1200 cals/day + 3 hours of cardio a week, still not losing
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I have hypothyroidism and I have lost 26 lbs in under 2 months. Yes that can set you back a little but it can still be done. I use the TDEE calculator and it tells me to eat 1800 calories...I sometimes even eat some of my exercise calories. Granted I also weigh a good bit more than you...but I find that sometimes eating more than you believe you should starts the weight loss. Just try increasing a little at a time and see if that helps. I also agree that you don't seem to be getting enough food in a day. Eat the things you enjoy in moderation. But don't go overboard with it. I hope you get the advice from someone that helps you get past this Platuo. I know it can get very frustrating. Hang in there0
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You don't have a lot to lose. The last 20# or so will be the hardest. You should be aiming at .5 # week.
If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal
If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal
If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal
If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal
If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal
If you aren't lifting heavy or doing strength training, I'd suggest looking into that. It'll help with body recomp.0 -
_HeartsOnFire_ wrote: »You don't have a lot to lose. The last 20# or so will be the hardest. You should be aiming at .5 # week.
If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal
If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal
If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal
If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal
If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal
If you aren't lifting heavy or doing strength training, I'd suggest looking into that. It'll help with body recomp.
This ^^^^^^0 -
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…!
I believe OP is a female. . . .0 -
cyclemaven 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.
If you are putting in 3 hours of cardio a week, that is about 30 minutes per day. If that is true, then a calorie burn of 600 per session sounds a little high to me. Of course, you may be working out for 1 hour three times a week instead, so then that might not be too far off. I would check your calorie burns via several sources (more than one online calculator, plus your app. I get very different readings between my Bodymedia, my heart rate monitor, and MFP. So be careful not to overestimate.). It is important to eat a good portion of (accurate) exercise cals if you have MFP set for sedentary.
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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 ….
As a reference point, 153 for a 5' 3" female is BMI of 27.1 which is well into the overweight category. 140 lbs will put her barely into the healthy category. I am a 5'2.5" female and my profile pic is me at 130. Most charts put healthy weight for my height, which is not very far from OP, at around110-130 lbs. (personally, I am more comfortable around 120 myself)
While re-comping is always a good thing for health as well as slimness, the OP likely will have to lose 20lbs. or so to have a healthy BMI.0 -
As someone said above, try intermittent fasting. Get your daily calories within an 8 hour window (I do 11:30am to 7:30pm). Also, it looks like you're eating what most people would consider "healthy" but maybe you should look at what Macro nutrients you need every day and try hitting that. What vege are you having for dinner? It could be high in carbs. You might find your carb to protein and fat percentage could be way off.0
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You've been logging your food but are you weighing your food to get as accurate as possible?0
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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 ….
As a reference point, 153 for a 5' 3" female is BMI of 27.1 which is well into the overweight category. 140 lbs will put her barely into the healthy category. I am a 5'2.5" female and my profile pic is me at 130. Most charts put healthy weight for my height, which is not very far from OP, at around110-130 lbs. (personally, I am more comfortable around 120 myself)
While re-comping is always a good thing for health as well as slimness, the OP likely will have to lose 20lbs. or so to have a healthy BMI.
BMI is a garbage state. According to BMI, I am "obese" but I have about 12% body fat ...0 -
I have been doing cardio and strength training for 3 years and I haven't lost one pound. Heck, I've gained 5 pounds. My Dr. said that is ok since I have lost 3 dress sizes but I am not so sure. I eat about 1200 cals per day, sometimes 1400. I only net about 500 calories a day when I log it in with my exercise though. ( I just figured out how to use the calorie counter correctly though..lol) I am changing my eating habits (albeit slowly) so I hold out hope I can lose some weight at some point soon.0
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I have been doing cardio and strength training for 3 years and I haven't lost one pound. Heck, I've gained 5 pounds. My Dr. said that is ok since I have lost 3 dress sizes but I am not so sure. I eat about 1200 cals per day, sometimes 1400. I only net about 500 calories a day when I log it in with my exercise though. ( I just figured out how to use the calorie counter correctly though..lol) I am changing my eating habits (albeit slowly) so I hold out hope I can lose some weight at some point soon.
If you've only just started calorie counting you have no idea what about you've been eating for 3 years my guess is a lot more than you think0 -
I agree with the folks that suggest you are not eating enough calories. Based on the Harris-Benedict calculator, your maintenance calorie intake should be nearly 2,000 calories. Taking 800 calories off the top, then adding 3 hours a week of cardio (on the low end, that's another 1,200 calories burned a week), and you're average daily deficit is nearly 1,000 calories! For someone of your size, this is too big a deficit without risking a dramatic slowing of your metabolism. I'd suggest increasing your calories to at least the previous levels and perhaps a bit higher, maintaining the cardio.
Further, I'm a bit concerned with something you said - you bought a scale that showed a decrease in body fat, and an increase in muscle. What's wrong with that? Of course the weight on the scale won't drop as dramatically, but that should not be the goal. Someone else here talked about dropping three dress sizes, but still having doubts because of the number on the scale. All I can say is...STOP! The weight on the scale is meaningless. Body fat percentage is much more the factor.
I think if you eat more, perhaps add in some strength building to increase your metabolism, you'll see your body composition improve, which SHOULD be the goal. Not a silly number on a scale.0 -
Yes to all Haybale's advice.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.
The video- wow.
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keithintokyo wrote: »I agree with the folks that suggest you are not eating enough calories. Based on the Harris-Benedict calculator, your maintenance calorie intake should be nearly 2,000 calories. Taking 800 calories off the top, then adding 3 hours a week of cardio (on the low end, that's another 1,200 calories burned a week), and you're average daily deficit is nearly 1,000 calories! For someone of your size, this is too big a deficit without risking a dramatic slowing of your metabolism. I'd suggest increasing your calories to at least the previous levels and perhaps a bit higher, maintaining the cardio.
Further, I'm a bit concerned with something you said - you bought a scale that showed a decrease in body fat, and an increase in muscle. What's wrong with that? Of course the weight on the scale won't drop as dramatically, but that should not be the goal. Someone else here talked about dropping three dress sizes, but still having doubts because of the number on the scale. All I can say is...STOP! The weight on the scale is meaningless. Body fat percentage is much more the factor.
I think if you eat more, perhaps add in some strength building to increase your metabolism, you'll see your body composition improve, which SHOULD be the goal. Not a silly number on a scale.
This is really confusing, because I did not lose weight at 2000 calories, and barely any at 1500 calories a day. And if you think weight shouldn't be a goal, well, you can have that argument with my doctor. It's the only tool I have to measure my progress that's widely recognized. And while I've made some minimal improvements to body fat %, it's plateaued, and I haven't dropped a single clothing size.
At 35, I gained about 20lbs over a short period of time, due to stress/moving and eating out more frequently/not being active because I was working 12+ hour days.
So, I stopped eating out as frequently, added a steady cardio routine, and was eating 1800-2000 calories a day. I maintained but did not lose any weight.
After about a year of that, I cut calories down to 1500/day over 6 months with barely any measurable benefit. When I talked to my doctor, I was told I must be eating too much, which is why I reduced down to 1200.
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You posted that lunch is a salad. That can mean many things. What is your salad comprised of?0
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