[Love handles well]

Hi everyone,
I'm new to this forum and so far it has proven very helpful
I am a 23 year old female who weighs 227 pounds And is 5'7. I have been eating roughly 600- 900 calories on a daily basis. I don't skip meals intentionally but being in school all day and working I tend to eat small meals. I have been taking cycling, kickboxing, and bootcamp classes at LA fitness. My mom is always on my case because she feels I am not eating enough to lose weight. Is it possible that not eating enough causes a stagnation in weight loss or even cause a weight gain? I am doing resistance training and cardio, is my caloric intake derailing my weight loss? Thank you everyone )

[wuv2bloved]

if you are not getting enough protein your body will go into starvation mode and will hold on to your fat. If you are working out as much as you say you are i would recommend eating 1/2 of a protein bar before and after your workout. I roughly eat 900cals a day but I don't have over 30 carbs and very little sugars. I have loss 105.5lbs in 31weeks.

[Love handles well]

Congrats on the weight loss
I take vitamins but I should start drinking protein drinks ..yum
Thanks for the advice

[babygrant]

Way too few calories! No lower than 1200 is recommended. And with your weight and activity level you would probably aim more up to 1600+ calories a day.

[kaplods]

Not only can starvation diets slow metabolism, more importantly there can be other ill effects as well, such as muscle loss.

If you're not eating adequate protein, you'll lose some muscle along with the fat - and you can't choose which muscle will be lost. It could be from your heart. Heart damage, especially heart valve damage is a known risk of very low calorie diets (any diet under 1000 is a vlcd).

There are other risks as well. If you're going to eat fewer than 1500 calories (with exercise) or 1200 calories (without exercise), I would highly recommend seeing a dietitian and your doctor. If your school has a dietetics program, you may be able to get free nutrition counseling from a dietitian (or a supervised student).

[Jadeybaby]

Yeah with resistance training you need to be eating more than 900 cals a day I think. Maybe make a little more effort to eat something extra on the days you work out? I am not sure of your eating plan specifically but maybe have a few extra little snacks during those days.
I tend to snack on grapes, bananas, apples etc more on my work-out days. This tend to avoid the scale getting "stuck" for me.

[blueice10]

NOT enough calories, not even close. 1200 hundred is the minimum. I would recommend 1500 to 1700. You could try sparkpeople, they are free to use, you put in your weight and amount of exercise and they recommend a calorie amount that you should be eating. There is other sites as well that will recommend a calorie amount that you should be eating. Fitday does this as well and I think dailyplate, though I have never used it.
PLEASE eat more, you are hurting yourself eating so few calories. Try snacks though out the day, maybe protein shakes. Both would help.
I am 5'4", I weigh 199 and I eat between 1600 to 1900 a day. You weigh more so you should be eating more. If you have time to exercise like you said you have time to eat more.
Kaplods is right you could hurt your heart. Is quick weight loss really worth that risk? For me it is not. I want to be healthy when I reach goal.
PLEASE eat more!!

[lin43]

I agree with kaplods. Also,--and this is pure conjecture on my part---I always feel that our bodies adjust rather well to the calorie level we give it. That's why this time around, I did not want to go so low. I don't want my body to get used to too few calories because, on maintenance, I want to be able to eat at a normal level.

Besides that, if you do plateau in a few weeks you won't be able to go any lower without really hurting yourself.

Use a few calorie calculators online to see what they recommend for your age, height, weight, and activity level. Here's one that I use: http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm . I like it because it's on the conservative side compared to some others I've used. It will give you an idea of how many calories you should eat. You can try eating at that level, and monitor your progress from there.

ETA: I just punched in your numbers to the above-referenced calorie calculator, and it recommends 1800 calories for extreme fat loss and 2000 for regular loss. So, you're eating half of that recommendation.

[dbrown]

I am new to this site as well, but I do know that you have to take in more calories for your body to run efficiently. Congratulations on being so determined! Take care of your body and it will take care of you

[candice1022]

Hi, I too have been there when I was in university and working in a factory..... skipping breakfast and lunch sometimes not eating dinner till 11pm at night... your body needs all the nutrients it can get... if your skipping meals your body will look for it elsewhere holding on to fat etc...

May I make a suggestion since ive been there and done that?
In the morning while your getting ready eat a piece of toast with peanut butter and a banana while your getting ready.

While your at school, eat granola bars or protein bars while your on the run to class... while your in class snack on grapes or strawberries, or carrot sticks and celery or nuts and snack mix... (bring these in your purse *pack the night before so you dont forget)

When you have an hour break in between classes have yourself a decent lunch while reading or studying.... grab a nice sandwich or sub with some fruit or veggies. your body will need this energy boost to get through the rest of the day.

be sure to be hydrating throughout the day bring bottled water with you that way you can fill it up again when you catch a fountain... if your not a big water fan grab some crystal lite packets and bring those too... they have some great green tea flavours with antioxidents for you.

keep snacking if your hungry though out the day in class until you get home. make yourself a sensible dinner a good meat and potatoes kind of dinner.... get lots of veggies along with your meat.

there is a website where you can enter everything you have eaten through out the day and drank as well as log your exercise activity and it will tell you what vitamins and minerals you are low in for that day based on what you ate... it is a big help to me you should try it.....
www.caloriecounter.com no need to sign up it will log itself in if you have facebook accounts or anything else...

Good luck and no starving yourself intentionally or intentionally.... ultimately it is Anorexia... and could lead to some major health problems that can be hard to get out of and recover from... the weight loss may seem great but trust me it wont be in the long run.

[Love handles well]

Oh man so many responses, thank you all so much! I will Definatley follow your advice!! You guys are great!!