Consistently eat too little but not losing weight

makeshiftnh
makeshiftnh Posts: 2
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi there,
I'm new to MFP but I have some critical clarifying questions to ask.
First off, I'm nearly 51 years old, 177 lbs, 5'4", I exercise regularly and I have a thyroid problem.
I have been consistently eating under 1000 cal/day(total, not net) for a long time now simply due to not feeling hungry enough to eat more and feeling too full when I do. However, I'm still overweight and my doctor recommends that I try to get down to 150. i joined MFP to get try and get a gauge on where I was going wrong and after calculating my recommended intake I realize I'm eating way too little. My intake should be around 1200 net to lose weight, but today for example I only netted about 500 calories and wasn't hungry. I feel as though boosting my intake will drastically increase my weight which is the opposite of what I want. Can anyone give me some insight on what I should/should not be doing to hit my 150 lb mark?

Replies

  • JBHawaii
    JBHawaii Posts: 94
    I am not sure what the implications of a thyroid disorder are BUT let me give you my 2 cents.

    You do need to eat a little bit more... I say 1200 calories or so at minimum. Try eating more fats and protein as the are calorie rich and wont, initially, make you feel so full. Basically, you wileat less for more calories. Maybe even try snacking on walnuts or almonds through the day.

    Also, remember that this is a marathon, not a sprint. Try upping the calories and workout intensity for 2 weeks and see what happens. This little experiment might be just what you need.

    Good luck!
  • runfatmanrun
    runfatmanrun Posts: 1,090 Member
    You'll likely hear this a lot but you need to eat more. I don't know how or what you can do but you likely need to eat. There are a lot of threads about eat more lose weight.
  • Symonep
    Symonep Posts: 181 Member
    You need to eat A LOT more
  • Deedsie
    Deedsie Posts: 348 Member
    That is very few calories to be eating especially if you are exercising too. I would expect you to be losing at that many calories unless your metabolism has slowed way down. I would try eating more using protein shakes or nuts and avocados and olive oil basically calorie dense foods. Initially you might gain weight but you shouldn't gain more than a few lbs and then you should start losing again once your body's metabolism speeds back up. Are you on medicine for your thyroid? I thought that medicine caused weight loss.
  • jdmorgan23x
    jdmorgan23x Posts: 6
    Try upping your calorie intake with meal replacement drinks during meals instead of your regular drinks....your metabolism computer needs reset its not getting enough calories. With the small amount of calories you are taking in your body is freaked out thinking the world outside is going to suffer a food famine so it must hold on to its calories ..which is why your experiencing a plateau the more calories you take in the more it will start to burn as your metabolism starts to reignite with new healthy calorie filled fuel ! Good luck precious ;)
  • shayleeloves
    shayleeloves Posts: 72
    You aren't going to lose weight eating only 1,000 calories a day. If you're not hungry often, try protein shakes with lots of fruits and veggies... that gives a lot of (healthy) calories in.
  • TheVimFuego
    TheVimFuego Posts: 2,412 Member
    Yup, more protein and fat is the way to go, your body is adjusting to the lower intake by decreasing your metabolism as it wants to maintain a set point of body fat percentage, it's trying to survive in the face of nutritional deprivation, as it should.

    Whether this set point is ideal for you physically it doesn't care, it doesn't look in the mirror and see excess fat, all it sees are starvation signals coming from your body (this is related to your level of, and effective processing of, leptin).

    By eating way less you are, necessarily, reducing the amount of essential nutrients that you are getting. The key is to feed the body what it wants and let it regulate the metabolism upwards so that it 'sees' that you have excess fat and it will naturally burn it off as we have been programmed to do from day 1.

    Eat more yes, but of the right stuff ...

    I try to think less about the maths and more about the metabolism.

    I recently enjoyed reading The Smarter Science Of Slim which deals with these issues very well.

    I mean, as a species we haven't always counted calories, we haven't always known about calories and were we healthier back then, weight-wise, diabetes-wise, heart-disease-wise ... Yup ...
  • jess1992uga
    jess1992uga Posts: 603 Member
    I have hypothyroidism and struggle with the not being hungry thing as well of course I am trying to gain, but I have dieted a lot in the past and have restricted intake like you are now.
    I just recently did a blog post about this but basically eating too little (in this case less than 1200) combined with thyroid problems is basically a double blow to your metabolism. There are two solutions and if you want to lose weight you need both. First, increase your intake to 1200 at least. You will be suprised but eating more will rev metabolism making you lose more. This is best monitored by weighing once weekly. Second, make sure during this whole thing you get your thyroid monitored more often as changing diets can affect TSH levels. Good luck :)
  • AlliedF
    AlliedF Posts: 9
    Hi,
    I am in a similar position as you, I have been having huge problems with an under-active thyroid I just have to look at a lettuce leaf and I put on weight..
    I have been doing the MFP now for a couple of weeks or more and although I lost 2.1kg in the first week nothing has really happened after this... :( I have been exercising by riding 2.5kms - 3kms 5 times a week on an exercycle - but the problem there is that exercise make the thyroid problem even worse!!!
    Now I have been to the Doctor yesterday and my blood test results are all over the place - the thyroid problem upsets all the results! Now I have had to increase the medication for the thyroid problem!!! However, the Doctor said to just keep doing what I have been doing and not give up...once the thyroid settles down and behaves as it should everything should come right.

    By doing MFP I have also found like you that I am not eating enough and my body thinks " oh oh, I'm not getting enough to keep me going - better get into starvation mode and keep some calories stored"
    So in fact I have not been eating enough to keep my body working as it should -hence the weight has not been shifting. This has been going on for years and years and finally I have 'clicked' When my body is receiving the right amount of calories etc. it makes the metabolism work as it should and then the body does not need to store and it will all come off...woohoo!

    (I can remember now, years ago doing Weight Watchers and them saying that I was not eating enough for my body to function as it should do...) hmm how quickly we forget...
    Also I have not been very well lately either with eating or exercising as I have had surgery on my jaw, plus 3 molar teeth extractions (OUCH) so I have not been allowed to exercise and have not been able to eat properly. Then with complications with an infection with my jaw it has been a long long time with out relief from major pain! Finally when it all gets sorted I will be able to continue on with this and get some serious results! woohoo!
    Sorry this has been such a long story! ;)
  • makeshiftnh
    makeshiftnh Posts: 2
    First off I'd like to thank all of you for your amazing support and advice. It puts my heart at ease to know I'm in good company. Now, how long do you think it will take for my metabolism to return to normal after my increased intake, and how long should my weight be increased before it drops down again?
  • Deedsie
    Deedsie Posts: 348 Member
    I'd give it 2-3 weeks and I'm not sure how much you will gain. The first time I upped my calories from 1000 to 1300 per day I gained 6 lbs in 2 weeks but it all came off 2 weeks later.

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