First and for most please forgive my poor spelling, when God was handing out talents spelling is not one of the ones I received. I am 25 years old male. To make a very long story short, Over 14 months I went out to eating 600 calories per day (400 calorie peanut butter sandwich, and 1 monster energy drink) along with working out several hours per day, I lost 184 lbs in those 14 months, and at a weight of 214 I had a 11 percent body fat percentage according to a bod pod test. My problem is that I find that I cannot eat any decent amount without gaining massive weight one additional 400 calorie sandwich will make me weigh 3 lbs heavier than I did before eating it. I know it is water weight but well I am sure you know what that feels like since you are also on this site. What I am specifically writing about today is that I read some posts and wanted to reset my metabolism so I am in the middle of a refeeding (Day 5), I am eating 3000 calories per day and it is sincerely hard to make myself do this, yet I find that I am still hungry, almost all day eating. I am following a nutrionists design for food and what I eat is very healthy.
But after day 5 my scale shows me to have gained 12 pounds and this is freaking me out, I want to go back to 600 calories to lose it all. I am very active I go to the gym 5 days a week do a solid hour of cardio where I burn 1000+ calories, I lift for 25 minutes, I do 1025 reps of ab workouts 5 days a week, pushups etc. According to the bod pod test, and my nutrionalist they say I should be consuming around 4500 calories to maintain my current weight. But that number seems to be very high. I guess I am just very frustrated, I know that to gain a pound of fat you need to eat 3500 excess calories that your body doesn’t use and stores, and that a lot of the 12 lbs is water weight. I am very afraid of this continuing, I read to try the refeeding 7 to 15 days, and if after 5 days, I have gained 12 lbs that means after 15 it will be 36. I worked so hard and almost killed myself trying to be in shape, and every morning I start my day with jumping on a scale and seeing weight gain. I am not sure if I can make myself continue to do this, I am afraid it will not work and I will be stuck at 600 calories per day for the rest of my life. And I can’t let that happen, my hair started to fall out and I was hospitalized doing it that way. Thank you for taking the time to read this, I am sorry that it is a little long. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Sincerely Nicolas

Welcome and good luck. Thank you for sharing with us and congratulations on wanting to improve your health. You know, of course, that such drastic dieting has messed up your metabolism. The problem you have now is to find the right amount of calories and not gain. You already know this. I think the 4500 calories that your nutritionist suggest is awfully high. I am not sure what the right amount would be maybe 3200. You might try starting out slowly. !000 calories a day , for one week next week 1200 calories, following week 1500 ., etc, I don't know if that will work but if it were me that is what I would try.

I think you need to see a psychologist, not a nutritionist.

My advice would be to take 2 weeks off from all exercise and eat maintinence calories maknig sure to get at least 200g of carbs a day.

I am seeing a psychologist, but what i am wondering is how long does it take for someone's body to recognize that it is no longer starving and that it is getting enough calories to be healthy? I am eating exactly 3000 calories, i get 205 g of protein and 275 carbs per day. As well as 4 servers of vegetables and 3 servings of fruit, all according to my nutrionist. My meals are 200-400 calories spaced out through out the day, so I eat 7 to 8 times per day. Forgive me if my message sounded like i am crazy or whatnot. I am just wondering or perhaps looking for hope that if I can continue making myself eating that at some point my body will say " Hey i am getting enough food, i can use it and not store it". Then i can lose whatever actual wait I gain the healthy way, aka 1 to 2 lbs per week.

Since your body has depleted its fat and muscle, you've actually destroyed the ratio of fat to muscle in your body. As you eat, the fat stores will build faster than the muscle will, even with the working out. You'll have to gain, unfortunately, to lose again, but next time maintaining a healthy ratio of fat to muscle.

This will take quite some time to reverse, but it is possible. I'm not a medical professional, just going by what I've read/heard/know. I would see a medical professional though and get some real help if this all the case.

I don't have any scientific answers for exactly how long the repair will take, Springsman. But the human body is remarkably resilient. You WILL get there and I'm confident your body will successfully heal, given time and support. Glad you are getting support from a psychologist and a nutritionist. It has to be alarming to see the scale rising right now - even though it sounds like you know, objectively, that all that weight isn't real. Remember (I'm sure you know this) that food weighs a lot when its in your system. If this new way of eating is drastically different than it was before (more carbs, more... everything!), your body is going to react with water fluctuations. The water fluctuations will stabilize, with time - or at least become less dramatic.

Hang in there! Give it a bit more time and just trust the process - and the professionals you're working with. Easier said than done, but you can do it.

Stop exercising. Your body needs a break.

How long it takes is anyone's guess.

I'd also suggest not eating such small meals. That might help with hunger.

How long has it been since you were eating 600 calories a day? And how long have you been exercising this intensely?

First off congrats on your 184 lb loss. Amazing. However, it sounds like your drastic diet has caused you some health issues. You need to learn to eat a healthy diet because you are right wehn you said no one can live on 600 calories a day forever.
If you feel that 3000 is too much, cut it back to 2000-2500 per day.
My biggest piece of advice is TOSS YOUR SCALE. It sounds like you have become obsessed with the number. Eat a healthy diet, exercise in moderation and give your body a chance to healy and recover.
Best of luck to you!

Your body is going haywire right now. You need to stabilize--and going from 600 calories to 3000 calories is anything but. A guy your size who never had any issues would eat about 2000 calories. Your nutritionist makes me nervous. Why don't you ask some of the trainers at the gym? They're usually pretty nutrition savvy, and it will give you a range of opinions.

Thank you all for the advice and encouragement =). Tricon it has been 3 months, i went from 600 calories to 1600 at the start of summer with no big weight gains or water gains. The abs just about 2 weeks, I was doing the 2 hours at the gym, solid cardio and weights to try to maintain muscle mass, even when I was doing the 600 calories, so i have been doing that daily for the last 17 months. I increased abs so much because gaining muscle is one of the ways you can help your skin not be such a problem. As you are aware when you lose alot of weight you have excess skin problems, but that is another issue. I decided that if i made my stomach a little stronger(abs) that it would help me. The process of doing 1025 reps only takes around 35 mins, i do 7 different exercises. I figured it couldn't hurt? Thank you again for reading and offering advice.

I know that everyone here means well, but in cases like this it's best NOT to listen to people who don't know the specifics of your health.

If you are working with a nutritionist and a psychologist, listen to THEM. They are the experts. Put your trust in them and the fact that they are concerned about your health and will get you on the right track.

If you gain a bit of extra fat during the process, it's a small price to pay for the tools you will gain from them and the knowledge of how to lose that little bit of fat the HEALTHY sustainable way when the time comes.

I think it would be a good idea to take a copy of your nutritionist's plan and sit down with your doctor, if you have one.

John -you are one of the people here at 3FC I respect and admire greatly. But WTH? First of all, it's bad advice. People who have eating disorders need help for both their physical and mental issues. (Not saying the OP has an eating disorder, but that's what John's advice seems to suggest. I am not qualified to make that diagnosis.) Perhaps more importantly, it seems cruel. Pithiness cannot substitute for kindness. I generally love your directness, but the OP was not seeking mental health opinions, let alone callous aspersions. It is a support group, after all.

Having said that, I completely agree with Joss. The OP needs medical attention from someone with a far more complete understanding of the many variables here.

throw out your scale. there are more important things to worry about - like your health. i'm going through something sort of similar (though not remotely as extreme) and the only thing that's working for me is not weighing at all. in the end, it'll be ok. the end might take a while, but we have the rest of our lives to be healthy. this is temporary and we'll get through it.