1200 cals/day + 3 hours of cardio a week, still not losing

cyclemaven

For about 6 months, I was eating 1500/cals a day plus about 2+ hours of cardio a week, but barely losing weight, about .5lb a month. I bought a scale that measures % body fat, and did see my % body fat reduce from 32% to 29%, and % muscle increase to 36-37%, but shedding was pounds just not happening.

My PCP tested thyroid levels, initially came up as sub-clinical hypothyroidism (THS was 5.4). Additional tests showed more stable thyroid levels( 2.9 - 2.5), and I tested negative for Hashimoto's.

When I still wasn't losing weight, I brought this up again with my doctor, and was dismissed that I must be eating more than I thought I was.

So, I've been logging everything for 30 days, reduced to 1200 cals/day or less, with 3-4 hours of cardio a week. And I lost 2 lbs in a month - not the 1lb a week I should be losing... though even within this month my weight has fluctuated up and down, so it's really hard to say it's progress.

Typical meals:

Breakfast is yogurt + granola or an english muffin
Lunch: salad
Dinner: lean protein & a veg
snacks: apple, granola bar

During the day, I only drink water and black coffee. When I started dieting 6 months ago, I reduced my alcohol intake from 5 - 6 beers a week to 2 or 3.

37, 5'3" and stuck at 153lb with a goal of 140lbs. Any ideas on what else I can try, if cardio & diet aren't making a dent? I'm really frustrated.

lhanks89

Are you eating back your exercise calories? I found that when I don't eat back at least half of my exercise calories, I tend to hang on to weight.

Also, depending on what kind of cardio you do, do you take any sort of protein afterward? Whether it be a shake or even some chocolate milk?

tigerblue

I had similar stats when I started. (I'm 5'2.5 and weighed 155 lbs at my highest and I was 42 yo). I used MFP guidelines set to sedentary, and I logged and ate back any exercise calories I burned. Most days I ate between 1300-1450, but I stayed under 1200 on days I did not exercise. I lost about 40 lbs. I've gained a bit back so once again I am trying to lose about 10 lbs.

Have you tried the default MFP setting, and then eating back calories? That is what worked for me.

leaner426

I'm not certain you are eating enough, actually. Instead of focussing on weight, go back and look at what your fiber and sugar totals are coming to. Instead of all that cardio, try some weight training in there. Weight training will help you lose more calories. Also if you aren't measuring/weighing try that. Granola has a lot of calories. You could mix up what you eat and have a lot more if you switch to other things. This shouldn't be a diet - you'll gain the weight right back. It should be a lifestyle change where you eat the things you like in moderation or substitute more healthy versions so you can maintain the weight loss. I don't know if this helps or not. It sure sounds frustrating. I know I got told for years I didn't have hypothyroidism. I had to go to an endocrinologist who gave me a different test and found I have autoimmune hypothyroidism. At that I was borderline and am on a low dosage but it makes all the difference. If you were just seeing a general practitioner you might want to try going to an endocrinologist.

BramageOMG

i see some people "doing cardio" at the gym... It's pretty laughable. If you can talk to your neighbor for 30 minutes...

Back to the question: Do you weigh your food? If you weigh your food and are at 1200 Calories, then I would say step up the exercise.

runningforthetrain

I pretty much have the same problem. And same numbers. I am hoping to get advice too from your question. Thanks for posting it!

Tanpaku

Agree with all of these! Your body is likely holding onto whatever it can due to insufficient nutrition. I would add, based on your activity, a lean protein shake post-workout and if you still have room, another before bed.

Keep up the good work!!

heyyoudontgiveup

Please ignore people who tell you 1200 is too low. I am 5'0" and have lost a lot of weight with a 1200 calorie diet. I walk 30 minutes a day so about 3.5 hours of cardio a week.

I eat low carb (15% of calories), high protein and fat, and I do intermittent fasting. I eat between 12:30pm and 8:30 pm every day.

I have lost 11 lbs in the past 8 weeks. If you want any more info about how I'm doing it, feel free to add me as a friend or check out my diary.

heybales

So if you give your body bare minimum, expect those kind of results for diet/exercise combo.

How are you logging your food for accuracy?
Calories is per gram, not per cup or spoonful.
Though I doubt you could overcome as big a deficit as you should have in place if you had a healthy body, unless food logging was just totally dishonest, and most on MPF aren't.

And your deficit will soon not be reasonable anyway. If you do not want to continue a fight with body you'll lose (but not weight), then pick a reasonable deficit at 10 lbs to go, that would be 250 or 1/2 lb weekly.

Don't cause thyroid problems by doing this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2i_cmltmQ6A

Because that also makes it harder to lose and maintain, usually by the fact you have to eat so much less than otherwise. And the effect they talk about in there doesn't have to happen.

lakenrivr

Hi,

If I were in your shoes, that would be too many sugars in one day. The sample breakfast you provided appears to have too many "simple sugars", even though not a lot of calories. Perhaps only try consuming fruit in the morning (I do low GI fruits + kale and unsweetened almond milk every single morning. No other fruit or dairy or desserts the rest of the day), and having veggies in place of the granola?

Also, maybe try going gluten free? I give you these suggestions as I have gone gluten free and eat an extremely low amount of sugar. The pounds fly off when I do not consume wheat or sugar, so I suggest it to others. Pretty strict but I have LOTS to lose.

Good job on the reduction in alcohol consumption! That really helps, too. Maybe switch from beer to red wine?

Good luck!
C.

cyclemaven

tigerblue wrote: »

I had similar stats when I started. (I'm 5'2.5 and weighed 155 lbs at my highest and I was 42 yo). I used MFP guidelines set to sedentary, and I logged and ate back any exercise calories I burned. Most days I ate between 1300-1450, but I stayed under 1200 on days I did not exercise. I lost about 40 lbs. I've gained a bit back so once again I am trying to lose about 10 lbs.

Have you tried the default MFP setting, and then eating back calories? That is what worked for me.

Thanks nice to here someone with similar experience - I am set to sedentary, as I am in an office all day. I find that I can't possibly eat back my workout calories, most I can manage is 1600 calls on a day where my cardio is burning 600 (tracked thru my training app), so I'm netting 1000 cals or less on exercise days, and 1200-1250 on non-exercise days.

malibu927

You've lost two pounds, which with only 13-15 left to lose, is fantastic. The lower your goal is, the less of a deficit you need to lose weight, so .5 pounds a week should be your target.

How do you determine your intake/burns? And how much of your exercise calories do you eat back?

cyclemaven

Tanpaku wrote: »

Agree with all of these! Your body is likely holding onto whatever it can due to insufficient nutrition. I would add, based on your activity, a lean protein shake post-workout and if you still have room, another before bed.

Keep up the good work!!

Any advise on a good lean protein shakes? the ones I've seen at Whole Foods seem to have a crazy amount of sugar.

meganmariecunning

I know it sounds counter-intuitive, but your body probably needs more calories than you're eating. I was having similar frustrations with my non-existent weight loss, even though I was eating 1200 calories or less per day and working out hard. Your body's metabolism can be damaged by this kind of restrictive eating, slowing it wayyyy down and causing it to hold on tightly to any fat stores it has because it's in starvation mode. I'd suggest slowly increasing your calories back up to 1500 per day, which is about the average a slightly to moderately active woman needs just to exist, to recalibrate your body's calorie usage. Incorporating weight training into your exercise regimen is the other essential part to this - cardio alone is less effective than combining it with even light weights to build muscle and burn fat. Good luck!

cyclemaven

lakenrivr wrote: »

Hi,

If I were in your shoes, that would be too many sugars in one day. The sample breakfast you provided appears to have too many "simple sugars", even though not a lot of calories. Perhaps only try consuming fruit in the morning (I do low GI fruits + kale and unsweetened almond milk every single morning. No other fruit or dairy or desserts the rest of the day), and having veggies in place of the granola?

I typically eat Skyr Icelandic yogurt, which is strained & no sugar added, and an unsweetend granola. And I do track my sugar intake on MFP and am almost always below the standard sugar goal...

tsardinea

I just got advice from a nutritionist today, I seem to be struggling to lose weight and never have in the past. I thought it was because of post-surgery hormone changes. I told her I was eating 1400 calories a day and working out 5 days a week twice a day on most of those days. She said I wasn't eating nearly enough calories. That I was sabotaging my efforts and that I needed to be eating between 1800-2200 calories a day. I am not replacing the calories I'm burning. To add insult to injury I'm now dealing with plantar fasciitis combined with tarsal tunnel syndrome and Achilles tendinitis so my workouts are at a stand still again after just getting back in the grove from my surgery. So I sought the advice of a nutritionist to see how I could lose weight even while I'm limited to exercising the way I would like. So you've got to eat more. I'm not going to say it's easy. It's day one and I struggled today to get to 1800 calories in.

bwogilvie

How are you tracking energy expended in exercise? Many estimates, including not only MFP's database but also many machines and HRMs, are exaggerated. I have two HRMs that differ sometimes by as much as 30%. You may be accurately tracking your intake, but if you exaggerate your output, you can stall. I'm a 150-lb. man and do about 6 hours a week of moderate to intense cardio, and I usually burn about 500 calories an hour. (Cycling at 16 mph, for instance, burns about that for me. MFP's database claims I would burn 800+ calories per hour at that speed.)

dbmata

You eat more than 1200 calories.

ndj1979

1200 calories and two hours of cardio a day …there is your problem right there….if you are only eating 1200 then that means you are probably netting like 700-800 a day ….you should at least be eating 1700 - about 500 burned = 1200 net …

also at 5'3 153 maybe you need to focus on lifting heavy and trying to re-comp your body ..

as a reference point I am 35 male 5-10, 175 pounds ….

ndj1979

heyyoudontgiveup wrote: »

Please ignore people who tell you 1200 is too low. I am 5'0" and have lost a lot of weight with a 1200 calorie diet. I walk 30 minutes a day so about 3.5 hours of cardio a week.

I eat low carb (15% of calories), high protein and fat, and I do intermittent fasting. I eat between 12:30pm and 8:30 pm every day.

I have lost 11 lbs in the past 8 weeks. If you want any more info about how I'm doing it, feel free to add me as a friend or check out my diary.

LOL at a 5'0 female telling a 5'3 male that 1200 is not too low…..wow, I have missed the threads…!