Eating less than 1200 calories a day and exercising at least a 1000 and not losing weight

andrebessa93 · June 2017

Hi guys,

New here so please give me as much info as possible

malibu927 · June 2017

What are your stats? How long has it been since you lost weight? How are you measuring your calorie intake and exercise burns? We can't help without some more information.

826_Midazaslam · June 2017

You're over-estimating your exercise burn and under-estimating your food intake.

mazdauk · June 2017

What she said. Are you weighing your food? How long have you been trying to lose weight, how much have you lost already and why are you on such a low calorie intake?

madison151992 · June 2017

You're either eating more or you need medical care.

nosebag1212 · June 2017

seems legit

belgitude66 · June 2017

not possible or you die

andrebessa93 · June 2017

Hi,

First of all, thank you very much for your replies.
I wear an Apple Watch which constantly measures my heart rate. I set it to exercise mode depending on the exercise I'm doing.
I know exactly what I'm eating because I buy ready meals which are all under 300 calories from Tesco's and everything that goes in my mouth, big or small, gets recorded in MyFitnessPal.

As I said in my initial post, it has been a week since I've lost weight.

As per stats, I referred to my age, sex, height and weight (started at circa 109kg and now 97.7kg).
Is this what you're referring to when you speak of stats?

Thank you once again.

distinctlybeautiful · June 2017

Your original post is mostly empty. Maybe it cut some of it out.

Also, ready made meals do not necessarily have accurate calorie counts on them. Also, one week without a loss doesn't necessarily mean you've stopped losing.

jgnatca · June 2017

So you've lost weight steadily until this week? M or F?

How many hours are you exercising a day?

nosebag1212 · June 2017

andrebessa93 wrote: »

Hi,

First of all, thank you very much for your replies.
I wear an Apple Watch which constantly measures my heart rate. I set it to exercise mode depending on the exercise I'm doing.
I know exactly what I'm eating because I buy ready meals which are all under 300 calories from Tesco's and everything that goes in my mouth, big or small, gets recorded in MyFitnessPal.

As I said in my initial post, it has been a week since I've lost weight.

As per stats, I referred to my age, sex, height and weight (started at circa 109kg and now 97.7kg).
Is this what you're referring to when you speak of stats?

Thank you once again.

One week is not long enough to make any realistic conclusions, weight fluctuates day to day due to fluctuations in water, weight loss is not linear. Wait at least 3 weeks before you do anything becomes no 200 lb + person should maintain their weight on 1200 calories.

JeromeBarry1 · June 2017

Heart rate monitors such as the Apple Watch are good at measuring heart rate, but poor at inferring exercise calorie burns. Compare your exercise burns to fitclick, and see if you can find some better guesses.

andrebessa93 · June 2017

My apologies, I didn't realize my original post, didn't post properly.

Hi guys,

New here so please give me as much info as possible.

Stats:
Starting weight: 109.5
Current weight (as of this morning): 97.7KG
Height: 177cm (5ft9)
Age:24
Sex: Male

I lost weight by buying healthy ready meals (between 250 - 350 calories each) with a lot of protein and vegetables. Everything I eat gets logged into MyFitnessPal app - and I have been keeping below 1,200 calories everyday. More importantly I am burning more than 1000 calories per day by exercising. I fell in love with it and go every to either swim, zumba class, spinning class, jogging, etc.. I feel fitter than I have ever been, however, I seem to be stuck at my weight for a week (between 97kg and 98kg).
The maths are clear, I should be losing weight. Why am I not losing weight? Should I be seeing a doctor? Am I being stupid and it's just not going down as quickly as it used to?

It's a bit disheartening when the weight doesn't come off... lucky because i'm enjoying exercising so much it hasn't stopped me from going to the gym as normal but it does make me sad in the mornings...

Any advice, please?

Thanks in advance.

paperpudding · June 2017

Weight loss is not linear - there may be some weeks where you do not lose - but as long as overall trend over time is losing then thats ok.

So a week is not long enough for it to be "not losing"

You should be eating more than 1200 calories. That is not enough for a young medium height male.

1000 calories sounds a lot of excercise - are you sure you are burning that amount??

I accept some people do, those who run or cycle marathons or do huge workouts - but would take a very time consuming amount of zumba, swimming and the like.

malibu927 · June 2017

A week without losing is nothing. Weight loss is not linear.

Also you should be eating at LEAST 1500 net calories a day. Eating less than 1200 is a great way to lose muscle mass and cause serious health issues.

trjjoy · June 2017

You are either overestimating calorie burn or underestimating calorie intake. Or both.

jgnatca · June 2017

You are steadily losing which means you are doing most things right.

You have to get net 1500 calories a day to stay healthy.

You are either spending hours a day in intense workouts or you are overestimating your exercise burns. The workouts will be more constructive with rest days in between.

The weight fluctuations are not reflective of fat gained or lost. Most likely you are retaining and shedding water weight.

Silentpadna · June 2017

paperpudding wrote: »

1000 calories sounds a lot of excercise - are you sure you are burning that amount??

I accept some people do, those who run or cycle marathons or do huge workouts - but would take a very time consuming amount of zumba, swimming and the like.

It may not be that far off. My Fitbit tracks 1000 calorie burns for an hour of intense cardio or a that long of run. I weigh about 5kg less than the OP, but a couple of inches taller. That number is backed up through multiple estimates I've run through other sites, admittedly estimates, but they are consistent. Even using estimated VO2Max comes up close. And...my weight loss is tracking as if those numbers are right. Of course, if they are overestimating my burn, then I must be overestimating my intake - and I would have a harder time believing that I would ever overestimate my intake.

snickerscharlie · June 2017

andrebessa93 wrote: »

My apologies, I didn't realize my original post, didn't post properly.

Hi guys,

New here so please give me as much info as possible.

Stats:
Starting weight: 109.5
Current weight (as of this morning): 97.7KG
Height: 177cm (5ft9)
Age:24
Sex: Male

I lost weight by buying healthy ready meals (between 250 - 350 calories each) with a lot of protein and vegetables. Everything I eat gets logged into MyFitnessPal app - and I have been keeping below 1,200 calories everyday. More importantly I am burning more than 1000 calories per day by exercising. I fell in love with it and go every to either swim, zumba class, spinning class, jogging, etc.. I feel fitter than I have ever been, however, I seem to be stuck at my weight for a week (between 97kg and 98kg).
The maths are clear, I should be losing weight. Why am I not losing weight? Should I be seeing a doctor? Am I being stupid and it's just not going down as quickly as it used to?

It's a bit disheartening when the weight doesn't come off... lucky because i'm enjoying exercising so much it hasn't stopped me from going to the gym as normal but it does make me sad in the mornings...

Any advice, please?

Thanks in advance.

First of all, as a male, you should be eating a minimum of 1500 calories per day.

Secondly, are you saying that you eat @ 1200 calories per day and then (you think) you're burning off an additional 1000 calories via exercise, basically netting yourself 200 calories per day? Or is 1200 your net amount after exercise is figured in? (Please say it's door #2!)

Just wanted some clarification.

RamboKitty87 · June 2017

Hi, not sure what ready meals your getting from tesco but ones that are 300 cals must be so teeny tiny... also would most likely be so high in salt, your better off eating low fat meat with wholegrain rice and some vegetable or salad as microwave meals are not ideal to eat everyday as they contain so much salt etc.

snowflake954 · June 2017

Can I just pop in to say that I agree with all of above.

animatorswearbras · June 2017

When did you start your diet? chances are some of your initial loss will have been water weight and you have gained some of it back whilst still losing fat (and if you are indeed eating at that aggressive a deficit, losing muscle)

There are 2 things here, firstly 1 week isn't long enough to determine a stall you should be looking at average loss for a month, secondly that deficit has to change if it's net 200, you're throwing out the baby with the bathwater at that large a deficit, no need to burn through muscle to see a lower number on the scale, you might as well chop off a limb if you want to see a smaller number on your scale with no consideration for health. xxx take care and please up your cals to a safe and sustainable level.

rheddmobile · June 2017

Google "the whoosh effect." This is a real thing, not broscience, and it really is called that - it was discovered in a study of men on a 1500 calorie diet doing heavy labor. At first they lost steadily, but then the weight loss began to go in jumps and starts, with long periods of no loss then several pounds in one day. This happens because the body replaces fat in fat cells with water temporarily. Then it flushes the water all at once. Sometimes a high carb meal will trigger the whoosh.

Anyway, if it's only been a week, this is probably what's happening. Keep calm and carry on, eat a big carby meal, and see what happens. Also, I think you would probably do better overall if you are back some of your exercise calories.

moonstroller · June 2017

I would hold at the same weight for a week to ten days without changing my diet or exercise routine. You're body is adapting to the changes you've made. You can always try changing up your exercises, perhaps run faster or longer to see if you can jump start your weight loss. Also I would recommend speaking to your physician about your diet.

andrebessa93 · June 2017

Hi guys,

Thanks for all the comments above... I'm a bit concerned about some of the comments above.
I am indeed eating 1,200 calories per day (I will be upping this to 1,500 on the back of all your comments).
To clear things up, I am indeed burning 1000 calories, sometimes more per day by doing things like HIIT, Zumba and then after it 30 mins non-stop of swimming. I feel incredibly fit and full of energy. Therefore, 200 calories net, yes.

Could this diet really be doing me this much harm if all I want to do now is exercise, move, actually get on? Previously I was a total couch potato. Now I run a 5K with no issues - all of this in 1.5 months. training hard everyday.

Thanks for all of the advice above guys!

rednote49 · June 2017

Your calorie intake seems to be very low. Did you originally set your profile to sedentary? Because I'm a 5'4" 190lb female and my cal intake for the day is at 1650. It may seem counterintuitive but increase your food intake a tiny bit. Your body might be starving and holding on to every morsel.

rheddmobile · June 2017

andrebessa93 wrote: »

Hi guys,

Thanks for all the comments above... I'm a bit concerned about some of the comments above.
I am indeed eating 1,200 calories per day (I will be upping this to 1,500 on the back of all your comments).
To clear things up, I am indeed burning 1000 calories, sometimes more per day by doing things like HIIT, Zumba and then after it 30 mins non-stop of swimming. I feel incredibly fit and full of energy. Therefore, 200 calories net, yes.

Could this diet really be doing me this much harm if all I want to do now is exercise, move, actually get on? Previously I was a total couch potato. Now I run a 5K with no issues - all of this in 1.5 months. training hard everyday.

Thanks for all of the advice above guys!

Obese people can carry a high deficit for a while, but it will eventually make you feel bad and do bad things to your metabolism. Look at your iron intake, it's pretty tough to get the recommended amount on 1200 cal.

ninerbuff · June 2017

You're eating WAY TOO LITTLE for your age, gender and activity. The body doesn't prefer to live off just 200 calories a day for non activity function. That NET should be 1200 and even higher for men at about 1600. So you're about 1400 calories short each day.
If you don't feed your body enough, it WILL reduce RMR and rest is where you burn the most stored body fat. EAT MORE.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

inertiastrength · June 2017

You can gain a lot more water than you can lose fat depending on sodium, carb intake etc. 1 week is not nearly enough data. May I recommend the happy scale app? It tracks your trends over time vs getting all hung up on the daily ups and downs.