too little for too long...

Okay so..

let me start by rambling.. lol
Over the past year I lost about 65 lbs.. i was down to 127 shortly after thanksgiving.  I am nineteen, 5'6", and i do about 30-60 min of cardio 4-6 days a week, strength training just as often, and plus i have to walk to all my classes on campus.  I lost the weight at first just by eating less, from october till probably december, but at that point i started counting calories and i cut back to about 1200 a day.  I thought that was an OK amount.. and it seemed to be working, but by the time i found out that 1200 was too low, i didnt know what to do and was afraid to change it.  So anyway.. before xmas i was about 127-130ish... not really sure what i am now bc i ate poorly over vacation and have put my scale away for a week or two to allow myself to get back into things...

but all i want is to get to 125-128 and stay there.

In 2009 i wanted to up my calories to a healthier amount.. but I was told that would make me gain weight since my body is used to eating 1200...
I was wondering if anyone else had a similar problem after restricting their calories too much.. what should i do about it now?  I DO NOT want to gain any of it back but I have started to eat 1400 calories a day and I cant imagine going back to 1200... but i know if i gain weight I will freak out and probably cut back again...

will i be able to lose the weight (if any) that i gained over xmas?
and by switching to maintaining my weight after eating so little for so long will i gain for sure?

im worrried.. someone helpp meee ha... thanks guys.

There's no real getting away from it.  If you crash diet you will regain some of the weight lost when you eat normally.   If you keep undereating to the extent you are doing you're putting yourself in the way of a lot of medical problems.... poor immune system, nutritional deficiencies, depression, irregular periods.   Chronic undereating is also counterproductive because, eventually, it also leads to overeating... as you found on vacation.  You can 'diet yourself fat'.

So you do have to get your calorie intake up on a regular basis and you have to accept that you will gain a little weight in the process.  As you're not even close to being overweight at the moment, you shouldn't find this alarming.  If you do find the prospect frightening, if you feel food is controlling your life, if you have phobias about particular types of food (fat, carbohydrates), if you find the idea of physically eating normal amounts of food distressing... then you should talk to people about it and get some help.

http://www.kidsnutrition.org/bodycomp/bmiz2.h tml  If you input your stats into this chart you'll be able to see how many calories you should realistically be aiming for given your stats.  More activity will help you control your weight.  Restricting your food intake won't.

alright.. thanks for the reply..

so when i increase my calorie intake and gain the weight if i increase it, but keep it lower than my BMR will i be able to lose it again, the right way? or am i screwed...  :(

and how much weight do u think i will gain? i dont have money for all new clothes.. ughh :(  this is terrible

if you go "the right way" you will be able to lose again. what i would suggest is to slowly acclimate yourself to eating more. try adding 100 cal a week until you get to your desired level.

Original Post by xfallformex3:

so when i increase my calorie intake and gain the weight if i increase it, but keep it lower than my BMR will i be able to lose it again, the right way? or am i screwed...  :(

 If you increase your intake and gain a little weight short-term you will probably find - because you're very young still - that the same level of intake but a little more exercise will boost your metabolism enough to bring it down again in the long-term.   You should avoid restricting your calorie intake if you can possibly help it because your tendency to undereat could kick back in.