Recovering from a crash diet: I need the facts.

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im_ah_what

New member
So I've pretty much been on a crash diet for five months.

In April, I stupidly decided to cut my calories down to about 800 per day. Eventually, I decided to knock it down to 700, and I've been eating no more than 700 calories a day since April-May.

Before I say anything else, you should probably know that I am 16, female, and an obvious victim of the "I wanna be skinner so people will like me more" phenomenon. And it sucks.

When I started this thing I was 15 and weighed 141 pounds at 5'2". I was overweight. I now weigh 115-117 pounds at 5'2", so I'm not underweight or anything. But this crash diet has lost me like 25 pounds in five months.

I like it. A lot. My weight, I mean. I look fine now, and I want to stay this way. At an average weight.

Unfortunately, my period's stopped, I often feel tired, my skin's lost some color and I look a bit malnourished.

So, I want to quit before it's too late.

But I really, REALLY don't want to gain all of that weight back again. I don't want to start going into those fits again that I had because I hated myself for being overweight. I like how I am now.

Of course, since I haven't been eating as I should, I'm sure my metabolism's near death right about now. I want to slowly start eating more, my goal being 1,000 calories (for now), but I don't know if my metabolism could take it.

I've heard it again and again: Crash diets don't work because once you start eating normally again, you'll just gain back all of that weight you loss and THEN SOME.

So I'm stuck here.

Of course, when I was overweight I ate a lot of crap. I ate pizza every day. I didn't count calories at all; I just didn't care until April.

So, of course, 1,000 calories is still pretty far off from what "normal" for me used to be.

Also, I never exercised. Back when I was overweight, I mean. Now it's just 500 jumping jacks and 100 push ups a day, but I don't have time for much more than that. Heck, talking to my friends is a luxury amongst all of the homework I'm getting.

But I was thinking about steadily increasing my caloric intake, possibly by 20 a week because I'd be too scared to go any faster. In addition to this I would try my best to start exercising more, perhaps walking each day, 20 minutes when I'm up to 1,000 calories. Also, I realize that 1,000 is still a little low, but surely it's better than 700; and I'll be taking vitamins (Vitamin B6 supplements I believe they're called, I just started today) to be on the safe side.

And now, here is the question that I want answered, a question for which I have for some reason NEVER received a straight answer:

CAN I MAINTAIN MY CURRENT WEIGHT BY DOING THIS?

300 calories doesn't seem like a stretch; and if I'm exercising more, can I put myself on a diet of 1,000 calories a day without gaining back any of that weight I lost from my 700-calorie crash diet?

Or will it all come piling back because my metabolism hates me for denying my body food?

Please, please, please: I really would like this answered, because I REALLY would like to stop this, but I REALLY want to stay skinny--and if you're going to be awesome enough to help me here, I just ask that you bear that in mind. Superficial, I know. I'm 16, I'm a girl and I'm in public high school. Sue me, but please just try to see this from my point of view.

Sorry for the wall of text, and if you have any additional tips for me they would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks so much.
 
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u need to double ur calories
 
Yeesh, if your periods stopped you should get to a doctor ASAP and have the doc work to help you fix your body from the damage you've done to it.

Its probably fixable and don't worry as long as you work with the doc to up your calories at a healthy rate for you and then to the maintenance level for your weight you shouldn't gain all your weight back.

I think the problem with most crash dieters is they gain all their weight back because now they are at goal and think they are safe so they just go back to eating how they ate before. They didn't make it a lifestyle change so they are completely lost as to what to eat to keep them thin. Also many of them feeling deprived and starved just succumb to their bodies ravenous hunger and then let their weight go back on.

Don't do any of this and don't become an anorexic.

Read Steve's thread on calorie intake in the on topic section and get to a doctor please.
 
How about increasing your calorie intake by 100calories a week?

I would STRONGLY SUGGEST starting a weights routine 3 times a week. The more muscle you have the faster your metabolism is.

Eat EVERY three hours. Dont go more than 4 hours without food, your metabolism will slow down.

Do some cardio 3-4 times a week as well. Dont make excuses by saying you have no time. All it means is getting up an hour earlier and go for a hour walk, or a 30 minute jog. I study and work full time and I get up nearly every morning and go for a walk.

DONT increase your calories drastically, do it gradually and you wont stack on all the weight.

The most important thing is to GAIN MUSCLE, so start a weights routine PRONTO!
 
I second the getting to a doctor... What has your mom or family said about how you look? How long has it been since you've had your period? Skipping periods at your age isn't all that unusual, but if it's a result of your diet then it is a problem. I'm not a mother, I just play one on the internet... you are at the age where your body is still growing and changing and it needs proper nutrition...

What kinds of things were you eating at 700 calories a day? A vitamin pill doesn't make up for bad nutrition, it should supplement good nutrition not replace it.
 
@loveat: Spreading out 1,000 calories during the day and eating as much as every 3 hours would be depriving myself of full meals though, and I would always be hungry because I would never get full. Is it really necessary? All I'm really aware of is that eating 6 smaller meals a day is recommended over 3 larger ones; I have never heard about eating every three hours.

As for exercise, are jogs necessary or will walking do just the same? I could probably do a weight routine too; what do you suggest?

@malificent: IIRC the last time I had my period was in April or early May.

Over the summer I would wake up at 12 or 1pm each day and have two bowls of cereal (no milk) and a yogurt for breakfast (or lunch, since it was past noon); 260-300 calories. Later on in the day I might have a 35 calorie sugar-free popsicle, or two depending on how many calories I would be eating for dinner. For a long time I basically only ate soup and a bowl of cereal (again, no milk) for dinner. 350-380 calories on average. Eventually I began to substitute my soup for a Lean Cuisine (anything with chicken, I can't get enough CHICKEN) every other day but my calorie consumption during dinner stayed about the same and I was probably getting a bit more protein.

Now that school's started I've had to make a few changes in my routine though. Breakfast varies, but I'll have (on average) 60-90 calories worth of a yogurt, banana or soup. (This morning I had chicken strips and a cup of soup, which altogether was 140 calories but normally I don't eat as much for breakfast). Sometimes I'll skip lunch at school because there isn't much I can bring that won't spoil, but when I do I'll have a 60-calorie hand-held soup. When I come home, depending on if I've eaten lunch or not, I'll eat until I've had about 320-350 calories, depending on how many I'm to eat at dinner. So my after-school snack varies, but often it's cereal and a yogurt, maybe half a cup of canned fruit, microwaveable stuff like chicken with mashed potatoes or instant chili, or a 100-calorie ice-cream bar. For dinner I'll always have a Lean Cuisine with either a bowl of cereal or a cup of 120-calorie soup; or rarely, dinner will be a whole can of soup (200-260 calories) with a bowl of cereal

After dinner I'll have consumed an average of 700 calories, sometimes up to 20 more due to my habit of stealing bits of cereal from the box over the course of the day/chewing gum/my addiction to Ice Breakers.

*phew*

So basically, I eat the same stuff. A lot.

But I absolutely love chicken. Which I'm told is good because of protein. All of the soups and Lean Cuisines I eat contain chicken, as do all of the microwaveable meals save for the chili.

Oh, and I try my best to only drink water, but sometimes it's difficult when I'm at school without a lunch not to head over to the vending machine to buy a diet coke to make me think I'm full till school's done for the day. But I don't drink sodas all that often, maybe a few times a week, but I never drink anything except for water with meals.

Also, my dad recently came home with a crap load of energy drinks, and I've had two so far but I'm pretty hesitant about drinking those (despite the fact that they keep me awake in class/help with my fatigue) because in addition to the vitamin, the energy drink has me getting 250% of Vitamin C a day (and that's without considering Vitamin C from food) that a person who is on a 2,000 calorie diet should be consuming, so I'm sort of just worried that I shouldn't be intaking so much. Same goes for a lot of other vitamins provided by both the vitamin and the drink, but 150% worth of Vitamin C in just one drink kind of scares me. (Any opinions?)

Anyway, I sort of strayed away from the subject here.

My parents have already made an appointment for me to see a dietitian late in September. They couldn't get an appointment before then...
 
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OK I've done all the stupid shit when I was younger.

When you crash diet, you lose muscle mass, and your metabolism slows down. If you start eating like you used to again, you're going to put on more weight (because you have less muscle so expand less calories/slower metabolism) and look worse (due to lack of muscle tone).

What I would suggest is to slowly increase your calorie intake, while doing weight training (+ cardio for health etc). Eat more protein and start lifting 3x a week to try and boost your metabolism and regain muscle mass. You cannot really gain muscle by under-eating. Some people might disagree with me and tell you to eat a lot more straight away, but I think it would backfire for the following reasons:

- you'd probably initially put on some weight (water retention etc) quickly, which may freak you out and make you go back to your old eating habits straight away
- no point "shocking" your body

Good luck and it's not too late to "fix" the damage. I'm sure that your period will come back eventually (mine was very irregular anyway until my late teens), and that you will learn to keep the weight off the healthy way (which means looking more toned, and eating more most of all!).
 
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Oh extra vitamin C just goes down the toilet... I wouldn't worry about it. The vitamins not to take in excess are some fat soluble vitamins (A and D) but you'd still have to ingest a lot.
 
So by *slowly* increasing my calorie intake + weight training and more cardio, it is possible that I won't gain ANY weight because any muscle will be burning off most of what I take in?

I mean, one or two pounds is okay but anything more and it starts to become noticeable.
 
If you do it slowly and keep doing your cardio and weights you shouldnt experience any fat gain at all.

You could put on a little bit of muscle weights, but you should be happy about that cause being toned looks great!

Yes walking is good, but you should aim to get your heart rate up! Maybe do 1 or 2 high intensity work outs a week.
 
Oh and you need to eat WAY more for brekkie.

It boosts your metabolism.

Try eating 1/3 cup of Oats (oatmeal) with 1/3 cup 1% milk and 1/3 cup of water. And some honey or flavouring to flavour. I eat this every morning and keeps me full till lunch! Is about 220 calories.
 
im_ah_what said:
So by *slowly* increasing my calorie intake + weight training and more cardio, it is possible that I won't gain ANY weight because any muscle will be burning off most of what I take in?

I mean, one or two pounds is okay but anything more and it starts to become noticeable.
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Gotta be honest... I wish you were more concerned with your health then the possibility that you might gain ten pounds. Don't you want to be healthy? If you get your food intake back to what is considered to be somewhat normal, and you're exercising frequently, you're not going to put on a ton of weight. You might put some back on, but you've also been depriving on your body of what it needs, and it may need a bounce-back period. Hope you get yourself straight.
 
Hmmmmm lets see.....
I don't think you are underweight at 5'2" and 117 pounds. You should have plenty of meat on your bones at those stats.
I also read through your list of foods you are eating and I think you are greatly understimating how many calories you are consuming.
This morning I had chicken strips and a cup of soup, which altogether was 140
I've never seen chicken strips that are that low in calories. Also you say you are eating 2 bowls of cereal at a time if you actually measure out the recommended serving ( from the back of the box) it's usually 3/4 of a cup or something very small you could easily be eating about 4 servings by filling up 2 bowls full..... Also most cereal is vitamin fortified so you wouldn't be malnurished at all
If you were truly eating only 700 calories a day since April you would be at a much lower weight than 117 pounds
Relax you're fine. except for the loss of period thing which I doubt has anything to do with your weight.
 
Misty53 said:

Relax you're fine. except for the loss of period thing which I doubt has anything to do with your weight.
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I do agree with the Misty when it comes to your measuring your food. Some of us just go about rounding everything we eat, but not really measuring things out. (You'd be surprised at how much more less our calories end up being without being properly measured.) However, as for your period, if you drastically cut the amount of food you were taking in before, there's a HUGE possibility it's due to your diet. I would see a doctor asap. (Had the same thing happen to me when I went on that frickin' slim fast diet and realized I was only taking in 800-900 calories a day... and yes, that was determined by my physician and gyno)

-Sheryl

PS screw wanting to remain at the same weight. Take care of your health first... then start with cardio, weight training, etc.... after things have been cleared up by your doctor.
 
@Misty: Ah when I say two bowls, though, I mean two servings. Which is, yes, generally 3/4 of a cup. Shoulda been a little clearer. And the chicken strips are 80 calories per two pieces. They're Tyson brand tenderloins, if you're curious.

@MsGhettoBooty: My parents have made an appointment with the doctor for next week. But I'll be honest and say that I can't simply "screw wanting to remain at the same weight". I'm a bit obsessive compulsive (and I mean that I am diagnosed) and even the smallest growth in weight will have me going crazy, having poor self-esteem fits and just plain hating myself--these were the cause of my change of diet in the first place. I couldn't take the fits and I wanted to look better. For the first time in my life I have actually had a boy tell me that I look pretty, which is major for me since I was pretty much the ugly girl/the loser all throughout my years in school up until late last year.

To be frank, it's VERY hard for me not to care about my appearance at this point.
 
I'm not underweight. If you were to look at me you would see a girl at a healthy weight.

Just so you're aware, I am NOT one of the girls who figures that she MUST look like a stick to look good. I am no longer constantly looking at myself and thinking that I'm fat and that I need to be skinnier (which, by the way, is called distorted body image and is a trait of anorexia). Like I said before, I like how I look now and I want to maintain my current weight.

Moreover, my goal is not for boys to "want me". My goal is for my peers to recognize that I am NOT a slob who doesn't give half a crap about my appearance (because I used to be that girl), and that ten years of them putting me down is now being shoved right back into their faces.

Oh, and to be able to look in the mirror without hating my own guts.

The "you're disgusting" comment was sort of unnecessary, by the way. :/
 
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Don't listen to that comment - obviously some people do not understand or want to understand image issues.

I had A LOT of image issues when I was your age. In fact I felt like the ugly duckling and had BDD (I guess it's a sort of OCD too - Body dysmorphic disorder - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia but I never got diagnosed - they just thought it was depression). If you look at my pictures, I'm not that bad! I totally understand where you're coming from. However, by eating too little, you're really screwing your body up. I've done it - I starved myself to a lower weight, which then let me to binge eat (thank god I cannot make myself throw up - probably would have turned bulimic) and put even more weight on as I wasted my muscles by starving myself. I then became overweight. Great. It's taken me a lot of effort and courage to decide that I did not want to harm my body but work with it.

If you look at the grand scales of things, you'll soon realise the following:
- maintaining a lower weight by under-eating is not maintainable in the long run
- you're probably getting more attention now because you're probably more confident; definitely not all due to weight loss but how you carry yourself
- your body is going to take you through pregnancies and old age. You're suck with it for the rest of your life. You can either fight against it like you're doing now, or learn to accept it, work with it and treat it accordingly
- if you learn to love your body, you can treat it well by making sure you eat properly, exercise, and the extra bonus is that you'll never look so good!

It's not easy to be 16 and feel out of place. All I can say is that I hated these years, but I'm sure you can overcome these issues as you can actually admit them to yourself and us, and something I wish I'd realised is that you seem aware of the consequences of your actions and what it can do in the long run (lack of period, osteoporosis, hair loss etc). I guess what I would suggest is to try to spend your energy on feeling good rather than beating yourself up, and to try and accept your image at whatever weight.

Good luck and if you want to have a good old rant about these issues, PM me as I'm such I can totally relate to it. I'm only 21 so it wasn't that long ago for me!

Take care!
 
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im_ah_what said:
I'm not underweight. If you were to look at me you would see a girl at a healthy weight.

Just so you're aware, I am NOT one of the girls who figures that she MUST look like a stick to look good. I am no longer constantly looking at myself and thinking that I'm fat and that I need to be skinnier (which, by the way, is called distorted body image and is a trait of anorexia). Like I said before, I like how I look now and I want to maintain my current weight.

Moreover, my goal is not for boys to "want me". My goal is for my peers to recognize that I am NOT a slob who doesn't give half a crap about my appearance (because I used to be that girl), and that ten years of them putting me down is now being shoved right back into their faces.

Oh, and to be able to look in the mirror without hating my own guts.

The "you're disgusting" comment was sort of unnecessary, by the way. :/
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Seriously, dont listen to them!

If you up your cardio and weight training, and slowly increase your calories you wont put on any fat. Your body just needs time to adjust. You can fix your metabolism! I cant stress how important weight training is.
 
^ agreed - putting back on muscle is the only way to counter-act a long term crash diet. If you've never done it before, you'll see results very quickly (if you eat enough - not possible to built much muscle if you don't have anything to build them with!) and you''l look/feel amazing.
 
Oh and eat lots of lean protein! Skinless Chicken Breast, Tinned Tuna, Salmon, Fish and lean beef. It aids in muscle building.
 
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