Not dropping at all

camerongroupj

I need help! I am getting so frustrated that I am not losing anything! For the past 6 weeks I have been on a 1200 net calorie diet ... Have only gone over twice! I exercise 6 days a week running (at least half an hour, generally more), walk my dogs 7 days a week, and I have a horse that I am either ground training or riding at least 5 days a week, and do upper body weights 3 times a week.

I lost no weight at all the first 2 weeks, the next one I lost 1 pound, week after that 2.5 pounds and the past 2 weeks, not an ounce! I am all for slow weight loss but this is not giving me any sort of satisfaction at all! I had expected that I would be 8-11 pounds down by now, not 3.5!

Am I supposed to eat 1000 calories per day? Starve myself? I am quite active and find the 1200 quite challenging ... It is only through sheer force of will that I have not exceeded my limit only twice!

What am I doing wrong!

malibu927

What are your stats? Do you use a food scale to weigh your food? Have you just added the running or weights into your routine? Are you coming up on TOM or ovulation in your cycle? Have you been consuming excess amounts of sodium?

Sorry if that seems like a lot of questions, but when someone isn't losing weight it's best to find out all the factors involved.

dragyou

Malibu is on point

lisac195

It doesn't look like you have a lot to lose so 3.5 pounds in 6 weeks is still a little over a half pound a week. You are making progress, just keep it up.

jemhh

3.5 pounds in 6 weeks is good progress. "Not dropping at all" would mean 0 pounds in 6 weeks. I'm not sure how you calculated that you should have lost 8-11 pounds by this point but at your age, weight (which I can only guesstimate) and activity level, you'd have to have eaten at a lower calorie level for that to happen. I think that you just need to be patient at this point.

kristen6350

3.5lbs is a loss. And you only have about 20lbs so it's gonna take longer than you think.

You may be over-exaggerating your exercise calories too. Try only eating 1/2 back for a few weeks.

All this takes time and it's not cookie cutter for everyone.

SueInAz

lisac195 wrote: »

It doesn't look like you have a lot to lose so 3.5 pounds in 6 weeks is still a little over a half pound a week. You are making progress, just keep it up.

This. You said you're happy with a slow loss and a half pound per week is just that. Weight loss is not linear, every week the loss will be a bit different due to fluctuations in water retention.

One thing you didn't mention that might speed things up a bit however is whether or not you're weighing your food using a kitchen scale. If you aren't, it's probable that you're eating more than 1200 calories and don't realize it.

camerongroupj

Thanks for all of the feedback... I am not over-exaggerating my exercise, if anything I am understating it. That said to answer some of the other points: by not dropping at all I meant the past 2 weeks, and no, I do not weigh my food, I have been an active runner for 15 years (but not as active as I am just now) I ride my horse 6 days/week and have 2 large dogs that get walked every day, I am past having a period so that's not it and we tend not to buy packaged/processed anything for food and salt our food only if it needs it after it has been cooked.. I have 17 pounds left to go at this point, at this rate it will be an additional 34 weeks till I get to where I should be... just in time for Christmas! :-) Seems so far away. Thanks.

SueInAz

You are very active, which is fantastic but keep in mind that weight loss is made in the kitchen. You can't out-exercise overeating. If you aren't weighing your food it's very possible that you are eating more than you think you are. I can tell you, I see these posts several times a day, every day, and 95% of the time the person isn't losing because they are not in as much of a deficit as they believe themselves to be. It almost always comes down to a combination of :

1. inaccurate logging whether due to choosing bad entries, not measuring or weighing portions or "cheat" days that outweigh the calorie deficit for the rest of the week
2. overinflated exercise calories from using MFP's numbers or even double logging because the person put themselves at lightly active and also entered their exercise

If you're happy with it taking until Christmas then keep doing what you're doing. Otherwise, tightening up your logging by weighing and measuring your portions for awhile might pinpoint some specific issues that are causing the problem.

goofydee30

Wow a lot of great tips just wanted to say thanks because now i have to go back n readjust my food diary , i have a food scale but haven't used it. I know shame on me but great advice here!!!!

kmblank

With all the running and other exercise...1200 calories might be too low. Also have you considered weight training your lower half? Building those muscles (upper and lower) are going to improve your metabolism throughout the day and burn more fat.