Athletic and can't lose a pound!

And just in case this doesn't work for you, don't be afraid to not eat back your exercise calories. I tried it ^^^^ this way^^^^ and it didn't work for me. What does work for me is eating between 1000-1300 calories a day (I'm only 5'1) and burning 500-600 calories at the gym 4-5 days a week. I'm also an athlete and always have been. People freak out and say, OMG you're putting yourself in "starvation mode". No, I am not. If I had less than 8% body fat that may be the issue, but I don't. I am strong, have plenty of energy to workout, my body functions normally, and as long as I spread my meals out and drink lots of water I rarely even feel hungry.

Find what works for you. Play around and give whatever you decide to do a little time. Good luck. Glad you are here.

Heather

No offense, Heather, but I can tell you for certain, you will not ever reach goal and maintain that way. It really takes time when you have been chronically underfeeding to get your metabolism right. Please do not advocate eating an unhealthy amount of calories on this site; it is against the rules.

I hope, for your sake, that you begin nourishing your body properly before you risk your health.

blessings.

welcome.

this may or may not apply to you:


From one of my old posts from a similar topic:

OK. I'm gonna give this a shot. I am an avid lifelong athlete. I have never been overweight, however, I used to eat too few calories (without knowing it), and a couple years ago, I actually GAINED weight bc of having slowed my metabolism to the point that every little extra treat I ate caused a weight gain, even though overall my calories were too low. THIS DOES HAPPEN.

It is also the reason so many fat people stay fat. They restrict their calories so low, slow their metabolisms, binge (even a little), gain weight, restrict more . . . . and so on and so on. But they are still fat.

It is also the reason most people can't lose that last 10-20 lbs. For real.

1. MFP has a deficit built in. Let's say you're trying to lose 1 lb/ week. That is a 500/day deficit from your BMR (the amount of calories your body needs to complete basic functions.

2. You exercise and burn 500 calories. Now you are at a 1000 deficit. If you eat back those 500 exercise calories, you refuel your body and you still have a 500 deficit for that 1 lb loss. If you DON'T eat back those calories, you have too little fuel. This is bad. This is too much of a deficit for basic functions. If you do this for a long time, you will STOP LOSING WEIGHT. Why? bc your metabolism will slow down -- it's like a brownout--not quite enough electricity to make the whole city (your body) run, so it has to slow down some things. You will probably start being tired a lot, your skin and hair might start to look worse, and you might even gain weight. But you might NOT be hungry -- your body is getting used to fewer calories. That's bad.


That's when you start to gain weight. Let's say you're running along, eating 1200 calories a day, and exercising 400 calories a day, so net is 800. You're losing, you think this is great. You keep doing it, but after a while you stop losing. hmmmmm. One weekend you go out to a special event and have a slice of pizza and a beer. 1 slice of pizza and 1 beer. So you ate maybe 2000 calories that day and exercised off 400, so net 1600. BOOM! You gain 3 lbs! What?!

Next, you freak out and restrict yourself down to 1000 calories a day and work out extra hard, burning 500 calories. Great, netting 500 now. You don't lose any weight, but you sure feel tired. Better get some red bull.

Are you getting the picture?

EDIT: When you work out, you need fuel. Food is fuel. If you don't eat back those exercise calories, you will not only have a big calorie deficit, you will have an ENERGY deficit. Remember, the calorie deficit for weight loss is built in when you use MFP. Exercising basically earns you more calories because you must refuel.
--

There are many people who will tell you not to eat exercise calories. Before you take their advice, you might want to see whether they are at goal, have EVER been at goal, or have ever been able to maintain at goal. If anyone says to you 'THE LAST TIME I LOST WEIGHT", just stop listening right there.

Ask some athletes whether or not they replenish their bodies with food equal to the calories they burn. Ask people who are fit and have achieved and maintained a healthy weight for some years. Don't ask people who count walking across a parking lot as exercise.

Here's an interesting case study about how to stay fat while consuming only 700 calories a day. Take a moment, you'll be glad you did:

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

blessings.

And just in case this doesn't work for you, don't be afraid to not eat back your exercise calories. I tried it ^^^^ this way^^^^ and it didn't work for me. What does work for me is eating between 1000-1300 calories a day (I'm only 5'1) and burning 500-600 calories at the gym 4-5 days a week. I'm also an athlete and always have been. People freak out and say, OMG you're putting yourself in "starvation mode". No, I am not. If I had less than 8% body fat that may be the issue, but I don't. I am strong, have plenty of energy to workout, my body functions normally, and as long as I spread my meals out and drink lots of water I rarely even feel hungry.

Find what works for you. Play around and give whatever you decide to do a little time. Good luck. Glad you are here.

Heather

No offense, Heather, but I can tell you for certain, you will not ever reach goal and maintain that way. It really takes time when you have been chronically underfeeding to get your metabolism right. Please do not advocate eating an unhealthy amount of calories on this site; it is against the rules.

I hope, for your sake, that you begin nourishing your body properly before you risk your health.

blessings.

I am not advocating eating an unhealthy amount of calories. I am advocating what my doctor, my trainer, and a good friend who happens to be a nutrition counselor have all advised me to do. Catch me down the road when I have reached and maintained my goals... then, "tell me for certain that I will not ever reach goal and maintain it that way".

You started your post by saying that, "you have never been overweight", and fat people stay fat by restricting their calories and then "binging". If you have never been overweight, you have never had a significant amount of weight to lose, therefore you probably don't know what works for those who do. I've lost 44 lbs at a rate of 2 lbs per week. The fat people stayed fat because of the "binging" not because they restricted their calories. Had the restricted their calories and stuck to it, they would have lost the weight.

Hope for my sake all you want.. It is my hope that you will stop telling people who are trying to change their eating habits to eating less, to eat more. It's so counter productive.