What if 1200 calories is actually my maintenance #?

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  • MarcyKirkton
    MarcyKirkton Posts: 507 Member
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    MarcyKirkton wrote: »
    queenliz99 wrote: »
    MarcyKirkton wrote: »
    I lowered mine to 1000 and started losing

    That is not helpful at all to the OP. 1000 calories a day is unhealthy and I bet you are eating more than you think.

    Says who? 1000 cals is fine according to even this site. When i wasn't losing, i lowered. Now im losing 2 lbs weekly. That's healthy rate of loss.

    It's not actually fine according to this site. The minimum calories that MFP will set you at is 1200.

    Also 2 lbs/week is a healthy rate of loss if you have significant weight to lose (I believe >50 lbs). This OP has 38 lbs to lose according to her ticker, so 1 lb/week would be more appropriate. Also, your ticker says you have 8 lbs to lose, so 0.5 lb/week is reasonable.

  • MarcyKirkton
    MarcyKirkton Posts: 507 Member
    always share ONLY my own experience and NEVER offer advice. That would be presumptuous.

    I am guessing that the OP is able to take whatever she likes and ignore the rest.

    Certainly I do. :D
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    MarcyKirkton wrote: »
    always share ONLY my own experience and NEVER offer advice. That would be presumptuous.

    I am guessing that the OP is able to take whatever she likes and ignore the rest.

    Certainly I do. :D

    Posting on a public forum that you are utilizing aggressive weight loss practices and seeing results to help overcome a plateau, something the OP mentioned she was frustrated with..... yeah no one would ever consider that as offering advice.

  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,168 Member
    stephaniemarie2 wrote: »
    I have been doing great with 1200 calories but not losing. I have a 1400-1500 day and i gain a couple!! What's going on? I'm 5'2 and 158lbs!!! Help.

    +1 to the weighing stuff.

    But also: Are you saying that if on *one day* (or maybe two) you eat 1400-1500, as a departure from your usual (estimated) 1200, then *the very next day* (or right away?) you gain a couple pounds? If so, then that is some combination of water weight from carbs or sodium (or just how your body works) plus the weight of food still in your system.

    You weight will bounce around on a day to day basis for a zillion reasons. (My weight has gone up by as much as five pounds in one day, and I can guarantee I didn't eat 17,500 calories. In a day or two, it was gone again.)

    It's the overall trend that matters. In addition to weighing & logging more tightly, you could consider an app like Trendweight or Libra or Happy Scale (among others) to help you visualize your longer-term weight trend.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    MarcyKirkton wrote: »
    queenliz99 wrote: »
    MarcyKirkton wrote: »
    I lowered mine to 1000 and started losing

    That is not helpful at all to the OP. 1000 calories a day is unhealthy and I bet you are eating more than you think.

    Says who? 1000 cals is fine according to even this site. When i wasn't losing, i lowered. Now im losing 2 lbs weekly. That's healthy rate of loss.

    Actually...noooooo.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    edited September 2015
    stephaniemarie2 wrote: »
    I have been doing great with 1200 calories but not losing. I have a 1400-1500 day and i gain a couple!! What's going on? I'm 5'2 and 158lbs!!! Help.

    So, I read where you said you weigh your meats but round everything else up. I'll bet you a million you are not losing weight because you are underestimating calories in, even though by rounding up you are believing otherwise. I know, 'cause I've been there too.

    Okay, I've got some suggestions for you to try for a whole month, and I urge you to get into a habit of doing these things:

    Weigh every single solid food you can, including fruits, veggies, etc., when eating at home.

    Measure every single liquid you can, including salad dressings, milk, calorie juices., when at home.

    Log every single thing you eat, and get a hold of nutrition information if you can from restaurants when you eat out. Those are the times you will have to do some guesstimating, and that's a good time to error on the side of intentionally overestimating those calories.

    Do you do cardio? If so, do you log those exercise calories? If so, I urge you to eat about 25% fewer back. In other words, when that treadmill you just ran on says you've burned 450 calories for a 40 minute run, you just shake your head, say you know better, and log only about 75% of that.

    Work really hard at this logging thing and become certain about how much you are eating, and if you stay within those calories you will lose weight.

    By the way, once you start accurately logging, my guess based on experience is that you will find that (1) you were eating more than you realized and (2) once your logging is accurate, you can eat more than 1200 calories and still lose weight. The person who eats the most and still loses weight is the winner!

    You can do this!
  • stephaniemarie2
    stephaniemarie2 Posts: 39 Member
    AnnPT77 and SLLrunner - Thankyou... I have been very diligent in all suggestions since Monday. Feel ok. I know weighing ever day isn't the soundes idea, but also have started the trendtracker thing. It' too soon to tell, but I am working at it. Thanks again!
  • zcb94
    zcb94 Posts: 3,678 Member
    Please try to resist the temptation to report me:
    I know how OP feels, because my nutritionist wants me on what is technically a VLCD but totally safe due to limited mobility. Although I wouldn't recommend that you follow my plan, I feel awesome and am 30lbs away from victory as a 4"7 woman!

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