I can only lose weight if I eat less than 1200 calories

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californiansun
californiansun Posts: 392 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi all,

Here is a little back up story. When I was younger (16 or so) I was 220 pounds. I said enough and only ate around 500-800 calories a day and worked out at the gym a lot. I lost a lot of weight and weighed around 150-140 until my sophmore year of college. I ballooned up to 180 and went back up to 220. Now I'm 197 give or take.

When i started to eat a NORMAL amount of calories, 1500-1700 a day (it was gradual) I gained weight at a rapid pace. Now I can only lose weight if I eat less than 1200 calories (less than 1000 actually).

Why is this and how can I prevent this? I go on walks 5-6 days a week, most days are more than an hour. Two days are 40-50 minutes. And i use a stationary bike and weights at home.

I'm getting REALLY frustrated. Thank you!!
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Replies

  • fueledbystina
    fueledbystina Posts: 18
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    I have the same problem ):
    I'll walk like five miles and eat less than 800 calories and still gain or if I'm lucky I'll stay the same.
    It's not healthy at all but I have to keep my intake to 500-600 now just so I can see some results. :/
  • Lyadeia
    Lyadeia Posts: 4,603 Member
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    Honestly, for a situation like that one, you probably should speak with a certified nutritionist, or at the very least, your doctor, to see what they think. :flowerforyou:
  • ghadeer86
    ghadeer86 Posts: 12
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    Hmmm my friend has a similar issue and she;s being tested for thyroid function, hopefully yours is fine but its worth looking into :)
  • californiansun
    californiansun Posts: 392 Member
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    My major is actually dietetics and I met with my major adviser who is an RD. (A Nutritionist doesn't have a certification!) And she said that I could have messed up my metabolism. Kind of a bummer. Thyroid a good option, but I'm only 21! Could that be possible?
  • fueledbystina
    fueledbystina Posts: 18
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    My friend is 17 and she has a thyroid issue. It's genetic in her case.
  • hazelnut861
    hazelnut861 Posts: 390 Member
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    I think you should ask your doctor. You shouldn't have to starve your body to lose weight. How you lost weight before doesn't set a forever blueprint in your body telling you that that's what it has to do. Most people in a healthy condition should be able to eat that amount and still lose. The more you weigh the more calories you need just to maintain. I need at least 1600 calories a day to stay at maintenance 137 pounds. And if you're exercising you need more. So even at 1500 you should be losing something. Talk to your doctor and he might do some blood tests or give you suggestions fit specifically for you since you've had trouble losing before.
  • kanonxbou47
    kanonxbou47 Posts: 265 Member
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    It could be your thyroid, even if you're young. I know a 17-year-old with a thyroid problem.
  • lor007
    lor007 Posts: 884 Member
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    Hi all,

    Here is a little back up story. When I was younger (16 or so) I was 220 pounds. I said enough and only ate around 500-800 calories a day and worked out at the gym a lot. I lost a lot of weight and weighed around 150-140 until my sophmore year of college. I ballooned up to 180 and went back up to 220. Now I'm 197 give or take.

    When i started to eat a NORMAL amount of calories, 1500-1700 a day (it was gradual) I gained weight at a rapid pace. Now I can only lose weight if I eat less than 1200 calories (less than 1000 actually).

    Why is this and how can I prevent this? I go on walks 5-6 days a week, most days are more than an hour. Two days are 40-50 minutes. And i use a stationary bike and weights at home.

    I'm getting REALLY frustrated. Thank you!!
    I have the same problem ):
    I'll walk like five miles and eat less than 800 calories and still gain or if I'm lucky I'll stay the same.
    It's not healthy at all but I have to keep my intake to 500-600 now just so I can see some results. :/

    I recommend you both visit a doctor and nutritionist. This is not good.
  • sleepytexan
    sleepytexan Posts: 3,138 Member
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    this happens to so many people when they restrict calories too low for so long; then they eat the slightest bit more and they gain, so they drop back down again. It is vicious cycle and only leads to gaining more and more.

    You can break it, but you will have to have patience. You HAVE to eat more, and you have to accept that you will gain for a while. There is absolutely no way around it; if you want to live a normal life and break out of this cycle of gaining, you have to put in the time and patience.

    You shouldn't really gain that much, but it may take some months before you plateau and then start to come back down. Your metabolism needs to recover.

    I'd suggest you put your weekly loss goal at 1 lb/week, and eat ALL of the allotted calories (don't even leave 100 calories per day). Log all your walks and other exercise, and eat back some or all of the calories if you need them. Once your metabolism starts to recover, the gaining will stop, you will plateau, and eventually you will drop. This would also be a good time to take up weight training, if you haven't already. Building lean muscle mass is essential to firing up your metabolism.

    Once you start to lose, it will be very important to increase the amount of exercise calories that you eat -- as you increase muscle mass, the muscle requires refueling. Failing to refuel will put you right back where you are right now.

    Ideally, you want to get to the point where you eat back ALL your exercise calories (remember you have a deficit built in to your calories with MFP -- exercise calorie are meant to be on top of that to refuel your metabolism).

    The most important thing here is patience. Often people give up too soon and then end up right where you are forever. Don't get stuck; start eating right (avoid partially hydrogenated oils and corn syrup/sugar). Eat lots of fruit and veggies and non-processed foods. You don't have to cut out any specific food group, but use common sense and don't eat 10 cupcakes a day.

    You can do this! It will work . . . but you must commit in order to break out of the cycle you're in.

    blessings.
  • hollywood_girl
    hollywood_girl Posts: 11 Member
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    I had the exact same issue! I absolutely hated it, so I saw a nutritionist who gave me an eating plan. She told me that I would most likely gain a small amount of weight before losing weight on the eating plan (weird, I know :P), but that it was just my bodies way of adjusting itself. Hope that helps! :)
  • LabRat529
    LabRat529 Posts: 1,323 Member
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    Yup... I'd recommend you talk to a doctor too. That's not normal.

    I'm sorry for your frustrations! But go get yourself tested.
  • Mehs
    Mehs Posts: 73 Member
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    There is an article on here about this issue. I'll see if I can find it and post the link for you.
  • Whitneylol
    Whitneylol Posts: 244
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    I have the same problem ):
    I'll walk like five miles and eat less than 800 calories and still gain or if I'm lucky I'll stay the same.
    It's not healthy at all but I have to keep my intake to 500-600 now just so I can see some results. :/


    How tall are you? This is extremely low!
  • fueledbystina
    fueledbystina Posts: 18
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    I know. :c
    I'm about 5'2" - 5'3" and small framed.
  • Mehs
    Mehs Posts: 73 Member
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    Found it! Its kinda long but it really explains some things.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/3047-700-calories-a-day-and-not-losing
  • hazelnut861
    hazelnut861 Posts: 390 Member
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    My major is actually dietetics and I met with my major adviser who is an RD. (A Nutritionist doesn't have a certification!) And she said that I could have messed up my metabolism. Kind of a bummer. Thyroid a good option, but I'm only 21! Could that be possible?
    im only 25. Before I got pregnant with my daughter at 23 I tried for a long time to get in better shape. I eventually got a trainer and eating plan. Tweaked workouts and diet and nada. They were stumped and insisted I wasn't following the plan. Finally after my daughter was born I tried again. I was tired I wanted to sleep all day and was hungry constantly and grumpy so I talked to my doctor about the whole situation and a simple blood test showed my thyroid was crawling at a snails pace. We're not saying this is definitely what is going on but even at 21 it could be possible. Either way you can go.from there. Good luck and I hope you figure out what's holding up you're progress.
  • theunsquare
    theunsquare Posts: 2
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    As many have already suggested, your thyroid could be the culprit. I have hypothyroidism, as does my sister, brother and our father, so in my family's case, it's genetic.

    An endocrinologist can diagnose you, and perhaps your regular doctor as well, all it takes is a blood test. Easy peasy. And I think there is a site that has info for low cost or free testing if you don't have insurance...

    If it turns out it's your thyroid, you'll need the right meds - my family and I are all on synthroid.

    No amount of eating less will help if your thyroid (or something else) is out of whack.

    Good luck in finding out the root cause! Not knowing is frustrating but taking baby steps to figure out the cause will yield results.
  • fueledbystina
    fueledbystina Posts: 18
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    As many have already suggested, your thyroid could be the culprit. I have hypothyroidism, as does my sister, brother and our father, so in my family's case, it's genetic.

    An endocrinologist can diagnose you, and perhaps your regular doctor as well, all it takes is a blood test. Easy peasy. And I think there is a site that has info for low cost or free testing if you don't have insurance...

    If it turns out it's your thyroid, you'll need the right meds - my family and I are all on synthroid.

    No amount of eating less will help if your thyroid (or something else) is out of whack.

    Good luck in finding out the root cause! Not knowing is frustrating but taking baby steps to figure out the cause will yield results.

    I could have sworn my problem would be my thyroid since I had so many of the symptoms but I just got it checked and it was perfectly fine.
    Found it! Its kinda long but it really explains some things.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/3047-700-calories-a-day-and-not-losing

    Thank you! :)
  • theunsquare
    theunsquare Posts: 2
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    Good find!

    I have heard many times that your body will go into "starvation mode" when you're not getting enough calories. Then it just stops metabolizing, trying to conserve everything.

    It's good to have a range of available information. You did the right thing by going to your doctor and ruling stuff out. Sometimes to find what it IS, you have to find what it's NOT first :)
  • hazelnut861
    hazelnut861 Posts: 390 Member
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    Found it! Its kinda long but it really explains some things.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/3047-700-calories-a-day-and-not-losing
    great article to suggest.

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