Think I may be eating too little calories :(

minime0424

I have lost 7 pounds so far this month, I felt I was ready to make my goal a 2 pound loss per week instead of 1.5 on my fitness pal, (that was on Sunday) and it dropped my calories to 1200 per day instead of 1340. Anyways I made the change and this week I am now stalling on weight loss almost completely. I think it's because my body was not ready for such a small cal intake even though it is only a 140 cal difference. Should I maintain and see if the weight loss starts up again? Or change back to my 1340 cals a day?? ( I also work out hard three times a week for about an hour )

jessleon1984

I used to eat so so much food like 6 peices of bread a day with brekki and lunch was normal

Machka9

minime0424 wrote: »

I have lost 7 pounds so far this month, I felt I was ready to make my goal a 2 pound loss per week instead of 1.5 on my fitness pal, (that was on Sunday) and it dropped my calories to 1200 per day instead of 1340. Anyways I made the change and this week I am now stalling on weight loss almost completely. I think it's because my body was not ready for such a small cal intake even though it is only a 140 cal difference. Should I maintain and see if the weight loss starts up again? Or change back to my 1340 cals a day?? ( I also work out hard three times a week for about an hour )

It's only been a week ... give it three.

minime0424

The last time I stalled, I gave it time and ended up stalling for almost a month and a half, i have a goal date that I'm trying to reach so I am trying to nip this stall in the butt before it drags out like it did last time.

coreyreichle

minime0424 wrote: »

I have lost 7 pounds so far this month, I felt I was ready to make my goal a 2 pound loss per week instead of 1.5 on my fitness pal, (that was on Sunday) and it dropped my calories to 1200 per day instead of 1340. Anyways I made the change and this week I am now stalling on weight loss almost completely. I think it's because my body was not ready for such a small cal intake even though it is only a 140 cal difference. Should I maintain and see if the weight loss starts up again? Or change back to my 1340 cals a day?? ( I also work out hard three times a week for about an hour )

Reducing caloric intake will not cause a stall in weight loss.

However, 1200 is pretty low. For me? Pretty painful, and non-sustainable long term.

However, your log is not viewable, so any advice is a shot in the dark.

kommodevaran

1.5 pounds per week is probably the most you can expect, if MFP set your calories to 1200, and you have stuck to your calories. The body responds to what you do to it, it doesn't have to be "ready" for more or less food. You can't expect to see a loss an the scales every week - normal weight fluctuations are quite large. You may be retaining water from exercise. So be patient. Weight loss does not start up or accelerate spontanely by eating at maintenance.

Hot tip: Stop reading women's magazines

RoxieDawn

You were losing at 1.5. Why change that to 1200 makes no sense. The one that can eat the most and still lose weight wins and keeps their muscle mass!

Patience my dear, patience!

minime0424

Well I will try to be patient and hope that it is merely water weight, or that I'm just not showing any weight loss from this week yet lol, I will keep my fingers crossed that I will hopefully see some difference in another week or so

RoxieDawn

minime0424 wrote: »

Well I will try to be patient and hope that it is merely water weight, or that I'm just not showing any weight loss from this week yet lol, I will keep my fingers crossed that I will hopefully see some difference in another week or so

Its been less than 5 days. I know that it took you more than 5 days to start losing the first 7 pounds. So anytime you make a change in your diet like this, give it a min 3 weeks. But again, why need to go more aggressively? you have the opportunity to eat more and not lose potential muscle mass by creating a larger deficit?

minime0424

Well I have actually lost a total of 42 pounds in 18 weeks, my current profile is a new one because my other one started having issues so I had to make a new one just a few weeks ago. I have been averaging a two pound weight loss a week not taking into consideration the stall I had for about 5 weeks in June...I am going at it more aggresively because I have a goal date, and i am out to challenge myself.

Machka9

Another reason to give it 3 weeks is that, if you are a woman, you could be in a heavy part of your cycle right now, but in 2 or 3 weeks, you might be in a lighter part of your cycle.

minime0424

That's true, I kinda forget about that!!

RoxieDawn

minime0424 wrote: »

Well I have actually lost a total of 42 pounds in 18 weeks, my current profile is a new one because my other one started having issues so I had to make a new one just a few weeks ago. I have been averaging a two pound weight loss a week not taking into consideration the stall I had for about 5 weeks in June...I am going at it more aggresively because I have a goal date, and i am out to challenge myself.

Your title in your post stated you thought you were eating too little, so hinse my reply, there was no need to consider eating even smaller amount than you were! When you loose a good amount of weight in the beginning, you do get smaller and need less calories, so do not forget to change your weight goals in MFP at every 9-10 pounds. Also the scale can be masked by many factors like hormones, sodium, hydration or lack there of, carb intake, changes in your deficit, muscle repair. Weightloss is not linear, There is gonna be weeks when you drop and some when you don't.

As a recommendation you can use the scale to trend your weight as you loose. It is pretty handy to use something like weightgrapher or another app, It can help you with the water weight trends and you can see as you loose that you can indeed be loosing fat when the scale may not say you are. just a thought.

Good luck!

snickerscharlie

This may be helpful to you:

lisasimpsondoops28

Any help with portion control

minime0424

I divide my food so that I am eating 6 different times throughout the day

minime0424

Snickerscharlie I am at the big round circle on the chart you posted, I excercise, stick to my calorie intake, and I just had a checkup last week and all looks well. I'm just going to chop it up to water weight or that I'm just starting to lose slower.....and that's ok, I knew that would happen eventually. Just wanted to see from others if maybe by dropping my calories I accidentally put my body in starvation mode. Thank for everyone's replys!! Very much appreciated!!

pdm3547

lisasimpsondoops28 wrote: »

Any help with portion control

Not quite sure what you mean. If you are looking for help with portion control, then I would put it like this:
If you eat everything on your plate after you are full because you don't like wasting food, you are still wasting the food, but making yourself unhealthy at the same time.

pdm3547

minime0424 wrote: »

I divide my food so that I am eating 6 different times throughout the day

Why?

minime0424

So that I am always keeping my metabolism up, the more small meals you eat throughout the day the better you keep your metabolism functioning. Your supposed to eat every two to three hours to keep your metabolism up.

kommodevaran

Starvation mode isn't really a thing, so don't worry about that. You need to eat enough so that you don't crash and burn, though. Your metabolism doesn't stop functioning until you're dead. Eat when you want to.

dragon_girl26

minime0424 wrote: »

Snickerscharlie I am at the big round circle on the chart you posted, I excercise, stick to my calorie intake, and I just had a checkup last week and all looks well. I'm just going to chop it up to water weight or that I'm just starting to lose slower.....and that's ok, I knew that would happen eventually. Just wanted to see from others if maybe by dropping my calories I accidentally put my body in starvation mode. Thank for everyone's replys!! Very much appreciated!!

You're okay there. Starvation mode (the idea that your body clings to fat if you eat too little) is mostly a myth. In your case, patience is the best approach. The smaller you get, the slower it comes off..and that's okay. RoxieDawn's advice is spot on. The only other thing I would encourage you to do is to drop the deadline, as more often than not, those usually do more harm than good. Just think of good health as a lifelong process..we're never really "done".

pdm3547

minime0424 wrote: »

So that I am always keeping my metabolism up, the more small meals you eat throughout the day the better you keep your metabolism functioning. Your supposed to eat every two to three hours to keep your metabolism up.

You do know the exact opposite is true, right?

When you eat like that, you are continually releasing insulin into your body. This prevents your body from using fat stores as energy .
Plus it's harder to track and you've more chance of under-recording your calories.

minime0424

Yep that's the truth!!

SoDamnHungry

pdm3547 wrote: »

minime0424 wrote: »

So that I am always keeping my metabolism up, the more small meals you eat throughout the day the better you keep your metabolism functioning. Your supposed to eat every two to three hours to keep your metabolism up.

You do know the exact opposite is true, right?

When you eat like that, you are continually releasing insulin into your body. This prevents your body from using fat stores as energy .
Plus it's harder to track and you've more chance of under-recording your calories.

That's not true either. Your body will use fat stores as energy when all of the readily available carbs in your system are used up. Anyone who eats less than they burn in a day will access their fat stores.

VintageFeline

I go flipping weeks without a loss. In fact I bounce up more than I slide down but it all works out in the end and my measurements are reducing the entire time so it's just the scale being contrary. So try not to rely on just one metric (the scales) to track progress, it's a recipe for misery and frustration especially as you creep closer to goal.

pdm3547

SoDamnHungry wrote: »

pdm3547 wrote: »

minime0424 wrote: »

So that I am always keeping my metabolism up, the more small meals you eat throughout the day the better you keep your metabolism functioning. Your supposed to eat every two to three hours to keep your metabolism up.

You do know the exact opposite is true, right?

When you eat like that, you are continually releasing insulin into your body. This prevents your body from using fat stores as energy .
Plus it's harder to track and you've more chance of under-recording your calories.

That's not true either. Your body will use fat stores as energy when all of the readily available carbs in your system are used up. Anyone who eats less than they burn in a day will access their fat stores.

Yes, you're right of course.

I should have been clearer in my original post.

Return2Fit

SOLID COMMENTS!
I have learned so much just lurking...

My own experience with over-reaching paints a clear picture. When I lower calories too much, I get these wonderful results for about 3 weeks, and then everything just craters.
My metabolism stifles, my hunger levels skyrocket, and I begin a fast regression.
This is most folks on crash diets.

On MFP I learned how to properly set weight loss goals that are reasonable, steady and lasting.
It's not a race, so heed the above advice, follow the MFP recommendations and get into your own zone.

Good Luck!

minime0424

Yeah, that's actually not true pdm3547, anytime you eat under the calories needed to maintain your current weight, your body pulls from your fat stores to ensure it gets the calories it needs for the day, therefore causing weight loss. Also, your not going to under record you calories eaten if your logging exactly what you are eating and not eating more then what you have logged. I also have to eat every few hours because I am hypoglycemic.

elisa123gal

if it isn't broke don't fix it. why did you change what was working? I'd change it back.

minime0424

This is my second round of losing weight, I dropped 30 pounds in three months before becoming pregnant with my son a couple years ago with MFP. I gained 80 pounds during my pregnancy which sucked and that is now what I am trying to take off plus a little extra lol. I've set date goals because by doing so it helps to keep me accountable. I know that I'm not going to meet every mark to a T, but it's the big one that I guess you could call me slightly obsessive about meeting because that one is the most important ( get down from 209.6 to 190 by November 4th this year.