So I've been stuck in the 280's for like IDK EVER!!! so today i really started tracking my calorie intake on spark people .. im at 1400 calories eaten (sparks people say i should be eating 1800) and I really don't think i could eat anymore food .. i hate to think that not eating enough calories is making me stay fat .. but seriously right now i could explode and should still eat another 400 calories ..

I say this without meaning to sound as rude as I'm sure it does and I hope that it's taken in the helpful spirit (if not blunt) that it's given.

Did you honestly get to your size by not being able to eat more than 1400 cals?

I have a friend who hadn't lost regardless of effort in 1.5 years. she finally got a doc to help her, turns out her metabolism is 15% HIGHER than average....but....she was eating 16-1700 cals, with her extra high metabolism, she was basically conserving fat, in starvation mode, since she needed to eat 1900-2300 to LOSE.


Now I"m not saying eat 2300 cals, but you should probably experiment. Eat the 1800 (really you can get 400 cals with some peanut butter and cheese /crackers quite easily, calorie dense and not terribly filling), and if it doesn't work out and you're not losing, go down 100 every two weeks until you find an acceptable/losing amount.


Good luck!

lol lottie i know i didn't get here eating under 1800 calories .. but i guess when you eat that amount of calories w/ the right food its more filling then eating junk food .. i went and had every thing checked out at the Drs and she told me everything was fine .. but if i sit down to watch TV i fall asleep w/ in minutes i know there is a problem w/ my metabolism but she insists I'm perfectly normal except for being over weight ..

do you exercise? Maybe it would give you more energy. or maybe it's not metabolism related, maybe you have chronic fatigue? (I do too, I have fibromyalgia along with it)

Some people find the source of the calories as important as the number. You might experiment with different carb/fat/protein ratios.

I lose more on 1800 calories of low-carb than on 1800 calories of high-carb eating (though if I set the carb-content too low, I get terrible headaches).

I used to believe that a person would lose exactly the same amount of weight on 1800 calories of anything - so snicker bars or apples - the loss would be the same. I've proven that theory wrong in my food logs, so I suspect that the low-carb eating boosts the calorie burning part of the equation.

Also, I'm a lot less hungry when I restrict carbs. It makes dieting a whole lot less miserable when you're not feeling starved 24/7.

Thanks kaplods for the great information .. do you have an idea of roughly how many carbs you do eat?? Just curious .. today i ate 167 carbs and it says on spark people i should have eaten between 194-280

Not trying to pick a fight, but this is a big pet peeve of mine. What "starvation mode" means is not how it is interpreted. It is a fact that eating calories under a certain amount per day means that your metabolism slows. What this does not mean and is absolutely incorrect is that eating more calories means you would lose more weight than eating less calories.

There are many articles online that get into the science behind this. One of them is here:

http://www.weightwatchers.com/util/a...1&art_id=35501

The bottom line is that you should eat enough calories because you do not want to get too hungry and trigger bad food choices. You do not need to worry that you should eat more because somehow eating more will produce more weight loss. That is not possible.

First of all I agree with Matt 1000%. Starvation mode is on of the most overused terms I see and I just don't get it. Your body is NOT trying to hold onto the fat. It wants it gone almost as much as you do. It doesn't fear that it's not getting more calories coming into it. It's got plenty of fat STORE to feed off of. It's not paranoid.

Anyway, Haley, are you certain that you're counting correctly? Anyway you're missing some nibbles and bites? Could your measurements be off? Have you had any off meals or days? If this is the case, and of course it may not be, any of these factors would cause a stall.

If you're full with 1400 calories, I wouldn't add in another thing. Eating while not hungry is what I did ALL the time back in the day and I'd hate for you to go there. 1400 calories, provided they are nutritionally sound is sufficient.

Are you drinking water? Exercising?

And yes, for me a calorie is not just a calorie. I steer clear of grains. Works much better for me.

I would be super careful for the next couple of weeks. Write down everything that goes into your mouth and see how it goes after two weeks time.

I'm just curious, have you had your thyroid checked? Your TSH number should be under 2...most dr's think 4 is the best, but if you read up on it, for women its 2. I was having the same energy problem...just ALWAYS tired, and since I have been on synthroid to treat Hypothyroidism, I have not had that problem at all. So just something to consider.

You have gotten some great advice. I would definately make sure I was drinking enough water.. it makes all the difference for me to lose weight (I drink between a half gallon and a gallon a day, and sometimes more!). Also look at exercise... I know how crazy it sounds because you think I have no energy now if I "kill myself" for 30 minutes a day I will have to go to bed at 5pm!, but really it helps so much for energy.

How about your vitamin D levels? Also, could your body need more sleep each night?

Excellent point.

The falling asleep really easily makes me wonder. . .do you snore a lot? Have you been evaluated for sleep apnea?

this is what her doctor said, not me.

For me, I think it's really important to stick to plans. If I plan on eating X calories today, that's what I eat. I don't have any choice. I Follow The Plan. There is no deciding in the moment, no flexibility in the short term. Going off plan and eating less today means I have the option to go off plan and eat more tomorrow.

Now, if I was having problems eating all the calories I planned in a day, I might rethink my plans after a few days--changing my planed # of calories, or when I eat what.

I need to be able to trust myself. When I tell myself I only have to run to that corner, and then I can walk 15 paces, then, by god, when I get to that corner I stop and walk 15 paces even if I don't "need" to. Because otherwise, I wouldn't believe myself the next time I made that promise, and I'd feel like "What's the point of running all the way to the corner, I'll feel like I should keep going when I get there and feel guilty when I walk, might as well walk now".

I am a little OCD to this, but I follow my plans, the ones I made when I was thinking about the big picture.