Is there any explanation for why my weight won't budge in either direction?

Question

I weight about 120lbs and lately since I've gotten real into my sport my appetite has dropped significantly. I eat about 2 meals a day and don't snack as much and in the same day I have done two hours of strenuous volleyball practice. even today, I only ate one meal, not even a super huge one and had practice and I still did not lose any weight and didn't gain any. Do you think my body is in starvation mode so it won't lose the pounds?

Answer 1

Well your body strives to maintain it's "set point". Getting your weight higher takes a lot of overindulgence, and getting it lower is quite a battle!

"Starvation Mode" can definately cause fat loss efforts to stall, but so can Overtraining!

Here are some little factoids that might help you figure it out:

*Symptoms of overtraining- fatigue, irritability, staleness- a case of the "blahs", soreness, lack of appetite, sleep disturbances, just for starters.

*Intense cardiovascular exercise causes a reduction in appetite.

*Not eating enough can lead to overtraining, by impairing the body's ability to recover.

*Sedentary people or light exercisers should never eat less than 1200 calories a day, and active individuals should eat at least 1400 calories a day as a bare-minimum. (Most athletes really require 2000+)

Answer 2

It's certainly possible. If you're active and you're depriving your body of the food it needs, your metabolism is bound to drop severely. Chances are, if you start eating more, and if you're eating the right things and still staying active, you'll notice a difference.

It's also possible you're losing fat but gaining muscle, so you haven't really noticed the weight loss, even though you've become more toned.

Answer 3

Try keeping a food diary for a week, recording every thing you eat and measuring/weighing it too, you may be surprised that you are consuming as much in one or two meals as you would have in three.