eating 1200 calories, not losing weight

CassandraEldridge

I'm Vegetarian.... And you DON"T need chicken to meet your nutrition goals. Do your own research or see a nutritionist. If you vary your diet and keep track you can get all the nutrients you need.

First thing I would do is take a good real honest look at what your eating. If it's vegetarian junk food then stop eating the junk and get a varied diet with real fruits and veggies and beans.

Next is do the research (or see a nutritionist) to know exactly what you need.

After you do the research you will have the knowledge you need to make the correct food decsions. Then after your eating the right kinds and amounts of food you should have better results.

_HeartsOnFire_

before you have to dig through more broscience...

here:

1. don't trust the initial setup that MFP provides. If you put in the wrong/inaccurate information, it'll tell you to eat an amount that may not be applicable.
2. Make sure you eat enough.
3. Figure out what works for you and is sustainable/healthy/long term.
4. avoid fads. don't buy in to any "Hey, try the twinkie and vodka diet"
5. Don't cut out anything now that you don't plan on literally giving up forever.
6. GET A FOOD SCALE. Weigh everything. No, seriously.
7. Get an HRM with a chest strap. You'll at least have a better idea of what you're burning. It'll be more accurate than the generic info in the exercise database.. and even more than the cardio machines. This is great for steady state cardio (run/walk/etc)
8. Don't go balls out. You'll burn out. I see 300 lb people show up here, instantly start working out and cutting their intake SEVERELY... trying to cut out all of their carbs at once.. whatever. Take it slow. Figure out how much you need to eat FIRST in order to lose.. then incorporate exercise.
9. Don't cardio yourself to death.
10. Take the information on the forums with a grain of salt. A lot of people that have been here for a while.. and have been successful, may seem jaded. They give out GREAT advice day after day, only to be met with people that refuse to listen.
11. Eat real food. Not diet food. Not "low fat, sugar free, now without X." It's easier to get/find/count.
12. don't set time restrictions.
13. measure yourself weekly. Don't just weigh. Measure and take pictures.
14 BE PATIENT.
15. Avoid forum topics that have "1200" in the title. It's just full of butthurt. Lots of it.
16. If you ask a question on the forum, give as much information as you can ("yes, I have a food scale and weigh my food" is worlds better than "I eat a palm full of miscellaneous boiled chicken parts..sometimes.")
17. Be honest with yourself and honest with us.
18. This isn't a game, it's about changing your lifestyle. Do that.

pretty much that.

...and don't fall into the "1200 calorie" vertigo of suck because of:

the typical MFP users does this:
1. I wanna lose weight, let's try MFP.
2. OH! Wow, it tells me I can lose 2 lbs a WEEK? AWESOME!
3. I just sit at a desk when I'm not working out, I guess I'm sedentary.
4. MFP tells them 1200 calories, and they don't even eat that.. then they work out on top of it.. creating an even bigger deficit.
5. Lose a lot, fast, brag about 1200 calorie success.
6. Come back in a few months trying to figure out why they're dizzy, tired, not losing weight.
7. Get on the forums, ask why they aren't losing.
8. Get two responses (I eat 1200 and lose) (I eat 2200 and lose)
9. Argument ensues about who is right.

Now. That being said. These threads happen hundreds of times per day. Most times, and I mean really.. seriously.. 95% of the time.. people get the 1200 number because they don't put the right information in when they set up the account. There are a great number of people that are trying to help. I'm one of 'em.

I'm a hardcore advocate of actually finding out what works for the individual.. by means of other calculators, averages, time, practice, and patience.

Blanket prescriptions of 1200 calories "because it worked for me" is more harmful to the generic new user than the "figure out what you need to eat." Unfortunately, one is a LOT easier to type.

Find out what you need: http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/

and make sure to read: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

this could help.

+100,000

jofjltncb6

Peanut butter sammich and a glass of milk.

Squats and deadlifts.

deksgrl

Peanut butter sammich and a glass of milk.

Squats and deadlifts.

Roar!

Mcgrawhaha

these posts are so silly to me. your not eating 1200 calories a day, because if you were, you would be losing. you are not in a defecit. if you were in a defecit, you would lose weight.

sarah5893

yeah up your cals it doesn't have to be by crazy amounts just 300 or so each day. I had this problem before, when I posted on here after a plateau everyone went crazy telling me to eat more :P [ I was eating 1000 cals a day at this point]
I was cynical but it really did work. I upped to 1200 and then at my next plateau I upped to 1400.
Give it a go.

peleroja

ok.....everyone is going to tell you to eat more......I know it's hard to get your head around it but it is true.....just want to let you know what's coming.....:).....

Why would anyone tell her that?

OP - if you are not losing weight, you are not in a deficit. How do you track your calories? Do you use a food scale for solids and measuring cups for liquids? Log everything you put in your mouth?

ETA: Your logging looks incomplete. Also, you are entering a lot of restaurant food which has a high margin of error. And 'a scoop' of ice cream is not going to be accurate for something that is calorie dense. You are going to need to invest in a food scale.

This. You're not eating 1200 calories. Promise.

Cait_Sidhe

Go on a binge for a few days and then bump your calories back down again. Trust me, it speeds up your metabolism and completely works. The less you eat over time, the fewer calories your body will expect and it starts burning them slower in order to conserve energy.

Dear gods no. Of all the bad advice in this thread, this is the worst.

1) Log every single thing you eat, even condiments, vegetables and fruit. Everything that has nutritional value counts.

2) If you don't weigh your food, start doing so. It's highly likely you're underestimating how much you are actually eating. Most dieters make this mistake. I made this mistake myself and plateaued for a year. If you're not logging accurately, it's very easy to eat above your deficit and not even know it.

3) It wouldn't hurt to raise your calorie limit a little. But only if weighing all of your food and logging accurately. It takes a caloric deficit to lose weight.

4) If you're going to eat back exercise calories, get an accurate HRM so you're not overestimating how much you burn. Only by exercising non stop cardio for several hours could I possibly burn 1000 calories.

fast_eddie_72

these posts are so silly to me. your not eating 1200 calories a day, because if you were, you would be losing. you are not in a defecit. if you were in a defecit, you would lose weight.

Well said.

When people want to lose weight, they don't "eat more". That's what got you heavy. You do the opposite to lose weight. Eat less. But, again, be sure you know how much you're eating. The numbers you post with no weight loss don't sound right. You're probably not logging everything exactly right. Very easy to do. Get a food scale, and make sure you are really, really accurate with your log.

drfalktorres

ok.....everyone is going to tell you to eat more......I know it's hard to get your head around it but it is true.....just want to let you know what's coming.....:).....

Lol..worked for me! I had to jump to 1800 in a past weight loss journey before I saw results! Wishing you the best!

JonnyQwest

It's crazy but true, eat more.....I am never hungry in the mornings all the way up to about 3 PM, so I figured the best way to lose the fastest was to not eat when I wasn't hungry.......was eating 1200 calories or less with no problems because I was basically only eating in only about a 6 hour window everyday. Only problem was I wasn't losing weight and this was even with exercising everyday.
I stubbornly resisted eating more for awhile because it just didn't make sense but I finally got frustrated and gave in.....I integrated two to three protein shakes (literally just protein powder with water for about 150 calories apiece or less) a day and literally within a week dropped another five pounds. I am still staying around 1600 calories but it seems to be working and my workouts are even more productive so I figure I am actually burning the extra calories off anyway.
I have recently stopped losing weight as measured by the scale again but NOW I can tell that I am still losing fat while gaining muscle (from the extra energy I have in the gym). Its kind of nice when you can stop paying attention to the scale and pay attention to actual results-your clothes don't lie, the scale does!

_HeartsOnFire_

When people want to lose weight, they don't "eat more". That's what got you heavy. You do the opposite to lose weight. Eat less.

That may work at first, but with someone working out as much as she does, her body would need more fuel. You always hear, eat less and move more, which is true in the beginning, but as you lose, and as you move more you do have to re-evaluate how much you are eating. I was eating at 1200 and I lost weight for awhile. I was working out 5-6 days a week. My weight loss stalled because I wasn't giving my body enough fuel. As soon as I started giving it the proper amount of fuel, it started dropping again.

Mr_Knight

My net is usually 800-900 calories. I'm 5'7'' amd weigh 160lbs...I've kept this up for about two months and have had no weight loss.

800 calories a day is literally concentration camp level rations. If you are not losing weight at the low level of intake, there is something very wrong with your calorie logging.

EDIT: Took a look at your exercise diary - your burn estimates are way to high. Cut them by 2/3.

PikaKnight

Go on a binge for a few days and then bump your calories back down again. Trust me, it speeds up your metabolism and completely works. The less you eat over time, the fewer calories your body will expect and it starts burning them slower in order to conserve energy.

Encouraging actual binging is not cool.

Way to teach disordered eating habits there. [\sarcasm]

fast_eddie_72

That may work at first, but with someone working out as much as she does, her body would need more fuel.

Someone eating 900 calories isn't working out as much as that. I'd place a bet neither number is accurate. Getting this stuff recorded accurately is a lot harder than I realized when I started.

I can feel it when I don't get a good night's sleep, or don't work in a meal a couple of hours before a run. I had a tough 3 miles yesterday for that reason. If I tried to work out on 900 calories I think I would literally collapse afterward.

Mr_Knight

The human body has evolve specifically to work well on "binging" cycles.

amandakev88

Go on a binge for a few days and then bump your calories back down again. Trust me, it speeds up your metabolism and completely works. The less you eat over time, the fewer calories your body will expect and it starts burning them slower in order to conserve energy.

W.T.F.

amandakev88

The human body has evolve specifically to work well on "binging" cycles.

jofjltncb6

The human body has evolve specifically to work well on "binging" cycles.

I think what he's saying is that we work well without three squares each day. Eating more than we need to get us through times when we have less than we need is how the system works.

That's as far as I'm going to go in trying to defend him though. He's on his own from here.

schoonma

I don't know how you old you are but I can tell you hormones can play a HUGE role in weight loss, I am 44 - I was eating 1,400 calories a day, working out an hour and 30 minutes 6 days a week and my weight wasn't budging. Getting some help in the hormonal department, eating 1450 calories a day and not working out much and I lost 22 pounds in just a little over a month. Just a thought....

Best of luck!
Mary Ann