I was kind of wondering if my body is in it... I was on an extremely low calorie diet for awhile (500-800 cals a day), and I heard how horrible it was so I upped it to about 1200. I maintained 125 lbs for a long time, probably almost a month, even when I upped my calories to 1200. I've been keeping my calories at 1200 now, and suddenly I'm gaining weight! I weigh 133 now, and I have no idea where it came from! This has all come in the last two months. I've been eating right, with a few "cheat" days, but nothing too bad. I'm 15 years old, and I exercise 3-4 days a week by running about 6 mph for a half hour. Should I be having more calories? Could my weight gains be from muscle? I'm so confused! And it's so depressing to see the scale going higher and higher and higher!
Maybe. 1# of muscle only contains ~500 Cal(vs. 3,500Cal for a # of fat), so a pretty small surplus could result in a significant weight gain. Water retention can also cause a sudden increase in your weight.
How tall are you? 133# would be near optimal if you are a little over average height, or if you are muscular.
If you are gaining fat or muscle you certainly are NOT in starvation mode.
I would doubt that the weight gain is muscle if your only exercise is running at 6 mph for 1/2 hour 3-4 times a week. That's not a muscle gaining exercise. If you are SURE that your calories haven't changed (are you tracking carefully?), has anything else? Did you just start taking birth control pills, athsma medications, anti-depressants, or are you having any odd symtoms like cold, fatigue, brittle nails, etc?
I also don't think 1,000-1,200 calories/day is a crap number--yes everyone has differences, but most experts agree that's how much a body burns just doing nothing but breathing and staying alive (and actually larger people will have a higher total calorie requirement.) Yes, one can dip lower than this limit--but most likely not recommended for a prolonged period of time and definitely not without--like MrsJim says--medical supervision/consul. And the less calories one consume, the more careful he/she needs to be that its the right calories with all the needed micro- and macronutrients, as there's quite a few that needs to be replenished on a fairly frequent basis.
Dunno if this is related, but a few days ago I was watching a show about a family of dwarfs (the Foos family) on Discovery Health (quite interesting BTW!) and in one part, they were filming the mom going grocery shopping and she mentioned how she needs to lose weight but to do so she would have to drop her calories to around 800 per day, which she's not quite ready to do. (if you haven't seen this show, check the Discovery Health listings...they might show it again some time!)
I weigh 133 now, and I have no idea where it came from! This has all come in the last two months. I've been eating right, with a few "cheat" days, but nothing too bad. I'm 15 years old, and I exercise 3-4 days a week by running about 6 mph for a half hour. Should I be having more calories?
Is it at all possible you've hit a growth spurt ? That would make you weigh more without changing in size. I grew 2 inches somewhere between 15 and 21 despite horrible eating habbits. I wish I'd given my body better nutrition so I was taller.
I'm pretty sure a teenager's body works differently from those of us who are all grown. I remember reading that the generation after ww2 in Europe was markedly shorter than previous ones. Like losing your period, stopping growth is an easy way for the body to respond and will definitely decrease the number of calories your body needs to maintain.
I really don't mean to be patronizing, but at your age, at your weight, you should not be on a weight loss diet without medical supervision. Go see your doctor, ask his/her advice. You are always free to ignore it, but it may get you thinking.
I concur with the above comments, equinekrazed--you are in your growth years. Unless you're currently at or under 5' 1" in height, you're doing fine (your BMI would be 25 or under---in other words, normal range). If anything, you probably need more than 1,200 calories to support healthy growth of your tissues (as well as regular exercise, of course--but you're doing that anyways.)
Not getting enough calories/nutrients can stunt your growth and have other undesirable effects (e.g. irregular periods, brittle hair, etc.)
Of course, now is also a good time to develop healthy eating habits. When consuming those "extra calories" - opt for healthier options (and be sure to get that calcium for bone growth,) but give yourself slack to cheat whenever needed so you don't go on a binge-fest.
And if you still want to do a low-calorie-diet (below 1,500) be sure to consult with your doctor first.
I think *chronic* deprivation can lead to a metabolism slowdown. I don't know that I'd call it 'starvation' but it can definitely lead to problems. When I was 15-18 I survived on < 1K calories a day after losing 60# on a weight loss plan when I was 13. If I ate even a bit more than this (some days were closer to 500), I gained weight! And I was exercising, no less. Now as a 38 year old with an age-slowed metabolism I can easily make it past 2200 without gaining - my 45# weight loss was done with a 1500 calorie a day plan, not some VLCD - and I had an all out free day per week to keep the fires burning. It is SO nice to be able to maintain weight and EAT.
A short term period probably won't damage anything, but when it's done over years, the body just has to learn to live with less.
featherz,
how did you go about increasing your calories from the weight loss level of 1500 to a higher maintenance level? I would guess you would have to be creative in creeping them up slowly in order to not gain wait, is that right?
I had a large free day once a week (probably 3K calories) and I stairstepped up my calories (one day 1500, next 1800, etc). I haven't gained any weight - although with the exercise I do I think I was vastly undereating at 1500 cals. I still was losing weight at 1800 so had to go up to 2100-2200.
