Weight Loss
Moderators: duke3522, devilish_patsy, topanga1485, nycgirl, spoiled_candy, cmillington, coach_k For those of us who are on unhealthily low-calorie diets...
I've noticed lately that quite a few people are describing their eating habits, and they are deliberately dipping WAY below the recommended 1200 calories/day (1500 for males, but most seem to be female) in order to accelorate their weight loss. I'm not talking about people who are eating 1100 under doctor's care, I'm talking about the people who are eating 500 calories a day so they can look like models. I thought I would post a little information that may help them make more informed decisions on their diet and lifestyle choices.
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I just thought you might be intereted in a little bit of information to help you on your diet.
Are you eating significantly fewer than 1200 calories/day so that you'll lose more weight? If 1200 makes the pounds melt away, 1000 or even 500 calories should work even better, right? Simple math. You probably feel good that you have the self-control to stick to that, too, right? I would. However, what matters isn't whether you stick to the diet or not, is it? It's whether the diet WORKS. You're in this for the end goal, are you not? Well, I can tell you, 500 calories per day will work for about a week and a half, two if you're lucky, and then it will backfire on your newly bony behind. Here's why.
When you get fewer than 1200 calories per day, 1500 if you are a man, your body is convinced that you are in the middle of a famine. Maybe you just wandered into a desert with no food, maybe you've been taken prisoner by people who only feed you applesauce--who knows? Your body can't tell, because its response in both situations would be the same, programmed in by years upon years of evolution. You're not getting enough calories to maintain your day-to-day functions. You're starving. Your body will try to take action to keep you alive as long as possible.
Its first priority is getting calories. If you're not getting them from external sources, it will turn inwards. The first thing it will do is start to burn fat--after all, that's the reason we HAVE fat. It's stored calories in case of a biological emergency such as this. Past a week and a half or so, though, it will stop burning fat, because it will stop seeing this as a short-term dry spell and start thinking in terms of long-term drought. Your body's ultimate goal is to keep you alive as long as possible. Therefore, it will start saving fat, predicting even more deprivation ahead and wanting to stockpile for it so that you don't die.
Welcome to "starvation mode."
Your body still needs those 1200 calories to live, and if it can't get them from food or fat, it's going to need to find them someplace else. Muscle is the obvious first choice, since you can lose a lot of muscle tone without actually dying. Your body has to burn more muscle than it would fat to get the same amount of calories, though, since fat is a more readily convertible energy source, so you'll lose muscle tone a lot quicker than you lost fat, and you'll soon start to get weak. This is why illnesses such as anorexia that cause serious caloric deprivation leave their sufferers with wasted, stringy muscle instead of healthy, strong bodies. After your body has used up all the muscle it can, it will turn to other sources of calories. It will attack your bones (which is why calorically deprived people often develop osteoporosis), hair, teeth, and, eventually, your internal organs. It will leave your fat stores to the last, though, because it's still saving them for when everything else has run out. It saves the fat to the last because it will get more efficient use out of it. Once your body has consumed most of its own tissues, it requires less energy to keep itself going, because there's less of it to maintain. Also, with weak muscles and brittle bones, you will move less, and therefore burn fewer calories. Therefore, your body will get more "mileage" out of fat when you're at the brink of starving to death, and so will save it to the very end so that it can keep you alive that little while longer.
Once you stop eating at those low, low rates, your body, overjoyed that the lean times (if you'll pardon the pun!) are over, will use proportionately fewer of the calories you consume to fuel itself and will instead store more of them as fat than it did before. This is because it is trying to guard itself against another famine, to make sure you stay alive. This means that even on normal calories, you'll be gaining more fat than you should, so you'll gain weight much more quickly than before. Before long, you'll have gained it all back, and it may seem like the only way to get rid of it will be to dip those calories too low again. The cycle can continue, getting worse and worse every time.
In contrast, if you eat over 1200 calories a day but still maintain a deficit of 500 or so (meaning you burn 500 more than you consume, but you're still consuming at least 1200), your body will think to itself, "well, I still have enough food to keep my basic systems operational, but not quite enough to do all the things I've been doing" and will start to burn fat to make up the difference. It will burn fat because you're not eating enough to cover all the calories you expend, so it needs to burn SOMETHING, and it will choose fat because, since you're not starving, it doesn't think you'll need the fat in the weeks to come. Best of all, once you've lost the fat you wanted, when you start eating enough calories to cover your daily expenditure, it won't panic and store it all as fat, because it knows that it hasn't been starving.
So starvation diets don't work. The only good thing about them is that you get to feel strong and in control because you're ignoring pain and difficulties and sticking to your plan regardless, which seems like something a strong person with a lot of willpower and self-control would do. Well, think about this. It's a lot easier just to count calories and keep yourself under a certain number than it is to accept the challenge of learning to eat a healthy, balanced diet, and it's certainly less glamourous and dramatic to eat wholesomely than it is to starve, but, as with most things in life, you take out what you put in. If you're willing to expend the effort to learn to eat healthily, you'll have far better long-term results (which WILL matter to you eventually, even if it's hard to picture now) as well as the satisfaction of knowing that you have the willpower, grit, and determination to do something REALLY hard and succeed at it. The choice is yours to make. It's your life and your body; do what you want.
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I just thought you might be intereted in a little bit of information to help you on your diet.
Are you eating significantly fewer than 1200 calories/day so that you'll lose more weight? If 1200 makes the pounds melt away, 1000 or even 500 calories should work even better, right? Simple math. You probably feel good that you have the self-control to stick to that, too, right? I would. However, what matters isn't whether you stick to the diet or not, is it? It's whether the diet WORKS. You're in this for the end goal, are you not? Well, I can tell you, 500 calories per day will work for about a week and a half, two if you're lucky, and then it will backfire on your newly bony behind. Here's why.
When you get fewer than 1200 calories per day, 1500 if you are a man, your body is convinced that you are in the middle of a famine. Maybe you just wandered into a desert with no food, maybe you've been taken prisoner by people who only feed you applesauce--who knows? Your body can't tell, because its response in both situations would be the same, programmed in by years upon years of evolution. You're not getting enough calories to maintain your day-to-day functions. You're starving. Your body will try to take action to keep you alive as long as possible.
Its first priority is getting calories. If you're not getting them from external sources, it will turn inwards. The first thing it will do is start to burn fat--after all, that's the reason we HAVE fat. It's stored calories in case of a biological emergency such as this. Past a week and a half or so, though, it will stop burning fat, because it will stop seeing this as a short-term dry spell and start thinking in terms of long-term drought. Your body's ultimate goal is to keep you alive as long as possible. Therefore, it will start saving fat, predicting even more deprivation ahead and wanting to stockpile for it so that you don't die.
Welcome to "starvation mode."
Your body still needs those 1200 calories to live, and if it can't get them from food or fat, it's going to need to find them someplace else. Muscle is the obvious first choice, since you can lose a lot of muscle tone without actually dying. Your body has to burn more muscle than it would fat to get the same amount of calories, though, since fat is a more readily convertible energy source, so you'll lose muscle tone a lot quicker than you lost fat, and you'll soon start to get weak. This is why illnesses such as anorexia that cause serious caloric deprivation leave their sufferers with wasted, stringy muscle instead of healthy, strong bodies. After your body has used up all the muscle it can, it will turn to other sources of calories. It will attack your bones (which is why calorically deprived people often develop osteoporosis), hair, teeth, and, eventually, your internal organs. It will leave your fat stores to the last, though, because it's still saving them for when everything else has run out. It saves the fat to the last because it will get more efficient use out of it. Once your body has consumed most of its own tissues, it requires less energy to keep itself going, because there's less of it to maintain. Also, with weak muscles and brittle bones, you will move less, and therefore burn fewer calories. Therefore, your body will get more "mileage" out of fat when you're at the brink of starving to death, and so will save it to the very end so that it can keep you alive that little while longer.
Once you stop eating at those low, low rates, your body, overjoyed that the lean times (if you'll pardon the pun!) are over, will use proportionately fewer of the calories you consume to fuel itself and will instead store more of them as fat than it did before. This is because it is trying to guard itself against another famine, to make sure you stay alive. This means that even on normal calories, you'll be gaining more fat than you should, so you'll gain weight much more quickly than before. Before long, you'll have gained it all back, and it may seem like the only way to get rid of it will be to dip those calories too low again. The cycle can continue, getting worse and worse every time.
In contrast, if you eat over 1200 calories a day but still maintain a deficit of 500 or so (meaning you burn 500 more than you consume, but you're still consuming at least 1200), your body will think to itself, "well, I still have enough food to keep my basic systems operational, but not quite enough to do all the things I've been doing" and will start to burn fat to make up the difference. It will burn fat because you're not eating enough to cover all the calories you expend, so it needs to burn SOMETHING, and it will choose fat because, since you're not starving, it doesn't think you'll need the fat in the weeks to come. Best of all, once you've lost the fat you wanted, when you start eating enough calories to cover your daily expenditure, it won't panic and store it all as fat, because it knows that it hasn't been starving.
So starvation diets don't work. The only good thing about them is that you get to feel strong and in control because you're ignoring pain and difficulties and sticking to your plan regardless, which seems like something a strong person with a lot of willpower and self-control would do. Well, think about this. It's a lot easier just to count calories and keep yourself under a certain number than it is to accept the challenge of learning to eat a healthy, balanced diet, and it's certainly less glamourous and dramatic to eat wholesomely than it is to starve, but, as with most things in life, you take out what you put in. If you're willing to expend the effort to learn to eat healthily, you'll have far better long-term results (which WILL matter to you eventually, even if it's hard to picture now) as well as the satisfaction of knowing that you have the willpower, grit, and determination to do something REALLY hard and succeed at it. The choice is yours to make. It's your life and your body; do what you want.
40 Replies (last)
If your body needs 1200 calories to fuel the functioning of its internal organs -- 1200 calories available to it, not used up by exercise -- then why WOULDN'T your body go into starvation mode if it's not getting the 1200 calories it needs? And where the heck would your body get the EXTRA protein it needs to fuel EXTRA muscle development from strength training?
I'd suggest that unless you know otherwise from a medical professional (who advises you only after examining you and asking you a lot of questions), you take to heart the guidelines that are true for most people, the guidelines that have been proven by research.
I'd suggest that unless you know otherwise from a medical professional (who advises you only after examining you and asking you a lot of questions), you take to heart the guidelines that are true for most people, the guidelines that have been proven by research.
I was gonna say that.
Person B will not have as much trouble with hardening of the arteries due to eating healthier foods, but if the calories aren't there, they just aren't there. And they've gotta come from somewhere, so you are just slowly cannibalizing your internal organs.
Add some nuts.
Or a tablespoon of herbed olive oil and a nice hunk of whole wheat bread.
Person B will not have as much trouble with hardening of the arteries due to eating healthier foods, but if the calories aren't there, they just aren't there. And they've gotta come from somewhere, so you are just slowly cannibalizing your internal organs.
Add some nuts.
Or a tablespoon of herbed olive oil and a nice hunk of whole wheat bread.
so say your body did go into starvation mode, eating like that for say 3 weeks? how long would it take eating normal to get you body to feel like its not being starved?
I'm not sure any of us would know that. I would guess...
If you don't have a history of dieting, probably not that long.
But if you've done this sort of thing to yourself many times... I think your body becomes programed to expect famine. So for someone like this, it might take a couple of years of eating healthy and exercising healthfully to re-teach their body that there is no famine.
Even in the second case, it doesn't mean you can't lose weight, just that it will happen more slowly.
If you don't have a history of dieting, probably not that long.
But if you've done this sort of thing to yourself many times... I think your body becomes programed to expect famine. So for someone like this, it might take a couple of years of eating healthy and exercising healthfully to re-teach their body that there is no famine.
Even in the second case, it doesn't mean you can't lose weight, just that it will happen more slowly.
Why don't you just eat normally instead of trying to work around the research?
I have no idea how long it would take you to get out of starvation mode if you are in it. I have no idea how long you could eat an abnormally low-calorie diet before your body would protest.
Why does it matter how long it would take? Just eat normally, healthfully, well. It'll take as long as it takes!
I have no idea how long it would take you to get out of starvation mode if you are in it. I have no idea how long you could eat an abnormally low-calorie diet before your body would protest.
Why does it matter how long it would take? Just eat normally, healthfully, well. It'll take as long as it takes!
oh don't worry , thats my plan, and what I've been doing...just kind of curious if anyone knew
don't worry, never doing that again now that I've found this wonderful site and educated myself...psh no more of that ridiculousness
don't worry, never doing that again now that I've found this wonderful site and educated myself...psh no more of that ridiculousness
I was one of those way under 1000 calories a day person, with occational binges and I do mean binges, I could out eat my husband with no problem. It wasn't anything I did on purpose, I really didn't know how to eat. I still don't I'm learning as I go. I have only been on this site for a little over a week, I immediatly put on 3 lbs and this morning for the first time I lost .08. It isn't much but it's the begining, I still have alot to learn, I find it hard to get in all the "right" calories but for the first time in over 2 years I feel that I will have success.
BTW....thank you for that article it is very helpful and for the first time I really know what a deficit is.
BTW....thank you for that article it is very helpful and for the first time I really know what a deficit is.
great post... something to add... what I learned in WW many years ago...
When our bodies don't get the calcium it needs, our bodies leech it directly from our bones... now I make sure to get enough calcium. For those of you struggling to make 1200 cal per day, a container of low fat yogurt is around 200 cal (not the ones w/artificial sweeteners but with real sugar)...
When our bodies don't get the calcium it needs, our bodies leech it directly from our bones... now I make sure to get enough calcium. For those of you struggling to make 1200 cal per day, a container of low fat yogurt is around 200 cal (not the ones w/artificial sweeteners but with real sugar)...
I have been under 1200 for a few days now... but its definietly an anomaly... I am usually at 1600. I think as long as we trust our bodies it's ok.... (I am usually at 1000, I had one 800 cal day but thats impossible-- I must have forgotten I ate something).....
Most importantly I think listen to your body... let's do this the healthy way!
Most importantly I think listen to your body... let's do this the healthy way!
Thank you so much for posting this :), I wish I would have read about this before. I had heard such things about not having enough calories but to be honest I thought it was in experts efforts to keep anorexia down. I figured well, I am overweight so 1200 being for a "average size person", I will try to only eat 800 a day, then 700 a day etc... and today I was so frustrated because in my efforts to add in all the fruits and veggie servings on top of my protien I hit 1242 which was my highest since I joined.
Woops.
Also, my calorie count had it's lowest at 517 on saturday, but I wasn't starving or anything? I just saw another post saying that it takes 3 months to get out of starvation mode? How do I do that and why don't I feel like I am starving?
Woops.
Also, my calorie count had it's lowest at 517 on saturday, but I wasn't starving or anything? I just saw another post saying that it takes 3 months to get out of starvation mode? How do I do that and why don't I feel like I am starving?
your body gets used to what you give it. You should read the other posts in this string - someone mentioned your body starts eating itself eailer. I surgest you start eating 1,250 a day and stick with it. No lie, your body will hold onto the food for about a week and a half, maybe two as its so frigging hungry and needs to be nursihed..then you will start losing weight after it KNOWS your gonna keep feeding it.
Think if it like a animal. It NEEDS routine.. soo Its fed at 6pm for 5 years then suddanly the feeding routine stops and its no longer fed at 6. Its random times, once a day. the Animal then thinks 'oh no, i might not get anymore!' so it gorges itself whenever it gets the food and wont stop eating untill its gone - in case one day it doesn't come at all. Then, slowly the feeding time is returned to 6.. and it still gorges itself for a while/ But then sees that its not gonna change time again and goes back to eating senisbly as it knows the food is always gonna be there now...
Better?
Think if it like a animal. It NEEDS routine.. soo Its fed at 6pm for 5 years then suddanly the feeding routine stops and its no longer fed at 6. Its random times, once a day. the Animal then thinks 'oh no, i might not get anymore!' so it gorges itself whenever it gets the food and wont stop eating untill its gone - in case one day it doesn't come at all. Then, slowly the feeding time is returned to 6.. and it still gorges itself for a while/ But then sees that its not gonna change time again and goes back to eating senisbly as it knows the food is always gonna be there now...
Better?
Yeah, I am going to try that. Thanks for the explaination.
Thanks for the post elmfraser, it was straight foward and informative. I just wish I joined earlier in the year and read about this. Since I joined c-c, I had to up my calories because I was only getting 1000 a day, which wasn't good. Plus I kept getting dizzy all the time. I wasn't getting enough nutrition or calories. I'm now eating better and hitting around 1300 calories a day. And the dizzyness has gone away :)
Plus I was just talking to a friend of mine at the store the other day. She has an anorexic mother and I warned her that my mother was the same way and my mom gained all the weight back and then some after each crash starvation diet and couldn't figure out why she couldn't lose weight whenever she went back on yet another diet. Her hair started falling out and her tounge dried out and got leatherly. It was pretty gross, plus she was still overweight when all this was happening. The sad part is that she is a nurse, you'd think she would know why this was happening. :(
Plus I was just talking to a friend of mine at the store the other day. She has an anorexic mother and I warned her that my mother was the same way and my mom gained all the weight back and then some after each crash starvation diet and couldn't figure out why she couldn't lose weight whenever she went back on yet another diet. Her hair started falling out and her tounge dried out and got leatherly. It was pretty gross, plus she was still overweight when all this was happening. The sad part is that she is a nurse, you'd think she would know why this was happening. :(
Hi, I actually joined the site just to ask this question...I am about 5'6", 17, and moterately active I run three times a week and incline walk the rest, with resistance training and I am also a dancer which accounts for about 9 hours a week of exercize.
Because of all the exercize I get I was thinking a lower cal diet would be ok. Honestly I try to hit around 12 times my current weight, in order to lose fat, the problem is, I find that I have to shove my face with more than my stomach can handle. It varies but sometimes I have as high as 1700 cals or as low as 900, I really don't know if this is ok. I try to eat well, chicken and veges mostly-bread gets soggy and moth ridden around here.
I still eat whenever I am hungry until I am not hungry anymore...
My question is, is on days like today when I am about ready to go to bed but have only had 1100 cals, and not hungry, should I eat more? Am I hurting my body? I really don't want any long term bad effects...any suggestions?
Because of all the exercize I get I was thinking a lower cal diet would be ok. Honestly I try to hit around 12 times my current weight, in order to lose fat, the problem is, I find that I have to shove my face with more than my stomach can handle. It varies but sometimes I have as high as 1700 cals or as low as 900, I really don't know if this is ok. I try to eat well, chicken and veges mostly-bread gets soggy and moth ridden around here.
I still eat whenever I am hungry until I am not hungry anymore...
My question is, is on days like today when I am about ready to go to bed but have only had 1100 cals, and not hungry, should I eat more? Am I hurting my body? I really don't want any long term bad effects...any suggestions?
I am new to all this. Never went on a diet before but have gained 15 kilos since I quit smoking. All in one year. I eat greek cuisine but have a problem counting the calories. Anyone out there who can fiqure out how many calories in a dish made from artichokes and peas. And how do I get off the sweets without going into withdrawl. And I am always hungry. Will this eventually go away. I am determined to do it this time . quitting smoking was easier than this. Do i sound pathetic. Anyway just airing has helped.
Laureon, If you actually read elmfraser's post you'd understand that your body doesn't instantaneously jump into starvation mode. It takes a couple of weeks of eating below 1200 (1500) cals for your body to do that.
Yes, some people have "special" metabolisms that can handle eating less than what is recommended but the majority do not ESPECIALLY teenage girls and I think that's the group this post was focussed on.
Good post!
Yes, some people have "special" metabolisms that can handle eating less than what is recommended but the majority do not ESPECIALLY teenage girls and I think that's the group this post was focussed on.
Good post!
theano-
You should enter that question in a new post. I'm afraid it's going to get buried in this thread and you won't get input from people who might have a similar situation because this post is dealing with a different topic.
and you're totally not pathetic. Most of the people on here are here because they are goign through the same things! welcome!
As for the post at hand... it's simple.
The purpose of the tools on this site are to help the average person calulate how many calories are appropriate for healthy weight loss.
Calculate how many calories you SHOULD be having for your weight, age and activity level. BE HONEST about your activity (don't say you're sedentary if you run 10 miles a day to cheat on the calories). And stick fairly close to that (don't be obsessive about 5 calories--be concerned about 500 up or down.
Following these recommendations should allow you to lose an average of 1-2 pounds a week--a healthy level of weight loss.
Anything that strays from these recommendations should be under the supervision of a doctor. If you are feeling weak or tired, see a doctor. If you are gaining a significant amount of weight while on this plan (more than 10 pounds), see a doctor...get where this is going? They can tell you the best way to transition out of whatever healthy element has worked its way into your habits.
But on that note I am so happy someone posted this article. I have read post after post about people trying to speed along their weight loss, claiming deficits of 1,000 calories a day and panicking because they aren't losing wieght--this article very clearly explains why! thanks!
You should enter that question in a new post. I'm afraid it's going to get buried in this thread and you won't get input from people who might have a similar situation because this post is dealing with a different topic.
and you're totally not pathetic. Most of the people on here are here because they are goign through the same things! welcome!
As for the post at hand... it's simple.
The purpose of the tools on this site are to help the average person calulate how many calories are appropriate for healthy weight loss.
Calculate how many calories you SHOULD be having for your weight, age and activity level. BE HONEST about your activity (don't say you're sedentary if you run 10 miles a day to cheat on the calories). And stick fairly close to that (don't be obsessive about 5 calories--be concerned about 500 up or down.
Following these recommendations should allow you to lose an average of 1-2 pounds a week--a healthy level of weight loss.
Anything that strays from these recommendations should be under the supervision of a doctor. If you are feeling weak or tired, see a doctor. If you are gaining a significant amount of weight while on this plan (more than 10 pounds), see a doctor...get where this is going? They can tell you the best way to transition out of whatever healthy element has worked its way into your habits.
But on that note I am so happy someone posted this article. I have read post after post about people trying to speed along their weight loss, claiming deficits of 1,000 calories a day and panicking because they aren't losing wieght--this article very clearly explains why! thanks!
sorry if this is a dumb question, but then wouldn't you lose weight, in theory, if you went on a starvation diet one week of every month? like lets say you ate 500 calories a day for a week, and then for 3 weeks ate 1200, then back to 500, etc. wouldn't your body truly never enter starvation mode and start cannabalising it's muscle since you don't stay there long enough for it to realize it's starving?
To: 97sbee
Please excuse me if I may be wrong on this. I'm not very educated on this subject however from what I understand froms reading on this site and others, your body never does anything internally institaniously. As with everything it is a process. Although I don't think you would see any immediate effects you may see unhealthy effects over time. Your body may get used to that one lean week and start to store fat during that week which would make that one week pointless. But like I said before I could be totally wrong. It's just something I wouldn't chance without talking to a professional first.
To: elmfraser
Thank you so much for this post. I recently went to the doctor for some weight loss advice. I'm 26, 5'7", 212 lbs., not very active, alot of muscle with enough weight to lose. He put me on a 1500 a day calorie diet to start and eventually move down to a 1200 a day calorie diet. I've been on this diet for 6 days now and I am starting to feel results. I'm not as tired after I eat. I seem to have a little more energy. I still feel that I can eat almost whatever I want I just have to watch my portions. I bought alot of low calorie foods which helped out alot and I didn't spend much more doing it. I decided to wait and get used to the diet before I introduced excercise into the mix which shouldn't be much longer. I startd to think along the same lines as some of these people. I thought that if I cut my calorie intake down I might lose weight quicker. However I was reminded by my fiencee about starvation mode. My calorie intake yesterday was 1195 calories which kinda scared me. I may have to start forcing myself to eat without over-eating trying to keep myself consistant with the 1500 calorie diet. My advice for anyone as far as weight loss and diet goes is talk to you doctor. That is what you pay them for. If they don't ask about your diet you may want to move on to someone else. They should teel you what is and isn't healthy. And dont go by a miracle pill or diet. If it sounds to good to be true it probably is. And your body is not built to lose a lot of weight in a very short period of time. With everything else it is a process. You didn't gain it all in one and you won't lose it in two.
i just recovred from anorexia and i ate way under 1200s by the end. for a year i slowly decreased my caloric intake.. made subsitutions of foods (icecream to frozen yogurt to fudgcicle to popsicle, for example) and then i got into restriction. when i got the body i wanted, i got complimented on it, and i thought "hey if i look good now, i must looke great if i can lose 5 more lbs!" so instead of maintaining around the 1200 intake, i dipped down. because i was just 18 and lived at home, the only meal i had no control over was dinner... but even then i never ate the full plate. i also increased more activity.... stupid i know.
anyway, recovering was hard... however i didnt gain back pure fat. why? i strength trained and i added healthy fats to my diet. yes i had icecream on occasion, but i focused on nuts, olive oil, etc instead. as i gained my doctors allowed me more physical activity. i also slowly increased my caloric intake. i went from being 115 to 86 lbs and now i think im playing around with the low 100s... though my doctor wont tell me. however, the way i am now im happy with... i still have ana tendencies, and i dont think i will ever get over that... but i can eat a slice of pizza and not freak out.
my points are
-if done the way i did, you still lose, yet you wont gain all fat back
-if you concider doing this (restricting), dont. when you finally want help to get over it (Trust me you will), the first few weeks of recovery, whether in or out patient ( i was out!! thank god!), will be living hell.
-eat healthy, get exercise, and replenish afterwards. i never did that. i looked so sick when i was 86 lbs. bones are not sexy! so if your trying to lose, and you burn 300 cals, replenish with 150 calories. your muscles need to repair... stronger muscles = more resting metabolic rate... which is a good thing.
-make sure you have protein and the healthy fats. they are soooo necessary for your body. my diet right before i got help consisted of just fruits and vegetables and w/e protein my mom had for dinner. NOT GOOD. at graduation parties i "binged" on celery... i would take a bite of a cookie then toss it.... i knew every secret.
just please, if your doing this, stop. get help. if your contemplating using this method, stop. you dont want it. i read warnings like mine before, and i thought that i was different, that i could be stronger and not let it control me, that icould control it... that i would always be able to stop... NOT TRUE. there comes a point where theres a role reversal and you wont see it til its too late and you cant stop.
anyway, recovering was hard... however i didnt gain back pure fat. why? i strength trained and i added healthy fats to my diet. yes i had icecream on occasion, but i focused on nuts, olive oil, etc instead. as i gained my doctors allowed me more physical activity. i also slowly increased my caloric intake. i went from being 115 to 86 lbs and now i think im playing around with the low 100s... though my doctor wont tell me. however, the way i am now im happy with... i still have ana tendencies, and i dont think i will ever get over that... but i can eat a slice of pizza and not freak out.
my points are
-if done the way i did, you still lose, yet you wont gain all fat back
-if you concider doing this (restricting), dont. when you finally want help to get over it (Trust me you will), the first few weeks of recovery, whether in or out patient ( i was out!! thank god!), will be living hell.
-eat healthy, get exercise, and replenish afterwards. i never did that. i looked so sick when i was 86 lbs. bones are not sexy! so if your trying to lose, and you burn 300 cals, replenish with 150 calories. your muscles need to repair... stronger muscles = more resting metabolic rate... which is a good thing.
-make sure you have protein and the healthy fats. they are soooo necessary for your body. my diet right before i got help consisted of just fruits and vegetables and w/e protein my mom had for dinner. NOT GOOD. at graduation parties i "binged" on celery... i would take a bite of a cookie then toss it.... i knew every secret.
just please, if your doing this, stop. get help. if your contemplating using this method, stop. you dont want it. i read warnings like mine before, and i thought that i was different, that i could be stronger and not let it control me, that icould control it... that i would always be able to stop... NOT TRUE. there comes a point where theres a role reversal and you wont see it til its too late and you cant stop.
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