Are people really eating this little?

[ABugWife]

Thread after thread after thread I see on here of people posting tiny amounts of food that they eat, or fasting most of the day. 1200 calories, 800 calories, bananas are bad for you, don't eat any carbs, no sugar ever, it goes on and on.

I am short 5'2 and fairly light at the top end of 8 stone so by these threads I should be eating barley anything but I eat every two hours pretty much, I snack all the time, I eat cheese and crisps and sweeties and cakes, sometimes I gain weight, sometimes I lose weight but it's quite steady between 8st 10 and 8st 13

I really find it hard to believe that people are eating such tiny amounts of food and not losing weight.

Does everyone here have a massive drink problem they don't include in their calories or are people lying perfectly still in bed all day long.

Where are the people that eat a normal, mostly healthy but sometimes shit diet.

People are not eating 1200 calories a day without an eating disorder. They are kidding themselves. A banana and coffee for breakfast, cheese salad sandwich for lunch and veg with meat for dinner no snacks is more calories than that! It’s easy to come online and lie about what you consume.

@Delatron Yes one day a week there is a huge calorie deficit. The other days it's less of a gap. (I need 1800 sedentary (tall) plus exercise calories) - and both the nutritionists said to aim for a deficit of 500-1000 a day to lose weight.Most days I am within that band of deficit. Some days I should probably eat more.
I meant I know the exercise calories figures are right if that make sense.

So you went from about 14 stone to 7 stone and are now about 11? Over the course of about 10 years.
I hope you find a stable and healthy weight and exercise regime.

A lot of people would be thinner if they didn't drive. I do at least an hour of exercise every day on my bike, just getting from A to B. Plus a couple of gym classes every week and a job where I'm on my feet all day. Lots of people barely seem to move.

@Pinkprescription I’m sorry you’ve had such bad advice from nutritionists. Obviously yo yo dieting and that level of weight loss and then gain aren’t good for you.

If you are committed to doing that level of exercise then you need to eat more than you are. It is that simple.

Read my post about LEA and the body going in to starvation mode. It then clings on to fat. Is it not worth a try to up your calories? Can all be healthy food. So good fats like salmon, nuts, avocado. Whole grain carbs. Under-fuelling puts a huge stress on our bodies and increases cortisol which we don’t want.

Wrong number but that's the idea.
I have always had a stable routine, had children and stopped exercise, ate more. Got fat. Decided to lose weight and why not? Started exercise, enjoyed it so upped it. Lots of my mates are triathletes so 10-15 hours a week training is par for the course. Had a bereavement lost appetite completely - hence lost too much weight. Nasty health diagnosis.
Carry on increasing cardio as per hospital to 10 hours a week. Lockdown boredom - I did up to 20. Cut it down when things got more "normal".
Put some weight back on but the more cardio I do the hungrier I get. As I said I don't like most foods so filled the gap with sugar. Now that was the only bad / inconsistent choice I made.
I don't know any women at all who haven't spend their whole lives being careful to stay slim or who diet regain and diet. With the exception of one friend who can eat vast quantities of "bad food" (chips, cakes, crisps etc) - has a super high daily calorie intake, does no exercise and is thin as a rake!

I just read that one pound of body fat is equal to 3500 calories, and I have approx. 140 pounds of body fat stored on my body, so when I eat 800 calories, my body dips into some of those calories stored as fat ?

How do you know your body fat percentage versus your actual weight? Unless you’ve had your body fat measured?

If you ate 800 calories a day your body would go in to starvation mode, you will lose muscle and your body will cling to fat. It will also be in a highly stressed state.

I find dairy is the enemy!

After the birth of my second son I had to go dairy-free as he had an allergy and it was insane how much weight I lost just by removing that food group. I was dairy free for about 18 months and then I was told to start re-introducing it into my diet and I really wish I hadn’t as that’s when the weight started to creep on again….

If that was that easy, we would know about it!

Weight loss is a very complex issue involving the microbiome, thyroid hormones etc…. It’s certainly NOT just about calories.

That’s why some diets work really well for some people and not others. I include fasting in there too.

What thread was it? Could someone link it? I love a good laugh at those.

I never go below 2000 calories, it’s probably closer to 2,500 most days. And bananas are one of my main food groups 😁

When I was young I ate loads of calories, fry up every morning, scone at tea break. Pie and chips for lunch etc etc. I was very skinny and underweight, and probably pretty unhealthy. Now I'm old I cannot lose weight unless I stick to 1200 calories. I do find it hard to believe that the people who I'm assuming are a lot younger than me are not losing weight on the minuscule amount of food they say they eat.

I do find around 1400 calories of healthy low carb and plenty of protein and salad/vegetables food spread out evenly - but at least 580 calories worth of excercise (apple watch) is the sweet spot where I do lose weight- albeit very slowly.- and not much alchohol!! I also don't gain then when I have 2000 in a day.

I did try 1000 a day for 10 days once and actually lost no weight- I think my body was saying 'hang on to it- she's starving herself' !!

It's a really individual thing though involving age, body shape, metabolism, activity, what works for one doesn't work for another etc.

I've lost 2 stone since November , all from legs , chin , arse- where I haven't lost any is tummy or boobs!!

I don't believe in starving yourself- it tends to go back on if you stop it.

I've just eaten 2 cheesy sweetcorn homemade muffins and a pot of dried fruits, nuts, and seeds. Got a bit bored of all the chewing before I'd finished. That never happens when I eat a mars bar, how strange.

You had a BMI of 15?! 😱

...anyway I wanted to recommend Stacy Sims' books, 'Roar' if you're a youngster or 'Next level' if you're starting to feel the effect of (peri)menopause.

Lots of good advice about fuelling for female athletes. Seems a shame to be working so hard on the bike and then not letting your body have the nutrition to recover, repair, and improve performance!

@Pinkprescription I'm with you. I eat between 1,400 and 1,500 a day, even when I was marathon training and I don't loose weight.

So I don't see how I'm under fuelling. But the TDEE calculators say I need to eat more. I track calories using Garmin HRM pro.

I'm only short so don't need many calories even if I didn't exercise at all.

Tdee calculations including exercise are extremely difficult

For example you might normally burn 1200 - so 50 an hour

You go for a long run and burn 500 in 2 hrs rather than 100 and the n collapse for the rest of the day burning only 40 an hour rather than normal 50

Just because you don’t lose weight doesn’t mean you’re not under fuelling. People can under fuel and put on weight (as the body clings to fat). It means you are not giving your body the correct energy and nutrients it needs. You shouldn’t marathon train on that little calories. Just because you can do that doesn’t mean it’s healthy for your body. A long 2-3 hour run will burn a good 1,000 calories.

And when you say ‘I’m with you’ you mean it’s fine to do hours of exercise on not enough calories. It’s not. At best you won’t be performing to the best of your ability. At worst you will be doing damage to your body which you can’t see.

How do you know your body fat percentage versus your actual weight? Unless you’ve had your body fat measured?

@Delatron Did you see the bit about me being at least 10 stone overweight ? No I haven't had my body fat measured but I am going to hazard a guess, that by the evidence of my own eyes and how much I can actually grab hold of, and the fact I weigh 21stone, its probably on the very high side. Honestly, my body is not going to start trying to break down muscle for a very, very long time.

@Delatron well I definitely don't want to put on weight. Ideally I'd like to go back to my pre-menopause weight.

Its a minefield - even speaking to nutritionists hasn't really helped that much.

According to Garmin I burnt just over 2,000 for a marathon. Not thing I'm running once again for a while.

If it's just a case of calories in v out - I should loose weight. I'll have to look at it again and try something different. This way isn't working out.

@Dymaxion It applies to everyone - whatever weight. If you starve yourself your body will cling on to fat. It will breakdown muscle.

The measurements that I can give you @delatron are that my chest is 54inches, waist 52 inches and hips/arse 56 inches, I am essentially a wonky oblong of lard

It’s definitely a minefield. And no it’s not as simple as calories in versus calories out.

The book Next Level by Stacy Sims has been recommended on here a few times. And her other book Roar if you’re younger than peri. Most comprehensive guide to exercise and nutrition for women I’ve read. She is a big proponent of the fact that women are not small men! For example most studies done on intermittent fasting were done on middle aged sedentary men. They don’t apply to active women. Our hormones are far more important (and complex) than we realise with regards to weight loss. Particularly cortisol (which we have more of than men).

@Delatron I've read Roar and it's the reason I no longer run fasted, as she said it wasn't good for women.

I'll have to get the other book. I was put into early menopause through cancer treatment, so I never think of myself as "old" enough 😂🤦‍♀️