eating approx 1200 cal and not losing weight

cad2cc

Hello, I'm 5'5 and started off at 77.7 kg and am now 73 kg and my weight loss has stopped for about two weeks. I'm netting 1200 cal with exercise. I do about one binge day per week but I don't go over 1700 cal since my BMR is 1600 cal. Why has it just stopped? It took me about 1.5 months to lose the first 5 kg.

PikaKnight

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/872212-you-re-probably-eating-more-than-you-think

mockchoc

You aren't supposed to ever eat below your BMR. BMR is the amount it takes in calories that just keeps your organs functioning without you moving at all so you should be on a lot more than 1600.

Kevalicious99

Ok .. doing the math, you have lost 11 lbs in 6 weeks or 1.83 lbs per week.

I would suggest making sure you drink lots of water, as I have found that helps with the loss. I too have had a small plateau .. and I really don't think this is abnormal. Weight loss is not so structured that you are guaranteed to lose every week.

There is nothing wrong.

nelinelineli

2 weeks is not a plateau. Give it a month - the weight will drop overnight at one point.

Siansonea

You aren't supposed to ever eat below your BMR. BMR is the amount it takes in calories that just keeps your organs functioning without you moving at all so you should be on a lot more than 1600.

You know what the body does when it needs calories and none are available from food calories? It pulls them out of storage, i.e., fat. True story. :drinker:

davenporter

I'm aiming at losing 1.5 lbs per week. Here's what happened with me:

October 2: 215.8
October 29: 212.4
3.4 pound loss over about 4 weeks. Disappointment.

October 30: 209.8
October 31: 208.4
4 pound loss over two days.

Total for the month: 7.4 pounds lost. But it was pretty discouraging before I lost those 4 pounds over two nights. Don't give up! Keep up the good work!

cad2cc

Thanks guys- this is really helpful. I’m drinking a TON of water and log literally everything that I eat. I’m working really hard. I was eating about 1600 before and I don’t lose weight so 1200 is what I’m doing now. My goal is 30 lbs by Easter so I feel like this is going to delay my goal.

alanlmarshall

When someone comes along to say you are in starvation mode ignore it and read this:

http://www.aworkoutroutine.com/starvation-mode/

donjessop

First, it looks like you are using the Scooby BMR calculator. His calculator uses the a different formula than the calculator that I use and may be more accurate for severely obese people but overestimates BMR for less overweight people.

The American Dietetic Association recommends the following calculation.

For Women:
10 x weight (kg) + 6,25 x height (cm) - 5 x age (y) - 161

So, for you it would be:

10 * 73 + 6.25 * 165 - 5 * 20 - 161
730 + 1031.25 - 100 - 161
1500 = BMR

So, to start with it looks like you might be off in your BMR calculation.

Second, as edmscan stated, you've already lost 1.83 lbs per week for 6 weeks. That's great news.

Third, make sure that you are not subconsciously increasing your salt intake. Increasing your salt intake will cause you to gain water weight. How to get rid of water weight? Well, this may sound counter intuitive, but drink more water. This flushes the salt out of your system and causes the excess water to be shed. (Another bonus mark for edmscan!)

Keep up what you are doing and the weight loss will start again, but it is going to be slow. Based on your BMI you are not significantly overweight and as a result continued weight loss is going to be a slow process.

cad2cc

read that before i've done a ton of research to stay motivated

Yooperm35

Use this calculator - listen to some of the podcasts while there- you'll learn a lot!

http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/bmr/

mumblemagic

You aren't supposed to ever eat below your BMR. BMR is the amount it takes in calories that just keeps your organs functioning without you moving at all so you should be on a lot more than 1600.

Ok, heard this a lot. Question: If you're overweight, doesn't your body burn fat to use as energy, so is it really such an issue eating below your BMR if you have the fat reserves (as most of us, sadly, do)? The NHS guidelines say women on a diet shouldn't eat more than 1500 per day, but I don't think they mention a minimum.

Edit - apologies, NHS says 1400 max for women and 1900 for men.

lauren3101

You aren't supposed to ever eat below your BMR. BMR is the amount it takes in calories that just keeps your organs functioning without you moving at all so you should be on a lot more than 1600.

Ok, heard this a lot. Question: If you're overweight, doesn't your body burn fat to use as energy, so is it really such an issue eating below your BMR if you have the fat reserves (as most of us, sadly, do)? The NHS guidelines say women on a diet shouldn't eat more than 1500 per day, but I don't think they mention a minimum.

Do they really?! Considering I have a TDEE of nearly 3000, I think that's pretty appalling guidelines tbh.

Samstan101

All I'd say to that is if the NHS is so knowledgeable about weight loss & nutrition why do we have an obesity epidemic?!

Francl27

5 kilos in 1.5 months is really nice...

mumblemagic

You aren't supposed to ever eat below your BMR. BMR is the amount it takes in calories that just keeps your organs functioning without you moving at all so you should be on a lot more than 1600.

Ok, heard this a lot. Question: If you're overweight, doesn't your body burn fat to use as energy, so is it really such an issue eating below your BMR if you have the fat reserves (as most of us, sadly, do)? The NHS guidelines say women on a diet shouldn't eat more than 1500 per day, but I don't think they mention a minimum.

Do they really?! Considering I have a TDEE of nearly 3000, I think that's pretty appalling guidelines tbh.

They specify "most" women and "most" men, according to lifestyle.

All I'd say to that is if the NHS is so knowledgeable about weight loss & nutrition why do we have an obesity epidemic?!

Because people don't follow the guidelines on eating healthily and excercising. The NHS can't *make* anyone do anything, and studies have shown that barely anyone follows the guidelines, including me up till now , so it's not really surprising that there are lots of overweight and unfit people.

Gkfrkv

Your diary isn't open. My two cents on this is:

- Do you eyeball portion sizes or do you measure? I would go a week where I measured, or wrote down everything I ate while eating normal to get a true picture of what I eat.
- Why are you only eating 1200 calories? I'm 5'1" and depending on how active I am on any given day I eat between 1300 and 1500 calories

http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/

http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/bmr/

kenna44cat

North America as a whole has an obesity epidemic, it's almost as bad in Canada now as in the US, from what I could see when I visited Michigan this year, except for the serving sizes in the US, which are gigantic, and the availability of beer and hard liquor in the US (we aren't allowed to sell liquor in general stores or anywhere outside of a liquor store). I think we can't blame anyone but ourselves, and the constant advice that keeps on changing is enough to confuse anyone, but common sense would say eat less and move more, and then people start bickering on what eat less means and what move more means. We're getting verbal diarrhea about something nobody seems able to control or have the competence to comment sensibly on. I think obesity is becoming a problem in Europe, too, and even Asia, while third world countries are starving. Doesn't that say something about the isolationist mentality sometimes witnessed in certain industrialized countries? If we saved our talk for writing books and our actions for doing good we'd really be onto something.

mumblemagic

North America as a whole has an obesity epidemic, it's almost as bad in Canada now as in the US, from what I could see when I visited Michigan this year, except for the serving sizes in the US, which are gigantic, and the availability of beer and hard liquor in the US (we aren't allowed to sell liquor in general stores or anywhere outside of a liquor store). I think we can't blame anyone but ourselves, and the constant advice that keeps on changing is enough to confuse anyone, but common sense would say eat less and move more, and then people start bickering on what eat less means and what move more means. We're getting verbal diarrhea about something nobody seems able to control or have the competence to comment sensibly on. I think obesity is becoming a problem in Europe, too, and even Asia, while third world countries are starving. Doesn't that say something about the isolationist mentality sometimes witnessed in certain industrialized countries? If we saved our talk for writing books and our actions for doing good we'd really be onto something.

I love this kind of debate, and agree with you on most (but not all) of your points. However, I would suggest that this post is better in the debate forums than here. It's a bit heavy

escloflowneCHANGED

Thanks guys- this is really helpful. I’m drinking a TON of water and log literally everything that I eat. I’m working really hard. I was eating about 1600 before and I don’t lose weight so 1200 is what I’m doing now. My goal is 30 lbs by Easter so I feel like this is going to delay my goal.

Don't set timeline goals, you will only end up disappointed, let it happen naturally. Maybe try to get 1500 net(accurately) for a few weeks!

msf74

Why has it just stopped?

You don't know if your fat loss has stopped. It might be ticking over nicely but masked due to a number of issues from showing up on the scale.

Weight loss on the scale is not generally linear. It can bounce around on a week to week basis. As long as the overall trend is downwards you are golden. Two weeks is simply not long enough to worry about.

Keep doing what you are doing. If you see no change after another 2 weeks check your methods.

Tweak, then proceed.

chrissysue

First of all you are doing great! Remember that as we eat healthy and exercise we not only loose fat but gain muscle and as we all no, muscle weighs more than fat. Don't be so dependant on the number on the scale, it is just that a number!!!! Even though you are logging everything you eat, you need to make sure that you are not eating hidden salt and sugar. This is where a lot of ppl get sabotaged. Make sure that you are reading the labels. Chicken for instance has ALOT of sodium in it. Keep your chin up you are doing amazing and will get there! Also if you are doing the same exercises day after day you would want to change that up. Hope this is of some sort of help.
Chris

kenna44cat

Thanks, you're right, I was a bit heavy and vented on the wrong forum.