1030 cal and not losing! why! ?

Hamburgtexan

I've been eating quite on target. I've always known that I have a frustratingly efficient metabolism. But I don't understand how I can not be losing weight with what I eat! ?
I would be thankful for some constructive input! Thanks

Mycophilia

Unless you are like 3 feet high, 1030 calories a day is not maintenance for you. Either you are underestimating your calorie intake and/or you are overestimating your calorie burn from exercise.

superexcellently

You're not eating enough.

Hollisss

If you want advice please post your typical diet, exercise routine, height and weigh.

Christine_72

Your diary has a lot of "servings", cups and spoon measurements. Do you use a food scale?

Hamburgtexan

Yes

Hamburgtexan

I have everything open. I am weighing everything before I eat. This is really frustrating. My exercise is based on runtastic. I only run. The calorie intake is according to calorie calculator~ age, height (160cm/ 5'2"),sedentary lifestyle. I'm average active, but I'm not hungry on this amount of calories. I drink nothing but water unless posted.
I know that running more would help. All I want is to lose 2 more kg...

Hamburgtexan

Btw...my diary is open ...

Hamburgtexan

christinev297 wrote: »

Your diary has a lot of "servings", cups and spoon measurements. Do you use a food scale?

I went back to see what you meant with "servings" . I only eat homemade food. Soo I weigh all the ingredients the recipe and divide the finished dish into servings. That is how the serving is measured. So I know the calories are accurate.

TheNoLeafClover

Going back through your food diary, I see a number of missed days and what looks like a few uncompleted entries. Make sure you're logging all of your food, every single day. Double check the food database entries you choose to ensure the nutrition information is accurate. And then give it time. If everything is accurate, you should start losing weight.

Hamburgtexan

TheNoLeafClover wrote: »

Going back through your food diary, I see a number of missed days and what looks like a few uncompleted entries. Make sure you're logging all of your food, every single day. Double check the food database entries you choose to ensure the nutrition information is accurate. And then give it time. If everything is accurate, you should start losing weight.

The last 10days have been charted 100%. Have not lost since then.

DawnieB1977

You only need to lose 2kg so you really should only be aiming for 0.5lb a week loss, which would definitely mean eating more than 1030 calories a day.

Do you need to lose that weight to get you within a healthy BMI, or are you already at a healthy weight? If your weight is at the lower end of the BMI scale already, it might take a bit longer to lose that 2kg.

Be patient.

Hamburgtexan

I'm at a healthy weight but at the top end of BMI.
Maybe it is just slow going when you are trying to adjust a little. Thanks. That's encouraging.
P.s. unfortunately, when I surpass 1100cal. I gain. I have a really really efficient metabolism. I just don't need much. Have healthy hair and nails etc.

annavalente

Im 5ft 1 and at a healthy weight...im eating 1300-1400 a day and im still dropping 1lb a week. Do you weigh all sauces you eat and any oil etc you cook your food in? What about liquids you consume?

How many calories are you estimating you are buring while you run? :-)

Hamburgtexan

Just checked. My BMI is 24.6.

Clawsal

It is so weird that you seem to gain on more than 1100 kcal... Did you check with a doctor to see if you have a thyroid problem? (or another problem that makes you gain weight easily)

Hamburgtexan

annavalente wrote: »

Im 5ft 1 and at a healthy weight...im eating 1300-1400 a day and im still dropping 1lb a week. Do you weigh all sauces you eat and any oil etc you cook your food in? What about liquids you consume?

How many calories are you estimating you are buring while you run? :-)

Yes.

JackPudding

superexcellently wrote: »

You're not eating enough.

If she wasn't eating enough then she'd have lost weight though?

Hamburgtexan

Clawsal wrote: »

It is so weird that you seem to gain on more than 1100 kcal... Did you check with a doctor to see if you have a thyroid problem? (or another problem that makes you gain weight easily)

Yes. 20 years ago. It showed marginal problems. Nothing to do anything about. I've eaten extremely low cal all my life. I gained 5kg this past year. So decided to go even lower...nothing is happening.

DawnieB1977

Maybe you need to slowly increase your calories if you've been eating this low all your life. You might gain a bit initially but it'll level out.

I always used to stick to 1200, but then I increased to 1500 and didn't gain weight, but I don't weigh myself that often, so I guess I could've gained initially and not been aware.

Mech9

I think that it's not uncommon to hit a 10 day stall, or even a 3 week stall on the scale. If you do everything right the scale will budge eventually and it might be a "whoosh" effect where some pounds come off all at once. It doesn't always reflect on the scale immediately.

However, if nothing changes after many weeks and you truly, honestly, trust that you are weighing everything accurately including all snacks, bites of other people's food, cooking oils/butter, everything, and you continue to not lose weight, then you need to see a doctor. There's no advice anybody on a forum can give you to miraculously fix your weight stall if you're already doing everything right.

squishprincess

i can't believe you're not losing on that little a day, i'm like 5ft and i can lose on 1100-1300 and maintain on like 1400-1500. maybe there is a medical issue or you have hit a stall!

Hamburgtexan

First of all...thanks to everyone for responding. Perhaps I have hit a stall, maybe it's a thyroid issue, who knows. Was just wanting some feedback. It was really helpful! Thanks!
For the record: I'm meticulous at counting calories.
I will post again in a week. More time, more information.
What surprises me is that supposedly I should be weak, etc. on so few calories. I don't want to give people with an eating disorder any ammunition...but I'm thinking that this rule doesn't necessarily apply to everyone. I have a full active life, healthy hair, skin and nails and I've never eaten more than 1200 cal. (Not including this past year~ thus the weight gain.)

Will post again next Saturday.

DawnieB1977

I net quite low calories sometimes as I'm very active, and the same as you, I'm fine and healthy. I eat more than you do, but with 3 young kids I'm very active (I did 17000 steps yesterday) and when I'm at work (currently on maternity leave) I'm a teacher and on my feet all day. Plus I'm currently overweight as I gained in pregnancy, and I'm 5'6.

I have to really go for it to lose 1lb a week. Some people would lose more doing as much exercise as I do, and netting the calories I do.

I think some people can't accept that everyone is different.

On the gaining weight forum you don't see comments like 'don't be silly, your metabolism can't be that fast, you don't really need to eat 4000 calories a day to gain' yet no-one will agree that some people can have a slow metabolism. Weird.

Hamburgtexan

Thanks for your comments dawnie. It feels good to be understood.
I've been googling today and feel more confirmed to do more muscle building. This increases metabolism.

Hamburgtexan

Especially like this "On the gaining weight forum you don't see comments like 'don't be silly, your metabolism can't be that fast, you don't really need to eat 4000 calories a day to gain' yet no-one will agree that some people can have a slow metabolism. Weird."

Clawsal

I believe that you do have a slow metabolism (since you seem to log accurately). However I also believe there must be a medical condition in there that maybe could be fixed.

yasmine334

Hamburgtexan wrote: »

I'm at a healthy weight but at the top end of BMI.
Maybe it is just slow going when you are trying to adjust a little. Thanks. That's encouraging.
P.s. unfortunately, when I surpass 1100cal. I gain. I have a really really efficient metabolism. I just don't need much. Have healthy hair and nails etc.

This is very strange. According to your height and BMI your resting metabolic rate is 1350-1500 cal/day . Which means if you just sit in your bed all day doing nothing your body needs "at least" these 1350 cal for your vital organs to function. And since you are not obese or overweight this means you dont have any energy reserves. Please consult a dietian because 1100 cal/day will eventually harm your body and decrease muscle mass.

Liftng4Lis

Why are you starving yourself?

alonzoq03

You need to start doing bodyweight training. Cardio excercise alone sometimes is not enough for weight loss, instead it can only put your metabolism in a stall. Try some muscle building excercises like the ones shown on apps like Fitstar. It has worked for me. Good luck on your reaching your goal.

Psychgrrl

If your metabolism needs so few calories to maintain it, I wouldn't call it efficient, personally I'd call it slow. Though the 1030 calories a day does seem lower than sustainable.

If you had your thyroid checked 20 years ago, the standards for "normal" have changed (been lowered) so what was "normal" then would not be normal now. From someone who has hypothyroidism, I would always get your numbers, and not just accept that you're "normal." Many labs are still using the old numbers, even though they were changed years ago. There are other endocrine system issues that can interfere with your health/metabolism. Like PCOS. A doc would be a good way to go. My BMR is technically almost 1300. However, that's often what I stay at because I will gain weight if I'm not careful (even with exercise). My chemically induced metabolism isn't 100% efficient.

Though it's likely it's not medical. I use Runtastic and wear a HRM. I can tell you the Runtastic calories are always higher than those on the HRM. Not MFP high, but still high. I go with the HRM burn (though I do sync Runtastic with MFP).

Running is great exercise, but I would think about adding weight-bearing exercise. Yoga, weight-lifting, body-pump class. Lean muscle mass burns more calories than fat (though it takes a while to build it). I read somewhere that women over 30% lose about 1% of muscle mass every year unless they're actively maintaining or building it.

You could also tweak your macros/diet. More lean protein and fiber, fewer simple carbs. More healthy fats, less sodium and added sugar. It takes time to see results, give whatever ever tweaks you make at least a few weeks to start working. It's a marathon, not a sprint and you're working on healthy life habits.

You can do this!