days a week, doing cardio and strength training. Also, want to increase my calories to 1300 or so. Is this not going to help me?? I'd rather lose the last bit of weight, even just get back to 107 lbs, and then try to build muscle by eating at a surplus. I have been told it's a really slow process, I don't want to be this weight for longer than I have to be.

    you need to see someone about your disordered thinking. thinking you are fat at the weight you are now is a red flag. you are not fat. as for gaining some muscle you arent going to do it with only 1300 calories. as for weighing 107lbs. you dont have one static number as a weight. your weight fluctuates all the time. so your weight is not going to be 107lbs all the time.

    eating at a surplus means weight gain and muscle if you are weight training. as for a surplus and meaning gaining weight slowly it depends on how much of a surplus. you saying the though about gaining weight makes you sick. that to me is a red flag, you wont gain much muscle unless you do whats called a recomp(eating at maintenance and weight training) but that is a very slow process,or do whats called a bulk which means eating in a slight surplus(a smaller surplus means less weight gain) and go from there.


    and wearing tight clothing will make you bulge and make anyone look fat. dont wear tight clothes. know too that if you put enough muscle on which still takes time, you will weigh more but will look smaller if you dont gain a lot of fat. dont worry about weight so much and start eating enough and start resistance training. 1000 calories in the past was too little.
  • elisa123gal
    elisa123gal Posts: 4,333 Member
    It sounds like you may have a boarderline eating disorder, and your metabolism is shot from extreme dieting.
    You need to get some professional advice from a nutritionist who can tell you how many calories to eat for your height and how many more you need to start exercising so you can rebuild your strength and muscle mass.
  • psychod787
    psychod787 Posts: 4,099 Member
    rj0150684 wrote: »
    Since you don’t really have weight to lose, maybe worry less about losing weight. I’d suggest working on building some strength and, yes, eating at a surplus for a little while until you get healthy. Then, once you’ve put on some muscle (which means gaining weight slowly while lifting as heavy as you comfortably can with good form), reassess how you look and feel and see if you want to (slowly) cut down your weight to lose some fat.

    I agree with this. I am in your boat in a strange way. I lost waayyyy tooo much weight too quickly. Trust me, hunger is the least of the issues you can face. I am currently in a lean, hopefully that is, bulk. I have hunger and satiety issues as well. Only thing is, I have not binged... yet...... It also makes me sick the idea of putting on body fat. I am just having to slowly get over that. I was sub 9% bf, down from 40-50% bf, so every ounce of fat gain is just really, really noticeable. I have a buddy of mine that lost 75lbs this year as well. He then went off the rails for 2 months and regained 15lbs. He is now counting his macros and doing a slow recomp. He also has body issues just like you and I. I hope the best for you. I would recommend, if you can afford it, to work with someone in sports nutrition. That way they can keep the bf to a minimum and muscle gain as high as they can. The nutrition and work out plan they can provide. The rest is up to us.
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