i gain when i eat more than 800 cals per day..

after many months of stepping on the scales, of watching what i eat and counting calories, it's come to my attention that the only way i can maintain a certain weight is when i eat no more than 800 calories in a day. while everyone else that i read about is LOSING on 1200 cals per day, i'd wake up literally a pound heavier every morning if i ate that much. i can't even dream of being like the people who maintain on 1500 cals. i am well aware that 800 calories per day is far too few, but any more and i end up gaining, and that's the opposite of what i want! this is also not an extension of eating too little for a long time -- i have experimented with different numbers over a long period of time, and this is the conclusion that i've reached. any longer eating at this rate and i'm going to do serious damage to my body and my metabolism!

is there something wrong with my body? how can i fix this so that i'm eating enough to actually be HEALTHY without gaining?

My knee-jerk reaction is that you have to stimulate your body's metabolism by increasing your caloric intake.  You are in the dreaded "starvation mode."  If you find it hard to increase the calories by yourself (which I would certainly understand), then you should see a nutritionist/dietitian or a doctor, who would help you with what you need.  

It takes your body about two weeks to adjust to a new diet.  

How tall are you?  How much do you weigh now?  How long have you been dieting?  I think it's important to keep YOU healthy and happy :).  

Hope this helps. 

i'm roughly 5'6 and at the moment 145 lbs, goal weight 120. i've been concentrating on my calorie intake since july, so it's been a while that i've been noticing this kind of thing. i just don't know how i'm supposed to increase to 1200 calories every day for two weeks without  causing major weight gain, because it may sound like an exaggeration, but often times if i over eat, even the slightest bit, i can wake up 400-600 grams (.8-1.3 lbs) heavier in the morning, and that isn't normal!

When you are on severe caloric restriction your body's glycogen stores are low, and your digestive system is pretty empty.  

Glycogen causes water retention, at about 4 grams of water per gram of carb.  When you eat just a bit more (say 400 calories of carbs more), that's going to be 100g of carbs more in your body, which holds 400g more water, which makes you weigh 500g (1.1#) heavier.  In fact, after carb restriction, your body can hold up to 1.5x as much carbs as it normally would, so you retain even more water.  This normalizes after a few days.

Increased sodium intake also causes water retention, and it's possible that consuming those extra calories brought some of that too. 

Plus any fiber or digestive chyme is still in your intestines.  I know it's hard, but it does stop going up after a couple of days, once your body gets used to the salt and carbs.

One more thing- do you exercise?  Not only will the actual exercise burn calories, but it will help reduce water retention and raise your metabolism for the next 24-48 hours.  That's why your muscles still feel warm the day after a workout.  

i really didn't know all of that about carbs and their connection to water retention, wow! thank you! it makes sense on paper, of course, but it's hard to ignore when it's every single time you eat more than 100 calories over your "limit". i will have to experiment with this and try not to be discouraged.

as for exercise -- i walk the dog and go to hot yoga fairly regularly, as well as buzzing around for classes and waitressing etc, but as a whole, exercise is something of a binge triggor for me, which is really difficult. i get into a frustrating mindset of "well, i just cycled for twenty minutes, this entire pizza/pint of ice cream/enormous bowl of pasta/etc isn't that bad then!" it's a vicious cycle really.

Original Post by xhelena:

i really didn't know all of that about carbs and their connection to water retention, wow! thank you! it makes sense on paper, of course, but it's hard to ignore when it's every single time you eat more than 100 calories over your "limit". i will have to experiment with this and try not to be discouraged.

as for exercise -- i walk the dog and go to hot yoga fairly regularly, as well as buzzing around for classes and waitressing etc, but as a whole, exercise is something of a binge triggor for me, which is really difficult. i get into a frustrating mindset of "well, i just cycled for twenty minutes, this entire pizza/pint of ice cream/enormous bowl of pasta/etc isn't that bad then!" it's a vicious cycle really.

I know it's really hard.  I can't describe how hard it has been (and is) for me sometimes.  

Exercise is a tricky devil.  In my opinion, exercise doesn't do that much for weight loss.  I don't know how your personal interaction is with it, exactly, but I have these "rituals" before and after exercise which help me be regular.

Have you considered adding some lean protein?  It takes a long time to digest, so it is satisfying.  It also raises your metabolism.  It was the first thing that I was able to increase my consumption of.  

http://www.aces.uiuc.edu/news/stories/news221 2.html

Here's a pretty good article that explains what's going on

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/core_march_8. htm

It was a real eye opener for me, about 2 years ago, so I saved it.

Clairelaine,

Thanks for sharing that article........it is the most understandable effort at explaining the stavation mode I have ever read!  It is difficult for most of us to understand that anyone exists as obese with 700 calories a day, and most of us didn't get to being overweight that way as the author says...........having said that it also explains why some find it so difficult to lose weight, and explains plateaus.  This has never been my problem but the theory sure fits into the CC concept of not eating less than 1200 calories a day for any adult woman.  I am into my twentieth week and eat some of almost everything........but eat it hopefully in a healthy way. 

Thanks again, should be a must read for every dieter.

Barbara

I know what you mean. I used to eat under 1200 because I gained weight if I ate over that. But I started working out and eating about 1400-1500. If you work out you can eat more and not gain! I would just tell you to up your calories so your body gets used to it (you may gain some weight), but then it will be easier to lose weight after that. And if you hit a plateau you can lower your calories while still being healthy. But there are still days that I eat under 1200, sometimes by accident or sometimes because I'm not hungry. It's ok to switch it up sometimes.

Good luck!

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 expecting of a famine. Water, food, calories. While it can rebound with weight gain or weight plateaus -- what it does to the body from the inside is most important.

• The Body Neglected - This is what happens when you undereat for an extended period of time.

• Dieting & Metabolism - This article explains starvation mode and why undereating is counter productive.

Most healthy women require a minimum of 1200 for their body to function normally -- most healthy women who leave their beds needs more than this.

The problem with the low-calorie "diet" is that your body will adjust at every level, eventually, so you find yourself having to drop the calories again and again.  

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You cannot base a few lbs change in the scale on one morning to relfect what you ate the day before. Say you eat 2000 calories one day and the scale is 2lbs up the next morning, as others have said this could be the weight of the food itself, water retention or many other factors. It is not real weight gain. So your studies on what you eat and your weight are probably not accurate. You have to look at trends over time. Trust me, if you keep eating 800 calories you will not only lose weight, but you will likely be dead and if you aren't dead you will damage yourself so badly that you will affect your weight and health FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE.

From  Mary Hartley, Calorie Count's Director of Nutrition:

"By eating only 800 calories, you will not get enough energy, protein, fiber, vitamins, minerals and other components of food. In time, you could become malnourished, which can cause severe health risks such as respiratory infections, kidney failure, blindness, heart attack and even death."

"Under-eating deprives your body of essential nutrients and leads to muscle breakdown to provide energy.  With less muscle, you require fewer calories and you reach a weight low plateau more quickly.  Restrictive dieting also places you at risk for binge-eating which can lead to weigh gain and a life of yo-yo dieting."

"On 500 calories a day, you will become malnourished and your body will breakdown. Your immune system won’t work; you will lose your muscle mass and lower your metabolism; you will lack energy, and then you will binge and feel badly about yourself. Don’t do it! Use the Burn Meter in the Tools section to calculate your calorie requirements at a decent activity level. Eat a balanced diet at that calorie level and keep food logs. Take it slower and practice new ways of eating and moving that can last for the rest of your life."

If you are a female teenager you need no less than 1500 calories a day, if you are a female adult (over 21 years old) you need no less than 1200 a day.

No you don't. I hate to break it to you, but you aren't the exception to the law of thermodynamics. If you had no metabolism (read: were dead) and ate 800 calories a day (the lowest recorded BMR was somewhere around 700, and it was a 70 year old man who was dangerously emaciated, so NOT YOU) you'd only gain 1.6 lbs. of fat a week.

When there is an initial gain when you start upping, it's water/glycogen stores in your muscles being replenished. The scale is going to skip around like crazy for a while, so just ignore it. Calculate your BMR and NEVER go below that, eat back half of what you work off exercising, and make sure there's a good amount of balance in your diet if you want your weight loss to be steady, effective, and permanent. You seriously mess yourself up when you eat this little, and if you don't correct it soon it really can be permanent.

Do you think that 120 at 5'6" is even a reasonable goal? I'm 5'7", my lowest weight was 145 (where you are now) and while I think I could probably get down to 135, I really couldn't imagine being any thinner than that without having to practically starve myself. =/

Just think about it.

Your brain thinks you are starving.  Severe calorie restriction is interpreted as a famine so the body will hold on to every morsel you put into your mouth because it thinks that the food won't be there later.  Don't step on the scale for a month.  Eat at least 1200 calories a day.  In a month you may be more, you may be less. But you most certainly will be better off than you are now. 

Original Post by soulsearcher83:

Your brain thinks you are starving.  Severe calorie restriction is interpreted as a famine so the body will hold on to every morsel you put into your mouth because it thinks that the food won't be there later.  Don't step on the scale for a month.  Eat at least 1200 calories a day.  In a month you may be more, you may be less. But you most certainly will be better off than you are now. 

Not to mention your thyroid.

Weight loss is a slow, steady process and you have to be patient.  the ONLY way to lose weight is to increase your Resting Metabolic Rate.  Muscle burns calories faster than fat, so you need to increase your lean muscle.  The only way to increase lean muscle in order to burn fat is to EAT MORE and to do lower reps of higher weights.  You will notice initial increase in weight, but the fat loss will soon follow.  If you continue to 'starve' your body of fuel, it will start metabolising muscle instead of fat to feed itself. 

You cannot lose weight by starving yourself.  ... it will only come back once you start eating again.  Eat more calories, increase lean muscle mass, and you will notice fat loss in a few weeks.