repair my metabolism

[shanybm]

hey,
i'm 23 years old (156 cm, 54.5 kg, 24% bodyfat estimated).
I've been dieting for months to get to this weight (started at 83 kg) and been successful so far.
the problem is that i'm losing weight on a 1200 calorie diet, some days even a little bit less.
recently I started to read a lot about nutrition and dieting and I decided I want to slowly increase my calorie intake in order to repair my metabolic rate and make it easier for me to lose weight.

I plan on adding very small amount of calories each week...lets say 5-10 grams of carbs of 1-2 grams of fat and see how it works. my questions are:

1. what do you think about my plan?
2. is it possible that I will be able to maintain my weight while adding calories each week? (i'm doing high intensity intervals 3 times a week and 3 lifting workouts)?
3. do you think that 1200 calories per daycan possibly be enough for a girl my size?

thanks:)

[johnson55555]

very nice reply given by Barb, I totally appreciate her replies, I just want to add that you should not take more or less calories, you want to make muscle then have equal calories but do that much exercise so that your calories will convert into muscles not into fat. Try to have less carbohydrate and more proteins and calories. Otherwise your weight is fine but you need to maintain this, don’t try to increase it.

[Barb135]

:-)

[shanybm]

thank you for the kind answewe:)
it helped a lot!
have a nice day

[Barb135]

Sorry, about my miscalculation........ you're right, though, at 5'1, you are still not overweight.

You can't go by everything you read on the internet.  If you are eating a good, healthy diet, you shouldn't even have to count calories, but 130-140 grams of carbs might be too much, depending on the type of carbs you're eating.  

If you're eating simple carbs, such as those found in most baked goods, white bread, snacks, and other sugary foods, then you're eating too many; if it's the complex carbs such as those found in non-starchy vegetables, whole grains, nuts seeds, etc, you can probably as many as you want (but watch the nuts because of their fat content, even though it's good fat), because that's the dietary fiber you need.

I did a quick calculation and I find that for your current weight, height, age, and activity level, you need approximately 2099 calories/day to maintain your current weight. To lose a pound a week, you'd need to cut back 500 calories/day, which would then make it 1599......  also, based on the calculation, 1200 is your very minimum; you should never go lower than that.  

Exercise is going to help you keep fat in check, because you will keep good muscle mass, which along with a good diet, will keep fat from forming.

[shanybm]

I will explain myself again:
firstofall, I haven't been told by a doctor that my metabolism is slow.
I read an article by dr. layne Norton explains that this kind of dieting that i'm doing for quite a long time is damaging my metabolic rate.

till now I did lost weight but once I start elevating my calories "back to normal" (since I can't live on 1200 cal/day forever) I will gain fat again/
therefor, he suggests that people in my situation will slowly increase their calorie intake the way I described before and when they get to a greater amount of calories per day they can start cutting calories real slowly and gradually to lose weight only this time they wont have to be on 1200 cal diet to lose weight but could lose weight while eating a lot more calories.

I hope I explained myself properly...

[courtney48]

has a doctor said your metabolism is in disrepair?  if so, to what does he assign the cause?  if not, what makes you think something is wrong?  

also, confused by a couple of comments. you said you are losing on 1200cals/day.  then you said you want to repair metabolic rate to make it easier to lose.  if you're losing, what else are you wanting?  

finally, cutting back calories at this point won't really help lose body fat, as you said you want to do in the second post.  converting fat to muscle can be achieved through exercise.

my thoughts on your questions, without being clear on what you are wanting to do-1, i can't comment on your plan without better understanding what is "wrong" with your metabolism; 2, if you burn roughly what you consume taking into account your bmr, then yes; 3, 1200 cals/day is enough to maintain a healthy weight for a girl your size as long your bmr + calories spent = 1200 calories.  

[shanybm]

no no no...:)
i'm 5'1 (equals to 156cm)....i'm not underweight....
i'm in a normal weight for my height and trying to reduce my bodtfat.

I eat around 130-140 grams of carbs per day
100 grams of protein
30 grams of fats.
and working out 4-5 times a week as I mentioned before.

could you answer my questions again please?
(sorry...)

[Barb135]

If I did the conversion properly, you are 5'11' tall and only weigh 120.2 lbs...... wow, you are WAY underweight....... following are weights for a person your height, based on frame size........ I'm not sure why you decided to lose so much weight, but you certainly aren't at a healthy weight.

Small Frame                 Medium Frame                  Large Frame
  135-148                          145-159                            155-176

All of that said, you need to figure out how many calories you actually need every day, rather than using some arbitrary figure, just because that's what someone needs.  

You also have to remember that not all calories are created equal and you body doesn't react the same to each type of food.  

You need to center your meals around lean protein, rather from meat, low fat dairy, eggs, nuts, beans, etc.  You also need to make veggies the biggest part of each meal, because of the nutrients, as well as the fiber that keeps you fuller longer.  A couple of servings of fruit/day, and opt for whole fruit over juice. Be sure to get plenty of the "good" fats, such as those found in olives/olive oil, avocado, nuts, etc. Be sure to add at least 3 servings of dairy/day to make sure you get plenty of calcium.