Why does my body punish me?

Hey guys,

I'm new to the forum and I think it's a fantastic place. But I really need some help.

I know the old mantra of you have to eat 3500 more calories than your BMR to really gain weight, but I've recently aimed to start maintaining my weight at 165.

I used to weigh 366 but within about the space of 18 months I got down to where I am now and I'm keen to stay here. But the trouble is that I'm terrified of putting weight back on. I weigh myself every day (I know you shouldn't) because I can't trust myself. I eat around 800-1200 calories a day but my work means that I eat my dinner 2 and a bit hours before I go to bed which can't be right.

Not to mention that despite me eating a good amount of fruit and Shredded Wheat in the mornings and making sure I have some kind of fibre in the afternoon, I can't go at all during the day. I'm guessing it's down to the fact I have to travel in the morning which causes me to lock solid...but it's depressing that when I have some sushi and frozen yogurt plus my normal meal for dinner that my weight skyrockets 2lbs in one night. Granted it's unprocessed food and leftover water weight but I need some help to get me not to worry about the number and the person behind the number (me).

I really hope you can help me and I look forward to getting to know you all. :) Thanks in advance.

A 2lb gain in one night is not real weight. I had a 4lb gain in one night and i was so upset, i knew it wasnt real but it upset me anyway. I figured out that it was most likely due to the fact, that while i had had alot to drink that day, i had mostly diet soda and diet energy drinks = LOTS of sodium. That was the cause of my gain. Its gone today and an extra bit, so no biggie. 

Eating only 800-1200 cals is going to seriously mess up your metabolism. If your body learns to function on so little cals your metabolism will slow down. It will learn that it needs to hold onto weight so when you do eat more, you are more likely to gain weight. 

If you raise your cals up, you will initially gain a couple of water weight lbs but it will speed up your metabolism so that you wont have such a small number of maintance cals when it gets to that point. If you are losing on 800-1200 then maintance is only going to be about 1500-1700 clas. Thats really a dieting calorie number. If you raise you cals to say 1400-1800 cals then your metabolism will speed up and maintance cals will be higher, say 1800-2100.

Wouldnt you prefer to be eating more and still losing weight??

I do understand the fear that you will put all the weight back on but if you have gone about this weight loss as a lifestyle change then you wont put weight back on. 800-1200 isnt a lifestyle change its a desperate attempt to lose weight fast, and yes if you keep it up you will most likely put some of it back on. Increase the cals, make healthy lifestyle changes and you will get the weight off and keep it off.

Thank you for the swift response.

I would love to be able to eat a little more and up my metabolism. But it's not like I eat bad now. Occassionally I have some ice cream, but that's it - occassionally. I'm currently keeping my eye out on the salt content of food and I am shocked with what I find. I'm so relieved that I found sushi as its content is low (Itsu's salmon 3 way meal is only 0.4g salt). I avoid salt like the plague, I drink 1.7 litres of water a day and I snack on grapes.

But despite that, my weight goes up. I know some of it is constipation but I want to find a natural way of getting rid of it (I eat a fair amount of fibre and I go all out to go for a good long walk during my lunch work in London.) instead of resorting to laxatives which I'd rather not face.

Your body is not punishing you.  You are punishing your body!  You absolutely need to start eating more.  Eating 800 - 1200 calories and either gaining weight or maintaining on that is NOT a good thing.   There is only one way to fix your problem and that is to eat more.  You might gain a few pounds while you get those calories up.  But maintaining your weight at 165lbs and eating so little is just not good.  There's no other way to describe it.

There is no way that on so few calories you are fuelling your body with what it needs. The minimum intake for a sedentary female over 21 is 1200 calories per day. For a sedentary female under 21 or a man over 21 it is 1500 per day, and a sedentary male under 21 1800 per day. And believe it or not, that’s only the sedentary minimum. Unless you are very, very short and small, and/or if you are working out it is very likely you will need even more calories than those minimum guidelines.

If you are 21 or older use CC's tools to work out your BMR so you have a number to work from for your diet: . If you are under 21, CC's tools are inaccurate and you should use this calculator instead: http://www.bcm.edu/cnrc/bodycomp/bmiz2.html as you are still growing. Yes, even in the later years - there's more going on inside of you that you simply can't see.http://caloriecount.about.com/cc/calories-bur ned.php

Eating too low a calorie intake, or having a deficit from your BMR greater than 1000 results in something called "survival mode", where your body holds every last thing it can get in expectance of a famine. Water, food, calories. Explained:

• Dieting & Metabolism - This article explains starvation mode and why undereating is counter productive.
• The Body Neglected - This is what happens when you undereat for an extended period of time. 
• "Obesity on 700 Calories" - A tale of starvation mode's devistating effects, and proof you don't have to be underweight to be starving.
• From Ask Mary, the segment provided by our CC nutritionist Mary Hartley: On the dangers of undereating and what it does to your body.

The physical dangers that come with undereating are numerous. You put yourself at risk of osteoporosis, of loss of fertility if you lose your period, hair loss, electrolyte problems, a weakening of the immune system, low blood pressure, blood disorders such as anemia, heart problems, and even death. The mental woes that come alongside can be just as devestating. Depression is common in undereaters, as well as distorted perceptions and problems like Body Dysmorphic Disorder.

I think you ought to read the following link: An Unofficial Calorie Count Guide to a Fad-Free 2009. It covers the basics of calorie counting, largely in how to do so safely and sensibly without resorting to drastic methods.  I have a feeling that you lost your weight using drastic under-eating measures.  800 calories IS considered drastic.  And maintaining on that amount is drastic as well. 

These are really cool resources. Thanks guys. I've settled about what to do from now on:

I will aim to eat around 1500 calories a day using this template:

Breakfast - Bowl of Shredded Wheat with blueberries.

Snack - Handful of grapes

Lunch - 1 round of sandwich (wholemeal) + 1 bowl of frozen yogurt.

Dinner - Usual meat and potatoes affair.

That's usually what I have during the course of a day.