Aa
Wonders Why?
Twice now in 6 weeks I have eaten things I haven't normally been eating on my low calorie regimen. And both times, I've had a significant (2#) weight loss the next day. I'm eating between 1000-1400 calories per day and have lost 20.2 pounds in 6 weeks. But I lost 17#'s of it the first month. So, weight loss has slowed down.
I'm wondering if I could be eating too little? I'm eating a good balance of fats, carbs, and protein and all healthy foods and feel good.
A couple of weeks ago we had a party at work and food was from Olive Garden. I ate moderate amounts but still, and then that night, we had cuban sandwiches. Two big meals but the next day I showed a 2# loss. Yesterday I caved to a Jumbo Jack (no dressing) and ended up with a 2# loss again. Maybe it's just accidental, but it seems odd to me that when I eat more, I lose more.
Any thoughts? Thanks in advance...
I'm wondering if I could be eating too little? I'm eating a good balance of fats, carbs, and protein and all healthy foods and feel good.
A couple of weeks ago we had a party at work and food was from Olive Garden. I ate moderate amounts but still, and then that night, we had cuban sandwiches. Two big meals but the next day I showed a 2# loss. Yesterday I caved to a Jumbo Jack (no dressing) and ended up with a 2# loss again. Maybe it's just accidental, but it seems odd to me that when I eat more, I lose more.
Any thoughts? Thanks in advance...
Dear Mary,
Well, don't be TOO inspired by my 100 lb. weight loss...after injuring my legs doing a half-marathon (on the Iron Man course in Hawaii) and tearing a shoulder weight training & sky-diving, my exercise was severely limited & I gained 50-60 of them back. That's why I'm here...to RE-LOSE the fat & REGAIN the muscle & fitness. I'm BEGINNING to get back on track now. Like you, my next step HAS to be more exercise...but like you, doing it is the problem!!! I still have pain from my injuries...plus, now that I'm 51, I'm beginning to feel the effects of aging which don't make exercising much fun! Also, my Dad is very ill presently and I'm his around-the-clock caregiver. It is a blessing to be able to return a tiny fraction of the hard work and loving care that he invested in me growing up and I'm glad to be able to do so, but at the same time,the caregiving takes energy and time that I can't give to sleep, meal prep and exercise. You and many of the others here are inspiring me, though, and I'm going to try hard to get back to the weight, activity and fitness levels I had achieved a couple of years ago. My gynecologist, who saw how much healthier and happier I was when I was trimmer and fitter, has challenged me to get in good enough shape to participate in the Senior Olympics (something he's participated in as a cycler)...maybe I will meet his challenge! So both of us have some booty shaking to do! (Maybe I'll try to get back into the belly dancing class I was in...)
Well, don't be TOO inspired by my 100 lb. weight loss...after injuring my legs doing a half-marathon (on the Iron Man course in Hawaii) and tearing a shoulder weight training & sky-diving, my exercise was severely limited & I gained 50-60 of them back. That's why I'm here...to RE-LOSE the fat & REGAIN the muscle & fitness. I'm BEGINNING to get back on track now. Like you, my next step HAS to be more exercise...but like you, doing it is the problem!!! I still have pain from my injuries...plus, now that I'm 51, I'm beginning to feel the effects of aging which don't make exercising much fun! Also, my Dad is very ill presently and I'm his around-the-clock caregiver. It is a blessing to be able to return a tiny fraction of the hard work and loving care that he invested in me growing up and I'm glad to be able to do so, but at the same time,the caregiving takes energy and time that I can't give to sleep, meal prep and exercise. You and many of the others here are inspiring me, though, and I'm going to try hard to get back to the weight, activity and fitness levels I had achieved a couple of years ago. My gynecologist, who saw how much healthier and happier I was when I was trimmer and fitter, has challenged me to get in good enough shape to participate in the Senior Olympics (something he's participated in as a cycler)...maybe I will meet his challenge! So both of us have some booty shaking to do! (Maybe I'll try to get back into the belly dancing class I was in...)
Great thoughts and information. I really appreciate them and will look more closely at my eating and exercise. I did put the information in on this site and I am eating less than half the calories needed to maintain my weight (which I don't want to maintain!).
Might be too little and I KNOW I need to exercise more. It's the doing it that's the problem.
Time for some booty shaking!
thanks again, and congrats on the 100 pound loss---you inspire me!
Might be too little and I KNOW I need to exercise more. It's the doing it that's the problem.
Time for some booty shaking!
thanks again, and congrats on the 100 pound loss---you inspire me!
Hi MaryLL,
Here are two of the sites I came across when I was trying to determine how many calories, fats, carbs & proteins I should be consuming to achieve my weight loss goals. As you know, there's a lot of misinformation on the web, so you'll have to judge these sites for yourself. One, however, is run by a dietician with a masters degree & a minor in nutritional counseling and both were obtained through a link on the US government's nutrition guidelines site, so I would think that they'd be pretty accurate/reliable. To be on the safe side, you may want to enter your info then bring the guidelines that the website recommends to your doctor for his/her review before you implement them. I can't find the exact link I used to find my way to these links as well as to a number of other interactive tools for nutrition & diet planning, but it came from the USDA's nutrition guideline site. The main address for that site is: http://fnic.nal.usda.gov/ and with some searching or trial-and-error link clicking, you can probably find the other interactive tools and resources links that are there.
www.dietician.com/calcbody.php
www.caremark.com/wps
MaryMac (skydivediva)
Here are two of the sites I came across when I was trying to determine how many calories, fats, carbs & proteins I should be consuming to achieve my weight loss goals. As you know, there's a lot of misinformation on the web, so you'll have to judge these sites for yourself. One, however, is run by a dietician with a masters degree & a minor in nutritional counseling and both were obtained through a link on the US government's nutrition guidelines site, so I would think that they'd be pretty accurate/reliable. To be on the safe side, you may want to enter your info then bring the guidelines that the website recommends to your doctor for his/her review before you implement them. I can't find the exact link I used to find my way to these links as well as to a number of other interactive tools for nutrition & diet planning, but it came from the USDA's nutrition guideline site. The main address for that site is: http://fnic.nal.usda.gov/ and with some searching or trial-and-error link clicking, you can probably find the other interactive tools and resources links that are there.
www.dietician.com/calcbody.php
www.caremark.com/wps
MaryMac (skydivediva)
Hi Mary LL!
It IS possible that 1200-1400 calories are too little to meet your needs so your body thinks it's starving & is holding onto the weight. As you know, I lost 100 lbs. a few years ago & kept it off by dieting & exercising seriously under the supervision of a trainer and nutritionist. During that period, however, I did hit some plateaus when I wasn't losing (or was even gaining) on a 1200-1400 calorie diet. The trainer & nutritionist advised me to increase my calories to 1600-1800 to meet the demands I was putting on it. While I resisted at first for fear of gaining weight, after stalling for 1-2 months, I finally complied & did begin losing weight again. You have to be careful, though, when trying to determine if you have consuming too few or too many calories relative to your activity levels/metabolic demand. If you have access to a nutritionist to determine your individual needs, that would be ideal. (Your cardiologist may be able to refer you so that insurance would cover it since you mentioned having some heart issues.) If that isn't an option, you can check online for some calculators that help determine your individual calorie & nutrient needs. I don't know if this site has any of them, but I did find a site, by a dietician, that helps you calculate the total calories/protein/fats/carbs that you need based on your age, activity and weight goals. I'll try to find the link and post it here for you.
There are a couple of other possibilities, however, for your weight fluctuations. First of all there is the infamous "fluid shift" that we are all well versed in. Perhaps some of the things you're eating when you go out have a diuretic effect. Another possibility, though, especially since you don't mention regaining the lost pounds when you resume your usual caloric intake, is that you are inadvertantly taking advantage of a weight loss technique referred to as "CALORIE SHIFTING". Some weight loss advisors advocate "calorie shifting". That is, increasing or decreasing your caloric intake a couple days a week to "shock" your metabolism (which may get complacent when you are consuming a uniform number of calories every day over an extended period of time) back into gear. I don't know if these advisors are qualified or quacks, but it is a method I've read about on the web and in several fitness/exercise/muscle building magazines. I know from my own experience that there are times when I have a high calorie day and expect to have gained at my next weigh in & instead have lost. A page that gives a quick "down & dirty" overview of calorie shifting can be found at: http://www.fitandhealthy.com/calorie-shifting-diet/ and I'm sure you can find a lot of other sites with info, too. If you find any from a totally reliable source (the Mayo Clinic or some recognized & respected medical/academic source) do share!
In the meantime---no matter what the cause---congrats on the weight loss!!!
MaryMac (skydivediva)
It IS possible that 1200-1400 calories are too little to meet your needs so your body thinks it's starving & is holding onto the weight. As you know, I lost 100 lbs. a few years ago & kept it off by dieting & exercising seriously under the supervision of a trainer and nutritionist. During that period, however, I did hit some plateaus when I wasn't losing (or was even gaining) on a 1200-1400 calorie diet. The trainer & nutritionist advised me to increase my calories to 1600-1800 to meet the demands I was putting on it. While I resisted at first for fear of gaining weight, after stalling for 1-2 months, I finally complied & did begin losing weight again. You have to be careful, though, when trying to determine if you have consuming too few or too many calories relative to your activity levels/metabolic demand. If you have access to a nutritionist to determine your individual needs, that would be ideal. (Your cardiologist may be able to refer you so that insurance would cover it since you mentioned having some heart issues.) If that isn't an option, you can check online for some calculators that help determine your individual calorie & nutrient needs. I don't know if this site has any of them, but I did find a site, by a dietician, that helps you calculate the total calories/protein/fats/carbs that you need based on your age, activity and weight goals. I'll try to find the link and post it here for you.
There are a couple of other possibilities, however, for your weight fluctuations. First of all there is the infamous "fluid shift" that we are all well versed in. Perhaps some of the things you're eating when you go out have a diuretic effect. Another possibility, though, especially since you don't mention regaining the lost pounds when you resume your usual caloric intake, is that you are inadvertantly taking advantage of a weight loss technique referred to as "CALORIE SHIFTING". Some weight loss advisors advocate "calorie shifting". That is, increasing or decreasing your caloric intake a couple days a week to "shock" your metabolism (which may get complacent when you are consuming a uniform number of calories every day over an extended period of time) back into gear. I don't know if these advisors are qualified or quacks, but it is a method I've read about on the web and in several fitness/exercise/muscle building magazines. I know from my own experience that there are times when I have a high calorie day and expect to have gained at my next weigh in & instead have lost. A page that gives a quick "down & dirty" overview of calorie shifting can be found at: http://www.fitandhealthy.com/calorie-shifting-diet/ and I'm sure you can find a lot of other sites with info, too. If you find any from a totally reliable source (the Mayo Clinic or some recognized & respected medical/academic source) do share!
In the meantime---no matter what the cause---congrats on the weight loss!!!
MaryMac (skydivediva)
Have an Answer?
You are reading content posted in the Weight Loss and Fitness Community
14 super-healthy foods that are worth the hype
Small changes make a big impact with these easy ways to cut hundreds of calories a day.
Forget the fountain of youth – try flossing instead! Here are 11 surprising ways to live longer.
From STD tests to mammograms, find out which screening tests you need - and when to get them.
Tips and moves to ease backaches
Here are 12 simple – and fun! – ways to boost your brainpower.
