Too few calories, but increased body fat - is this possible?

[ripvanfish]

Hi guys, I have a really weird issue that I'd like some opinions on.

Let me start with backstory:

When I was younger (between the ages of 13-15, and a bit into 16 I guess) I struggled with eating disorders (I'm 17 now). I started throwing up at 13 to control stress, as a "healthier" alternative to cutting myself. As I got a little older, it quickly became about my weight, controlling it, losing it. I would go back and forth between starving myself (I started on a 600 calorie-per-day diet, toward the end more like 200... some days I didn't eat at all), and eating normally but throwing up after every meal. (Would you believe that in all those years, none of my friend or family picked up on it? Yikes. No wonder I felt so alone.)

When I discovered vegetarianism is when I started to recover, because a healthy, rational diet finally became important to me... Though it wasn't until I met my current boyfriend that I was able to stop throwing up entirely.

I believe myself to be fully over these issues now, and I'm very comfortable with my body and weight. The reason all this is relevant to the topic, however, is that my past behavior does still affect my eating habits today. Over those years, my appetite, and I guess my stomach, shrank quite a lot--I'm physically incapable of eating what most people would consider a normal meal in one sitting. I've been working on this, but it takes a lot of willpower to force myself to eat when I'm not feeling hungry. I also have poor sleep habits, which I believe decreases my appetite.

So, for this reason, I still struggle to get enough calories into my diet. On a really good day, where I eat 3-4 meals, I think I get about 1000 but when I work (4 days a week) I usually only eat two meals a day, and just enough to fill my stomach... not nearly enough. I assure you this is not a psychological issue, I'm NOT trying to lose weight, and hopefully in another few months I'll be close to over it.


So, this is the weird thing. I know for a fact my calorie intake is too low, but in the last couple months, I've been gaining weight. Not an extremely substantial amount, but five-seven pound, I would estimate. This isn't about warped body image. I can't squeeze into most of my jeans anymore (thank god for summer and cheap shorts) and my work uniform pants, which were once huge on me, are very, very snug. I don't think the drier would shrink ALL my clothing.


I'm not really worried about the weight gain, but mystified. Is this POSSIBLE? The easiest answer is that it's just puberty and my hips getting wider, but there definitely is more body fat. When I work, since I work nights, I often eat right before going to bed... Could that be a factor?

What do you guys think?

[RunsWithFoxes]

1. My weight can easily fluctuate by 5-7 pounds based on water retention alone.
2. Many folks are incapable of accurately estimating caloric intake. Extra calories sneak in but aren't counted.
3. If we hypothesize an extremely rare metabolic disorder where you add fat even when caloric intake is less than expenditure, then you would see the consumption of muscle as your body converts protein to carbohydrate to stay alive. If you aren't experiencing muscle wasting, then most likely you don't have such a metabolic disorder. The laws of physics can't be suspended for your body: it must find the calories somewhere to keep its processes fueled.

Good luck!
:hamster:

[ripvanfish]

Thanks for your input. Water retention might be a pretty good bet. I recently started birth control - does anyone know if that's been known to cause increased water retention?

[synergy]

Thanks for your input. Water retention might be a pretty good bet. I recently started birth control - does anyone know if that's been known to cause increased water retention?

It certainly can. If it's concerning you, try cutting down your sodium intake (which is never a bad thing) and eating more potassium, like bananas.

[saedierose]

When you eat too fewer calories on a regular basis, your body will start to store fat and your metabolism will slow down. This is because your body doesn't know if what it's going to eat will be it's last meal and therefore tries really hard to store as much as possible.
Even if you eat too fewer calories everyday, if your metabolism slows right down it is possible to gain weight.

[Dirty Martini]

1. You're still growing. You're only 17. Many women continue developing into their early 20s, even though they stopped gaining height in their early teens.

2. You might be eating more than you think you are. Measure EVERYTHING you eat and see if your caloric intake is really as low as you think it is. Get a kitchen scale & measure your food in grams or ounces. Log it into fitday.com or thedailyplate.com and check out your daily intake over a period of 2 weeks. That should give you a good idea of your average caloric intake.

If it's still around 1000kcal a day, I'd THEN go the route of elevating your metabolism (which basically entails a reset by eating a lot for a couple of weeks then to a dieting intake to remove excess fat, then back up to maintenance which should be around 1700-2000 calories depending on your body).

[Earthly Delight]

Curiously enough, muscle burns first before fat if on a starvation diet. I first learn this from my aunt when I myself was on one, but I didn't believe her--that following year I took a biochemistry course which supported this, and looked around a little bit. It would appear to be true, which could account for your increased fat ratio (because of a decreased muscle ratio)

[Dirty Martini]

Curiously enough, muscle burns first before fat if on a starvation diet. I first learn this from my aunt when I myself was on one, but I didn't believe her--that following year I took a biochemistry course which supported this, and looked around a little bit. It would appear to be true, which could account for your increased fat ratio (because of a decreased muscle ratio)

That's not always true, though. It entirely depends on what you're eating.

If you are eating ONLY protein & vegetables, you will likely consume enough protein to keep your body from losing any lean mass and your body will instead switch to fat/ketones for energy. This is the case with nearly all very low carb diets - they force your body to use fat for energy since you have no glycogen to use and you're consuming enough protein to prevent your body from losing very much lean mass at all, if any.

But if you're eating a low amount of calories (let's say 1000/day), most of which is carbohydrate, and only doing cardio for exercise then you are pretty much guaranteeing loss of lean mass, accumulation of fat stores, depleted energy, etc etc. Your body doesn't need any carbohydrate, but it does need fat & protein to keep vital systems going (and with enough protein, prevent muscle loss). Additionally, though you can't move your BMR below a certain rate (you die at some point), you can certainly put your body into starvation "hang on to every calorie" mode. Eating frequently helps to elevate your metabolism.

Keep that in mind when you're choosing your food if you're going to stick with lower calories.

[figsNolives]

check out this video (http://vsh.voip-info.org/Brazier.html)
it's long, but if you go to min 25 ...Brendan talks about gaining fat - fascinating video!

[greensgood]

When you eat too fewer calories on a regular basis, your body will start to store fat and your metabolism will slow down. This is because your body doesn't know if what it's going to eat will be it's last meal and therefore tries really hard to store as much as possible.
Even if you eat too fewer calories everyday, if your metabolism slows right down it is possible to gain weight.

totally true!

it seems that because you are not providing yourself with enough calories your body is holding onto what you give it because it knows its not getting enough all the time.

[greensgood]

what kinds of foods are you eating?

[tokyo_glitter]

yeh. eating less combined with the wrong foods.
like starches aren't the greatest.
any sugar is definately a no-brainer weight gain culprit.
the best thing to do is have meals based on vegetables, then some pulses, and maybe a few servings of fruit and wholegrains.
it really all depends on your metabolic type.
hope you find a solution!
i was like you, being strange with food, basically an ED, to handle stress.
I'm so glad you've moved away from all that!
x

[codemonkey]

You're still recovering from years of disordered eating so your metabolism is going to be f-ed up for a while. You're not used to eating normal portions so that's going to be harder for you. I'm thinking forcing yourself to eat several small meals a day would help. That way you're getting the food you need and you're not eating huge meals that you're not used to. Are you getting help from a doctor or dietician?

[Technobarbie]

People with thyroid disease have a high fat-to-muscle ratio. This is a gradual process. Wouldn't hurt to get that checked out. There is a a high prevalence of thyroid disease in people with past eating disorders.

[stina]

wow I just read this, and i went through the same thing! I started puking when I was 12. I finally quit with some help from counselling, my boyfriend, and a well-balanced vegan diet.

It is very possible that if you're not eating enough that your metabolism slows down. It could be water weight, especially if you're eating lots of salty foods.

My metabolism slowed down quite a bit after I quit smoking and recovered from my eating disorder, I gained like 20 pounds and then lost 15. Now my weight won't budge at all but I don't really mind.

[Gita]

Your body goes through growth spurts, you must know. Most people hit a major one at about 18. When you say that the extra weight is "fat" though, it dosen't make much sense, unless you are not counting some calories you are getting. You have not given a great deal of information, so your 1000 calories per day is not put in any perspective. If you are a 4-11 female, maybe 1000 is enough (but a bit short). If you are a 6-3 male, then you need to eat nearly twice that. If you are storing fat, I'd say you are not really eating 1000 calories per day. A lot of people forget to list liquids and snacks in their daily intake. I knew a guy who ate at least 1000 calories a day in vending machine chips and candy bars. Oe every 4 hours, and you kind of "forget" about them.