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Avoid Bad Advice

I was having a problem on here where I was plateauing.  No matter how much harder and longer I exercised and no matter how many calories I cut (within healthy boundaries) I couldn't lose any weight.  I was stuck at 124 pounds even.  Then someone (from here who will remain unnamed) recommended that I take in more calories because I may be starving myself.  So I (stupidly) did.  I was at like 1000 and added 200.  My scale went back to numbers I swore to myself I'd never see again.  And I couldn't stop gaining even after going back down to my regular calorie count (1000).  That was back in July.   It's September and I'm FINALLY starting to see some weight loss.  I'm down to the 127's but it's been a slow process.  Why do I tell you this?  To remind you to GET MORE THAN ONE OPINION ON SOMETHING BEFORE YOU DECIDE tO FOLLOW THROUGH.  The only reason I took the advice was because everyone else's advice was the same.  Eat less and exercise more.  Her advice was different.  And WRONG.  Now I don't know what I'm going to do once I get back to 124.  I'm probably going to plateau again and I have no plan if that happens.  But I just want to warn others to watch out for bad advice.  Because you could get fat again like I did.  JUST by adding 200 calories for 1 week (LIKE she suggested).  It took me 2 months to get back to normal.  You just don't know how much this burns me up.  I'm very sensitive about my weight and for someone to sabotage me like that just makes me bitter.

Buyers Beware.

It is not bad advice to recommend consuming 1200 calories per day.  Your body needs these calories to function.

It is recommended to never go below 1200 calories if you are a female, because your body will go into starvation mode and it is possible that you might gain weight, besides doing serious damage to your body. (1500 calories if you are male).

Your body needs at least 1200 calories per day to survive. Here is a very rough scientific break down provided by a dietician for a  5' 2", 19 year old female weighing approximately 100 pounds, sitting around all day and doing nothing:


-The heart needs 12% of the calories (144 cals)
-The kidney needs 12% of the calories (144 cals)
-The Liver needs 23% of the calories (276 cals)
-The brain needs 23% of the calories (276 cals)
-The skeletal muscle needs 30% of the calories (360 cals)

Reference: http://www.calorie-count.com/forums/post/3178 .html#6

If you are under 19 you need to add 300 calories for a total of 1500 per day.  If you exercise you need to eat back at least half of the calories that you expend.  So if you burn 400 calories in a day you need to eat back 200 calories. 

 So if you are over 19, you need to eat 1200 calories + half of what you burn exercising.

If you are under 19 you need to consume 1500 + half of what you burn exercising.

c-c's PG's state...
Promotion of starvation diets or habits that exhibit signs of an eating disorder ("pro-ana", "pro-mia", etc.) is prohibited.

It sounds like you may not have really understood what you read here. If you are eating only 1000 cals a day, you are starving yourself, and YOU NEED TO REGAIN WEIGHT AND THEN LOSE IT PROPERLY. The "eat less, exercise more" is downright dangerous when you get to the point where you are losing too quickly, losing weight your body needs, or, as may be the case for you, getting close to your goal weight.

If you lost all your weight initially with a "crash diet" (which is what under 1000 cals a day is), then you are in the classic trap. You cannot lose more without eating dangerously little and obsessively exercising; you cannot eat more without regaining, because you triggered the "conservation/starvation mode." The only way is to regain and then lose it properly, in a safe and healthy manner. It works--it just isn't quick. But when it comes to weight loss, quick = unhealthy.

So please don't blame the poster who gave you good, healthy advice. It is the only way to go. And if you decide to take the healthy route, remember to try to be more patient, to ALWAYS eat at least 1200 calories, and to ALWAYS eat within 1000 cals of what you burn. As you get closer to goal, you will find it even slower going b/c it gets harder and harder not to trigger the conservation mode, so you have to aim for smaller deficits and accept a slower rate of losing. But, the good news is, it WORKS, is healthy, and is much more likely to be permanent. Taking time to do it right is a small price to pay for a life long benefit. And at 19, you have a lot of your life ahead of you! 

Good luck. I hope you find some peace over the issue.

 

Your profile says that you've posted on the forums 70 times. By the time I had posted here *10* times, I had had the following drilled into my head:

You need 1200 calories a day. If you don't eat that much you are at least sabotaging your weight loss efforts, because as soon as you slip up and EAT SOMETHING your body will hang on to it like it's going out of style, and worse, you can permanently hurt yourself as well.

If you managed to be on here that much and not pick up that message, you must be typing with blinders on.

And remember, your posts are public record. Anyone who wanted to can go back and see exactly who it is you're accusing of being a saboteur.

If I were that person, though, I wouldn't be angry at you for coming on here and burning them in a public, misguided rant. I know why you're so angry --

YOU'RE HUNGRY!

Actually, I did look back at that post... which one of the ten people who told you to eat more are you mad at?

Original Post by practicallypeach:

I'm very sensitive about my weight and for someone to sabotage me like that just makes me bitter.

 

Peach, your back...long time no post, eh?

I know, for a fact, that no one tried to sabotage you. Being sensitive about your weight is one thing, but blaming others is another.

It is quite common on this site that people are eating too little (ie: 1000) and they aren't losing weight. Or, they are eating just enough and still aren't losing weight. I have seen many people on this site bump up their calories for a day or two (or alternate eating maintenance and lower, every other day) and bust through a plateau.

I don't remember your stats, but 124 is a pretty healty weight. Trying to lose at a healthy weight will take more time....

I hope you don't stay upset at the people that took the time to post and help you out....

actually no adult one should be eating 1000 calories anyway

I've taken that advice and it's really helped me with muscle-building and losing inches. I've also learned that the scale just gives me a number - it doesn't rate how I look or how I'm feeling. Could there be other factors at work here?

PracticallyPeach ~

If you are only consuming 1000 calories now to lose weight, how much more are you going to lower your calories to in order to continue losing?  At what point are you going to put your health before your weight loss?

If you search through the forums, you will find many threads by those who have undereaten for a period of time, gained weight temporarily while increasing their calories, and then went on to lose weight in a healthy manner.

Upping cals to LOSE

If you are gaining on 1200 calories a day and you truly feel that you need to undereat in order to maintain let alone lose weight, then you need to consult with a dietician or a nutritionist (someone who is specialized in the field) instead of self-diagnosing yourself. 

This article explains starvation mode and why undereating is counter productive:

Dieting & Metabolism

This is what happens when you undereat for an extended period of time:

The Body Neglected

The following article will explain why calorie-count.com has chosen to promote healthy, sustainable weight managment.  As you read the article you will recognize many things that people suggest as a healthy approach.

The Skinny on Fat

That being said, please understand that 1200 calories is the recommended calorie intake for a female who is short, on the lower end of the BMI, and sedentary (refer to Spoiled_Candy's post above). 

Posting Guidelines

Calorie-Count.com's mission is to promote healthy and sustainable weight management. Please help our moderators follow this vision and respect the following guidelines.  

• Your post is subject to modification or deletion by our moderators. Repetitive, off-topic, and frivolous posts will be removed.
• Promotion of starvation diets or habits that exhibit signs of an eating disorder ("pro-ana", "pro-mia", etc.) is prohibited.

~ UTR
Volunteer Moderator

The problem here is that, whilst 1000 was badly undereating, 1200 is still undereating... just not quite so badly.  Having crashed the metabolism at 1000 the body thinks the extra 200 is 'Christmas' and squirrels it away best it can  It doesn't up the metabolism.  If your metabolism was running normally you'd still be losing weight on 1200.  

The only way to get things back to normal, in my experience is to have a few days consuming a lot more food than normal... 2000 or so... and then resuming your weight-loss efforts at about 1300-1400.   After crash-dieting, some weight-gain is inevitable but it tends to be temporary.

But that's just a layman's opinion.   So best of luck.

As is perhaps already obvious, gaining weight eating 1200 means something you were doing previously was very, very off.

Theres not much i can add to this list of fantastic points so to sum up - i second every single reply on this thread.

To put this into perscpective, 2 years ago i was 125 and i was eating 800-1000 cals a day. want to know what it does to your body? it makes your hair fall out. it makes your skin dull and lifeless. it means you have no energy and therefore sleep stupid amounts of the day. And worst of all? you willl still be fat in the places you want to lose from the most because your body doesnt have enough energy to remove it properly. sexy, huh?

eat more and look after yourself, 'cause if your not gonna take our advice then unfortunately your on your own. no one on here is bitter about your weight - we are all too preoccupied by how fantastic we're looking ourselves with our fantastic weight losses and divine meals.

Rant over....... good work boys and girls. I'm off to eat more....

i know how u feel.... and at many days  im actually unable to consume  more than 600-800 calories (but thats cuz im still recovering from starvation of only 200 calorie a day) it happens to all of us , we are feeling sick or too busy or ...funny if it may sound i sometimes FORGET to eat..lol...... my scale loses a pound the other day, buti make sure that...... I EAT EXTRA THE OTHER DAY.....  i complete my  1200 calories, ...

. its not always important to just lose weight..... u should be able to eat AND THEN LOSE WEIGHT....or atleast not gain..... if u eat less than 1200 calories ur body will be used to it and ull gain in  a DAY  when u eat extra.... and it will be alot harder to lose then.... cuz ur body now knows what tricks ur playing with it.... and trust me.... u dont wanna play with ur body.

So you added an extra 200 cals a day for one week and then gave up?? Did the advice you were given not say that you would gain at the beginning while you body was starting to trust you again? So you're back to starving your body and are dropping the lbs again- do you want us to say well done? Not going to happen. And I do know what I'm talking about. I too was eating 900-1000 cals a day and was advised to up my cals. I did, first to 1200- I gained. Then to 1500-1600- I gained more. Then to 1800-2000 (where I am now) and I've gained a total of 9lbs over 12-13wks or so. Its a long slow process, but essential to get my system working the way it should be. I'm now seeing signs of my weight stabilising, and when it stays steady for a few weeks, I'll start to slowly reduce my cal intake to start losing the weight- but I'll never have to starve forever to maintain my weight. My maintenence seems to be around 1800-2000 cals which is almost 'normal'. Eating less than that is just punishing yourself- and don't blame others for your short-sightedness, most of us KNOW weight loss is a long-term goal is its going to be a long-term success.

Peach, if you're back to starving yourself (yes, 1000 calories is starving yourself) in order to lose weight, when you get to your goal weight, and you start eating normally again, you're just going to gain the weight you've lost back. Do you really want to continue to eat 1000 calories or less every day in order to maintain your goal weight? While  the amount of food you could eat on 1000 calories or less is depressing, you're not even considering what eating such a small amount for an extended period of time can do to your system.

Eat your maintenance level for a week or two. Let the scales climb until it stabilizes. It may take a while. Do what Irishmum did, once her weight stabilized. Only cut calories once again once you know your body has recovered from it being starved--and don't go back down to the pitiful 1000 calories a day. I would recommend eating no less than 1400 calories a day once you've gotten your body back on track.

Yes, initially you're going to gain weight by doing this. And yes, you'll probably look even flabbier than you did before. But it's the only way you're going to be able to do this in a healthy manner. I remember once you claimed that your health wasn't important to you: you just wanted to lose the weight and get it over with as quickly as possible. Do you want your hair to fall out? Do you want your skin to become lackluster? Do you want to be flabbier than before, even though you're at a lower weight?

When I lost weight the first time, I was eating less than you are and probably exercising quite a bit more than you, too. Sure, I lost weight. But when my eating habits slowly went back to normal, I began gaining the weight back. At 235lbs the first time around, before my first weight loss attempt, I could fit into size 18 jeans no problem.  At 235lbs the second time around, while I squeezed into my size 18s, I really was a size 20, if not a 22. I had gained more fat because when I lost weight the first time, I did it all wrong and stripped my body of it's precious muscle mass. Do you really want to do the same thing to yourself? If not, I suggest listening to all of these wonderful people here who are giving you great advice. I've been eating roughly 1750 calories a day and I've been losing something like 1-1.5lbs a week. I currently weigh 198lbs. I started at 235. Sure, it was slow (6-7 months to lose that first 35lbs), but my muscle mass has remained the same this time around, and my body fat percentage is going down.

Trust me. Eating more may seem like a bad idea, especially since weight gain will be involved in the initial stages. But your body needs food to even function (mine requires 1650ish calories in order for my organs to function properly, for example), so why are you going to deny it what it needs?

Original Post by armandleg:

 I've been eating roughly 1750 calories a day and I've been losing something like 1-1.5lbs a week. 

Thats inspiring! Thanks! 

what if we eat less but still keep metabolism up by eating metabolism boosting (artifical - quite bad i know but desperate) food?

or even by exercising?

Yes, bad advice is a risk, and you should research things people say here, or at least take them with some caution.

But what you were told is good advice, and it getting all foot-stompy about it isn't going to help you.

Original Post by hais:

what if we eat less but still keep metabolism up by eating metabolism boosting (artifical - quite bad i know but desperate) food?

or even by exercising?

 You're still depriving your body of essential nutrients? What good is having a fast metabolism if your body is falling apart?

Starving is not the way to go- no matter what.

I don't know why you all keep saying 1000 calories is starving myself.  I calculated the necessary calories I'd need a day online (based on my height: 5', weight: 124 at the time I did the calculations, exercise habits: 30 minutes or more every day, and body type: petite.) and it said from 1000 to 1500.  So I chose 1000.  What's the problem and why do you all keep saying I'm starving myself when I'm within my limit?  You keep bashing the number of calories I'm taking in but I've done my research and it tells me that 1000 is fine for losing weight as long as I don't go below it.  So what's the problem?

Original Post by practicallypeach:

I don't know why you all keep saying 1000 calories is starving myself.  I calculated the necessary calories I'd need a day online (based on my height: 5', weight: 124 at the time I did the calculations, exercise habits: 30 minutes or more every day, and body type: petite.) and it said from 1000 to 1500.  So I chose 1000.  What's the problem and why do you all keep saying I'm starving myself when I'm within my limit?  You keep bashing the number of calories I'm taking in but I've done my research and it tells me that 1000 is fine for losing weight as long as I don't go below it.  So what's the problem?

Peach, after running your stats (I remember you to be 19 years old, right?) on phord's BMR calculator, and I found that your BMR was 1261 calories. 1261 calories is how many you burn in a coma: it's how many calories you burn when you do not move around at all, such as standing, sitting, walking, reading, etc. It's the calories you burn breathing, pumping blood, maintaining body temperature, and all other organ system processes.

You are not supposed to eat under that amount of calories a day. It may be true that for some people who are even shorter than you are and weigh less than you do may have a BMR lower than 1200 calories--but you do not. Eating below this number is, in fact, starving yourself. Also, according to CC, if you were to eat 1200 calories a day, you'd have roughly a 700 calorie deficit every day, which would result in a little less than 1.5lbs lost a week.

1000 is not enough calories for your body to survive. CC does not recommend eating below 1200 calories for any reason, as it is generally considered unhealthy. If you don't believe me that your BMR is 1261, the link to phord is provided.

http://www.phord.com/cc/

1200 calories is the bare minimum any woman should eat in order to lose weight, unless she is very, very short. 5' is not quite short enough to eat less than 1200 calories.