If I am not eating a lot, why am I gaining weight?

I don't eat a lot of calories a day, maybe 1000 or less, but I am not loosing weight, infact I seem to be slowly gaining.


I don't eat sweets, and I don't eat a lot of meat.  I just don't get it...


I am 48, can metabolism change at mid life be that radical?

Sounds like you are eating too few calories..perverse I know. Do a search for 'Starvation mode'..plenty of other people have been in a similar situation and posted about it...

Yes, it can.  My mother is going through the same thing, and she's 49.  Your metabolism goes to a halt, and you're not eating much, so basically, your not burning any fat.  Concentrate on walking every day, at least for a 1/2 hour (more is better, of course).  It will toughen up your bones for menopause, and speed up your metabolism.   Remember to drink your water and take your vitamins since you aren't eating that much.  Good luck! 

well you are definitely not eating enough. do you exercise? because when you exercise and burn calories that means that you're taking in even less then 1000. your body needs so many calories just to survive. there are some great calculators that can tell you just how many you need. i wouldn't rely just on the one on this webiste. when you don't feed your body it eventually starts to hold every little calorie because it doesn't know when it will get fed again. all those cals being held are keeping you from losing weight. do yourself a favor, add 200 extra cals for now. go google something like "cals needed to maintain weight". then subtract 500 from that. that's the number of cals you need to eat to lose weight.

Maybe you are eating more than you think you are.  Do you measure your portions, etc?

I gained weight eating 600 cals a day.  Until I came here I had no idea that I was starving myself.  I had been doing this for so long that eating just 1200 cals a day was a struggle.  But it worked!  The first month of eating enough I lost 8lbs.  I have lost 31lbs so far.

When you starve yourself your body saves what few calories you *do* eat as fat, and burns your muscle.

When you up your calorie intake to a better level you will definitely gain weight at first but you will turn the corner and start losing - correctly this time. And it will stay off!

You need *at least* whatever # of calories are recommended for someone of your height and weight, not counting how many calories you burn exercising...for me, my body uses over 1700 calories a day just existing, pumping blood, making my organs to what they do, breathing...the number to *maintain* my current weight if I were basically sedentary is higher than that...the number it would take to maintain my current weight at my level of activity and exercise is higher yet.

You need to up your calories til you are eating *at least* the number of calories your body needs to exist, to correct your current problem of weight gain.

I've always been able to lose weight so long as I kept my calories around 1400 or under.  But not too far under, of course. Except lately, I've just simply lost my appetite.  I'm not sure if it's because I'm so desperate to lose the weight I gained while on Prednisone for 6 weeks or what... but my calories have dropped to around or below 1000 cals a day.  And what's happening? You guessed it, I'm gaining weight! I might lose a pound, but then in the next couple of days the scale goes up again... very annoying. I'm going to go to the store tonight and buy some healthy foods with higher calories so I don't feel like I'm shoving huge amounts of food down my throat. Yay peanut butter!

Thank-you everybody.  I will take all your coments under advisment.

I do walk and do Pilates.  I was a competative athlete until I was about 35.  I never ever had a weight problem exept to keep my weight up.  I guess things really change after menopause...

For me, it turned out to be a thyroid problem.  Your thyroid controls EVERYTHING regarding your metabolism!  My doctor even told me to stay away from Fluoride... since it was used for decades to distroy an overactive thyroid... and has me drinking spring water.

For more on Flouride and thyroid disease see...

http://www.fluoridealert.org/

http://thyroid.about.com/cs/shames/a/fluoride .htm

http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/fluorid e.htm 

http://thyroid.about.com/cs/toxicchemicalsan/ a/flouride.htm

1000 calories or less would be highly unlikely unless you are watching every bite you put in your mouth with anorexic zeal, and those bites are few and far between.

My guess? You're vastly underestimating. No offense - we all do it sometimes.

"Eat more to weight less."
Yah, sounds odd, but that's how it works.  A woman should eat no less than 1200 calories a day, since your body definitely burns more than that. 1200 cals a day is what a woman who is sedentary should eat, and no less than that. Probably a bit more depending on her height, weight and age. If you're going to implement more exercise. then that'd be probably more calories you'd need to eat to fuel your body.

I say, use the tools given here to figure out how much you should consume a day based on how much you burn a day. @.@ it's a start xD everyone's said it... but I have to agree.

Could be the hormones since you aproach the age of 50, they impact all other glands on a feedback loop and can slow or accelerate metabolism. If hormones vary so does the metabolic rate, maybe you should ask a specialist just to get it off your mind.

My grandmom sais she started gaining like crazy at 55 plus she was retaining a ton of water and was prescribed a hormonal treatment, however her mother never had any symptoms, it depends on each person.

U aregaining weight bc your body thinks that it is starving, and is trying to hold on to every fat particle left in ur body. you have to at least eat a minimum of 1200 calories a day or else ur body goes into starvation mode.

I will make it my new goal to eat atleast 1200 calories a day.  I know it sounds crazy to some, but I just don't eat, I forget unless I am  cooking for someone else.  I am not anorexic, I weigh 270 and I am 5'11".  I just don't get hungry...  weird, I know.

I have included every thing I eat, even coffee, and I am just under the 1200 mark when I try to eat consciously, so I am sure I can get it over that mark.

It is sort of a happy problem, in a way...

Thanks again everyone.

the same thing happened/is happening to me, i thought it was so weird to see the  scale going up instead of down......................

THANK-YOU!

I was begining to feel sort of like an alien...

because you are not eating alot, your body instead of getting rid of the fat, is SAVING it, because your not eating alot and it needs more food. it kind of goes into starvation mode and holds the fat instead of releasing it.  just eat the right stuff, like more fruits and vegetables which have alot of fiber which will fill you up. if you eat the right foods and exercise, you wont gain weight. eat small meals during the day. breakfast is the most important, it starts up your metabolism and keeps it going the whole day as long as your feeding your body.

hope this helps.

Wow, these are old posts but I am having this problem now.  I thought it is because I have been unemployed and not moving around as much, although, I exercise every day, weight lifting for 30-40 mintues + indoor walking which is low inpact for another 30 minutes and 2-3x's a week I rollerblade for and hour or more.

I just turned 50 and although I always struggled with my weight I just feel out of shape, especially for the healthly way I eat and exercise.

I'm very discouraged, but good to see other's struggle with this as well. 

A body goes into starvation mode when you eat fewer than 1000 calories a day, which is why they always tell you to eat at least 1200. You're just not eating enough. Your body will hold onto all that it can. Do you also feel tired? That is another good indicator that you are not eating enough. Your body needs that energy to function. It is a dangerous line to be on, especially since your body needs protein, and it will turn to your muscle to gain needed protein. (Muscle mass will disappear, and muscle is what you need to "eat away" the extra weight/fat.)

Many people are right here that the problem is eating too few calories, the thing people need to understand is that this can happen at any age, it is not something that is a problem when you get older. 

I've had and still have this problem most of my life. Though when I was younger the doctors didn't see it as the problem it was not until recently that doctors are coming out saying "oh Hey people will gain weight if they do not eat enough on a daily bases." And for those that have tried to point out that it's not possible to only eat 1000 calories a day, it is. You don't have to watch what you are eating when you are not hungry. If you don't feel hunger you have no drive to eat. It's that simple.

I didn't watch what I was eating until I had to log everything I consumed for over three months, not fun or easy to do, but I did it. Until that time I did not know I was eating so little. when my Doc counted it all up I was getting on Average 900-1100 calories a day. People think how is that possible. Simple if you go a day here a day there or a bit more than a day with out anything but water, tea, or coffee for that time. then when you do eat it's maybe one meal or a meal and a small snack and that is it. It's not done with thought or the mind set that if I don't eat I will lose weight, it just is. You don't feel like you are hungry so you don't eat. You are busy, you have kids, work, or school, or what not and you just don't have the time, desire, or energy to even care about eating.

My advise, as someone that struggles with this every day, is to try and either keep a log and a schedule if you are good with such things, and plan out each meal and snack of your day. Or if you have someone close to you that you can trust to help you, have then help to remind you that it's time to eat, or that will say lets get some food. It's not easy and I still struggle with this but if you can work out schedule then you will find your calorie in-take will go up over time. Make sure that you keep up your excerise and water consumption as you increase your calorie in-take and in time you will see a difference. I wish you all the luck.