Calories not working

[Curlyfifteen]

Hello, before kids I ate very little and was borderline underweight. Now I have kids I still eat very little yet cannot shift this extra stone. Is it possible that you body just holds onto fat after kids, are my hormones off? Or am I just delusional about what I'm eating?

For context I'm 5"3 and 58kg and before kids I was anywhere from 47-52kg depending on how stressed I was or not lol. It may not seem like much but I feel terribly uncomfortable in my own skin all the time.

OP your BMI is 20- you’re a healthy weight. You have hardly any weight to lose and it sounds like you’re trying to starve yourself.

You’re probably eating the wrong foods and not fully tracking. You need to remember liquid calories and oils etc all count too.

Can't be 20 at 5'3 and 58kg. More likely 23-24.

My BMI is 22.5 roughly. I know this is fine depending on build but I am small boned, super narrow shoulders (bras and t-shirts always hang off my shoulder) so the weight does look rather cluncky on my particular build. Wearing size 12 cloths where I am used to wearing size 8 feels very uncomfortable. I am not saying size 12 is too big, just too big for me and my build thats all.

OP, my sister is 4ft9 and 122lbs.

She is eating:

1550 Calories per day
135G of protien
10000 steps a day

She is loosing around 0.5 - 1.5lbs a week.

Your issues are as follows, your not consistently tracking calories every day, your massively under eating, i imagine you don't eat any where near the correct amount of protein, and 8-10k steps a day.

sorry sent to quicjly, becuse of this disordered way of eating, on the days where you do happen to go over your body will hold on to everything.

The best thing you can do is work our your maintenance calories then drop it by 100, so if your maintenance is 1650 start at 1550.

Then track, for t least a month, if your loosing weight each week keep at these calories, then your body will get used to it and stop losing, so then drop again by 100.

There is literally nothing healthy sustainable or normal about eating 800-1200 cals.

If you're constantly eating 800-1200 calories a day that's quite a bit under the recommended amount for a grown woman. It's quite likely that your body holds onto fat as it doesn't know when it'll get fed next. Try upping the calorie intake for a while and then drop them again. That'll give your body a bit of a reset.

Not true. I follow 800 calories, vegetarian keto, with 16:8 fasting to lose and keep to a comfortable weight. I’m only 4’ 9” and between 47-48 kg which puts me at a BMI of 22.5 (so hardly skeletal) but people of normal height can follow it. Look up Fast 800, by Michael Mosley.

Fast 800 is a very low calorie diet where people are told to only eat 800 calories only 2 days per week, and normally but healthily during the rest. Nobody can survive on 800 calories a day every day. I posted upthread my sources for my original statement. I am 5"4', weigh 105lbs, am 33 years old, not overly active due to disability, and i eat between 1800-2000 calories per day. Studies show that people routinely underestimate how many calories they eat per day. An 8-12 month old baby needs 750-900 calories per day. As an adult woman, unless you are very obese and need to quickly lose weight, there is no way you should be eating the same amount as a 1 year old.

Sources - https://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/baby/feeding-nutrition/Pages/sample-one-day-menu-for-an-8-to-12-month-old.aspx

https://www.theholocaustexplained.org/the-camps/ss-concentration-camp-system/meals/#:~:text=Typically%2C%20this%20reduced%20the%20prisoners,typically%20averaged%20at%201300%20calories.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-43112790

And yet, I’m alive and very fit. The food I eat is fresh and cooked from scratch. It is high in protein and fat and very low in carbs. All vitamins, minerals and fibre are accounted for. I go to the gym and dance several times a week. Some people simply do not need all the calories and carbs, especially when they reach 50. I’m in my 60s but can easily pass for early 50s. I can happily only have one meal per day and I don’t feel hungry. We’re all different and this works for me and many others.

Not exactly true. Fast 800 is a program aimed at people who want to lose weight and involves eating 800 calories every day for up to 12 weeks. There is also 5:2 which involves 800 cals for 2 days a week and healthily for the rest of the time. I've been doing the Fast 800 Keto (v low carb version) for the last 10 weeks and have lost 22lbs.

I do agree though that this isnt enough to live off long term and is only meant to be used as a tool to lose weight. I guess maybe it works for the PP who is 4'11 (although still seems extremely low). I cant see how anyone over 5ft could eat this way long term and not be significantly under their BMR