Question about calories being too low and not losing weight

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  • tomcustombuilder
    tomcustombuilder Posts: 2,221 Member
    Retroguy2000 wrote: »



    2) "Been doing this a long time, down to 1200, not losing any more."

    These ones I give the benefit of the doubt to and assume they are tracking correctly. It's certainly possible they are not.
    unless they’re a very small woman that isnt carrying much fat they are not.

  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,826 Member
    Retroguy2000 wrote: »
    Two of the common posts around here are:

    1) "I'm in a deficit of X, I'm not losing, what the hell?" Usually a new poster, they are informed they are not in a deficit, their tracking is way off, and they are typically never heard from again.

    2) "Been doing this a long time, down to 1200, not losing any more."

    These ones I give the benefit of the doubt to and assume they are tracking correctly. It's certainly possible they are not.

    What next, go to 1,000? 900? That's absurd. It's physically and mentally draining. It's potentially harmful, and definitely unsustainable. They shouldn't need to be this low to get results. What's probably happening is similar to that Biggest Loser study, which is probably an extreme example of body adaptation, where e.g. one guy was found to require consuming 800 fewer daily calories than people his weight would be expected to maintain at, just to avoid gaining fat.

    The best thing therefore is take a break. If they've been doing this for a few months, take a two week diet break back to where maintenance should be. Or start reverse dieting if needed to get back to maintenance at a slower pace. Most weight gain in this process should be water, and that's fine. Then they'll be in a much better position to resume dieting.

    Or they are in a deficit but have gone all gung ho with exercise and are retaining water.

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