So...I have been off plan for a few days because I wanted to change my diet from 1300 to 1600.

1300 had been working beautifully for me. As I did 1600 I just binged. After binging I always try to starve myself.

I always seem to be battling the urge to starve myself even though it never works for me anymore (just can't stick to it).

I'm wondering if anyone has had this problem? I'm going to be sticking to 1300...but I always have the urge to starve to lose weight faster.

But for the sake of this being a lifestyle change I can't change my diet anymore. I just want something that can be second nature for me.

I always want the weight to come off faster. If starving myself would work I might try it. But I know if I starve myself my metabolism will slow down and I will be losing lean muscle instead of fat if I don't get enough protein.
If I stick to a healthy diet and vary my calories from 1400 -1600 and change my exercise pattern I keep losing weight 1 -2 lbs per week. Sometimes I plateau and then I switch it up again.

hi gamerchick! i totally sympathise with you as most of my teenage years were spent on the starve binge spiral it was total punishment for body and mind. even recently i tried to do the whole 'dont eat for x days only water' only to fail and end up eating more than i normally would have. i dunno these days i just tend to think its going to take a long time to lose the weight i want to so i need to think about other things in the meantime. im not really into calorie counting tbh because i tend to get abit obsessed...im just eating much less and i've also cut out alot of bad foods and i think the weight loss will just follow. like you said you've gotta find a diet that will become second nature, that you can forget you're on so the time will fly.
Dont feel guilty if you go over your calorie intake one day or so because if you just gat back on track it have done any harm

After a few days on 1300 calories I want to binge too. Or not necessarily binge, but fill up again as that is quite a low calorie count for me, and I think it could possibly be for someone your height, weight and ESPECIALLY your young age of 16. After I've eaten 1400-1500 for a few days, I allow myself to eat up to 2000 calories for a few days because I know I'll feel better and get some energy back. I'm still losing 1 pound per week, which I think is a nice steady weightloss.

Dear, don't starve yourself, perhaps try sticking with the 1600 for a few weeks and see how it goes. It sounds like you're not getting enough energy/food and then you allow yourself a little more to fill up, but because you're so hungry, you end up binging. How about getting a bunch of healthy foods to fill up on when you feel like it? Fruit, oatmeal, FF yogurt, FF hewbrew national hot dogs, are a few ideas.

Are you exercising? That's also an important component of losing weight and increasing your metabolism. I just think long term its not going to work without a fairly decent activity level. Not sure what it is now though.

Find a plan you can stick with FOREVER, and forget about your big hurry to lose. Slow and steady does indeed win the race.

Well...I had done 1300 for a few days. And I felt satisfied and content with that. It wasn't until I started worrying about weight lifting and 1600 that I binged because I was stressed about doing too much.

I have a friend who purges all the time, the same weight as me, and I'll lose more than her on 1300 than her fasting.

I like 1300 and I feel like it's enough for me. I only exercise when I feel like it. I usually binge from stress or because someone pressures me. But 1300 is good for me.

I just need reassurance that there is no gain to starving. I don't want to starve anymore. I want to lose weight healthily. I always just feel like I could be doing more (starving or overexercising).

I have been sticking to a very strict "eat to live don't live to eat"motto. I have found that the more i think of my weight the more likely i am to binge. If I Deny myself of anything,i know that i am in for trouble. When i feel the urge to have more than what i am alowing myself calorie wise, i write it down and the next day i may or may not incorporate this into my alloted calories. By the next day though i am proud of me for resisting the urge. :

You've been on this site for a while and I really believe that you DO know that. We've all said it here a kijillion times - in order to SUSTAIN weightloss over a looong period of time, like forever, you MUST find something healthy that you can stick to forever and ever. You are in this for life. Qucik fixes DO NOT work. They backfire each and every time. You don't want to lose your weight for a little tiny month and then have it start to creep back. You want this weight to be gone throughout your teen years and yours fabulous 20's and incredible 30's and outrageous 40's and so on and so on.

From example -- I starved/binged/purged at your age (and earlier) until I was 18 -- that was the period of time I weighed the most!! It doesn't work!! Stick to a diet plan you are comfortable with, if you are hungry - eat something healthy. Exercise and proper eating are the only way to lose weight.

Im not one for telling people what they NEED to do, but you really do need more calories, at the weight you are at now, you can eat more and still lose weight, I weigh 160 lbs and I eat 1500 cals a day, some days I will eat less but never lower that 1200, this is my fear.. ok.. so you get your body used to losing at 1300 cals, and then what happens when you get to 160lbs and you are struggling with that last 15 ( as I am) you dont have any lower to drop? I wasnt a calorie counter when I was heavier so I really dont know how many I ate, but I can tell you that at my weight right now, I maintain at about 1800 cals, the smaller you are, the less cals you can eat.. so I would tell you to go just a little higher.. stay at 1600, that way when you do hit a slump you have some room to drop. If I didnt explain this well enough maybe someone else can but I just worry with you eatting so few calories when you could eat more and still lose.

What about zig zag calories up some 1 day and down another. It keeps your body guessing and it does not adjust to your calories.

http://www.naturalphysiques.com/tools.php?itemid=64

for fat loss you should be eating 2728 on average and extreme fat loss 1984 on average just click on the link and put in your weight and it will give you a calorie plan for the week

I want to see you suceed and be able to maintaion a lifestyle change for the rest of your life.

Hey Gamer! Lots of people will give you different numbers. I can tell you, just like rockinrobin said, starving is not the answer.

I eat 1300 cals a day and am losing 1.2 pounds per week, average. Some weeks I don't lose anything, some weeks more. But I'm older than you are and I'm mostly sedentary--I have a sit down job. But I exercise every day, so I burn about 2000 cals a day.

You really need to check how much you are burning as a young person and adjust your eating so you don't eat too little. 1300 might feel comfortable, but just make sure it's not too few cals.

Hang in there, Gamerchick!

Jay

Everyone here has some great things to say. The only thing I would want to add as someone fairly young and someone who has definitely starved herself in the past and then maintained for a bit, then switched to bingeing, etc.

I think there is a lot more to your urge to lose the weight through whatever means necessary than is apparent at first glance. The fact that you have a close friend who is starving/bingeing/purging is toxic. It is a bad example of a quick fix that I guarantee will catch up with her in the end. Also, this need to lose weight seems like a symptom of a greater concern. In order to treat your body well you need to value yourself and appreciate what you have already. It's true, there is no quick fix. Are your goals realistic for your body? I would hate to see someone go through what I did. I starved myself on and off for years - people just thought I was naturally super skinny until later. I was barely eating enough to live and I was fainting often. All because I had friends who were doing the same and I thought I was only attractive and deireable if I was that way. I was wrong. Nobody wants to be around someone so toxic and I definitely was. It's not all it's cracked up to be. I completely messed up my metabolism and broke some bones because I was so brittle and weak. I was sick all the time and I was severely depressed.
If you are eating healthy food and are fairly active, stop beating yourself up. I dont know you, but I would say you need more calories. If you have the urge to fill up after your low calorie days then your body is telling you you aren't eating enough.
There are definitely tons of books, support groups etc that have helped me to get through it but it was a long battle and people telling me to eat did nothing. Your mind is very powerful. It can get you past this if you spend some time on yourself.

Stay healthy and value yourself.

It's because I've know both worlds of starving and binging that I want to stay at 1,300. 1,300 will make me lose faster and it's healthy. If I have a plateau, it can be waited out. I'll lose again soon. If anything, when I hit the plateau, I could just raise my calories to 1600 or so and fluxutate the calories. Then I would lose again, wouldn't I?

It's not that I don't want to do 1,600. It's just that it's the number I said I would stick to and it's the balance between starving and "eating too much".

You know, I said I would stick to 1200. I need more. I lost great at 1200, even though I had headaches, felt sick all the time and was a PITA to be around. Then I plautead. After some research and even MORE blinding headaches, I raised my calories to 1800 and started dropping quickly again, so I've settled somewhere between 1500-1800. I do have 2 low days a week when I keep it under 1400, but those are nutritionally powerful days. Raw veggies, fruits and lean meats. Sometimes, we have to step away from our own stubborness and realise what we said we were going to do, in this instance at least needs to be evaluated for long term health, not short term goals.

Whatever you decide, I wish you the best.

Sweetheart, you're confusing me! On the one hand you say you do want to do 1600, but somehow because you "said" you would stick to 1300 you now must do that. Exactly who did you say this to and why does that matter or have any bearing whatsoever on what you decide to do? Its not "bad" to eat 1600, so why the guilt trip over it and the need to stick to something that clearly has you binging after a little while of eating too little.

Please dont take offense luv, but something you're doing is clearly not working for you. It may help you if you actually listen to others who may have found a strategy that has actually worked for them (the proof is in the pudding and all that). This "balance between starving and binging" idea is IMHO a ridiculous place to start. You start with what is enough to get by on and still lose FAT WITHOUT compromising muscle and bone mass (which is also lost when you "starve").

Be kind to your body and it will reward you with fat loss. Forever. This is the goal after all. Slow down and the weight will come off and STAY OFF.