Ok, so far I seem solid as a rock, the one to go to for a steady as she goes attitude. welp, Bamn! I just hit a wall. the last couple days I have been feeling off. I feel like something is not working for me currently. I eat between 1300-1500 calories per day, I try and spread that intake out evenly through out the day, I get exercise in almost daily, I have been dropping weight like its going out of style, has it ever really been in style?. two weeks ago I dropped 2lbs and the following week it was 4lb so seemingly in the right direction, I weigh as much today as I did Friday, no gain no loss. Sunday morning I was three lbs less than I was on Friday. I have been online pretty much all day trying to figure out whats going on with me, which my wifes conclusion is that I need to up my calories, This doesn't seem right to me and at the very same time it seems exactly right. "if you refuse to eat more calories then thats an eating disorder" were her words. I don't know if I am just feeling off because of a bad weekend or if I have hit a barrier that needs to be dealt with. For me this blog is about accountability and being honest with myself so I felt like I should post this quandary of mine on here. I just finished dinner and physically full but I feel hungry (more proof my wife says that I need more calories) I feel like that is the answer as well, BUT I cannot make myself eat more calories just yet, this is the most weight that I have lost in my entire life and I do not want to see a positive number go onto my bottom line just yet. I have some thinking to do about upping the calories because I know that what wify said is likely true, she got the idea from things I have said to her, she says that I can nit pick her but when it comes to me I cannot. I will likely delete this post, maybe not though. I don't know I just thought I would write it down. ahhhh told ya random and goin nuts.
As Ever
Me
I think I made this point earlier, but you probably aren't eating enough. One problem you're going to have to deal with is that you've been doing it for more than 2 months, and that's going to mess with your metabolism.
ReplyDeleteI'll use myself as an example. I'm 42, currently 325 pounds (stared at 358.2) Eating over 2000 calories a day I've maintained a weight loss of roughly 2.5 pounds a week. Now, I do a fair bit of exercise (avg. over an hour daily), but still sometimes think I didn't start high enough.
Assuming you're mid-30s and 5'10" your body needs about 3700 calories a day to maintain it's basic functions. That's assuming you lay at rest all day.
http://www.exrx.net/Calculators/CalRequire.html
Go to this site and fill in your actual information, estimating lifestyle. You probably shouldn't be eating less than 1000 below that number. You can play a little with that number, but it's said that you should never eat below your BMR. It can be dangerous to your systems.
Sadly, after eating so little for so long, you shouldn't raise it immediately. Try and slowly raise the calories up over a few weeks. You may stall, or even gain a few pounds while your body readjusts. If you do it slowly enough you may still continue to lose. You're lucky, as men lose easier than women.
Whatever you do, do not LOWER your intake. You've got a way to go and you can't do it all on less than what you've been eating.
Believe me, I know it's hard, but I dieted/exercised myself into the hospital doing way too much exercise on too little food. You need to fuel your body for the basic functions.
Tony-
ReplyDeleteI think, and opinions are like a-holes, everybody's got one, that the stress you are putting on yourself has activated that hunger after dinner. You said you are physically full. Now I dont know about upping calories, cause I have for a week, and saw little in the way of loss. BUT, you are exercising, I wasnt. I now have to decide if I should up calories, cause I'm on the bike daily. I'm going to leave it alone for now, but try, and I know it's hard, not to "WORRY" about a slow down in lb's lost. My birthday weekend messed me up for a week. It taught me a valuable lesson. Maybe chock up your bad weekend to a learning experience, and get back to doing what you do best. I think it's more about your thoughts than it is anything else. A positive attitude helps get you back on track. And also, watch the carb to fat ratio. Check out the book, "The Metabolic Typing Diet", by Wm Wolcott. There is a self test. If you want to email me your address, I can photocopy and mail it to you. It makes a lot of sense. The questions are bizarre enough to make it an individual test. No cookie cutter questions at all. Let me know.
your wife sees you -- she sees the true you -- the you that not even you see. if she thinks you should do something different she is the one to listen to!
ReplyDeletespoken like a wife huh?
i am biased I guess -- I know my husband better than he knows himself sometimes!!
Hmmm....
ReplyDeleteWould you like my opinion? Maybe not??
Well, I'm kind of two-sided on my opinion. First, I think "he's lost so much weight already by cutting back his calories to 1500 or less, which seemed too low to go for a guy that size, but it has definitely worked anyway!!"
Then I think, "I don't know what the Hell I'm talking about, so I shouldn't be giving advice on this subject whatsoever."
All I can suggest is that you TRY upping your calories for 2 or 3 weeks and see what happens. I don't disagree with Anne about the increasing your calories slowly, giving your body time to adjust, and it being possible that you might see a gain at first, but it will likely adjust and begin to come off again. That all makes perfect sense.
I also can't help but think about all of the people on doctor-supervised diets that are on very low calorie diets (refer to that article I mentioned a while back...) to lose massive amounts of weight....and I think about how my doc told me to stay under 1000 calories, even though nobody on the internet seems to think that is "enough." If you feel like what you've been getting is enough - - and you don't feel sluggish or worn out much, I would think you are getting enough. But, if you see that you feel slightly less energetic than you should, or if you "feel hungry" after dinner sometimes, maybe you really should consider increasing the calories. Maybe you could even try doing something like 1300 one day, and 1700 the next, etc., etc. It couldn't hurt to try that, could it??
Like I said before, though, I really don't know what the Hell I'm talking about, and I would not recommend that you base any decision you make on anything I say. I don't want the responsiblity of you gaining weight, or ending up in the hospital for malnutrition or something crazy like that!! All I know is that people can survive and stay fairly healthy eating very little. I see it all too often. I know people that barely eat a thing. They don't end up in hospitals because of it. They probably get hungry eventually and pig out on something. Who knows?!
Good Lord. I'm sorry my comments are always so long. I have to remind myself that this isn't a personal email!
Anyway, good luck with your pondering. And just to let you know, I've gone down 3 pounds and back up 4 in the same weekend before. You've got to realize that that isn't FAT that you've lost and gained back that quickly. I'm sure it's all fluid!
Remember that I'm no expert, and will never claim to be one. I will be curious to see, though, if you do in fact lose more weight by increasing your calories. If you do, I would consider having me an extra banana and peanut butter every day!! That wouldn't be too bad!! :)
Consider giving it a try. Or not. ;)
*most valuable comment in the whole world ends here*
I crack myself up.
ReplyDeleteI like Robyn's Disclaimer :)
ReplyDeleteWify
Hello, I just thought I'd add (or clarify something). When I ended up in the hospital it wasn't for malnutrition. It was from an infection (flu) I'd had about a month prior. I hadn't rested, and it migrated to the pleural cavity around my lung. My body just couldn't fight it off. It's the first time I've been that ill, since well, forever.
ReplyDeleteAt the time I was running on about 4 hours sleep during the week. As well as the hour in the morning of quite intense cardio, I was working a job where I walked around all day. It's not simple, but I do believe I wasn't fueling my body well (and the doctor gave me a hard time about it as well).
I still technically eat just under my BMR (which is 2200), but I'm going to try and avoid the <1300/1400 until I'm much closer to my goal. Now I'm off to do some work on the treadmill.
Best of luck with whatever you decide.
Tony! I just got home from the doc's office. After waiting 1 1/2 hours to see him, we really had nothing to talk about, so I asked him about you and your situation. I'm going to email you our discussion! :)
ReplyDeleteRobyn, Thank you, I just sent you an email of my own ;)
ReplyDeleteAs Ever
Me