Recovering Starvation Mode.

Kayjdicaprio
Kayjdicaprio Posts: 9
edited October 1 in Motivation and Support
Hi all, I will go ahead and be honest first. In January, I weighed in at 166. I am 5'5 1/2 and I'm 28.. I began going to the gym and eating right, well atleast I thought I was. This went on for about 3 weeks and when I noticed I've only dropped about 3 pounds, I quit. I had gotten so frustrated, I said "Enough with food, I will just starve then!" Well, that's what I did, I went about 3 months with eating between 500-800 calories and burning about 750 calories at the gym daily and sometimes twice daily. I dropped down to my lowest weight of 144 pounds. I was elated! I have never been that small in my adult life.! So to celebrate, I would have a "cheat" day and lo and behold, the next day the scale would be up 149. So the cycle began. Eventually, I was really moody, tired, and cold. I was told I was entering starvation mode. I would go out for a weekend with my friends and by Monday, I would notice a 7 pound increase so that prompted me to drop my calories even lower, to about 350 daily plus my daily 750 calorie burn at the gym. This lasted for about 3 months when I noticed I couldnt get below 144. I finally gave up, I realized what I was doing was extremely stupid. I was tired of the ups and downs and I was tired of gaining between 5-7 pounds on weekends, although I knew it was mostly water weight. Well in the month of June I gained about 8 pounds easily! I weighed about 155 pounds.I just accepted the fact that it was diet karma. July 18th, I made the conscious decision that I was going to eat healthy and excerse. I eat about 1300 to 1500 calories daily and I exercise burning atleast 700 calories of cardio. I dont think I've lost any weight because I decided to toss out the DEMON scale. Me being fixated on the number has caused me to starve my way down to 144 pounds. After a few weeks after July 18th, I did weigh in and I was 151.2. That was the last time I stepped on the scale which is a major accomplishment for me.

My question is, how long will it take for my body to trust me again. I think I have done an excellent job of eating more fruits and good carbs but I dont think I'm losing.

Replies

  • soniaa777
    soniaa777 Posts: 126 Member
    im just wondering what you were eating that was soo low calories? im not an expert surely not, but y not try eating alot of spinich and tuna. a friend of mine lost nearly 200 pounds eating only canned tuna and veggies. how can u gain weight eating spinich or cabbage? since you have the will power to starve maybe u can stick to a bland diet.
  • Avalonis
    Avalonis Posts: 1,540 Member
    Peoples bodies vary, but generally your metabolism will begin to increase within a week of eating a healthy allotment of calories.

    With that being said, you still might not be eating enough. With your history of an eating disorder, I would STRONGLY reccommend a bodymedia FIT or a Bodybugg, because you then KNOW how much you have burned for the day, so it gives you the peace of mind to make sure you are eating enough.


    Another thing that helps with the water weight fluctuations is making sure you consistently drink your water, and not drink a ton of caffeine, since it is a diuretic and will make you pee out your water. Same goes for too much salt.
  • Kayjdicaprio
    Kayjdicaprio Posts: 9
    I would eat a sleeve of saltine crackers and a bowl of oatmeal a day. It was the dumbest thing I've ever done. I've never done anything like that before and I will never do it again because in those 3 months of idiocracy, I could have lost atleast 10 pounds the healthy way and kept it all off.
  • KellyBurton1
    KellyBurton1 Posts: 529 Member
    I to put my scale away, Im only weighting myself every payday. I use to weigh everyday and if it went up I would have a negative attitude all day. I havnt loss for a while either cause I was going so low and burn out and crash. So a week ago I decided to eat more and excerise more offen. I tried running but hated it so I went back to what I loved doing the most. I cant see myself sticking to something that made me feel miserable for the rest of my life. I think if I just stick with it and trust in it that it will move again. I hope for your sake it does to.
  • fawnkay0ne
    fawnkay0ne Posts: 15
    It is hard to be completely accurate, but I would say you are still eating too few calories. I am currently 145 and my "maintenance" calories, without the gym, would be right around 1850-1950 daily. If we assume yours is the same (It's probably not, and you should calculate this using the tools on this site, or googling another site. I like to use multiple sources and compare.) and add to that 700 calories for exercise, you would be able to eat 2550 - 2650 to maintain. Since you should shoot to lose 1lb a week, considering your current weight, you would only want a daily deficit of 500 calories. You can either reduce your exercise, or up your calories to get the correct deficit.

    Are you doing any strength training? If not, adding this could help. If you are, that sometimes create a weight gain although you are shrinking.

    It could also be that you are relying on the machines to tell you calories burned. They are not always accurate. I have calculated that if my HR is around 150 I burn 10 cals a minute. I use this versus the machines calculations. Some are accurate, some are WAY off.

    Good luck and don't give up!
  • Kayjdicaprio
    Kayjdicaprio Posts: 9
    I can never find a clear cut explanation on my caloric intake. I'm 5'5 1/2. I weigh 151.2 (last time I checked two weeks ago), I work out atleast 5-6 times a week, and Ive recently added light weights. 1300 is too low? Should I atleast go to 1800 calories? And can someone please clear up the NET calories for me? Does that mean I have to eat back my excercise calories lost?
  • KellyBurton1
    KellyBurton1 Posts: 529 Member
    Your Net calories is what you see on your home page, you need to at least be over 1200 or more to meet your calorie goal. Your working out alot so you really need to feed your body. You dont have alot to lose at this point so how about making your weight loss goal to be at half a pound a week. In turn will give you more to eat. A little more realistic when your not losing at all at this point. what is your activity level set at? Active or light? Do you have a demanding job or sedetary? But realistic, and remember that the way your eating is what you can live with, for the rest of your life. Sometimes you need to play around with the numbers to see what works. Try for a few weeks and if that dont work tweak again. Hope it helps.
  • fawnkay0ne
    fawnkay0ne Posts: 15
    I can never find a clear cut explanation on my caloric intake. I'm 5'5 1/2. I weigh 151.2 (last time I checked two weeks ago), I work out atleast 5-6 times a week, and Ive recently added light weights. 1300 is too low? Should I atleast go to 1800 calories? And can someone please clear up the NET calories for me? Does that mean I have to eat back my excercise calories lost?

    http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/

    This is a good site to figure out your BMR and calorie needs based on the Harris Benedict Equation.

    And yes, net calories means the amount you have eaten after deducting exercise. If your goal is 1300 calories and you burn 500 exercising, you would eat 1800 that day to net 1300.
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