Yikes ....Need Advice

Haught2015
Haught2015 Posts: 90 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So I am starting to worry a little. I have been eating 1200 calories a day, sometimes less then that. I am also walking my butt off. The scale has not moved. My weigh in is tomorrow, but as of right now I have gained .6 ....YIKES

Replies

  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
    .6 pounds would be well within normal weight fluctuations. It may be nothing to worry about!


    1. If it's been less than 3 weeks or so, don't sweat it! Normal fluctuations happen and unfortunately sometimes we stall for a week or two even when we're doing everything right. Give your body some time to catch up with the changes you're making.

    2. If you aren't already, be sure that you're logging everything. Sometimes people forget about things like veggies, drinks, cooking oils, and condiments. For some people these can add up to enough to halt your weight loss progress.

    3. Consider buying a food scale if you don't already have one. They're about $10-$20 dollars in the US and easily found at places like Amazon, Target, and Walmart. Measuring cups and spoons are great, but they do come with some degree of inaccuracy. A food scale will be more accurate, and for some people it makes a big difference.

    4. Logging accurately also means choosing accurate entries in the database. There are a lot of user-entered entries that are off. Double-check that you're using good entries and/or using the recipe builder instead of someone else's homemade entries.

    5. Recalculate your goals if you haven't lately. As you lose weight your body requires fewer calories to run. Be sure you update your goals every ten pounds or so.

    6. If you're eating back your exercise calories and you're relying on gym machine readouts or MFP's estimates, it might be best to eat back just 50-75% of those. Certain activities tend to be overestimated. If you're using an HRM or activity tracker, it might be a good idea to look into their accuracy and be sure that yours is calibrated properly.

    7. If you're taking any cheat days that go over your calorie limits, it might be best to cut them out for a few weeks and see what happens. Some people go way over their calorie needs without realizing it when they don't track.

    8. If you weigh yourself frequently, consider using a program like trendweight to even out the fluctuations. You could be losing weight but just don't see it because of the daily ups and downs.

    9. Some people just burn fewer calories than the calculators predict. If you continue to have problems after 4-6 weeks, then it might be worth a trip to the doctor or a registered dietitian who can give you more specific advice.
  • bogwoppt1
    bogwoppt1 Posts: 159 Member
    How do you know you are eating 1200 cals a day?

    Using cups, spoons and looking on packaging is notoriously inaccurate.
  • caroldavison332
    caroldavison332 Posts: 864 Member
    we should compare meaurements which don't vary like weigh does. Are you clothes fitting better?
  • caroldavison332
    caroldavison332 Posts: 864 Member
    If your clothes are fitting looser, you are doing the right thing.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    edited July 2016
    susieq52082 wrote: »
    So I am starting to worry a little. I have been eating 1200 calories a day, sometimes less then that. I am also walking my butt off. The scale has not moved. My weigh in is tomorrow, but as of right now I have gained .6 ....YIKES

    Because I am a woman who has not yet gone through menopause, I compare myself to this time last month rather than this time last week. I gain weight when I ovulate and premenstrually.

    I weigh myself daily, chart in in Excel, and am only concerned that the overall trend stays down.

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