GAINING Not Losing PLEASE HELP

Ok, I'm losing it. I have been really good. At the advice of this board I have upped my calories to 1200--for now. Typically, my diet would be about 900 (on a "good" day) dotted with days where I overdid it.

I've been trying to be healthy, more normal. Eating breakfast, everyday. Making sure to get protein. Veges. Not eating crap. Exercise 3x a week at least. Walking everywhere.

Frankly, I have been trying for months, years and I can't get a single pound off. All I do is slowly gain over time. But the last month I have been GREAT. And still nothing. I am going to cry. What's the point of it all?

My bmr is only about 1100 (tested) and 1181 with calculator. I'm hopefully having it retested this week.

PLEASE HELP!!

Are you actually overweight?  1100 would be an extremely low BMR for the average overweight person. 

Im not trying to sound rude or mean...but maybe you're in denial of how much/what youre eating or how hard your workouts really are?

Hi. I'm 123 and 5'1" not crazy overweight. Hardly thin for my height, though, with body fat higher than you'd expect. It is a low BMR--at the very edge of normal, but I'm not really surprised. I'm going to have it retested to see where I am these days (it's been about 10 months since the test).

It's just really scary to feel that no matter what I do, I can't affect change.

As or being in denial--about the food? Nope. When I'm good and I'm very, very good. And I  haven't been bad in weeks. As for exercise, I'm not working out like a fiend. Just working out period, for the past two month--for the first time in years.

I was shocked at the scale this morning--it's the highest its been in years. I'm losing my mind--I can't begin to explain how life depressing it is to feel that effort isn't rewarded. I'm just so tired.

I mean I WAS 123. Now I'm 124.5.

So you gained a pound and a half in how long? I can do that by eating breakfast. I can do that by stepping off my scale and stepping back on!

I don't believe anyone told you that when you started eating more, you wouldn't gain weight. I think I actually remember saying "you most likely will gain weight, but it's more important to get your metabolism reving" or something like that.

People who have been eating too little for too long slow their metabolism. When they start eating more, they will gain weight, but then their metabolism will start to catch up.

It seems like you are expecting a miracle in a very short period of time. It can take a while. Even if your metabolism were starting out completely normal, it can take time for the scale to show it.

How long have you been eating 1200?

I think you should listen to amethystgirl, she knows whats up.

I have been in the process of repairing my metabolism, IT HAS BEEN 3 1/2 MONTHS!!  I too expected a miracle to happen but it didn't. It takes time for your body to trust you again. I have gained 12 lbs in the process. Sure I'm upset and pissed off about it but what am I going to do ya know. You need to trust your body and know that things will fall in to place. One thing I suggest is stop weighing yourself. For a while anyway.

 You also need to remember that 1200 is going to weigh more than 900. So ofcourse it is gonna show up as a gain. Just MORE in your body overall.

Just hang in there and DON'T give up. Just know that this may take a lot longer than you would like.

=)

I guess not that long, amethystgirl, but it's scary.

Here's a quesion though--based on my BMR and stats, should I, gulp, eat MORE than 1200? Like 1400? Or is that just silly.

If I have your stats right, your BMR by a calculator would be about 1300. I know you got yours tested and it is actually lower. But I'm tempted to suggest aiming for 1300, to try to up your metabolism. But I'm not really not sure, and I don't want to suggest something that for you would be so extreme that you won't stick with it - 1300 will obviously make you gain even a little more than 1200, and I don't want you to jump back down to 900 as a result.

Have you tried incorporating weights into your workout routine, maybe even replacing cardio? Strenth training should help.

Other people have suggestions? I don't want to lead you down a bad path, but I know we need to get your body healthy!

It really does sound like your caloric intake has been too low for too long.  I would also suggest upping the calories to 1300.  I know how scary it is, but remember your body will only respond to what you do to it.  You can affect change and you are now - your body is changing in response to the very low calorie intake.  We have to take the wisdom of our bodies into consideration.  They aren't going to let us abuse them for too long.  Please give it a try for at least a month and see what happens over time. 

Have you had a physical lately?  It may also be worth checking your thyroid, blood sugar, etc.

Ok. If your are scared of eating more, I would up your calories by 50 every 3-5 days until your reach where you want to be. You should stay at 1200 until you have been there for a week so you can evaluate whats going on.

I made the mistake of just jumping in head first I upped my calories by 1000 and well thats where I gained the 12lbs.

You just need to keep in mind that this process may take you 1 month or 4 months. Its a process but if you stick to it you will win.

You should look in to lifting weights. They help  repair the metabolism also.

Losing weight is very hard.  I know what your going through.  I have been overweight my entire life.  I've been off and on trying to lose weight.  It seems when I lose weight and than I gain.  Life is so busy and crazy that I'm having a hard time to lose all my goal weight of 80 lbs.

My suggestion to you that I noticed that worked for me in the past, is to have 6 small meals a day.  Make sure you eat Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner.  In between your regular meals have vegetables & fruits, yogurts, cheese stick or Pillars Turkey sticks.  Look at your eating habits.  If you are eating a lot of crabs cut them out and replace them with protein.  I mean don't cut them out totally, but example if you eat bread for all your meals only have two serving of bread instead of 3. 

Another suggestion would be drink water with lemon in the morning, before you have any breakfast.  This is like cleansing process, so if you have bad toxins from night before, the lemon water will clean your system and boost your metabolizm.  I found that to help out a lot.

One last thing I'm going to suggest is to stop eating after 7:00 p.m.   You don't want to go to bed with a full stomach.  Its better for your stomach to shut down early with a satisfied stomach.  With doing this method you will notice a difference.

Keep up your workouts with cardio and weight training.  If your still not noticing any results I would contact your doctor.  There may be a health issue that is causing you from losing the weight.

I hope this information helped.  Good luck with everything in succeeding your goal weight. 

If you exercise a lot, the "extra" weight could simply be muscle mass... meaning you are not overweight at all, and can simply eat a healthy diet to maintain.

Hi, I'm about the same size as you and my BMR (according to CC) is 1384. I used to eat (for at least 8 months) 800-900 calories a day without seeing results. Since february 19th, I have been eating around 1400 calories a day, I started at 1100, then after a week upped to 1200, the week after 1300-1400. I have not lost weight yet (or barely 2 pounds at one point but gained it all back) but I feel way better. I have more energy to go to the gym. I know how creepy it is to see those calories adding up. Yesterday I ate 1528 calories and I was horrified!!! Since I did 40 minutes of running at 6.0 miles an hour, I figured it all balanced out, but still... Just continue the good work, don't get discouraged!!!

As for the fact that you claimed to be slightly overweight, I found it hard to believe since for the same height, my ideal weight (according both to CC and personnal trainer) would be 119... With a boday fat % around 20-22%. Now, unfortunately I'm at 27% but hoping to get it down in the next couple of months! Good luck and don't give up, you're doing a great thing for your body, he'll thank you later, you'll see (well, I sure do hope the same for me!) Have a nice day

You should have your thyroid checked. If your eating 900 to 1200 calories a day you should be losing 2 to 3 lbs a week and gaining mussel. You can get a complete blood count. Tell your doctor,  there may be something else going on.

Original Post by jgart:

You should have your thyroid checked.day you should be losing 2 to 3 lbs a week and gaining mussel.

I'm sorry- -did I miss something? I thought anything below 1200 was "frowned upon". How would this work? How can you eat that low, lose that much and still gain muscle? I don't understand.

Ditto ????? At that amount you'll go into starvation mode & your body will start 'eating' muscle?!

Original Post by princesslauren:

Original Post by jgart:

You should have your thyroid checked.day you should be losing 2 to 3 lbs a week and gaining mussel.

I'm sorry- -did I miss something? I thought anything below 1200 was "frowned upon". How would this work? How can you eat that low, lose that much and still gain muscle? I don't understand.

No muscle would be gained - pretty much impossible at such a calorie deficit (you can increase strength, but it is going to be VERY difficult to actually gain muscle), and in the case of jakshop, all losing has stopped too, because her metabolism has dropped so much. This isn't necessarily a thyroid problem - it's an undereating problem. She doesn't lose, even eating way to little, because her metabolism slowed to match her drastically reduced intake. If she ups her intake, we are hoping, her metabolism will speed up, and once that is back on track, she can adjust her calories to reduce fat. But for right now, she is eating too little to keep her metabolism going. And she is working on that, I hope.

1200 or less is EXTREMELY low calories for anybody, regardless of whether they are losing or maintaining. If you are not overweight, it will slow your metabolism: guaranteed. If you up your calories to rev your metabolism... you will gain weight and it will be mostly water. The water dissipates as your body begins to adjust and 'trust' you. I did this mid-fall when I hit my plateau. I was miserable during the initial phase but I get to enjoy a lot more food and am still losing weight.

If you are serious about weight loss, you MUST focus on the long-term advantages. People who care only about short-term (ie: this email thread) are apt to grow impatient and quit. They are called serial dieters. Just think... after a month of discomfort you will be able to enjoy more foods and even splurge more often without a sudden weight change.

 Good luck.

When you are maintaining weight, you should (with average stats) be eating at least 1800-2000 cals a day. Think about that... all of you. Most of you are undernourished and are slowing your metabolism this very minute.

Obviously I'm not a doctor but my guess from what I've read and learned from past experiences, is that you're not eating enough, yes enough, I don't know your whole story or what you have tested I'm new to this site so I'm not 100% on the whole BMR deal either, but what I do know from research is that if you body doesn't get enough calories it will go into starvation mode because it doesn't think it's going to get enough food for one day so it will start storing fat instead of burning it. I think you should start adding more protein and veggies and maybe get up to 1200-1500 solid calories in a day and see what happens.  I hit a plateau a year ago and I read to eat more, I did and I started losing weight, it's really weird but it works. Try it .... what can ya lose but some weight?

You might be losing fat weight and gaining muscle weight? Muscles are heavier than fat but you end up more fit, and also can maintain your weight easier since the muscles help burning fat. I have been in panic myself when my scales actually have shown weight gain, but my jeans fit better so I know I am losing fat and gaining muscle.

Anette