going to be honest...

I am going to be honest, if you are not willing to be honest with the public diary, you probably arent willing to take the advice given.

if you know you should be doing something, and you aren't... and you dont want to make changes, you can't expect results.
Not trying to be a douche, but its reality.

Eat more fruit.. more veggies.. drink milk eat yogurt, make a wrap, have a salad with lean meat and cheese and nuts... there are tons of ways to bulk up the calories. you get in the mindset of hitting a "magic number" and its going to seem like an unatainable goal. You think of how many serivings that you have had from the food pyramid and in no time you will be meeting goals.

But again, if you aren;t willing to make changes.. you cant expect to see anything.

I agree.

I am the same, I eat 700-1100 usually and eat back nothing. My weight has been stuck for over 2 weeks. I am trying various things to help out my metabolism like more exercise, front-loading calories and mixing up my exercise routine. So far no luck.

Looking at your stats, you may want to work up to eating at maintenance (go up greadually to work out the right number for you to maintain) and focus in exercises that work on strength and toning. You appear to be at a healthy weight for your height so dropping more numbers on the scales probably won't change your "look" much, whereas exercise will.

i have been eating less than 800 cals on most days and i workout on top of that (some days just 30day shred and 2x a week i do ellipticals for an hr) and i don't eat back my exercise cals. i have been at the same weight for a month and i know i should bump my intake to 1200 but I'm just so scared of doing that and then gaining all the weight that i have lost back. and today i tried to plan my meal so that i will be as close to 1200 as possible and it seems that no matter what i do I'm coming up to only about 850. I don't know what to do. I know my diary is closed and I'm not comfortable with opening it up to the public.

What I Ate Today:
Breakfast:
1 pack of low sugar oatmeal (120)
1/3 skim milk (40)
1/3 cup of sliced bananas (40)
1/2 watermelon (25)
Total: 225

Lunch:
1 whole wheat english muffin (130)
1 tb of pb (95)
Total: 225

I wasn't even hungry at lunch but i forced myself to eat. oh and i drink anywhere from 6-12 glasses of water a day. no soda or juice of any kind. i have also given up coffee.

I lost weight at 800 to 1k net cals/day with excellent results.

Note that "net cals/day".

Your exercise is lowering your net calories to well under 800 and that may well be why you're not losing weight.

You are eating so few calories that you are probably starving your body. No, not "starvation mode" where you will burst into flames if you only eat 1199 calories but the real starvation mode that kicks in at about 500 net cals/day.

No need to give up coffee (unless you just don't want to drink it) and, since you've been able to curb your appetite, drinking that much water might isn't serving its purpose of filling you up so you don't feel hungry.

When I stopped losing weight on July 1, I was concerned that my weight might "pop up" so I upped my calories to 1750. Didn't happen. You can see my weight here:

http://cbeinfo.net/weight.htm

Yes, I jumped over 200 once but that was water retention due to heavily salted food but otherwise it's been OK. No sudden weight gains in two months.


Allow me to suggest that you eat your exercise calories back, go back to enjoying coffee, keep exercising, and weight yourself every day.

i have been eating less than 800 cals on most days and i workout on top of that (some days just 30day shred and 2x a week i do ellipticals for an hr) and i don't eat back my exercise cals. i have been at the same weight for a month and i know i should bump my intake to 1200 but I'm just so scared of doing that and then gaining all the weight that i have lost back. and today i tried to plan my meal so that i will be as close to 1200 as possible and it seems that no matter what i do I'm coming up to only about 850. I don't know what to do. I know my diary is closed and I'm not comfortable with opening it up to the public.

What I Ate Today:
Breakfast:
1 pack of low sugar oatmeal (120)
1/3 skim milk (40)
1/3 cup of sliced bananas (40)
1/2 watermelon (25)
Total: 225

Lunch:
1 whole wheat english muffin (130)
1 tb of pb (95)
Total: 225

I wasn't even hungry at lunch but i forced myself to eat. oh and i drink anywhere from 6-12 glasses of water a day. no soda or juice of any kind. i have also given up coffee.

This concerns me greatly. If you eat for dinner what you ate for breakfast and lunch, you'll have only taken in 675 calories for the entire day. Adding 30 minutes of a high intensity workout and an hour on the elliptical plus considering what you burn naturally for the day is giving you an insane calorie deficit. Your poor body can't sustain itself on this, and you're putting yourself at risk for your entire body to shut down and cause you to be hospitalized. I'm not a doctor or a psychologist, but it's possible that you might want to take into consideration seeing one or both of them to find out why you're eating and exercise habits are so extreme. I don't know how tall you are or how much you currently weigh, but you're headed down a very dangerous road with the habits you're forming and the mindset that eating 1200 calories will cause you to gain back what you've lost. It sounds like you really believe you're doing all you can to get more calories, so it seems like the advice to eat more won't help you. It's obvious that you're looking for help, but I'm not so sure that MFP can offer you what you need when you're resistant to upping your calories to a healthy intake for fear of gaining anything back.

The answer is almonds! I can eat these all day but have to control myself. 1/4 cup serving has 170 calories. They are high in fat but it is the monosaturated, which is the good fat!

I don't know much about eating disorders, but it sounds to me like you may be dealing with feelings and habits that can turn into one. I think meeting with a nutritionist (or at least a doctor) would be a good idea. It seems like you are so worried about gaining weight or not losing weight that you are convincing yourself that you aren't hungry and don't need to eat. I hope that you find help with the stress of eating and can move forward with your weight loss in a healthy manner.

Reading success stories, especially the ones who outline how they did it, should be helpful too. I don't recall reading a single one where the person said they lost weight by eating 850 calories per day. Most are around 1200 PLUS exercise calories. Maybe that will help you gain the confidence and ability to eat the calories recommended here.

Best of luck to you.

Many people, hundreds of thousands of people in fact, lose weight at 800 to 1k net cals/day. My GF runs a Lindora weight loss clinic here in SoCal and their customers learn about food and nutrition while eating < 1k cals/day.

I lost my weight at that same calorie level. Please refer to my diary and you'll see that I eat at about that level from December 2010 to July 1 2011 and I lost 95 pounds in just under 7 months.

http://cbeinfo.net/weight.htm

Bloodwork is great, BP is excellent, and I did a half marathon a few weeks ago and am training for the CIM in Sacramento in December.

At times, I had the same feelings as the OP. I just didn't feel hungry and I didn't want to eat. One reason might have been that I had 50% protein instead of 50% carbs so I still had food in my stomach = I wasn't hungry. Only now that I'm training for marathons have I increased my carbs to 50% (and it's still weird for me to eat rice and bread just to put the calories in my body).

The OP is eating about 800 cals but not 800 net cals and that's what's most likely causing problems for her.

I am the same, I eat 700-1100 usually and eat back nothing. My weight has been stuck for over 2 weeks. I am trying various things to help out my metabolism like more exercise, front-loading calories and mixing up my exercise routine. So far no luck.

Looking at your stats, you may want to work up to eating at maintenance (go up greadually to work out the right number for you to maintain) and focus in exercises that work on strength and toning. You appear to be at a healthy weight for your height so dropping more numbers on the scales probably won't change your "look" much, whereas exercise will.

I have an ED so it's all a bit screwed up in my head. And I have a lot of stomach fat to dispose of! I have big muscles naturally which is dead annoying so any extra fat is really noticable as I have chunky legs even when I'm in great athletic condition.

Here is my story. I used to eat 800 cals each day on average. I dont think I do much (activity wise) because I stay home and watch the kid, clean.......etc. and I was GAINING weight. 7 years go by and I am at 220 with a lot of fat accumulated around my mid section. Now that I am using MFP and learning how to be healthy and EATING. I have lost weight and a TON of inches from fat.

Now I dont know if you are cronicly undereating or if this is just because of the diet but if you DONT eat a MIN 1200 your body will hold onto anything and everything when you eat over the 800 cals you do now or you will become anorexic. Eat more sweetie. your body will treat you better and love you for the GOOD food (lean meats, veggies,complex carbs and fruit).

I have an ED so it's all a bit screwed up in my head. And I have a lot of stomach fat to dispose of! I have big muscles naturally which is dead annoying so any extra fat is really noticable as I have chunky legs even when I'm in great athletic condition.
[/quote]

I hope u just keep yourself well Hun, this has made me really sad I have one idea for u you say you are in great athletic condition which is just fab for your health, how about checking out some athletes diets? I don't think some of those big names could function on so little fuel? Hope you stay healthy x

I have been on 2 trial liquid diets which are 600-800 cal a day which were ordered by a weightloss program/doctor I see. Both times I have done their diet (in which a good lot of weight was lost during that time achieved), my weight loss slowed a bit but soon returned. First time I did 3 weeks of liquids and then followed with 1200 cal and I went into a 4 week stall... even gained 2 pounds... but I kept to my program etc and after 4 weeks my weightloss took off again. Second time I plateaued only 2 weeks then weightloss kept going.
It takes time for the body to adjust to weightloss/changes. If you keep with your program, your body will come around to doing what it should.
When I hear people say things like starvation mode etc I laugh.... because so many people get the wrong idea.... your body isn't starving.... your body goes through periods of adjustment... it has to so it can find energy. This is something that I found to be helpful that helps puts things into perspective for me...

"Our bodies use glycogen for short term energy storage. Glycogen is not very soluble, but it is stored in our muscles for quick energy -- one pound of glycogen requires 4 lbs of water to keep it soluble, and the average glycogen storage capacity is about 2 lbs. So, when you are not getting in enough food, your body turns first to stored glycogen, which is easy to break down for energy. And when you use up 2 lbs of glycogen, you also lose 8 lbs of water that was used to store it -- voila -- the "easy" 10 lbs that most people lose in the first week of a diet.
As you stay in caloric deficit, however, your body starts to realize that this is not a short term problem. You start mobilizing fat from your adipose tissue and burning fat for energy. But your body also realizes that fat can't be used for short bursts of energy -- like, to outrun a sabertooth tiger. So, it starts converting some of the fat into glycogen, and rebuilding the glycogen stores. And as it puts back the 2 lbs of glycogen into the muscle, 8 lbs of water has to be stored with it to keep it soluble. So, even though you might still be LOSING energy content to your body, your weight will not go down or you might even GAIN for a while as you retain water to dissolve the glycogen that is being reformed and stored."

EAT

No ****!

If you're eating less than 1200 calories your body could go into starvation mode.
And what happens then?
"Starvation mode is a state in which the body is responding to prolonged periods of low caloric intake levels. During short periods of caloric abstinence, the human body will burn primarily free fatty acids from body fat stores. After prolonged periods of starvation the body has depleted its body fat and begins to burn lean tissue and muscle as a fuel source.

Ordinarily, the body responds to reduced caloric intake by burning fat reserves first, and only consumes muscle and other tissues when those reserves are exhausted. Specifically, the body burns fat after first exhausting the contents of the digestive tract along with glycogen reserves stored in muscle and liver cells. After prolonged periods of starvation, the body will utilize the proteins within muscle tissue as a fuel source. People who practice fasting on a regular basis, such as those adhering to caloric restricted diets, can prime their bodies to abstain from food without burning lean tissue. Resistance training (such as weight lifting) can also prevent the loss of muscle mass while a person is caloric restricted."

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starvation_response

You're mixing your statements with those of the Wiki. That's fine because you're citing appropriately but there is a vital distinction.

You said "If you're eating less than 1200 calories your body could go into starvation mode.
And what happens then?"

And then you quote the Wiki:
""Starvation mode is a state in which the body is responding to prolonged periods of low caloric intake levels. During short periods of caloric abstinence…is caloric restricted."

What's vital is that the Wiki uses these phrases "caloric abstinence", "prolonged periods of starvation ", and "prolonged periods of starvation" (again).

Thus, the wiki is discussing "starvation" as in "caloric abstinence", not the 1199 level of calorie consumption which we here at MFP know causes individuals to burst into flames. ;-)

Indeed, this page

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starvation

uses the phrase "When food intake ceases"

As far as I've been able to determine, "starvation" happens when your net cals/day fall into the 500 and lower range which means that your statement "If you're eating less than 1200 calories your body could go into starvation mode." is not incorrect but, in reality, in the medical world, starvation is most often discussed at calorie levels of less than 1/2 the magic 1200 calorie level.


Back to the issue for the OP - I'd be surprised if she wasn't dipping into the calorie level of true starvation but if you were to tell lots of people in the world that you were changing their calorie intake to the 1200 level, they would thank you.

Starvation and starvation response are not the same thing, as much as you're trying to lump them together here...starvation response does NOT mean when food intake ceases....that is literal starvation, i.e. dying from lack of food. Learn the difference, kthxbye.

EAT

God, people like you annoy me. She's trying, she might be suffering from mild symptoms of an ED so don't type the word "eat" to her in capital letters. Jesus christ, give the girl tips instead of this crap.

^^^
sometimes i cant eat all my calories n i look for help n everyone puts EAT EAT EAT well if we felt like/could EAT EAT EAT we wouldnt be asking for help
and for the op
eat some snacks not just meals. walk into the kitchen find something to cook n cook it after you have worked on cooking it and smelling it you might jus be hungry :P works for me

I agree, sometimes it is difficult if you want to cut down on fats/candies etc. I know there is stuff like peanut butter and meat...but some ppl don't eat peanuts and others don't eat meat...im slowly becoming vegetarian since I don't enjoy the taste of most meat anyways (except lamb), and not eating meat gives a LOT more calories to work with. ^.^ Just an example.

As for starvation mode...studies done on it showed that ppl went into starvation mode eating 600 calories per day or less...not less than 1,200. ^.^ Maybe you are just at a plateau ^.^ It happens! I am sure many of us have been there..maybe you need more protein or fiber or whole grains or something...see what you aren't eating much of...and add that in

You do not want to become afraid of food because that could lead to anorexia....

It sounds to me that there are some psychological issues going on here. Whatever we tell you to do on how to get more calories, it seems like fear is not allowing you to eat more than you currently are. I highly suggest talking to a psychologists because they are far better equipped to deal with your situation than we are. Everyone here obviously has some issues with food or we would just be going about our lives not tracking, so please don't feel offended or ashamed for this and know that you are not alone. There is also nothing shameful about admitting you need help. If you're going to be honest, I'm going to be honest right back. Deep down, you know that 800 calories a day is not smart, safe or healthy... MFP has a minimum of 1200 for a reason....

I hope that you are able to get the help you need and I really hope that you are strong enough to ignore "advice" from others with extremely unrealistic and unhealthy goals.

Xx