Signs of an increasing metabolism?

NicoletheFaye
NicoletheFaye Posts: 19 Member
edited November 12 in Health and Weight Loss
After coming to a plateau early on in this journey, thanks to some other forums, I realized that I was consuming too few calories for my activity level. So I increased my caloric intake from 1250 up to 1650. I've only been at this new level for a couple of weeks, and I'm not actually losing more, but I'm noticing some changes. For instance, my body, mainly my legs, get hot and flushed a little while after I eat a meal now and I find my legs shaking a lot more at my desk after lunch.

I was wondering what are some of the signs that your metabolism is getting higher? I'm not asking for tips to increase my metabolism, I'm asking for symptoms that your metabolism IS increasing, other than weight loss. I'm just trying to figure out if I've added enough calories to kinda jumpstart my metabolism again.
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Replies

  • Cindym82
    Cindym82 Posts: 1,245 Member
    usually not a good sign if ur shaking after eating
  • Claire594
    Claire594 Posts: 349 Member
    Bump. I'd like to know this too.
  • NicoletheFaye
    NicoletheFaye Posts: 19 Member
    usually not a good sign if ur shaking after eating

    It's not uncontrollable shaking, more like fidgeting of which I am only semi-conscious. When I was younger, I remember a woman from my church whose leg would shake all the time in this way and she said it was because she had a high metabolism. I'm just curious to know if anybody knew one way or the other.
  • gemiwing
    gemiwing Posts: 1,525 Member
    return of 'useless movement'- such as fiddling, rocking, bopping along to music in traffic etc.
    hair begins to stop falling out/thinning and becomes thicker and more oily
    recovery from workouts is faster and more efficient
    bowl movement frequency returns to normal
    sweating begins again
    increased quality in sleep
    decreased need for excessive *over ten hours* of sleep
    increased appetite
  • NicoletheFaye
    NicoletheFaye Posts: 19 Member
    return of 'useless movement'- such as fiddling, rocking, bopping along to music in traffic etc.
    hair begins to stop falling out/thinning and becomes thicker and more oily
    recovery from workouts is faster and more efficient
    bowl movement frequency returns to normal
    sweating begins again
    increased quality in sleep
    decreased need for excessive *over ten hours* of sleep
    increased appetite

    Thank you so much for the information! That's a great list! Might I ask for your sources or is this from personal experience? I want to become better educated on this topic.
  • gemiwing
    gemiwing Posts: 1,525 Member
    Thank you so much for the information! That's a great list! Might I ask for your sources or is this from personal experience? I want to become better educated on this topic.

    You're gonna love this ;)
    http://jn.nutrition.org/content/135/6/1347.full

    Follow their list of symptoms that started when inducing mild starvation- add them back and you'll get improvement symptoms.

    Also- yep some personal experience in there too. Anecdotal doesn't float a source so figured the journal of nutrition will have to do lol
  • NicoletheFaye
    NicoletheFaye Posts: 19 Member
    Thank you so much for the information! That's a great list! Might I ask for your sources or is this from personal experience? I want to become better educated on this topic.

    You're gonna love this ;)
    http://jn.nutrition.org/content/135/6/1347.full

    Follow their list of symptoms that started when inducing mild starvation- add them back and you'll get improvement symptoms.

    Also- yep some personal experience in there too. Anecdotal doesn't float a source so figured the journal of nutrition will have to do lol

    Thank you once again! More than anything, I like to know that I'm not crazy and I value others' experiences highly. But I'm also a bit of an avid learner and this whole starvation mode / eat more thing seems so counterintuitive. I'd like to read up to cut down on my frustration.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,422 Member
    Congratulations for wanting to learn more about the actual science.


    The dieting industry has been selling us B.S. for decades.

    You do need to eat more to lose and stay healthy. Being thin is meaningless if you have no quality of life: i.e., sleep all the time, are depressed, have poor skin and hair, and get ill frequently.
  • treetop57
    treetop57 Posts: 1,578 Member
    Thanks for that link, Gemiwing! I've heard description of that experiment and didn't understand who would possibly participate in something so extreme and (frankly) dangerous. It's good to see the context in which the experiment was conducted, and the reasons that people would voluntarily let themselves be subjected to such treatment.
  • MusicLady718
    MusicLady718 Posts: 6
    return of 'useless movement'- such as fiddling, rocking, bopping along to music in traffic etc.
    hair begins to stop falling out/thinning and becomes thicker and more oily
    recovery from workouts is faster and more efficient
    bowl movement frequency returns to normal
    sweating begins again
    increased quality in sleep
    decreased need for excessive *over ten hours* of sleep
    increased appetite

    Thanks! I was wondering about that!
  • NicoletheFaye
    NicoletheFaye Posts: 19 Member
    Thank you, cmriverside! The way I see it, and I'm sure quite a lot of people on here feel the same way, I can't stick with something that isn't sustainable. I want a lifestyle change, not a quick fix.
  • gemiwing
    gemiwing Posts: 1,525 Member
    Thanks for that link, Gemiwing! I've heard description of that experiment and didn't understand who would possibly participate in something so extreme and (frankly) dangerous. It's good to see the context in which the experiment was conducted, and the reasons that people would voluntarily let themselves be subjected to such treatment.

    Another great MFP inspiration (31prvrbs) had this link up on her blog. It's absolutely amazing what they did and why they did it. I have massive respect for them and for their sacrifice. The data we have from their service is invaluable and has saved me, personally.
  • motherofgrace
    motherofgrace Posts: 17
    bump :)
  • annalee_1
    annalee_1 Posts: 235 Member
    Bump
  • pauljsolie
    pauljsolie Posts: 1,024 Member
    late night bump
  • dgjewels49
    dgjewels49 Posts: 43
    bump
  • taunto
    taunto Posts: 6,420 Member
    bump for later use
  • cjpg
    cjpg Posts: 433 Member
    return of 'useless movement'- such as fiddling, rocking, bopping along to music in traffic etc.
    hair begins to stop falling out/thinning and becomes thicker and more oily
    recovery from workouts is faster and more efficient
    bowl movement frequency returns to normal
    sweating begins again
    increased quality in sleep
    decreased need for excessive *over ten hours* of sleep
    increased appetite

    I've recently kickstarted my metabolism into overdrive accidentally!
    The last three weeks I wasn't losing any weight. Long story short, currently I'm eating more and exercising less and my metabolism is going crazy. I noticed a few of these things but have been so baffled about them. Especially the following:

    return of 'useless movement'- such as fiddling, rocking, bopping along to music in traffic etc.
    I keep fidgeting and am finding it very difficult to sit still. Waiting for the bus is killing me!

    sweating begins again
    last night it was a pretty standard warm to cool night, but I was sweating like crazy. I went to bed to relax and it just wouldn't stop for a solid hour... i was so confused but this explains a lot.

    increased appetite
    i have to be careful on this one. Trying to get as close to my calories here, but instead of the normal 3 meals a day I find myself having 5 smaller meals and am craving carbs this week intensely. So i've decided to listen to my body and increase my output if i go over by too much.

    There are so many other indicators, but these definitely are the big ones.
  • lizzys
    lizzys Posts: 841 Member
    do you have more energy, can you eat more and stay the same, dose your exercise make you feel real good,sweating yes shaking no i don't think so
  • scottc561
    scottc561 Posts: 329 Member
    I just read the article on the study. During the starvation phase they ate 1560 calories per day. I would have guessed they would have ate alot less to starve. There are tons of people on here that eat alot less then that.
  • Jennyisbusy
    Jennyisbusy Posts: 1,294 Member
    You're gonna love this ;)
    http://jn.nutrition.org/content/135/6/1347.full

    That was an interesting read.
  • Jennyisbusy
    Jennyisbusy Posts: 1,294 Member
    I just read the article on the study. During the starvation phase they ate 1560 calories per day. I would have guessed they would have ate alot less to starve. There are tons of people on here that eat alot less then that.

    Healthy young men walking that many miles and burning that number of calories?
  • scottc561
    scottc561 Posts: 329 Member
    I just read the article on the study. During the starvation phase they ate 1560 calories per day. I would have guessed they would have ate alot less to starve. There are tons of people on here that eat alot less then that.

    Healthy young men walking that many miles and burning that number of calories?

    I agree its a deficit, but not the idea of starvation I got before I read the article. You got to remember a skinny young man, probably average of 5'8"(people were shorter back then I beleive reading somewhere) has a bmr of not much more then 1500 to 1600. So yes with the walking (average of about an hour a day @3miles per hour) is definetly going to cause weight loss. Just not what I had pictured as starving lol.

    edit-so they were basically eating their bmr and not eating exercise calories back. So this should be a point for people wandering if they should eat back exercise calories or not. Sounds like yes they should :)
  • secretiive
    secretiive Posts: 121 Member
    bump
  • nextrightthing
    nextrightthing Posts: 408 Member
    bump for info to site on metabolism info
  • whitneyann0
    whitneyann0 Posts: 327 Member
    Bump to read later.
  • L_amore
    L_amore Posts: 52 Member
    great topic and good feedback.
  • donnantx
    donnantx Posts: 76
    bump
  • JMarigold
    JMarigold Posts: 232 Member
    Love the article about the men in Minnesota! Fascinating.

    Starving on 1800 calories a day for 6 months. They look like skeletons at the end.
  • Pebble321
    Pebble321 Posts: 6,423 Member
    Love the article about the men in Minnesota! Fascinating.

    Starving on 1800 calories a day for 6 months. They look like skeletons at the end.

    It's a great article isn't it - I'd heard about it before but didn't know the details. I find it amazing that eating 1800 cals/day caused them to lose so much weight and have so many other side effects (loss of libido, poor concentration, irritability etc).
    1800 is about my maintenance cals and it seems like a moderate amount of food - not a lot for a man, but I wouldn't imagine that anyone would starve on those cals.
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