Whenever I eat my calore deficit I don't lose weight
Replies
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Summary:
- You've lost 16 pounds since mid-March which is approximately 4 weeks or an average of 4 pounds per week.
- You ARE losing weight. And at a very aggressive pace.
- You're aiming for 1200 calories, not eating back exercise, but not weighing your food so there is some element of estimation in your logging.
- You think you're not losing and that you're even gaining because a recent weighin or more than one recent weighin was not a drop.
You may want to see a scale go down every day/week but it just won't happen that way unfortunately. Annoying, I know. Blame it on water weight which can be from a number of reasons but is TEMPORARY.
Fuel your body, use whatever logging/estimation methods work for you. You probably can afford to eat another 200-500 calories a day and still lose weight at a steady pace - but that is up to you. You're estimating so you could easily be eating more than 1200 now. If you're feeling energetic and satisfied, keep doing as you are. And trust the science. Someone else on these boards said it: you're not a special snowflake. If you're eating at a deficit, you will lose weight over time.0 -
If you are truly only taking in 1200 or fewer calories, on a consistent basis, you could be in a metabolic shut down. Around 1200 calories is what your body needs to maintain your weight at rest RMR (resting metabolic rate). If you are indeed exercising 5 days a week, then your body needs more calories. Also, your calories should be divided evenly throughout the day (b, l d, s). Your body could be learning to live on it's minimal amount of calories. If you have been a compulsive dieter throughout the years, you may be more vulnerable to a metabolic stagnation. You could also get your thyroid checked to be sure your metabolism is functioning properly. NOW, if it the problem is that you are really eating more than 1200 calories, sometimes the problem is that we only eat 1200 most days but then we go "off" and binge, consuming way too many calories. Irratic eating behaviors can cause your metabolism to not run at peak. If you are trying to lose weight as fast as you can, I would recommend you take a deep breath and focus on moderation and balance. When it comes to weight loss, the turtle tends to win the race, long term. Good luck to you. I hope you figure it out so you can achieve your goals!0
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DemoraFairy wrote: »Either you're not actually eating 1200 as you're not weighing food (unless you're eating all prepackaged food), or you're not giving yourself enough time to see how eating 1200 actually affects you. You didn't answer how long you'd been eating 1200 calories and gaining weight. Was it a month where you saw consistent gain? Or did you eat 1200 for one day and see an increase the next day?
I understand that weight loss is not linear, and this is not a one time occurrence. I looked over the month and averaged out that on the days I ate 1200 or close to I saw an increase.
I am doing the best I can to log accurately without a scale. A scale is not an option for me but I am trying very hard.
Edit: Not sure what you are looking for here, you lost 16 lbs in one month. Which is a lot.
Why is a food scale not an option?
^^This, and I totally missed 16lbs in a month.
If you're exercising you're netting probably closer to 800 cals. I'd be impressed if you're off by over 100% on your logging estimates, but getting a scale and using that for a week to see where you're at may be the way to go here.0 -
I am doing the best I can to log accurately without a scale. A scale is not an option for me but I am trying very hard.
This confuses me. Why isn't weighing your food an option? I work 6 days per week and I weigh everything I eat. I prepare my lunches and snacks at home to bring to work with me. Plus you can buy a set of scales for less than €20.
Opening your diary would help us to give you accurate advice
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StaciMarie1974 wrote: »Summary:
- You've lost 16 pounds since mid-March which is approximately 4 weeks or an average of 4 pounds per week.
- You ARE losing weight. And at a very aggressive pace.
- You're aiming for 1200 calories, not eating back exercise, but not weighing your food so there is some element of estimation in your logging.
- You think you're not losing and that you're even gaining because a recent weighin or more than one recent weighin was not a drop.
You may want to see a scale go down every day/week but it just won't happen that way unfortunately. Annoying, I know. Blame it on water weight which can be from a number of reasons but is TEMPORARY.
Fuel your body, use whatever logging/estimation methods work for you. You probably can afford to eat another 200-500 calories a day and still lose weight at a steady pace - but that is up to you. You're estimating so you could easily be eating more than 1200 now. If you're feeling energetic and satisfied, keep doing as you are. And trust the science. Someone else on these boards said it: you're not a special snowflake. If you're eating at a deficit, you will lose weight over time.
Thank you. I am extremely new to this
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Agirlcandream25 wrote: »I am doing the best I can to log accurately without a scale. A scale is not an option for me but I am trying very hard.
This confuses me. Why isn't weighing your food an option? I work 6 days per week and I weigh everything I eat. I prepare my lunches and snacks at home to bring to work with me. Plus you can buy a set of scales for less than €20.
Opening your diary would help us to give you accurate advice
I have opened my diary. Any help would be great. Thank you0 -
I think you are doing great. Although I believe you may need to eat more than 1200, but that is up to you. (may already be eating more bc not weighing food)
What you are doing is picking a day out of a month/week and looking at it... This single day increase could be from water weight, bowels, etc..
As you lose more weight you may need to weigh your food, but for now I would say you are doing good.
You are losing weight !!!0 -
Agirlcandream25 wrote: »I am doing the best I can to log accurately without a scale. A scale is not an option for me but I am trying very hard.
This confuses me. Why isn't weighing your food an option? I work 6 days per week and I weigh everything I eat. I prepare my lunches and snacks at home to bring to work with me. Plus you can buy a set of scales for less than €20.
Opening your diary would help us to give you accurate advice
I have opened my diary. Any help would be great. Thank you
It looks like your logging could be a lot tighter. You have lots of generic entries that may not account for the calories you're truly eating. Also, I know lots of people have said it, but a scale would help hugely with accuracy. Most people using scales work (I know I do). I usually weigh breakfast and lunch at the same time and then throw lunch in a bag.0 -
CoachBarb_RS wrote: »If you are truly only taking in 1200 or fewer calories, on a consistent basis, you could be in a metabolic shut down. Around 1200 calories is what your body needs to maintain your weight at rest RMR (resting metabolic rate). If you are indeed exercising 5 days a week, then your body needs more calories. Also, your calories should be divided evenly throughout the day (b, l d, s). Your body could be learning to live on it's minimal amount of calories. If you have been a compulsive dieter throughout the years, you may be more vulnerable to a metabolic stagnation. You could also get your thyroid checked to be sure your metabolism is functioning properly. NOW, if it the problem is that you are really eating more than 1200 calories, sometimes the problem is that we only eat 1200 most days but then we go "off" and binge, consuming way too many calories. Irratic eating behaviors can cause your metabolism to not run at peak. If you are trying to lose weight as fast as you can, I would recommend you take a deep breath and focus on moderation and balance. When it comes to weight loss, the turtle tends to win the race, long term. Good luck to you. I hope you figure it out so you can achieve your goals!
Coach, this is *kitten*. To be at the point that you're encountering "metabolic shut down" you literally need to be on the verge of hospitalization for low body weight. She has plenty of energy stored up....thats what adipose tissue is, she could eat nothing and still have plenty of energy to use. Stop the *kitten*.0 -
I am 5'6 currently 180. SW 220, started MFP at 196 Mid-March. I know that is a big weight loss however that has been because of the days I've eaten very little. I do not weigh my food as I have a daily job. I do always log as accurately as possible. Thank you for your help with this!
Most people on here who weigh food have a job, usually the trick is to prepare what you're going to eat at work when you're at home and pre-log it. If you're not losing weight, what you're entering isn't any where near accurate enough. Want to guarantee you'll lose weight, you've got to be accurate. Working is no barrier to this, it's just a challenge. If you want it to be an excuse which stops you from putting in the effort though, you've already given yourself that.0 -
CoachBarb_RS wrote: »If you are truly only taking in 1200 or fewer calories, on a consistent basis, you could be in a metabolic shut down. Around 1200 calories is what your body needs to maintain your weight at rest RMR (resting metabolic rate). If you are indeed exercising 5 days a week, then your body needs more calories. Also, your calories should be divided evenly throughout the day (b, l d, s). Your body could be learning to live on it's minimal amount of calories. If you have been a compulsive dieter throughout the years, you may be more vulnerable to a metabolic stagnation. You could also get your thyroid checked to be sure your metabolism is functioning properly. NOW, if it the problem is that you are really eating more than 1200 calories, sometimes the problem is that we only eat 1200 most days but then we go "off" and binge, consuming way too many calories. Irratic eating behaviors can cause your metabolism to not run at peak. If you are trying to lose weight as fast as you can, I would recommend you take a deep breath and focus on moderation and balance. When it comes to weight loss, the turtle tends to win the race, long term. Good luck to you. I hope you figure it out so you can achieve your goals!
That isn't correct, I would guess her BMR is much higher than 1200 cals. and your metabolism does not shut down, it slows slightly in such a way that what you calculated to be a 1000 cal deficit may only be 700-900 deficit, but still a deficit so weight loss will still occur, just a little slower than you would expect.
OP, 16 lbs in a month is not a weigh gain or plateau. Most likely any gain you see after eating 1200 cals is water weight due to more sodium. I would suggest eating 1500ish cal/day (or with the amount you have to lose you should be aiming for 1 lb/week goal, and eat back what you burn from exercise), try that for 3-4 weeks, if you don't lose, or lose to much re-evaluate at that time.
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Well OP you're not a troll it looks like, you just don't know what to do.
I see guesses in your diary. Things like cauliflower fried rice that is assuredly more than 200 calories if it involves fried rice. To know what you're eating you have to either cook your own food so you can keep track of the ingredients or you have to eat food with nutrition information you can find. This excludes restaurants and cafeteria food that don't have nutritional information; these typically have a lot of oil to make them taste good but those are a lot of hidden calories.
When you're accurately logging your food, find your TDEE and aim for a 500 calorie deficit each day, ignoring exercise and calories burned from activity. Almost everybody estimates their calories burned on here and almost everybody is overestimating them. I've seen people claim to burn a thousand calories doing 45 minutes of cardio.
Ignore exercise, accurately log food, aim for TDEE - 500 each day. Do this consistently for weeks. Message me after you've followed those instructions and if you still haven't lost weight I know of a few laboratories that would like to study someone who defies the laws of thermodynamics.0 -
CoachBarb_RS wrote: »If you are truly only taking in 1200 or fewer calories, on a consistent basis, you could be in a metabolic shut down. Around 1200 calories is what your body needs to maintain your weight at rest RMR (resting metabolic rate). If you are indeed exercising 5 days a week, then your body needs more calories. Also, your calories should be divided evenly throughout the day (b, l d, s). Your body could be learning to live on it's minimal amount of calories. If you have been a compulsive dieter throughout the years, you may be more vulnerable to a metabolic stagnation. You could also get your thyroid checked to be sure your metabolism is functioning properly. NOW, if it the problem is that you are really eating more than 1200 calories, sometimes the problem is that we only eat 1200 most days but then we go "off" and binge, consuming way too many calories. Irratic eating behaviors can cause your metabolism to not run at peak. If you are trying to lose weight as fast as you can, I would recommend you take a deep breath and focus on moderation and balance. When it comes to weight loss, the turtle tends to win the race, long term. Good luck to you. I hope you figure it out so you can achieve your goals!
As already covered....no^^0 -
So you believe that people that weigh there foods don't have jobs?I am 5'6 currently 180. SW 220, started MFP at 196 Mid-March. I know that is a big weight loss however that has been because of the days I've eaten very little. I do not weigh my food as I have a daily job. I do always log as accurately as possible. Thank you for your help with this!
Yeah man like how steven thinks that everyone who lifts is a meathead. In for the unemployed crew who weighs out food.
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It sounds like what you are doing is working very well. In fact, it may be working too quickly. Honestly, I think you need to reconsider weighing food and increase calories (because you are losing really fast... perhaps too fast).
The other thing you need is to keep some perspective and find ways to reduce your anxiety. It sounds like you are wanting results overnight and that is unrealistic. Calm down, target a more realistic 1 lb./week goal and stop weighing yourself every day. Weigh every week at most.0 -
Just one of many fundamentally flawed statements in that wall of text.CoachBarb_RS wrote: »Also, your calories should be divided evenly throughout the day (b, l d, s).
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I don't need an open diary to know the issue is you are eating more than you think.
But I took a peek...partial days, some days nothing...some days 600...some days 1700 and you recently went from 1500 to 1200...
no consistency in logging at all. And I highly doubt you are exercising away as many calories as you log if you are eating 1200 and less. 45min of vigorous stationary biking...sure, if you are eating lots of food for fuel.
but 16lbs in 1 month?
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Sixteen pounds in a month sounds like you are losing very successfully. When you are stalled or in a plateau, this is a good eye opener:
http://www.acaloriecounter.com/blog/why-am-i-not-losing-weight/comment-page-1/#comments0 -
CoachBarb does bring up one good point that is a problem with aiming for 1200 calories a day... If you feel like you're restricting yourself too much or you've been prone to binging in the past, its doomed to fail. Weight loss is a long term process. Not something you do for a few weeks and then its over. If you think about the way you've been eating for the past month, is this something you can see yourself doing for the next 6-12 months? If not, start thinking of solutions.
A couple of ideas:
1) Aim just a little higher. 1400-1600 is my recommendation from personal experience. It gives a little more room for snacks, larger meals. You can fit in occasional treats.
2) Take 1-2 days a month where you aim to eat at maintenance. Based on the stats you stated, this would be ~2000-2200 per day. Maybe you won't feel the need to eat quite that high, but feeling like you can add an extra 500-800 calories every now & then may help you stick to the deficit for the long term.
My story: I started at 178.5 on 12-25-13. (Had been higher previously, but did the usual on-again, off-again process.) I got down below 130 on 10-11-14. Now I maintain between ~123-128. I'm 5'5.5", 40 years old. So older than you, but otherwise similar stats. I ate between 1400-1600 for about the first 6 months of 2014. Then went to 1600-1800 (decreased my deficit as I got closer to goal).
I did use a food scale heavily while losing, and now about 1/2 the time while maintaining. I'm not terribly active though, so found that I needed the accuracy.0 -
Some of you people are just mean. Poor wording or choices of words on the OP post. The topic is posted under weight loss and help, therefore this person is looking for help. We all aren't equipped with the right tools to lose weight or start an exercise/health plan. The most important thing is that this person is starting and trying to better her habits by seeking advice on here. Remember back to when you were starting and the questions you had (dumb or not). Be kind people. Be kind.0
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Also, here is a wonderful example of the benefit of a food scale versus measuring cups:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVjWPclrWVY&feature=youtu.be 0 -
CandyMonster160 wrote: »Some of you people are just mean. Poor wording or choices of words on the OP post. The topic is posted under weight loss and help, therefore this person is looking for help. We all aren't equipped with the right tools to lose weight or start an exercise/health plan. The most important thing is that this person is starting and trying to better her habits by seeking advice on here. Remember back to when you were starting and the questions you had (dumb or not). Be kind people. Be kind.
OP has received some really good advice so far (and at least one portion of not-so-good advice).
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janejellyroll wrote: »CandyMonster160 wrote: »Some of you people are just mean. Poor wording or choices of words on the OP post. The topic is posted under weight loss and help, therefore this person is looking for help. We all aren't equipped with the right tools to lose weight or start an exercise/health plan. The most important thing is that this person is starting and trying to better her habits by seeking advice on here. Remember back to when you were starting and the questions you had (dumb or not). Be kind people. Be kind.
OP has received some really good advice so far (and at least one portion of not-so-good advice).
Comes in complaining about the way OP is getting advice......than forgets to leave any.0 -
janejellyroll wrote: »CandyMonster160 wrote: »Some of you people are just mean. Poor wording or choices of words on the OP post. The topic is posted under weight loss and help, therefore this person is looking for help. We all aren't equipped with the right tools to lose weight or start an exercise/health plan. The most important thing is that this person is starting and trying to better her habits by seeking advice on here. Remember back to when you were starting and the questions you had (dumb or not). Be kind people. Be kind.
OP has received some really good advice so far (and at least one portion of not-so-good advice).
Absolutely, always some good and some bad.
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janejellyroll wrote: »CandyMonster160 wrote: »Some of you people are just mean. Poor wording or choices of words on the OP post. The topic is posted under weight loss and help, therefore this person is looking for help. We all aren't equipped with the right tools to lose weight or start an exercise/health plan. The most important thing is that this person is starting and trying to better her habits by seeking advice on here. Remember back to when you were starting and the questions you had (dumb or not). Be kind people. Be kind.
OP has received some really good advice so far (and at least one portion of not-so-good advice).
Comes in complaining about the way OP is getting advice......than forgets to leave any.
Just be nice, man. Nicely worded bad info is much better than 2x4 to the head delivery of good information. People need to be coddled here.0 -
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Yep.janejellyroll wrote: »CandyMonster160 wrote: »Some of you people are just mean. Poor wording or choices of words on the OP post. The topic is posted under weight loss and help, therefore this person is looking for help. We all aren't equipped with the right tools to lose weight or start an exercise/health plan. The most important thing is that this person is starting and trying to better her habits by seeking advice on here. Remember back to when you were starting and the questions you had (dumb or not). Be kind people. Be kind.
OP has received some really good advice so far (and at least one portion of not-so-good advice).
Comes in complaining about the way OP is getting advice......than forgets to leave any.
Just be nice, man. Nicely worded bad info is much better than 2x4 to the head delivery of good information. People need to be coddled here .0
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