I eat less than 1000 calories a day and haven't lost a pound

[gsaucejupiter]

Hi everyone
Just to say this right at the very beggining: I have a lot of experience with weight loss. Used to be extremely skinny, malnourished (BMI 13), that was when I gone way to far.
I gained all of my weight back (not because it came back - I wanted to gain because it was the worst time of my life when I was anorexic.
Problem is; I've gained way more than I ever thought I would, specially this Christimas time added like 5 or 6 extra pounds..

For the past three weeks, I've been fasting every day until 4pm and have only been eating one package of ramen (350 kcal) and a bowl of (sugar free, plain) cornflakes with milk for dinner (about 400 kcal). Occasionally I eat an orange in between those two meals. Saturdays, I have a sandwich for dinner (because I was heading out and milk usually makes me go to the bathroom, so it was just to avoid any uncomftorable situations when I'm out).
Sundays, a normal looking sunday lunch, no more no less than I would usually eat when I'm not dieting.

So all that together would approximately be around 1000 cals a day or less.

I haven't lost a pound and it's been three full weeks of dieting. I don't understand what's wrong and don't know what to do to fix this.

 

[Trusylver]

https://weight-loss.fitness.com/threads/information-needed-when-asking-for-help.89399/

Firstly you are probably eating more than you thing, without proper tracking there is no way to know exactly how much your eating or what your macros may be.

you give no indication of your current weight ? bodyfat % ? or BMI ? however the food you have listed is high in carbs, and a barely any protein, combining to be a very unhealthy approach to loosing weight which will lead to a lot of muscle loss along with fat loss in the long term. If this is how you lost weight in the past then loss of muscle mass will have slowed your metabolism making it much harder to loose fat.

 

[overlandflyer]

... For the past three weeks, I've been fasting every day until 4pm ...

this isn't very clear... it seems to indicate you fast from whenever you retire for the evening, through the entire next day until 4pm. when you go more than 12-14 hours with no food, you should lower your insulin to glucagon ratio to the point where you do start burning fat. the only thing that would prevent this is if your body is somehow producing insulin which it should only do in reaction to an increased blood glucose level. if you are in fact fasting for more than 14 hours/ day and NOT losing weight, you ought to see a doctor... there are conditions that can cause this.

 

[gsaucejupiter]

Trusylver, there isn't so much to track here. I definitely don't wanna go so deep down into this fitness thing to actually track the same thing I eat every day over and over cause the number wont change.. It's pretty simple, ramen + cornflakes and there you go. And yes - I'm sure I don't eat more than I think. I'm 185cm tall and weigh 75 kilos, never got to measure my body fat percentage tho. But it's not so much and I'm not fat. Only wanna lose a few pounds, that's it. Also, I work out 3 times a week and I'm not muscular. Im not trying to build muscle, just be in good shape and not get my body screwed up by a desk job.

overlandflyer
I should definitely check that out. I dont eat in the morning because I'm too lazy I guess. It wasnt about the fasting at first but i read the same thing you were saying and how it triggers fat loss. But it doesnt seem to work for me cuz ive been living like that since high school and that was a long time ago.. i guess imma see a doctor about that.

 

[Trusylver]

I definitely don't wanna go so deep down into this fitness thing to actually track the same thing I eat every day over and over cause the number wont change.. It's pretty simple, ramen + cornflakes and there you go. And yes - I'm sure I don't eat more than I think.

Do you measure your cornflakes or simply guess how many you pour into your bowl, is it exactly the same each time ? how does that compare to serving size listed on pack ? same for the milk on the cornflakes? you say "about 400 cal" but most people are very bad as estimating serving sizes. this is also not "all you eat" how big is the orange, how many calories. You also eat sandwiches, the bread and all of the toppings whatever they are count as calories.

You also make no mention of what you drink.

As someone who has overcome an eating disorder in the past, you are still showing signs of disordered unhealthy eating.

Im not trying to build muscle, just be in good shape

eating adequate protein is not about building muscle but maintaining the muscle you have for good health. If you loose muscle from extreme dieting, including your anorexia in the the past, you will have reduce metabolism, this means it is harder for you to loose fat.

overlandflyer is right about the fasting, however I will ad that when you snack on oranges and such you will be spiking blood glucose a lot due to the sugars, so if you are diabetic or pre diabetic then your body will take longer and spike insulin more to deal with all the sugar.

for reference

The Ability of Young Adults to Estimate Portion Size and... : Topics in Clinical Nutrition

 

[gsaucejupiter]

Sevring size of 30g is baby food. I ate more than that when I was a kid so.. Now I eat about 60g more or less. And I know how to eyeball food almost perfectly "thanks" to my ED that I had to deal with in the past.
I drink only water and coffee so I felt no need I should mention that too.
And excuse me, what are the sings of ED I'm showing? Anorexics measure their food all the time (i did when I was a sick bastard and weighed 45 kilos), always want to be "in control" of what they eat (that's what you instructed me to do now, and believe me I ain't gonna do it). I got rid of disordered approach to food years ago and I don't do that kind of stuff for a very long time now.
But you know what I was doing all the time when I was sick? Worrying about how big is the orange (and that IS sick - because differences between a small orange and a large one are 40 kcal at most. And worrying about 40kcal? That is sick. Also, I have noticed a lot of bodybuilders from my gym actually have ED-s only people don't see it cause their 5%body-fat bodies are muscular and people like that. In reality they worry about food all the time and count calories day and night, can't eat a fucking chocolate bar if offered by someone. So maybe you're the one who should check yourself for ED symptoms and stop counting calories cause ain't nothing gonna happen if you occasionally eat a chocolate bar or a bag of chips without counting it into your daily intake on MyFitnessPal.
Sad truth is that fitness is just a masked version of an eating disorder. Believe me, I had one and I know how it's like.
You pretty much pissed me off with that "how big the orange is" thing, man that's fucked up.
Gonna get my self a nice large pint of ice cream today. And thank you for that.

for reference:
Warning Signs and Symptoms

and help for you my friend, to get you started on your journey to be free:
Spam Link Removed

 

[Trusylver]

And excuse me, what are the sings of ED I'm showing?

Individuals with eating disorders can have a variety of symptoms. However, most include the severe restriction of food or food types, your food selection is very restricted and is a big red flag.

now for your little rant about me lol, firstly I am not a bodybuilder (yes I agree many bodybuilders have disordered eating and distorted body image), my appearance in not that high on my priority list, I am an elite level athlete. I do count calories, occasionally to check that my eating is on track for nutrition, am I obsessed about it hell no but tracking for short periods of time can help diagnose where problems may be. I do restrict some foods, primarily due to allergies, and while my eating is ketogenic, I eat a wide variety of protein sources and vegetables. And yes, something would happen if I ate a chocolate bar or packet of chip, I would have an allergic reaction to the ingredients.

because differences between a small orange and a large one are 40 kcal at most. And worrying about 40kcal? That is sick

When trying to pin point a problem, all those small differences add up, tracking for shortish periods of time helps to find the problems, fix them then go back to not tracking.

having a hostile attitude to people attempting assist you fix a problem is rather poor manners, If you wanted a touchy feely response to your problem rather than straight forward honest discussion then rather than posting in Advanced weight loss, your post would have been better off posted to "On topic". Here is the description for the Advanced weight loss section https://weight-loss.fitness.com/threads/about-this-forum.8669/

and enjoy your ice cream.

 

[HealthWealthandFitness]

I haven't lost a pound and it's been three full weeks of dieting. I don't understand what's wrong and don't know what to do to fix this.[/QUOTE]

So let's assume that 1000 calories a day it's correct then you should probably go to the gym or find a way to burn those calories. Drink water before any meal because it will help with digestion and losing weight in general. The best solution to this would be to have no more then 4 meals a day with lower calories if possible eat enough fruit and vegetables. You could take naps through the day cause when you sleeping you are also losing weight not very much weight but whatever it helps am I right?

 

[Trusylver]

You could take naps through the day cause when you sleeping you are also losing weight not very much weight but whatever it helps am I right?

No, your not right.

While lack of adequate sleep is detrimental to your metabolism, excessive sleep, not only promotes weight gain,
Too much sleep is linked to a number of health problems, including:

Problems with cognition, including memory problems
Depression, anxiety, and other mood problems
Increased inflammation in the body
Body pain
Increased risks for heart disease and stroke

What your suggesting is an eating disorder called narcorexia which is essentially sleeping through parts of the day when one might otherwise be eating meal.

Also suggesting a further reduction of calories below 1000 carries a very high risk of not meeting essential nutritional needs.

 

[overlandflyer]

... Worrying about how big is the orange (and that IS sick - because differences between a small orange and a large one are 40 kcal at most. And worrying about 40kcal? That is sick. ...

the volume of a sphere increases proportionally with the cube of the radius. a 4" diameter orange contains 50% more sugar than a 3.5" diameter orange. add another ½" and it contains more than 110% the sugar of the small one. with spherical fruit, a little bigger is A LOT more volume.

when i buy apples to have with nutbutter, i look for the smallest ones. any good nutrition from an apple is in the skin, apple guts are nothing but sugar (ok, with a bit of fiber)... nearly the same for oranges. "apples and oranges" aren't always at odds with each other....

 

[HealthWealthandFitness]

No, you're not right.

I didn't mean too much sleep, I meant you can take nap after lunch or something like for an hour or so.
And for 1000 calories part I was quoting gsaucejupiter what he said in his comment, so I was just giving him an answer because he said that all of his meals together are about 1000 calories a day and I said that he needs to burn the same amount or more if he wants to lose weight.

 

[Jan Carlo]

Hi everyone
Just to say this right at the very beggining: I have a lot of experience with weight loss. Used to be extremely skinny, malnourished (BMI 13), that was when I gone way to far.
I gained all of my weight back (not because it came back - I wanted to gain because it was the worst time of my life when I was anorexic.
Problem is; I've gained way more than I ever thought I would, specially this Christimas time added like 5 or 6 extra pounds..

For the past three weeks, I've been fasting every day until 4pm and have only been eating one package of ramen (350 kcal) and a bowl of (sugar free, plain) cornflakes with milk for dinner (about 400 kcal). Occasionally I eat an orange in between those two meals. Saturdays, I have a sandwich for dinner (because I was heading out and milk usually makes me go to the bathroom, so it was just to avoid any uncomftorable situations when I'm out).
Sundays, a normal looking sunday lunch, no more no less than I would usually eat when I'm not dieting.

So all that together would approximately be around 1000 cals a day or less.

I haven't lost a pound and it's been three full weeks of dieting. I don't understand what's wrong and don't know what to do to fix this.

Hi gsaucejupiter,
You can try to intake more water than you would normally do because this will make your body and organs function properly making digestion easier. You can also try to read articles on this site to help you in your journey of losing weight.

Spam Link Removed

Godbless gsaucejupiter.