I Need Professional Advice

arijo7

I know that I have already posted a topic very similar to this one, but I'm not getting the right answers. I tried looking it up online and I found absolutely NOTHING. Please read and give the best advice possible. I'm very confused.

Basically, I only lose weight when I don't exercise and eat 1200 calories a day. When I workout and eat my calories back, my weight maintains. I was able to figure this out because I workout every day except for Sunday. The only time I have been seeing any results is on Monday, which is always 1 pounds lost. When I workout throughout the week, I lose nothing. This past weekend, I was feeling ill and I didn't workout on Saturday or Sunday, and ate 1200 calories each of those days. Today when I got on the scale, it said I have dropped 2 pounds since Friday. Why am I only losing weight when I don't exercise? I have considered not eating back my exercise calories, but then my net calories would only be around 900 every day, and that's not healthy. Please don't say that it's weight fluctuations, because it's not. Every single day my weight is EXACTLY the same, except for the Monday after I don't workout. And many people say that I should just be happy that the weight is coming off and not worry about it, but if there is a more effective way for me to lose weight, then obviously I want to do it. That's understandable, right? Please give me the best advice possible. I'm sorry this is so long, but thank you for reading and I REALLY appreciate advice and opinions

thesupremeforce

Water retention from exercise.
Weight loss isn't linear.

Ninkyou

You are not going to lose weight every single day. Weight loss doesn't work that way. Usually what happens is you build up your deficit, and after a few days or weeks, the numbers on the scale go down.

Basically, what happens is the fat cells in your body empty out, which is where your weight comes off. BUT, as the cells empty, they fill with water temporarily. Then the water goes away, the fat cells shrink, and you will then see a loss on the scale.

So.... yeah... that's what happens.
Weight loss isn't linear. It could take days to lose weight, it could take weeks. But don't expect to lose weight every single day because you have a deficit every day. It just doesn't work that way.

emdeesea

Exercise causes muscle inflammation, which results in fluid retention. This is why your weight drops when you rest a day or so.

Koldnomore

I know that I have already posted a topic very similar to this one, but I'm not getting the right answers. I tried looking it up online and I found absolutely NOTHING. Please read and give the best advice possible. I'm very confused.

Basically, I only lose weight when I don't exercise and eat 1200 calories a day. When I workout and eat my calories back, my weight maintains. I was able to figure this out because I workout every day except for Sunday. The only time I have been seeing any results is on Monday, which is always 1 pounds lost. When I workout throughout the week, I lose nothing. This past weekend, I was feeling ill and I didn't workout on Saturday or Sunday, and ate 1200 calories each of those days. Today when I got on the scale, it said I have dropped 2 pounds since Friday. Why am I only losing weight when I don't exercise? I have considered not eating back my exercise calories, but then my net calories would only be around 900 every day, and that's not healthy. Please don't say that it's weight fluctuations, because it's not. Every single day my weight is EXACTLY the same, except for the Monday after I don't workout. And many people say that I should just be happy that the weight is coming off and not worry about it, but if there is a more effective way for me to lose weight, then obviously I want to do it. That's understandable, right? Please give me the best advice possible. I'm sorry this is so long, but thank you for reading and I REALLY appreciate advice and opinions

How about re-reading the other thread and going from there? The answer will not change because you 'think' it's wrong - based on your extensive couple of months of experience with losing weight...

Science disagrees with your assessment, re-posting the same question isn't going to change the right answer - it will only make people less likely to want to help you.

SLLRunner

If you need professional advice, you need to go your doctor. We are not professionals, we are a bunch of internet strangers on a path similar to yours.

Be sure to talk to your parents about your weight loss questions too, as they might be able to help you.

HWeatherholt

Could be a lot of reasons but most likely it is your muscles holding on to water and other fluids to help with the rebuilding process.

psych101

If you want professional advice then you should talk to a doctor.

Bodies do weird things with weight because of water - sodium, hormones, exercise can all have an impact on how much water you retain and therefore how much you weigh. You're not going to see a loss every single day - weight loss isn't linear.

As a female you also have a ton of hormones to deal with around certain times of the month. If you can't handle seeing the weight for what it is everyday, then I suggest picking a day in your cycle and weighing on that day every single month instead.

JossFit

How long have you been eating such low calories?
Its quite possible that doing so for an extended period of time has resulted in a pretty severe metabolic adaptation and that you indeed cannot lose weight eating more than that.

If that were the case, I would suggest linking up with a nutritionist in order to coach you through how to reverse diet and repair the damage you have done.

livinatthegym

try changing your cardio/ weight training routine. Just like with weight a plateau, your body can get used to the same old exercise routine. also vary your calories...eating anything less than 1200 is too low for a good amount of people. As a general rule if you are adding calories to your diary based on what a treadmill or other machine tells you be wary...they can often add 20-30 percent to your actual calories burned. Your body adapts to your activity, strength training, calorie intake etc. Mix it up...if you lose weight at,say for example 1700 calories, try eating 1300 one day and 1900 the next....dont go too high or low though. Vary your workouts, type of workouts, time of workouts, or try doing an early morning and evening workout....The point is: shock your body until it responds. Once it does try for some consistency, but there is NO magic formula...NO one diet, NO one workout that is the best or universal. Experiment until you find what works. Have fun with it. If all else fails...see a nutritionist, a personal trainer, or even your doctor. Best of luck

livinatthegym

also drink your water...that is sooooo important

jrose1982

I don't know why you're only seeing weight loss when you don't exercise. Notice, I said "seeing weight loss", not "losing weight". Just because you're not seeing it on the scale doesn't mean you're not losing (at least on a short term like 1 day or 1 week). It could be that exercising causes you to retain water and you lose that water when you take a day off.

Or it could be a matter of how you eat your calories back (as in, what kind of food). I'm on a low-carb diet, so I'm very aware of how carbs effect your body's ability to burn fat. I also remember that my post-workout food was always carb-heavy because that's what I was craving.

But 1-2 lbs of loss in one week is very good, especially if it's mostly consistent week-to-week. I've never heard of a healthy weight loss plan that does better than that. Low-carb diets lose more to begin with, but that's mostly water weight.

I seriously think you're doing everything right. And I don't think you're going to get a better answer than this, because if there was a healthy way to lose more than 2 lbs/week everybody would be doing it.

Maybe you should experiment with taking 2 rest days a week: one in the middle of the week and one on the weekend. See if that changes anything.

On another note: you titled this "I Need Professional Advice", but MFP is not a place to find Professional Advice. Everybody here is an amateur, and most of know very little beyond our own experience and our own research (which is biased towards our own experience). If you want professional advice, you're going to have to hire a professional.

arijo7

All of these posts really helped me understand better, thank you so much! You guys all put exactly what I was looking for