Is my calorie deficit too low?

Jay9201
Jay9201 Posts: 119 Member
edited November 21 in Health and Weight Loss
I checked my macros on iifym and it said my maintenance calories is 1708 and my 500 calorie deficit is 1,208. I have no issues eating 1,208 I naturally eat very less. I'm 5'4 currently at 180lbs my goal is to go down to 133lbs and I'm also doing intermittent fasting from 11am -7pm or 10am -6pm. But my weight is not budging.

I track everything on a scale I lift weights twice a week and cardio twice a week. ( this last week where I've been eating 1,208 calories I've also had the flu and horrible cough that's kept me out of the gym.

I eat porridge for breakfast , protein and veg for lunch and dinner is usually my post workout so carbs protein and some veggies with a PhD whey protein shake.

IF is starting to make me feel ill - although this could still be the flu.

Why isn't my weight budging? I'm obviously missing something out so please help !
«1

Replies

  • marthall
    marthall Posts: 108 Member
    Hi,

    You don't give any time frames, but if you have been (or maybe still are) unwell then I don't think you can expect your body water levels to be consistent; you simply have to keep doing what you are doing (which are the right things) and be patient for another week.

    Your question is if 1200 is too low. I believe this is the minimum recommended for Women to support essential nutrition and if you naturally find it easy to hit this target then no, 1200 is not too low for you.

    I track my overall net calories total and focus on keeping that deficit increasing by 500 a day, and the weight follows eventually. It means I can see one number improving every day, even if water changes cause a stall in weight loss.

    Also, I have read that with women water retention changes with the monthly cycle so comparing weight to that of a month ago gives a better comparison. Your mileage may vary.

    Keep going.

  • nexangelus
    nexangelus Posts: 2,080 Member
    Your deficit might be too high(big), not low. At 800 calories, plus exercise...hmmm....are you eating your exercise cals on top of the 1208? I weigh in at 176lbs at the moment and I am on 1750 ish cals...without exercise ones added in...my deficit is around 500...obviously as you lose weight you adjust the total downwards, but starting straight off at 1208 seems a little steep.

    Also how long have you been in deficit for not seeing a change in weight? As the above person said, log accurately. The weight will budge if there is a true deficit and your logging is accurate.
  • nexangelus
    nexangelus Posts: 2,080 Member
    Calories you burn via exercise are exercise calories. So the weight training and cardio you do. They need to be added into the mix. If you are not adding these in, on 1208 calories you are in way more than an 800 calorie deficit. Exercise enables you to eat more, in other words. At 180 lbs I am guesstimating around 1600 calories is what you should be on roughly per day. I am not sure how you calculated the 1208...

    Anyways. If you are logging everything accurately, including how active you are and the exercise you do, then the weight should come off if you are in a deficit. For more info on the non linearity of weight loss read these articles:

    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/not-losing-fat-at-20-deficit-what-should-i-do-qa.html

    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/of-whooshes-and-squishy-fat.html/
  • Jay9201
    Jay9201 Posts: 119 Member
    [
    Jay9201 wrote: »
    So I've got a history of eating low calories coming in below 1,200 I then tried reverse dieting which made me eat 1,300 i gained weight
    You don't gain weight on 1300 calories. You were eating more than you thought you were, or you mistook weight fluctuations for weight gain.

    Maybe but I wasn't shedding weight and it was hard eating 1,300 calories.
    I found out that I'm actually meant to be eating 1,208 by iifym.
    You decide for yourself how much to eat. A weekly loss of up to 1% of your total body weight is generally believed to be healthy. I would suggest starting out at 1500-1700 calories and tracking correctly.
    I log using the food scale.
    This still doesn't mean much. There are so many ways to do it wrong.
    @kommodevaran What I meant by naturally eating less is I don't tend to eat several meals I can eat only 3 meals and sometimes a snack.
    Ok, but eating less is about number of calories (or what it amounts to in the form of food); number of meals is not what's important. 3 meals and a snack is bordering "several meals". It's a perfectly normal eating pattern.
    I became fat because in the past my meals consisted of junk food now I've been eating healthy for 2.5 years. Whole foods more vegetables and fruits.
    Real food is good for you, but you can overeat that too, and you gain (or don't lose) weight if you eat too much, no matter where the calories come from.[/quote]

    Ok I will track my food closer
  • Jay9201
    Jay9201 Posts: 119 Member
    Calories you burn via exercise are exercise calories. So the weight training and cardio you do. They need to be added into the mix. If you are not adding these in, on 1208 calories you are in way more than an 800 calorie deficit. Exercise enables you to eat more, in other words. At 180 lbs I am guesstimating around 1600 calories is what you should be on roughly per day. I am not sure how you calculated the 1208...

    Anyways. If you are logging everything accurately, including how active you are and the exercise you do, then the weight should come off if you are in a deficit. For more info on the non linearity of weight loss read these articles:

    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/not-losing-fat-at-20-deficit-what-should-i-do-qa.html

    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/of-whooshes-and-squishy-fat.html/[/quote]

    Oh I do take those into consideration. I burn 300 calories in 40 mins on my cardio days and MFP doesn't tell me how much I burn with weights training. So MFP tells me I can eat more on cardio days I don't . I stick closely to 1,208 and burn 300 on both cardio days and however much I burn on weights days.
  • smh_cliff
    smh_cliff Posts: 146 Member
    nexangelus wrote: »
    At 180 lbs I am guesstimating around 1600 calories is what you should be on roughly per day. I am not sure how you calculated the 1208...

    /

    FWIW, MFP gives me 1300 if I set a 1lb a week goal, at 177lb.
  • Jay9201
    Jay9201 Posts: 119 Member
    smh_cliff wrote: »
    nexangelus wrote: »
    At 180 lbs I am guesstimating around 1600 calories is what you should be on roughly per day. I am not sure how you calculated the 1208...

    /

    FWIW, MFP gives me 1300 if I set a 1lb a week goal, at 177lb.

    Has it been working for you? I find it easier to eat up to 1,200 so hopefully if I continue staying consistent and training the weight should drop.
  • smh_cliff
    smh_cliff Posts: 146 Member
    It's early days so I can't say yet, but just seemed quite a difference.
  • Jay9201
    Jay9201 Posts: 119 Member
    smh_cliff wrote: »
    It's early days so I can't say yet, but just seemed quite a difference.

    Oh let us know. Yeah the only way I could eat more is more carbs which I'm not comfortable with yet so eating 1,208 is good. I have to customise my MFP calories because it shows 1kg (2.2lbs) weight loss a week is 1,600 calories which is impossible for me to eat and I will gain weight super fast. I'm going to stick out 1,208 calories see if I lose weight or not.
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,179 Member
    Jay9201 wrote: »
    smh_cliff wrote: »
    It's early days so I can't say yet, but just seemed quite a difference.

    Oh let us know. Yeah the only way I could eat more is more carbs which I'm not comfortable with yet so eating 1,208 is good. I have to customise my MFP calories because it shows 1kg (2.2lbs) weight loss a week is 1,600 calories which is impossible for me to eat and I will gain weight super fast. I'm going to stick out 1,208 calories see if I lose weight or not.

    Not so. A day of eating 1600 calories may very well reward with with a 2 lb water gain, but that's just your body adjusting to a higher sodium and glycogen load by holding on to water.
    Do eat 1600 daily for a month and observe your weight loss.

    You'll have to continue weighing everything you eat with a food scale. Be precise.
  • Jay9201
    Jay9201 Posts: 119 Member
    JeromeBarry1 wrote: »
    Jay9201 wrote: »
    smh_cliff wrote: »
    It's early days so I can't say yet, but just seemed quite a difference.

    Oh let us know. Yeah the only way I could eat more is more carbs which I'm not comfortable with yet so eating 1,208 is good. I have to customise my MFP calories because it shows 1kg (2.2lbs) weight loss a week is 1,600 calories which is impossible for me to eat and I will gain weight super fast. I'm going to stick out 1,208 calories see if I lose weight or not.

    Not so. A day of eating 1600 calories may very well reward with with a 2 lb water gain, but that's just your body adjusting to a higher sodium and glycogen load by holding on to water.
    Do eat 1600 daily for a month and observe your weight loss.

    You'll have to continue weighing everything you eat with a food scale. Be precise.

    I can't eat 1,600 calories that's impossible lol I don't even know how to. I was struggling with 1,300. To be fair another fitness coach said the same I need to eat 1,600 calories but I have 47lbs to I don't want to gain anymore
  • Jay9201
    Jay9201 Posts: 119 Member
    No i was a yo yo dieter so I gained weight pretty fast. I gained over a period of 6 years only until I was 98kg 2.5 years ago I dropped my calorie intake to 1,500 doing low carb not really focusing on macros and it took 2 years to lose 2.5 stones. I gained 3lbs in one week eating 1,300 since dropping to 1,207 I dropped a 1lb. I've been to the weight loss clinic at my GP and i had to submit my food diary and they said due to my slow metabolism I'm not losing weight as I should be.

    Yes I train hard and I'm meticulous with my calories but I've had issues with eating more. On the verge of an eating disorder because I ate junk food as a teen and I was fat so I purged and I starved myself and I mean going days without eating. Starving yourself it's hard to lose weight. No one believes what I weigh when they see me apparently I don't " look my weight". But yes believe it or not I genuinely have issues with eating more. Once upon a time a decade ago I did eat 1600+ calories where I gained like mad. I was almost sick from eating 1,300.
  • DamieBird
    DamieBird Posts: 651 Member
    You'll likely get better advice if you open up your diary. I echo what others have said - you're not gaining fat on 1300 calories. Gaining water weight for one week and then giving up and dropping cals and convincing yourself that you'll gain fat by eating a sustainable amount is steering you wrong.

    You are likely eating more than you think you are, even though you think you're being meticulous. That's not meant to attack you or anything; it's actually VERY common. Most of us here who advocate for weighing and logging accurately started out making mistakes, too. We're adamant about it because we've seen how much of a difference accurate logging makes in losing weight.
  • Jay9201
    Jay9201 Posts: 119 Member
    DamieBird wrote: »
    You'll likely get better advice if you open up your diary. I echo what others have said - you're not gaining fat on 1300 calories. Gaining water weight for one week and then giving up and dropping cals and convincing yourself that you'll gain fat by eating a sustainable amount is steering you wrong.

    You are likely eating more than you think you are, even though you think you're being meticulous. That's not meant to attack you or anything; it's actually VERY common. Most of us here who advocate for weighing and logging accurately started out making mistakes, too. We're adamant about it because we've seen how much of a difference accurate logging makes in losing weight.

    So I'm confused again I checked my macros on iifym and it's showing i should be eating 1507 calories and MFP shows I should be eating I should be 1,600. But I will track my diet closer.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    Jay9201 wrote: »
    DamieBird wrote: »
    You'll likely get better advice if you open up your diary. I echo what others have said - you're not gaining fat on 1300 calories. Gaining water weight for one week and then giving up and dropping cals and convincing yourself that you'll gain fat by eating a sustainable amount is steering you wrong.

    You are likely eating more than you think you are, even though you think you're being meticulous. That's not meant to attack you or anything; it's actually VERY common. Most of us here who advocate for weighing and logging accurately started out making mistakes, too. We're adamant about it because we've seen how much of a difference accurate logging makes in losing weight.

    So I'm confused again I checked my macros on iifym and it's showing i should be eating 1507 calories and MFP shows I should be eating I should be 1,600. But I will track my diet closer.

    Why is this confusing? The two systems use different methods for setting your goals. Being within 100 calories seems pretty consistent to me...

    When you say "track my diet closer" what does that mean to you? Are you logging everything you eat using a digital food scale for accuracy? Can you open your diary so people might be able to identify some common logging errors you might be making?
  • Jay9201
    Jay9201 Posts: 119 Member
    I track all my foods on here but I weigh them on a food scale but eating enough to hit 1,208. But it seems I'm meant to eat more that's what I'm struggling with. I don't know how to open up my diary. But i am truthfully telling you what I've been eating. I'm also Asian so we eat a lot of South Indian foods but instead of the heavy laden great food our dinners consists of white rice with currys I don't eat currys i make my grilled chicken or fish.

    It's hard losing weight.
  • aeloine
    aeloine Posts: 2,163 Member
    You can't expect to see a huge difference. Your diary isn't open, so we can't see what you're logging BUT it says that your first visit was in August of this year. Seeing as it's still August..... the MOST you should have lost would have been about 8 pounds, IF you started on the 1st and IF you were tracking correctly AND logging to lose 2 lbs/week and not overeating/underestimating your calories. You've not even been on here for a month. Be patient, and it will come.
  • marthall
    marthall Posts: 108 Member
    You can open your diary by going into setting -> diary -> select public so we can all see it ( change it back later if you want)
  • Jay9201
    Jay9201 Posts: 119 Member
    aeloine wrote: »
    You can't expect to see a huge difference. Your diary isn't open, so we can't see what you're logging BUT it says that your first visit was in August of this year. Seeing as it's still August..... the MOST you should have lost would have been about 8 pounds, IF you started on the 1st and IF you were tracking correctly AND logging to lose 2 lbs/week and not overeating/underestimating your calories. You've not even been on here for a month. Be patient, and it will come.

    I started here August two years ago lol but yes it's hard to be patient hope for the results to come

  • Jay9201
    Jay9201 Posts: 119 Member
    I opened up my diary before you judge I did go out on Sunday and I ate around 1,400 calories my cheat meal
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    Jay9201 wrote: »
    I opened up my diary before you judge I did go out on Sunday and I ate around 1,400 calories my cheat meal

    It looks as if you are choosing a lot of generic and homemade entries created by other users. This can make it very difficult to be accurate -- you have no idea you are preparing it the same way or with the same ingredients. You may be eating more calories than you think you are.
  • MommaGem2017
    MommaGem2017 Posts: 405 Member
    edited August 2017
    Okay, right off the bat I see mostly "generic" entries. You should either rely on the label that came with the food, or try to find a USDA entry.

    "Homemade - Broccoli-Cauliflower Bake, 1 cup cooked" & "Homemade - Dahl Recipe, 1 cup" Did you make these yourself? Did you use the recipe builder? Homemade entries can fluctuate dramatically if you don't know how it was prepared. One of my friends uses an entire stick of butter in her mashed potatoes, I don't.

    I see entries that are not weighed - "Homemade - Baked White Fish, 1 piece cooked" - how many grams or ounces was this?

    "Asda Great Stuff - Apple, 1 Apple" - "Generic - Orange - Medium Size, 1 whole, fresh" These should be weighed, because grocery stores can tend to sell some enormous fruits. My recent nectarine purchase resulted in 110 calorie fruit.



  • animatorswearbras
    animatorswearbras Posts: 1,001 Member
    Remember to log the incidentals that some people forget about including cooking oils, stock, condiments and drinks, weigh food raw before cooking and make sure you find the raw weight on MFP. If it goes in your mouth, log it, even if you didn't prepare it or intend to eat it like a sample of cheese at the market or a few chips from your friends plate. Also log any days you fall off the wagon and be honest. The main thing is to tighten up your logging and I mean everything.

    Before you change your calorie settings tighten your logging then go from there. I agree that it sounds like your logging is inaccurate, if after a few weeks of honest discipline and consistently hitting your cals and there is still no loss on a 1200cal diet, I would personally see a doctor. xxx Good luck
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
    Jay9201 wrote: »
    I opened up my diary before you judge I did go out on Sunday and I ate around 1,400 calories my cheat meal

    you arent weighing everything, the fish for one isnt weighed.2 pieces of fish the same size can be different weights.are the homemade entries yours? or in the database? if they arent yours you dont know what was included in the recipe or how much. your scoop of protein powder can be more than a scoop.I learned that the hard way. fruit is another thing you should be weighing as well.
This discussion has been closed.

Categories