BAd Metabolism????????

Hey all-

My problem:  I work out daily ( burn in cardio alone about 800 calories). However, I know I need to maintain and eat more. i am currently 5-5 119...i don't want to gain nor lose. Infact fearful of gaining.

At the end of many days I find myself sitting at + 400 calories.......thus i was eating around 1200 with burning 800 in cardio. Recently, I am now up to about + 700 at the end of the day.

Could mymaintence only be 700+800 = 1500 calories a day??? that seems so low. BUt I have been maintaing the last 2 weeks on that. still 119 not ganing not losing. My question is my metabolism that low?? 1500?? for all that exercise? I thought I wuld need more calories to stabilize??

bump!

i find it very hard to believe that your maintenance is 1500 calories with so much exercise , although i am not a doctor. however, i know that women need A MINIMUM of 1200 (teens need 1500!) calories a day, and that's after subtracting exercise! therefore, you should be eating NO LESS than 2000 calories (at the VERY LEAST!)!! WHY are you eating SOOO little? burning 800 calories a day doing cardio is about the equivalent of running about 8 miles... you should definitely be consuming many more calories.. probably around 2500-3000! in all honesty, i fell as though your body may be "starving." therefore, every time you eat something your body clings on to it! that is why you are not losing weight. begin to up your calories. your body will thank you and you will have so much more energy. i know you say you don't want to gain, but you will at first. your body will need to adjust (and much of it will probably be water weight). but once your body is comfortable, it will find the appropriate maintenance level. and hun, i know you say you don't want to gain, but after recovering from an ED, you don't want to go through what i did and start obsessing over the number on the scale. at 119 pounds, you are probably at the low end of healthy.. just make sure you take care of yourself!!!

I'm not sure what you mean by 400+ and 700+ at the end of the day.  Do you mean that you're eating a total of what you exercise plus 400 or 700 calories?

If you're using the cardio machines at the gym to determine how many calories you burn they are rarely accurate and usually give you too much credit.  You'll have to get a heart rate monitor to be able to tell how many you've actually burned.  Your body could be doing all kinds of things behind the scenes that you're unaware of.  It's normal for women to have their weight vary by several pounds (some have mentioned up to 12) during the course of the month due to hormonal changes and water retention.

At your height and activity level I suspect that your maintenance is closer to 1900 calories a day, but our bodies when we're at a healthy weight don't always make immediate changes to account for a few hundred extra or low calories.  I'd try adding just another 100-200 calories a day and see how your body reacts.  If you still maintain your weight, then you're in the perfect spot.  Additionally, if you're feeling hungry that probably means that your body does need more calories. 

thank you both for your imput. yeah I think I should up my calories. Smwhipple: what I meant was after exercise I am a +700 ..........so the 800 or so I burn plus the 700 gives me roughly an intake at the most of 1500 calories.

I agree, I should increase, because at times i feel worn down and light-headed. I am just fearful of gaining weight. I have had weight issues in the past . For a period of time i was anorexic and barely ate. Now it is more like exercise anorexia. I eat to workout and workout toeat. but i will slowly try to increase. thanks