[emcmaster]

AutumnE, on Nov 10 2006, 06:18 PM, said:

I am not counting calories, I could stand to lose some weight so its nice I'm losing it but I think this is too fast.

Over this week and last week I lost 10.3lbs. Since Im having problems with corn, dairy, soy, and gluten. I only eat plain veggies, fruit and meat. So not getting in alot of calories. Today and yesterday I counted calories, yesterday was about 850 and today was about 900. I dont crave anything, my appetite has dropped off completely. Especially since I dont eat sugar.

Im afraid Im going to lose muscle. I work out about a half hour a day. What is the minimum amount I should strive for?

Edited to add- Grains are bothering me so I cut them out and nightshades, Im beginning to wonder if I have leaky gut?

Not only are you losing muscle, your metabolism is slowing down in response to the fact that you're starving your body. It doesn't matter that you're not hungry, you still need to eat.

Most adults have basal metabolic rates between 1300-1600 calories a day. That's how many calories your body burns if you lie in bed all day and not move. If you were to sit up in bed all day, you'd need at least 100 more calories on top of your BMR. Add another couple hundred if you actually move at all, and even more if you are working out.

The minimum caloric intake recommended for active (which would be you) adult women is 1800 - to lose weight. If you're not looking to lose, add more than that.

Sure, you might not be hungry and you might still be losing weight, but in the long run, you'll eventually start to gain on 900 calories a day. Not pretty.

I was in the same boat as you when I was doing the elimination diet. It's really hard to get in enough calories when your options are limited. But it's REALLY important to make sure you get in an adequate number of calories per day or you will be doing major damage to your already damaged body.

Just some friendly advice.

[jayhawkmom]

I agree with everything just said. I used to work for Weight Watchers, and one of the biggest complaints of people who were eating "less" than their daily required number of points was that they could not understand how they were gaining weight.

People would seriously cut back on the number of calories taken in, while working out to the point of excess - only to continuously gain, gain, gain! Your body has to have a certain number of calories just to WORK, and if it doesn't get it, it s l o w s down and holds on to everything you put in it, for dear life.

I can just imagine how difficult it is for you to get all the calories you need when you are working so hard to identify and remove foods that offend you. But, somehow....some way, you simply have to eat more.

[plantime]

It is most interesting to read this thread. I am glad that I am not the only one that knows that cutting calories too much actually leads to weight gain!

[tarnalberry]

Your basal metabolic rate depends on your age, height, and weight, not to mention your genetics. You can find a number of online calculators to estimate your BMR using a variety of different estimations (Google will get you a number). For instance, for me, at 5'2", 118lbs, 28 years old, my BMR is 1328 calories/day. Going below that is not healthy. Not to mention it's very difficult to get the nutrients you need even on that much.

[emcmaster]

Have you tried cooking your meat in olive oil or vegetable oil? Nuts are packed with healthy fats, as are avocados, which would be a nice break for you.

When I did the elimination diet, I ate loads of dates. They pack a sweet, dessert-like punch, but are safe to eat (for me at least). I also ate a lot of canned fruits to up my calories. Fresh fruits are, of course, better for you, but if you're like me, you can only eat so many bananas in one day.

Good luck!

[Nancym]

You're eating essentially a low carb diet and one thing that happens in the first week is you lose a lot of water weight. All that glycogen (basicaly excess carbs) you were storing bind up a lot of water. Have you noticed you're peeing like a race horse? That won't continue long, your weight loss will slow once you get rid of the extra water.

As long as you're getting sufficient protein you don't have to worry about muscle loss, it's one of the nicest parts of a lower carb diet, you tend to preserve muscle mass versus the low-fat/high-carb diets. Just make sure you're eating plenty of high quality protein. A lot of muscle builders have caught onto this fact and use low carb for cutting.

Another side-effect of low carb, at least at first, is it tends to kill your appetite. You should probably try to get a minimum of 1200 calories (if weight loss is your goal). I'd suggest eating nuts (if you can) and things like avocados, maybe some peanut butter (natural only) or some fattier cuts of meats. Have some good veggies with some butter or olive oil. We've been so terrified of fat and now a lot of research is proving they're actually good for us.

Sounds like you're on a paleo sort of diet, is that what you're shooting for?

I can PM you the web address of a very good support/education site for this sort of thing if you'd like it.

[BRUMI1968]

Hi. I went on the Paleo diet for a while - all meat, nuts, seeds, fruit, vegetables...yeah. No grains, no starchy veggies really, no beans.

At first it went well...but I lost about 8 pounds. I didn't mind that, though that definitely put me at the way low end of acceptable, what I hated was the lost energy.

Now I've added SMALL amounts of grains, in the form mostly of tea lattes. I know this sounds ridiculous, but I have two or three lattes each day made of rice milk, hazlenut milk, black tea, and spices. Ever since then, I started to gain back the weight. Now I weigh about 130 again (5'9) which is way more normal for me. AND, I have legs on my hikes, and some wind when I walk. It's actually really exciting to imagine being able to exercise again. I'm still going easy - focusing on dog walks and dog hikes and the like...but I was feeling too too weak.

If you are feeling strong and energetic, then losing weight is probably great.

When you did the calculator - did you put in your height/weight, or did you put in your height/desired weight? Just curious. I'm off to do the calculator myself.

Sweet potatoes, by the way, are not a nightshade, so give them a shot. (They're in the marigold family)