Increased calories to avoid starvation mode and.....HELP!

Hi all!

So, when I started here on CC I was doing 1000 calories per day. I plateaued and was staying at the same weight for several weeks. So... I looked around a bit, saw the forums and realized that I need to be taking in at least 1200 a day. So over a few days I increased my calorie intake (increments of 50 calories per day). Til I was at 1250. I immediately went from 126/7 lbs to 129.5.

Now I don't know what to do. I don't want to be unhealthy, but this increase is frightening. Can anyone give me any advice?

Here's my stats:

22 year old female, 5 foot 7 inches

Moderate activity level (lots of walking as I live in Manhattan, I also live in a 3rd floor walkup buiding, I run 4-6 days a week-I'm new to running, so not far. 1 to 2 miles at a slow to moderate pace)

Current weight-129

Goal weight-120

I know that I am in my healthy weight range, and DO NOT want to be less than 120, but in the business that I am in, it's important to stay thin.

 

Thanks ahead of time for your help!!!

 

 Sbanana7: Its not uncommon when one bumps their calories up to have a slight increase in weight. This is ok and perfectly normal. Just stay on plan and you should see a drop soon.

Time to change your business too.

Yeah your body needs to get used to the higher intake, and your metabolism should adjust accordingly. It might take a few weeks before you start dropping, but stick in there and it will happen. Be patient; if you drop the cals back down in an attempt to fight the weight gain you will just slow your metabolism down again and it will become an unhealthy cycle.

I'm sort of going through the same thing here.

I guess you shouldn't weight yourself too often and should allow some fluctuation. The amount you eat probably increased when you increase the calories, that's some extra weight in your body.

I used to skip dinner on sunday night so i can see the weight drop on monday morning. i don't do that anymore because it's not real and not healthy.

and also, i have a lot of low cal green vegetables in my diet,especially for dinner. To be able to reach 1300cal i usually eat quite large amount, so the weight never settles. It can be frustrating to weigh yourself the next day after a hugh meal, even if u only had celery. but don't give up and soon you'll see it comes down.

I'm going through the same exact problem (although I'm actually upping my calories quite a bit higher because I'm rather active).. my weight has gone up like 3 lbs and it hasn't been but like 2 days :( I am adding a considerable amount of weight training to my regiment, so I'd like to think that it could be muscle, but my stomach seems a bit bloated since it's not used to a healthy amount of food. The advice I've been getting is to make sure the calories I'm adding are healthy ones and of course to work with weights, that way what you're eating will hopefully go towards the muscle development rather than fat. Good luck!!!

Like so many others I share your concern re plateau'g.  I run and weight train 4 times a week and average about 1800 cal a day.  Yet my weight has more or less remained within the 151-155 area.  Like yourself, this is a healthy weight but I would still like to see further losses.  I not sure the wait and see approach will work...  Hmm?

I actually am 5'8" and I fluctuate between 123 and 125, not exactly your goal weight but closer. I take in about 1900 calories a day and I run 4 days a week, usually 3 or 4 miles at a time. I weight train on alternating days, and my weight seems to be going down soon. I hope this helps, but since our stats are very similar I figured it would. I used to be 128ish but I used to eat about 2300 calories a day. So I cut back to 1900. I'd say that the increase in weight might just be fluctuation, it takes a little bit of time to lose weight. You also still might be eating too little. If you used to only eat 1000 calories a day I don't know how you functioned correctly!!! I die when I don't hit 1500!!

I've heard people say that it takes a while for your body to get out of starvation mode even after you increase your calorie intake. So your body still thinks it's starving and when you increase calories, your body is like, "Cool! some extra calories! But I'm still starving, so let's save 'em instead of burning 'em." So that's why the weight gain. Or it could be water retention. You need to think more long term, and judge your results over weeks and months, not days. Just stick with it and eventually you will lose. Good luck!

deggar you may need to up your caloric intake in order to lose weight, since you are fairly active. Your metabolism might need a jump start. What is your height/weight?

5'8", 152 lbs.  How do you tell if you have a slow or fast metabolism?  Keep in mind I am 44 and a guy so my body could be naturally in a hibernation mode, it is expecting to be laying on the couch watching football... I don't know.  I have been in this final phase of my weight and fitness program for some time now, so I really appreciate any thoughts.  Like everyone else, we benefit from other's experiences.  Thanks 

Maybe you can't lose weight because you don't have to.  I plugged your stats into the CC+ BMI calculator.  According to it, you actually need to gain a few pounds.

BMI Calculator

Based upon your current Body Mass Index (BMI) of 19.6, you are currently classed as underweight.

A healthy BMI for your gender and age is between 20 and 24

 

Hmmm?  Thats not what my belt says (ha ha) but I will look into this BMI tool.  Thanks

I just did the CC+ BMI tool, inserted male, 44, 152, & 5'8" and it told me my BMI was 23.1.  Hmmm?

deggar- I think clairelane may have been referring to the OP... sbanana!

dont weigh yourself in after barely a few days of upping your cals...your metabolism got used to 1,000 which is not enough cals for the body to function properly....maybe you  were in starvation mode...but point is that once you up your cals, the first few days you'll have water retentions cos your body is not used to those extra calories/food you're eating...it about a week or so it should all go back to normal...you cant gain weight in just days...unless you eat more than 3,500 calories..which is ONE pound...so dont worry...I bet its only just water retention...allow a week to go by and you'll prolly be back to the weight you were at first :)

Thanks everyone!

I'm still a bit uneasy, but I certainly feel better!

Now another question for you:  I'm not sure that I have my activity level set correctly,  as I said before I do lots of walking every day (don't log this, as I would be logging all day!), go up and down 3 flights of stairs at LEAST 4 times a day, and run 1-2 miles at least 4 times a week (usually 6 times).

Because I don't run very far (or fast) I have my level at light activity...is this okay?

 

CLAIRELAINE- I thought my BMI was still in the healthy range. Grrrr. Unfortunately, as I said, my business requires me to be thin. But I don't want to be unhealthy.  Very frustrating!

im in the same position!  i started getting stomach aches so i did some research & found that it could be because im not getting enough calories.  so i started on this site & found that i wasn't even getting 1,000 calories a day, which is horrible considering 1,200 is the minimum for women.  so i started adding healthy snacks to up my caloric intake & i gained 2.5 lbs!  taking in 1,200 calories is really hard for me though, i usually eat less than 1,000 but it's not because i starve myself or anything, it's just what my body can handle.  so i stopped trying to take in 1,200 a day & im just eating how i usually do. 

sbanana what business are you in? I was thinking entertainment until you said running up and down stairs and lots of walking. Are you a drug rep or something? Very image conscious industry; I ran screaming out of there years ago.

Spirochete-

I'm in entertainment! The stairs and lots of walking are due to living on a third floor walkup, and living in Manhattan! 

I'm in the same boat (not eating enough calories, need to get my body out of starvation mode).  I was told that in order to avoid water retention to drink more water, eat less sodium, and if it's extreme to take diuretics.  Does anyone know if the diuretics are honestly a good idea?  

lolanilly- I'm in the same boat.  I'm only eating about 850 calories a day - but I feel so full on it!  I'm not starving myself and I don't think I'm fat, it's just what I feel comfortable eating - and I'm not underweight (my weight has been stable for months).  I was told I should still eat 1200 a day though, and that eventually I would get used to it (as well as my metabolism).