Is it "fad" diet time?
tdumnus
Posts: 3 Member
I have been doing a 1200 calorie diet for a few months now. I diary my food for a few days and the then eat that same amount of food for the next few days. I've been sticking to a pretty well I'm quite proud of myself, I feel better for trying and putting effort and determination but I'm so frustrated and let down once i step on the scale! I haven't lost any.
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Replies
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How are you calculating your food intake?1
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That sounds super frustrating! We don't have a lot of details here to work with. Opening your diary so we can take a peek might help you get more specific answers, but otherwise:
1. If you aren't already, be sure that you're logging everything. Sometimes people forget about things like veggies, drinks, cooking oils, and condiments. For some people these can add up to enough to halt your weight loss progress.
2. Consider buying a food scale if you don't already have one. They're about $10-$20 dollars in the US and easily found at places like Amazon, Target, and Walmart. Measuring cups and spoons are great, but they do come with some degree of inaccuracy. A food scale will be more accurate, and for some people it makes a big difference.
3. Logging accurately also means choosing accurate entries in the database. There are a lot of user-entered entries that are off. Double-check that you're using good entries and/or using the recipe builder instead of someone else's homemade entries.
4. Recalculate your goals if you haven't lately. As you lose weight your body requires fewer calories to run. Be sure you update your goals every ten pounds or so.
5. If you're eating back your exercise calories and you're relying on gym machine readouts or MFP's estimates, it might be best to eat back just 50-75% of those. Certain activities tend to be overestimated. If you're using an HRM or activity tracker, it might be a good idea to look into their accuracy and be sure that yours is calibrated properly.
6. If you're taking any cheat days that go over your calorie limits, it might be best to cut them out for a few weeks and see what happens. Some people go way over their calorie needs without realizing it when they don't track.
7. If you weigh yourself frequently, consider using a program like trendweight to even out the fluctuations. You could be losing weight but just don't see it because of the daily ups and downs. You might also be sure your scale is working and doesn't need new batteries or anything.
8. Some people just burn fewer calories than the calculators predict. If you continue to have problems after 4-6 weeks, then it might be worth a trip to the doctor or a registered dietitian who can give you more specific advice.3 -
Oh this is so true.
Can very much relate.
I have hypothyroidism and this happens to me regularly.
I actually invcreased my calories to 1350.
I am a vegetarian, but what I do now is ensure I eat a varied diet. Lots of different fresh vegetables and fruit.
And lots of different meals. I batch freeze meals.
Your body can become Comfortable .
So it is important to Shake things up a
Bit!3 -
A consistent calorie deficit will make you lose weight. 1200 calories is a calorie deficit for almost everybody. But 1200 calories isn't a lot of food, so it's not easy to stick to unless you're very careful with your nutrition, and it has to be 1200 calories for real, for it to make you lose weight. You need to check that the values for the entries you use in the database are the same as those on the label, or match the USDA database (for produce) or producer's or restaurant's website - or create your own entries. You need to weigh everything, and then log the amount you ate. You have to do this for everything, always, every day, and for a long, long time.
Haven't lost any can mean a lot of different things. Not lost anything, or not lost as much as you expected to lose? Lost some, then regained? What?
How much you can expect to lose, and how much food is appropriate for you, is determined by your sex, height, weight, activity level, and to some extent, age. Trying to lose too much too fast, is a foolproof way to not succeed. 1% of your bodyweight is a good rule of thumb for healthy, realistic weekly loss.
If you share your stats and open your diary, you can get more personalized advice.2 -
I'm doing MFP. i just upgraded to premium to see if that would help. I do measure (obviously foods that can be) but have not started weighing. Think that eould help?0
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Okay guys i opened my journal so you can look! Haven't lost any means haven't lost any. At this point i would take anything just for a little self esteem bump. I was told recently that maybe i should up my calories, but like someone stated is being calorie deficient going to make weight loss happen?0
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